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 clients? What if I told you this is the wrong mindset to have? How would your thinking (and actions) change if we talked about landing better clients instead? Hey, I get it.…
-
-
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”) has built a following that exceeds 500,000 followers; these followers come from various platforms. This reach is something that many in the professional service industries have only dreamed of. As an attorney and CPA, Kohler has taken what could easily…
-
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 awkward. Do you answer the phone? Or let the call go to voicemail? The answer to the question is that you don’t DO anything.…
-
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 engagement letter with three pricing options that provided the solution he needed. It resulted in me getting a $10,000 higher fee based solely on my report delivery date. Quick Background…
-
Turn Clients into Your Advocates Existing clients can be your advocates and a source for future work. In this article, Rod Burkert discusses how to cultivate this under used referral source. I started my solo valuation practice in July 2000. Because I specialized in estate/gift valuations, most of my work was once and done. Looking back, my biggest regret was not cultivating more of those clients—who were already starting to know, like, and trust me—into longer term consulting relationships. For example, many of the owners I worked with in a valuation-only capacity went on to transition their companies, and I…
-
Rethinking How to Connect Effectively on LinkedIn While LinkedIn provides professionals an opportunity to connect, not all connections are desirable. In this article, Rod Bukert shares his views on how to effectively connect. I imagine you count many business valuation (BV) colleagues among your LinkedIn (LI) connections. But unless they’re sending you work, it’s not your best move. You see, if you are connected to someone, you see each other’s updates on your respective feeds. And because your updates get read by your BV colleagues, who are most likely friends, you are sending them Facebook-like information … stuff that’s nice…
-
Memoirs of a CPA on Getting Started in the Valuation and Forensics Fields Edward Mendlowitz considers himself the last of the “expert generalists”. He published Memoirs of a CPA wherein he relates his story and the lessons learned. Over the years, the author has witnessed the trend towards specialization and proliferation of professional credentials. Mr. Mendlowitz started moonlighting almost immediately after graduating college in 1963 and had enough business to start his own practice in 1969. In this article, he shares tips for newly minted professionals. I consider myself the last of the “expert generalists” and published my Memoirs of…
-
A Call to Action E-mail is our front line of communication. And because of that, everyone’s inbox is overloaded. Of course, your e-mail is brilliant/critical/urgent/important. So how do you write an e-mail that gets opened and read? And if you read to the end, there’s a bonus e-mail tip you will want to try out. E-mail is our front line of communication. And because of that, everyone’s inbox is overloaded. Of course, your e-mail is brilliant/critical/urgent/important. So how do you write an e-mail that gets opened and read? And if you read to the end, there’s a bonus e-mail tip…
-
What is the #1 thing on your website that will convince a prospect that your firm is the right choice for a project? Rod Burkert shares his views on what is needed to go from zero to hero and land that engagement. Imagine I am a prospect for getting your BVFLS services. I found you on Google or LinkedIn. Or maybe I saw an article you wrote. Maybe heard a presentation you gave. Or maybe I got a recommendation from a colleague. It (almost) doesn’t matter. But now, I’m knocking at your website door. What is the #1 thing on…
-
Marketing is difficult. Yet, there are ways one can make more effective inroads. In this article, the author makes four suggestions to make your marketing efforts more effective. If the ultimate goal of your marketing effort is to increase the number of leads/prospects in your pipeline, the article includes some metrics one can measure to assess success. Do you know what is working and what is not with your marketing and practice development efforts? For many business valuation practitioners, the honest answer is that they cannot answer that question; not really. They have a “feeling.” What can you do about…
-
A Call to Opportunity (and Survival) As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools continues to become mainstream, it is no wonder that so many professional services are becoming even more commoditized than they were pre-AI. Many professional service providers, including valuation practitioners, are feeling the combined impact of price compression from clients and higher expectations of service quality and responsiveness. For those of us who plan to continue practicing as professionals for longer than the next few years, the long view is rather disconcerting. Within the next decade, AI is expected to become one-million times more powerful than it…
-
