rod burkert

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Client Experience: what is it … do we have it

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I received some great feedback from our last conversation about reciprocating referrals. It seems like most of us are in the same boat … we get more referrals than we could ever possibly hope to return. So we do our best by promising to do good work. It makes for an interesting segue into today’s discussion.

Customer experience is all the rage now. Everywhere you look (if you’re looking), businesses are trying to redefine what it means to be their customer so they can keep the customer. But who is a customer to us? Is it the referral source or their client? And what customer experience can we create for them?

And if you’re new here, welcome aboard. This is what we do!

When it comes to knowing what to do and how to do it, landing new clients can seem like a long winding road. The seasoned professionals in our BVFLS industry can help you shave off some of those switchbacks and hairpin turns. Starting next week, you will be able to register for the inaugural episode of Practice Development INSIDER, the new webinar series I’ve created.

Scheduled Q3 guests are Chris Mercer (Jul 12), Jim Hitchner (Aug 2), and Nancy Fannon (Sep 6). You will notice that all of the webinars are on Fridays … because there is no better day for winding down the week and working on your practice.

Client experience … who is our client

Do you consider your clients to be your referral sources or their clients? Given the once-and-done nature of almost all of my valuation and litigation engagements, I consider referral sources to be my clients – but I also know I have to keep my clients’ clients happy.

Most businesses don’t have to worry about creating a positive experience for a client and the client’s client – but we do.

Client experience … what is it

A recent article in Accounting Today says, “ ‘Client experience’ is best defined as how you meet your clients’ needs at every point over the lifespan of the relationship.” So think about every point of our interaction with clients (and clients’ clients).

It starts with the moment our client walks in our door (well, your office door … certainly not my RV door). But do clients even come to your office, or do you go to theirs as a matter of convenience? Maybe that is one part of the client experience we create.

It ends with the delivery of the report, which we most often deliver to the referral source, not their client; and the quality of our report then filters back to their client. But the fact is that the quality of the report, alone, is no longer enough of a differentiator in our world.

Client experience … why is it important

From that Accounting Today article, the research company Gartner is quoted as saying 89% of businesses today expect to compete mostly on client experience, versus only 36% four years ago. That’s a huge shift.

For the BVFLS profession, this means that to effectively compete on a playing field that continues to level out, mastering the client experience is key to attracting and maintaining our clients so we can level up.

Client experience … how to create it

If the client experience involves every interaction we have with them, we need to evaluate every step we take our clients through. Here are some ideas I have written about previously.

And by easy, I mostly mean less friction. For example, I removed all of the legalese from my engagement letters so they are easier to understand.

And my engagement letters don’t have to be signed/returned. Payment of the retainer constitutes the client’s acceptance of all terms and conditions.

And that payment can be made via PayPal, ACH payment, or wire transfer.

What feedback do you get throughout the engagement and at the end of it? Because we can’t improve the client experience if we don’t know how/where we are falling short.

Here are five questions I ask:

  1. How did you find me?
  2. Why did you hire me?
  3. Is there one thing I do better than others you work with?
  4. Is there one thing I could have done to create a better experience for you?
  5. Do you recommend me to others? Why or why not?

I know … we dread talking to clients about this stuff. But if we ask these questions, just the act of doing so might differentiate us from our competition from our clients’ perspective.

Our services aren’t cheap. And yet, how many of us regularly check in with fee-paying clients during engagements to let them know about the progress we’re making?

Because they are paying for the right to receive the service … have it delivered on time, as promised … and be kept up-to-date all along the way.

It’s also what we would expect and want if we plunked down a 4- or 5-figure sum for similar professional services.

So what

Many professional service companies are recognizing the importance of delivering a rich client experience to differentiate themselves from the competition. Will you be one of them? Because your report isn’t the only deliverable you are being judged on.

In real life

When you think about every interaction you have with clients, what does your overall client experience look like? And how does the experience you offer now make your clients feel?

And even if we perform transactional services (like tax- or fair value-purpose valuations), I believe the key to providing better client experiences lies in making them feel that we provide transformational services.

Related posts

Make it easy for prospects and clients to work with you
Why you should call your BVFLS clients every Friday
5 questions you should ask to get critical client feedback

Reading that can help

Client experience is where it’s at from Accounting Today.

Cheers!

 

 

 

Action Items:

– If you like what I write about, tell a colleague.

