What to Say Instead In sales, the wrong choice of words can erode trust, weaken your authority, and even cost you the project. The author shares what phrases undermine one’s expertise and offers suggestions on what to say instead. In sales (and that’s what you’re doing when you try to close a project with a prospect), every word matters. The wrong choice of words can erode trust, weaken your authority, and ...

Engaging a Prospective Attorney for Referrals In this article, the author shares what “pick-up line” works best for him to get attorneys to refer work. I have a “pick-up line” that works almost every time with new referral sources, particularly attorneys. Want to hear what it is? Before I tell you, let’s first talk about what referral sources, like attorneys, are up against so you can see why this pick-up l ...

Thoughts on Thought Leadership When an attorney, banker, CPA, or wealth planner refers business to us, it can feel like we should refer business back to them. But we can’t refer to everyone because we likely don’t have that many referrals to make. The author provides insight on what it takes to become the recommended expert vis-à-vis a referral. When an attorney, banker, CPA, or wealth planner refers busine ...

It is About Positioning In this article, Rod Burkert reflects on the value and limits of thought leadership, how to position oneself or the firm, and ways that AI can help bolster the positioning effort. Ok. First, I am not a fan of the term “thought leadership” ... or its predecessor, “content marketing” (so 2010s) ... or the latest I’ve heard, “being a sage.” But let’s proceed with “thought leadership,” a ...

Excel and Position Yourself as the Expert There is an important difference between a service provider and an expert. In this article, Rod Burkert discusses why the differentiation is important and how to position yourself to be an expert. When it comes to the work you do, are you a service provider or an expert? Have you thought about the differences? Do you realize there are differences? Our BVFLS industry ...

It’s About Them What is the purpose of marketing? While credentials are helpful, the profession needs to reevaluate the strategies used. In this article, Rod Burkert reminds us of what the profession may consider to market the services effectively. Have you wondered why it’s getting harder to reach the leads and prospects we want to sell to and serve? What if almost everything we’ve considered to be marketi ...

It is About Solving the Dollar Value Problem How do you price your business valuation engagement? What about a litigation support engagement? In this article, Rod Burkert discusses how to value your professional engagements. Let’s talk pricing. Specifically, why do we struggle to price the value of a business valuation? Or a forensic accounting assignment? Or the mother of all unknowns, a litigation support ...

The Four Pillar Framework Rod Burkert has been spreading the gospel about BVFLS practice development since 2013. In this article, he discusses a framework that he has developed and can be used to close the gap between the practice you have and the practice you want. The people I talk to all seem to have slightly different ideas about practice development. Here is one definition from a Forbes article that I ...

and My Productivity Doubled How can one materially improve productivity in just two weeks? In this article, the author describes how she allowed artificial intelligence to start managing her work schedule. What happened next surprised her: the author gained nearly two hours a day and doubled her weekly task completion rate. I am a single mom with two kids under three years old. I work full-time as a forensi ...

Self-reflection and the Engagement Process The buying process begins when a prospect or a referral source considers you for a new engagement, or when a client considers you for a repeat performance. In this article, Rod Burkert reflects on this aspect of the engagement process. The buying process begins when a prospect or a referral source considers you for a new engagement, or when a client considers you f ...

Take Up an Informed Contrarian View to Disrupt the Business Valuation Profession What frustrates you about our industry? Do you think your prospects, clients, and referral sources might feel the same way? What if you took a stand? What if you stood out by promising something different than the standard operating procedures your competitors follow? What frustrates you about our industry? There must be someth ...

Strategies to Limit Digital Risk and Liability In this article, the author looks back at predictions made in the 2014 Pew Research. Reflecting on this study, it becomes self-evident that we understand what the problems are, and, perhaps, we even have good ideas of how to tackle these problems. Therefore, the issue is not necessarily “finding a solution” but rather, having the will and desire to implement a ...

You are not Limiting Yourself There is a lot of disruption going on in the BVFLS industry and you should give niching a fair shot if you have more of a generalist-type practice. In this article, Rod Bukert shares his views on how to overcome the fears of specialization. There is a lot of disruption going on in our industry; from accounting/business valuation firm mergers to big data valuation solutions to f ...

Recognize Ethical and Professional Standards of Using AI AI is pervasive and promises to fundamentally transform business operations, education, and daily life. However, functional insights bridging the gap between AI and our industry have been lacking. The authors share their views on the ethical and professional standards implicated from the use of AI in forensics and valuation engagements. This article e ...

What Do I Write About? Writing is an effective way to convey expertise and also a marketing devise. In this article, Rod Burkert shares who he writes for and answers the big unanswered question: how he decides what to write about. I talk about how much I write, who I write for, and when I get it all done. But apparently, I left this big question unanswered: How do I decide what to write about? Deciding What ...

Look at the Numbers and Exercise Skepticism Often, business owners will inadvertently present a biased account of their company’s success. Is there a similarity between the bias of business owner’s and crime scene victims? In this article, the author answers this question. Imagine this: you are at the scene of a crime. Witnesses are canvassed, each with their own version of events. One witness is adamant th ...

You Need Better Clients A frequent question that newly minted and experienced valuation practitioners raise, is how one gets more clients. The question that should be asked is how one gets better clients. The author shares his thoughts on why the latter is the better question and source of focus. Surprise, the most frequent practice development questions I get primarily have this theme: How do I get more cl ...

Marketing Tips for Professional Service Professionals Marc Kohler, an estate planning expert, may offer other professional services professionals a template to follow to secure additional engagement. The article describes how Marc Kohler has marketed his services. In the field of tax law and estate planning (where online engagement can be difficult, if not impossible to obtain), Mark J. Kohler (”Kohler”) ha ...

Beyond Just Updating on the Progress of the Project An informed client is usually a better client. In this article, Rod Burkert shares five reasons calling a client on a Friday is a worthy practice. The phone rings. You recognize the number on caller ID. It’s. THAT. Client. The one you took a retainer from a few weeks ago and who hasn’t heard from you in a while. You know the conversation is going to be awk ...

Assessing the Engagement Prospect In this article, the author shares how he crafted an engagement letter that enabled him to earn far more than a fee he was prepared to accept. Understanding a prospect’s motivation and the underlying facts enabled him to craft an engagement letter that worked for both and earned him $10,000 more. By listening to my prospect and understanding the pain he was in, I crafted an ...