As readers know, the holy grail of a firm’s success is the professional stream and practices that sustain the referral stream. In the author’s view “it does not have to be an endless stream, just a manageable one.” The author shares his views on how to make this happen. As you know, the holy grail of your successful professional practices is a stream of referrals. But it does not have to be an endless stream, just a manageable one. Let us consider how to calculate the number—literally, the number—of referral sources you need to sustain your BV practice. And as…
-
Principles, Tasks, and Tools for Success This article is based on the presentation given by Andreas Creutzmann at the NACVA and the CTI’s BVFL Super Conference in Fort Lauderdale, FL, on December 14, 2023, and on his book, Soft Skills for the Professional Services Industry: Principles, Tasks, and Tools for Success, published by Wiley. It aims to present the principles, tasks, and tools that are essential for professionals in the digital world. This article is based on the presentation given by Andreas Creutzmann at the NACVA and the CTI’s BVFL Super Conference in Fort Lauderdale, FL, on December 14, 2023,…
-
Any service can be replicated, leaving only the execution as a true differentiator. And your difference—your winning difference—is the reason people do business with you and not someone else. It sets you apart and makes you the best choice for your ideal client. The author shares three ways to find your winning difference. Any service can be replicated, leaving only the execution as a true differentiator. And your difference—your winning difference—is the reason people do business with you and not someone else. It sets you apart and makes you the best choice for your ideal client. Our leads and prospects…
-
In Your Expert Report This article includes tips for preparing an expert report but is not intended to be all inclusive. In addition to these points, remember to carefully consider professional standards, including those that are non-binding, and any code of ethics. Also prepare your report with the expectation of a Daubert motion or similar challenge to your qualifications and/or methodology. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure give specific requirements for expert witness reports. In addition, published Tax Court opinions often include criticism of expert reports, thereby providing guidance on what the court prefers to see in the future. Their…
-
In this article, the author shares his views on why it is incumbent to become a specialist. I want to lay this out right up front: The primary reason to specialize is that it is in the best interest of the clients we serve. It allows us to focus solely on them, truly care about them, patiently learn more about them, and create more value based on what they know they need (or what we know they need) … because we’re an expert in the niche. We all start our practices (or positions) as generalists. We have little training, practically…
-
How to Manifest a Better, More Fulfilling Valuation Practice Several months ago, a friend of mine gifted the article’s author a book entitled The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A practical guide to the fulfillment of your dreams, written by Deepak Chopra. A few of the sections within the book hit home more than others and the excitement that has inspired the author to write the article herein. The author hopes that the article will prompt readers to incorporate more self-exploration into their valuation and forensic accounting practice. Several months ago, a friend of mine gifted me a book entitled…
-
Professionals set milestones, yet miss some or many. The author in this article proposes a reason for why goals are not met and proposes a solution in this article. You know what you need to do to grow your practice. You say you’re gonna do them. They are on your to-do list. So why haven’t you done them? Face it, we generally know what we need to do (in almost any situation). But most of us, including me, stumble when it comes to actually getting it done. Here are five things I wanted to do in 2023, but have not…
-
4 Reasons Why You Don’t Have the Practice You Want (Yet) If you have the practice you want, congratulations! Stop reading now and use this time to do something else. But if there is a gap between the practice you have and the one you want, why does it exist? There are four possible reasons. Rod Burkert names those four reasons and what you can do to bridge the gap. If you have the practice you want, congratulations! Stop reading now and use this time to do something else. But if there is a gap between the practice you have…
-
ChatGPT for Accountants: The Accountant’s Guide to AI and ChatGPT In this article, the authors review ChatGPT for Accountants: The Accountant’s Guide to AI and ChatGPT. They discuss thought-provoking exploration of the relationship between artificial intelligence (AI)—primarily ChatGPT—and the accounting, auditing, and tax professions, and offer their views on the benefits and perils of integrating AI into the firm. ChatGPT for Accountants: The Accountant’s Guide to AI and ChatGPT offers a thought-provoking exploration of the relationship between artificial intelligence (AI)—primarily ChatGPT—and the accounting, auditing, and tax professions. Through an examination of the potential applications, challenges, and evolving nature of the…