– If something resonates and you want to reach out directly, email me.

– If you think we share common interests, connect with me on LinkedIn.

– If you want a sense of how well your practice is working for you, take this Practice Self Assessment.

The referral reciprocity conundrum

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I hope you found our last conversation about shadowing attorneys’ online activities to be useful. Attorneys are trying to get in front of the same audience we are – business owners and the people who influence them. So why not emulate the marketing tools and social media activities attorneys use to get noticed by them?

On to this week. When an attorney, banker, CPA, or wealth planner refers business to us, it can feel like we should refer business back to them (because, surely, everyone is keeping score). And we do that when we can. But in reality, we can’t refer to everyone because we likely don’t have that many referrals to make. What’s a BVFLS professional to do?

Also, the changes to your LI profile that I wrote about last month now appear to have been rolled out to everyone.

And if you’re new here, welcome aboard. This is what we do!

If you could assemble our industry’s top BVFLS professionals, what would you want to ask them about how they built their practices? Or where they spend their marketing budgets? Or what they would do to promote their firms if they were starting over today?

Starting in July, I will be presenting live, online interviews with an incredible line-up of seasoned practitioners who will share their experiences, insights, and secret sauce. Together, they will provide answers to questions that can elevate your practice development results. Stay tuned.

When it comes to asking other professionals for referrals, we are like Pac Man running around the game board gobbling up sources and leads. Because the more referrals we get … the more opportunities we have to convert … the more engagements we land. Life is good.

But how do we or can we reciprocate the generosity of our referrers? Yes, we can send gift baskets or other similar tokens of appreciation, but let’s face it – it’s not the same as referring back a four- or five-figure client.

So what are the stumbling blocks for us? There are two, I think.

  1. We are the problem solvers, not the problem finders! And we generally only become aware of problems after we learn about them from the referrer. We only know so-and-so has an estate plan to execute after we hear about it from the estate planning attorney.
  2. We are building or already have many, many relationships with referral sources, all of whom perform the same kind of service, e.g., litigation attorneys. Who do we pick? And the wicket gets stickier if our practices and our referral sources are concentrated in a geographic area.

That said, I think the larger your practice/firm, the more projects you work on, the more opportunities you will have to make referrals back to the professionals who refer you.

Conversely, the smaller your practice/firm, the more difficult making referrals become. And if you are a 1-3 person firm, I think you are pretty much SOL. But that’s ok.

So how have I “solved” the referral reciprocity conundrum?

I have found that the best I can do is to promise an attorney who referred me into an engagement that I will make them look good to their client by hiring me. Then I deliver on that promise. Most times, this is all the attorney is really looking for.

What has your experience been?

So what

I don’t know of any BVFLS professional for whom referrals are not the lifeblood of their practices. I am not saying those professionals don’t exist … just that I don’t of any. Maybe you do.

I do know several BVFLS professionals who are making more of an effort to market directly to business owners (particularly in the exit planning arena), but even then they are hoping that those business owners refer other business owners.

So it all really comes down to referrals.

In real life

Let’s be clear about one thing – the difference between a referral and a recommendation. A referral means being part of a short list. When you get referred, there will likely be two or three others on the list, and the fee-paying prospect/client makes the choice.

A recommendation means you are the short list. You are the only person being considered. The recommender says to her client, “If you need someone to help grow your practice, Rod is the person you should talk to.” The recommender makes the choice for her client.

What do you need to do/become in order to be recommended, not referred?

Related posts

I feel awkward asking clients for referrals. Here’s what I’m doing about it.
How many BVFLS referral sources do you need?

Reading that can help

How to Get Referrals Without Referring Back (an interesting read about the thinking that drives referrals amongst attorneys)

Cheers!

 

 

 

Action Items:

– If you like what I write about, tell a colleague.

– If something resonates and you want to reach out directly, email me.

– If you think we share common interests, connect with me on LinkedIn.

– If you want a sense of how well your practice is working for you, take this Practice Self Assessment.

To get more work from attorneys, shadow their online activities

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I hope our last conversation about one person’s practice specialization success inspires you to focus more on the work you like doing and the clients you enjoy serving. The path to specialization will have potholes and you won’t get there overnight, but it will lead you to become the kind of expert you would want to hire.

