the Cost of Your Reference Library? Now, there is an abundance of print and online resources that have greatly improved both our report preparation efficiency and effectiveness. Simply put, we have access to better information and are more productive in our engagements. Certainly, clients benefit from that increased access and productivity, but it comes at our ever-growing out-of-pocket library expense. So how do we recover that library cost? In this article, the author describes four practices used by his colleagues. Many of us are looking at the costs of running our practices and wondering how to run a leaner, cleaner…
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The Future is Here This article describes the background, concepts behind, and implications of blockchain technology deployment for commercial, governmental, and personal use. QuickRead readers are aware of proposals to move entirely away from cash (bills and coins) for daily transactions. Such a move is expected to create a major inconvenience for those without access to credit cards and basic banking services. Readers are also acutely aware of the huge number of significant cybersecurity events which continue to adversely affect millions of people all over the world, shaking user and consumer confidence in the dependability of the custodians of our sensitive…
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Five Ways Professional Services Websites Fall Short (Part I of II) Business leaders today know that how a firm’s website is planned and organized matters more than ever. What worked well enough five years ago to separate your firm from your competition may simply not work today. At Hinge, we audit hundreds of professional services websites a year—and we see many of the same mistakes repeated. In this article, I will explore five of the most fundamental mistakes professional services firms make long before a single page has been designed and published. Whether it was due to a broken planning…
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with “Pinkcast” Daniel H. Pink is author of six provocative works about business and human behavior. His website contains videos and newsletters. In this article, Rod Burkert describes how Pinkcast changed the way he marketed, and provides six reasons why BVFLS professionals may want to consider Pinkcast as a resource. Do you struggle putting pen to paper … figuring out what to say in a 300–900-word dispatch on a client-centric blog or newsletter … or having no time to work a regular written publication into your schedule? If you have a smartphone and 120 seconds, I have a solution. Before…
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to Convert Leads into New Business In this post, Dr. Frederiksen shares some thoughts on ways to use virtual marketing to increase visibility, communicate your expertise, and build engagement with prospects. In the age of COVID-19, these marketing techniques are essential to a firm’s survival. In my most recent post, I explained some key advantages of virtual marketing over more traditional approaches. In this post, I will share some thoughts on ways to use virtual marketing to increase visibility, communicate your expertise, and build engagement with prospects. In the age of COVID-19, these marketing techniques are essential to a firm’s…
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Here’s How to Land Them What is an aspirational client? How can valuation professionals find and engage them? In this article, Rod Burkert shares his insight and experience finding aspirational clients. Aspirational clients. Who are they? What steps does it take to land them? Why are they important to our practice growth? When we started our practices, we were happy with the clients we got because we needed the cash flow to pay the bills. Being picky was not a luxury we could initially afford. But as time marched on, has your client base remained a hodge-podge or has it…
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Marketing During COVID-19 and Beyond Over the past few months, COVID-19 has become a household word, and shelter-in-place orders have rocked the business world. Small wonder that the concept of virtual marketing and business development has jumped to center stage. Nearly overnight, thousands of professional services firms have begun scrambling to figure out how to replace the only marketing approach they have ever known: old-school, in-person networking and referrals. In this post, the author describes some lessons learned by Hinge Marketing to help readers gauge where their firm is currently. The author also describes some approaches that are already working…
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Seven Things You Can Do When You Have Nothing To Do You were humming along nicely … until the shelter-in-place orders hit. All cylinders were firing. You were busy! And now you are not … or not as. What do you do with the (hopefully temporary) lull? Panic? Or use the opportunity to systematically find more work? You were humming along nicely … until the shelter-in-place orders hit. All cylinders were firing. You were busy! And now you are not … or not as. What do you do with the (hopefully temporary) lull? Panic? Or use the opportunity to systematically…
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Target Market Research Why do some professional services firms grow faster than others? The 2020 High Growth Study provides insights on this topic—and on the impact of doing original research about one’s target audience. The author in this article shares the value of target marketing. Why do some professional services firms grow faster than others? The 2020 High Growth Study provides insights on this topic—and on the impact of doing original research about one’s target audience. The data is compelling. Simply put, firms that conduct frequent research on their target audiences grow faster. As shown in Figure 1, doing even…
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Are You Discounting or Negotiating? Are you discounting your project price? Negotiating the project’s price? Are these acceptable in the current economic environment? Here, Rod Burkert answers these questions. The times are certainly a bit crazy. And we are all doing what we can to pivot and survive. But discounting your pricing doesn’t have to be one of the tactics you pursue. You can already guess that discounting and negotiating are not the same things—though I am telling you that one-way negotiating (and we do a lot of that) is discounting. Discounting is definitely a problem … negotiating, less so…
