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.…
-
-
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…
-
Here is How I Changed my Mindset Asking for a referral may seem egotistical and a bit self-centered, but it is also a good business practice. In this article, Rod Burkert shares two personal obstacles he overcame that kept him from asking for referrals and what changed his mind on this matter. When it comes to building a pipeline of work, referrals are the lifeblood of a BVFLS practice. So why did I feel so awkward asking my clients for them? What was my problem? Turns out there were two. Problem #1 The first problem was my personality. I know…
-
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…
-
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 process of developing a referral marketing strategy, and then discuss some of the most effective tactics his firm has seen.
-
EY looks to hire 15,200 employees by July 1, and that effort includes the use of candidate-relationship software to interact even before the application is finalized. After a hire is made, the company uses a digital learning software for onboarding. To read the full article in Fast Company, click: Hiring Lessons from the Company Adding More Than 15,000 Employees in One Year.
-
How do Sponsorships Rank as a Strategy for Business Development? How effective are sponsorships developing business leads? Sponsorships provide visibility to a captive audience and ideally convey the firm’s commitment to the cause or event. In this article, Dr. Frederiksen shares his findings on this subject, as well as discusses findings involving the pay to play sponsorships and the community sponsorship models.
-
Grow and Retain Your Referral Base Today’s valuation firms rely heavily on referrals to produce new leads and revenues. According to a new study by NACVA and Hinge Marketing, most firms could be getting far more referrals if they made a few changes to their marketing. This article shares the findings.
-
The Growing Importance of Social Media and Marketing Expertise Referrals are an old standard—perhaps the old standard—for growing your practice. For the better part of the last century, firms have worked under a simple assumption: do good work for your clients, network with referral sources such as attorneys and CPAs, and you will win new business through referrals. In this article, the author discusses the viability of this and emerging models.