On to this week. Probably everyone reading this newsletter gets some goodly portion of their work from attorneys. If we want more work from attorneys, we have to know where they are and what they are doing so we can be in front of them when they need our services. How do we do that?

And if you’re new here, welcome aboard. This is what we do!

COMING SOON TO A THEATER NEAR YOU!

Imagine sitting down every month with a BVFLS leader you respect … whose goal is to share with you the strategies and tactics they’ve used to grow their practices … and what they would do now if they were starting over today. Well, it would be a lot like the new interview series I am launching! Who do you think I’ll be talking with first?

According to BVR’s 2019 Firm Economics and Best Practices Guide, BVFLS firms that get work from attorneys get about 44% of their revenue from this source, as shown below. Further, 40% of all BVFLS firms in the BVR survey said they received more than half of their work from attorneys … not a surprising statistic when you consider the FLS firms.

If we want to get in front of attorneys, it would be helpful if we knew where they are spending their time, yes? And while I can’t tell you what they are doing offline to grow their practices, I found a report that tells us what attorneys are doing online.

Jay Harrington, a colleague who specializes in practice development for law firms just published a law firm content marketing survey. The report is not that long and you can read it here.

But as it relates to being where the attorneys are online, here are the two most important pieces of information I took away from Jay’s report.

#1 – The most common marketing tools attorneys use to create and promote their content are social media, email marketing, newsletters, and webinars.

#2 – Attorneys use several social media platforms to promote and share their content, with LinkedIn being the most prominent. (But note that a significant percentage of attorneys also use Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.)

Reading between the lines, we can build online relationships with attorneys (which will bolster the in-person relationships we may already have with some of them) with these action steps:

  • Get their emails, subscribe to their newsletters, and attend their webinars.
  • Like, comment on, and share their LinkedIn content.
  • Create, promote, and share our own content to educate them about who we are and what we do.

So what

Ultimately, attorneys are trying to get in front of the same audience we are – business owners AND the people who influence them. Why not emulate the marketing tools and social media platforms attorneys are using to get noticed by them?

In real life

Yes, the action steps I suggested will take some effort. But if you are essentially an introvert (like me), shadowing them online is an efficient alternative.

Related posts

My process for finding and sharing valuable content on LinkedIn every day
This is why you are not generating leads for BVFLS services on LinkedIn
Do you have a targeted list of LinkedIn connections?

Cheers!

 

 

 

Action Items:

– If you like what I write about, tell a colleague.

– If something resonates and you want to reach out directly, email me.

– If you think we share common interests, connect with me on LinkedIn.

– If you want a sense of how well your practice is working for you, take this Practice Self Assessment.

$3 million in practice revenue by specializing

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Greetings from the Finger Lakes. The RV is parked on the east shore of Lake Seneca where we will be touring several wineries in the area. This is our third time visiting the Finger Lakes … because you never know where a new best Riesling will be found.

I hope you found our last conversation about growing your practice with speaking gigs to be useful. Several of you said you would keep my four questions in mind when crafting your next presentation. And many of you liked the four performance tips I passed on – especially the “workhorse presentation” idea.

On to this week. Speaking of feedback. I received an email from someone who talked about the incredible financial success they had because they specialized in an industry niche. And they also wanted to know my thoughts about the impact of AI on our profession. See the email below.

And if you’re new here, welcome aboard. This is what we do!

It is easier and more profitable to demonstrate that you are different …
Than to say you are better.

So here is the email I received.

Thoughts on specialization

$3 million in annual revenue from specializing – in veterinarian practices of all things. Who woulda thunk it? I would have!

I have been preaching the benefits of specialization for a long time. It is a theme, if not a mantra, of mine. Specialization doesn’t limit you – it focuses you.

Will the transition from generalist to specialist be scary? Of course it will be! Just remember, you get there over time, not over night. And many people have done it before you, including this person.

Hey, can everyone make $3 million in/from their specialty? It’s a combination of pricing and leverage … and 1:many products that you may be able sell to your audience as a result of your expertise.

Side note: I found it interesting that this person chose to specialize in veterinarians. There is a great case study in Jay Baer’s Youtility for Accountants about a Texas accounting firm that has all the work it can handle as a result of specializing in this same niche.

Thoughts on AI

As far as data science/AI go I think there are several factors in play.

#1, BVFLS is such a small niche. I wonder if the players will invest the time and money to create AI tools to penetrate the niche for what I imagine will be a small(ish) ROI. I also know from hearing Chris Mercer speak that he thinks this way, too.