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Four Key Differentiators that Lead to Success Hinge Research Institute conducted a study that involved 230 accounting and financial services firms. This 2020 High Growth Study includes extensive information on what sets apart high growth firms from its competitors in the study. It focused on those that had experienced 20% or greater compound annual growth in revenue over a three-year period. This article provides an overview of critical findings. It is no secret that certain accounting and financial services firms grow faster than others. At the Hinge Research Institute, we have been interested in understanding why and how—specifically, what types…
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Opportunities Available to Drive Revenue and Remain Relevant Q1 2020 is already in the books. If you are thinking about your practice development goals, strategies, and tactics for the rest of the year, Rod Burkert has some ideas regarding what to do and identifies the opportunities associated with five options. Hard to believe that Q1 2020 is already in the books. And you might be thinking about your practice development goals, strategies, and tactics for the rest of the year. What we can achieve (goals) and how we achieve it (strategies and tactics) will be affected by forces that influence…
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Relevance and Alternate Approaches to Succeed Traditionally, accounting and financial services organizations have relied on their firms’ partners to “make it rain” or by using their connections, both personal and professional, along with a sprinkling of charisma, to bring in new business and revenue. How effective is this traditional model in a technology driven world where buyers of services can now access more information than ever to use in their decision-making strategies? Dr. Frederiksen discuss the relevancy of this traditional model. Traditionally, accounting and financial services organizations have relied on their firms’ partners to “make it rain” or by using…
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Get Clients to Count on Your Accounting Is it the valuation of a small privately held company with three employees? Or a large multi-national with employees in the thousands? Perhaps it is reviewing assets in a highly contested divorce. One way or another, you are trying to reach a decision, an opinion, or a conclusion from the data in front of you. Using big data, you must compose a story and present the data in a manner that is compelling and memorable. This article discusses the importance of embracing big data and showcasing one’s expertise. Is it the valuation of…
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You Can Do It, Too How should a BVFLS practitioner first engage a prospective client? In this article, the author discusses how he engages prospects and the fee questions. It all starts with a phone call and the much-dreaded question: How much would you charge to value ABC Industries, Inc.? I don’t know … would you like me to guess? I mean, how could I possibly know without more details? For more years than I care to admit, those requests for ballpark fees were gut wrenching … because I believed that if I didn’t throw out a fee estimate quickly…
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New Study Spotlights Five Proven Strategies There is an easy way to identify the most effective strategies for rapid growth. For the fifth year in a row, the Hinge Research Institute conducted a comprehensive study of more than 1,000 professional services firms. Specifically, Hinge looked at what “high-growth” firms (those with at least three years of 20% compound annual growth) do differently than firms that are not growing at all. This article highlights five proven growth strategies. Professional services firms face many new challenges, from talent shortages and changes in buyer behavior to the impact of technology and automation—and…
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Get New Work at Fees I Can Live With When it comes to getting new work, one of the required steps is writing what amounts to a combined proposal/engagement letter. It’s more of a proposal if you’re assuming what the prospect wants; it’s more of an engagement letter if you spend time finding out what the prospect needs. But semantics aside, preparing these letters is a lot of work. Given that, what is your proposal win percentage? Are you content with your fees on the proposals you win? If your answer is “no” or “not always,” this article may help.…
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Nine Steps to Engage Your Audience Hinge’s latest research on high-growth accounting and financial services firms makes the case that your firm should consider adding educational webinars into your marketing mix. Hinge’s latest research on high-growth accounting and financial services firms makes the case that your firm should consider adding educational webinars into your marketing mix. Why? Well only 34.9% of these firms reported that they conducted webinars last year—and it seems that for those who did, they were worth the effort. In terms of perceived impact, conducting educational webinars was the third most impactful marketing technique used in this…
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For 2020 and Beyond Merriam-Webster dictionary defines blockchain as a digital database containing information (such as records of financial transactions) that can be simultaneously used and shared within a large decentralized, publicly accessible network. In this article, the author predicts blockchain trends and its impacts of the accounting profession. With a new year comes changes across multiple facets of the accounting vertical, and there has arguably been no trend and tool that has dominated the accounting conversation more than blockchain technology and its applications. Since its launch from obscurity to the mainstream business and accounting conversation, blockchain and its applications—including…
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About Your BVFLS Practice? There are three ways to deliver professional services. The benefits and detriments of each are discussed in this article. The author also shares his opinion regarding what model(s) BVFLS practitioners should adopt. We’re supposed to be smart, sophisticated, experienced business appraisers who deliver insights that assess value. Why, then, do most of us operate with a one-dimensional business model? You know, the thing that generates our cash flow and having a high “practice specific risk premium.” What would an experienced appraiser say about our BVFLS practices? There are three ways to deliver professional services like ours.…