Un-Impeaching Opinions of Calculated Values Valuation or calculation? That is the question asked, answered, and argued by judges, experts, lawyers, and industry thought leaders apropos to whether a calculation of value can be used in litigation. The answer echoed throughout courtrooms across America thus far is a resounding “it depends.” This article offers a synopsis of the debate over calculation engageme ...

to Your Differentiation Strategy Among executives in the accounting and finance firms, creating and implementing a relevant differentiation strategy continues to be a struggle—however, this does not have to be the case. At its simplest, creating and implementing a differentiation strategy is a five-step process. In this article, Dr. Frederiksen describes these steps. ...

Alexa Voice AI Makes Conversational Valuation Possible What if your valuation reports could have a two-way conversation with your clients? How would that improve the usability of your work product? Could it increase the value of your firm’s intellectual capital? In this, the author discusses how Alexa Voice AI can deliver a calculation report to a client. ...

and Communications If readers accept the premise that technology is here to stay, then the flip phone is our reminder of what can be lost without complete and comprehensive communication. In this article, the author shares five reasons for regretting the loss of the “flip phone” to newer technology and cautions readers to the perils that new technology pose to our ability to communicate. ...

Five Signs That We Need to Part Ways With a Client How do we know when it’s time to cast off a client or referral source? In this article, Rod Burkert shares five tell-tale signs that suggest it is time to have a break-up talk. ...

For Financial Services Firms Finding ways to differentiate your firm from competitors may be one of the most vexing challenges you can face. After all, it may well be that there are more similarities than differences. But with a little focus and some self-inquiry, it is possible. In this article, Dr. Frederiksen shares seven effective differentiators for financial services firms. ...

And Why it Should Matter to You What does differentiation really mean? How does differentiation really work? How is differentiation properly implemented? In this article, Dr. Frederiksen answers these important questions and explains why these should matter to business leaders. ...

Industry Experience and Value-Added Tips In this article, the author discusses how one may go about distinguishing his or her firm from other competitors. ...

Referral Marketing Strategy The author discusses how professionals should go about creating a customized referral marketing strategy. It begins by choosing a focus. Next, it involves the creation and posting of educational content that creates a clear connection between prospects’ challenges and your firm’s expertise. The key is creating the funnel content. The author describes the steps to create such funn ...

Now How Do I Obtain Work? Earning a professional accreditation, such as the CVA is an accomplishment. Getting engagements thereafter is another matter. In this article, the author shares what he thinks newly minted CVAs may want to consider to develop their practice niche and brand. ...

Grow Your Practice and Presence So You Are Noticed If you want to grow your network of leads, prospects, clients, and referral sources, then LinkedIn is probably the best social media platform to jump into. Most of you are already playing in that sandbox anyway, and with a few tweaks, you can do better. Much better. ...

Our Top Seven Ideas for Accounting and Financial Services The author discusses findings from a Hinge Research Institute (HRI) conducted with 523 professional services firms regarding why firms do not get more referrals. One interesting finding was why firms do not get more referrals. HRI found that in 72% of cases, the answer is simple: no one asked them. HRI also learned that 81.5% of service providers hav ...

and Why It Matters! Referral marketing has dramatically evolved over recent years and, if your firm has not adopted new tactics and strategies, you may be leaving significant business on the table. In this post, Dr. Frederiksen shares some of Hinge Marketing’s thinking about how referral marketing has changed. In the coming months, Dr. Frederiksen will continue exploring this topic, looking first at the pro ...

Top 5 Business Challenges The author discusses the top five business challenges identified by professional accounting and financial services firms, and proposes ways professionals can readily address those issues. ...

Tips for Marketing Your Skills and Services Whether you are just starting your career, considering going out on your own, or expanding your business, there are three steps that will make your journey easier: conduct a self-assessment, develop a business plan, and design a marketing strategy. Sounds simple enough, but most businesses fail within the first year simply because people skip one or more of these ...

Perform a File Autopsy! We live and die in/by our engagements. Bet you never thought of it that way. But really, tell me life isn’t just peachy when you’re working on a fun/interesting/profitable case. And that life doesn’t just suck when you’re not. Wouldn’t it be nice to have more peaches? In this article, Rod Burkert shares his After Action Review process that enables practitioners to (re)focus on cases ...

For Accounting and Financial Services Firms In this article, Hinge presents its newest study of how professional services firms go to market—and for accounting and financial services firms, there is good news…and some not-so-good news. ...

And How to Create one The author discusses why one needs an elevator speech and how to prepare the elevator speech. If you have such a speech, how is that working? ...

Remaster the Employee Mindset The author discusses ways to engage staff and develop the inner-entrepreneurial spirit. ...

Refocus and Prioritize The author contends that almost every business owner or manager is an absentee owner or manager, regardless the amount of time they spend at their business. ...