#2, that said, I certainly think we are seeing these tools make inroads into the Reporting and Regulatory tiers of our service matrix (see below). Our practices will become more challenging/less profitable in those tiers as undifferentiated appraiser competition increases and DIY websites offer free or near-free valuation solutions to a growing and more-accepting client base.

Source: Ron Everett, CVA, CBA | Business Valuation Center

#3, for the shorter term (say at least the next 5 years), I think “traditional” BVFLS practices will survive/thrive in the litigation, consulting, and transactional tiers of our service matrix … primarily because the action steps/decision-making process in these tiers are not standardized or easily replicable. And it is those kinds of tasks where AI is supposed to make the biggest splash first. And again, go back to #1. But after, say, 2025 I think all bets are off. It’s hard to believe valuations will continue at such a labor-intensive pace. I feel the same way about income tax preparation services.

#4 is an extension of #3. I think we need to watch out for our referral sources. For example, if, as they say, many legal tasks will be machine-learned out of existence, that means many lawyers and law practices could go out of existence. I think the same could happen to wealth planners, financial advisors, and insurance people. If we are getting a large portion of our work from these sources, we need to be ready to pivot if/when the fallout happens.

#5 is an extension of #4. The people in the BVFLS profession fall all over themselves to get referral work from attorneys (it almost makes you feel sorry for the attorneys because they are such an important gatekeeper for all kinds of services and so all kinds of service providers want to get in bed with them). In the latest BVR Firm Economics and Best Practices Guide, attorneys were (again) listed as the #1 source for landing work. I think a better lead generation strategy, in light of #4, is to more closely align ourselves with the business owners in our niche and the industry associates/trade organizations that support them so we can create a different kind/source of word-of-mouth referrals.

So what

Many practitioners try to be all things to all people.
They are available to everyone who COULD hire them.
But that’s not how buyers choose an expert … and it’s not how you choose an expert either.
Don’t be afraid to specialize and be the kind of expert you would want to hire.

Related posts

How buyers of professional services select experts like us
The predicament of a generalist – why you need to specialize

Big Data Valuations: What we BV experts are up against
Big Data Valuations: What you said about them

Cheers!

 

 

 

Action Items:

– If you like what I write about, tell a colleague.

– If something resonates and you want to reach out directly, email me.

– If you think we share common interests, connect with me on LinkedIn.

– If you want a sense of how well your practice is working for you, take this Practice Self Assessment.

Do you grow your practice with speaking gigs? Here’s how to hit a home run.

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I continue to get most of my valuation and coaching work through LinkedIn. Part of the reason is that I stay on top of the changes LI makes to my profile that my leads and prospects see. So I hope last week’s conversation about the latest LI profile changes was helpful and that you take advantage of the suggested workarounds.

On to this week. From TED curator Chris Anderson: Speaking isn’t an optional extra for the few. It’s a core skill for the 21st century. It’s the most impactful way to share who you are and what you care about. So, do you use speaking as a means to grow your practice? And what does it take to be a good (or better) speaker?

And if you’re new here, welcome aboard. This is what we do!

Not everyone loves marketing and selling.

So think of it as your opportunity to tell a story about the work you do, why you do it, and how you got started. It’s guaranteed to make you look and feel less salesy.

My first presentation for the express purpose of growing my BVFLS practice occurred in 1993 … and I’ve presented 84 more times since then. I speak because I enjoy it … and I am getting better at it.

Do you want to use speaking as a tactic for growing your practice?
Are you good at it? Do you wish you were better?

Well, this isn’t going to be a compilation of all of the speaking advice that has ever been published – though as I write this, I would buy that book. But based on my speaking successes and failures, here is some advice I think is worth passing on.

How to use speaking to grow your practice

There are two fundamental questions I ask myself every time I craft a presentation to make sure it has my audience’s best interests in mind:

  • What is the core message I want to get across?
  • Why does it matter to my audience?

This serves me well whether I am speaking to 1-3 people in a company about why they should hire me to value their business, 10-15 people in a private banking group who want to learn about some aspect of valuation (e.g., the TCJA impact on business values), or 50-100 people at a BVFLS conference session who are interested in a valuation service I provide (e.g., report review).

Then, I answer these questions to make sure my presentation also has my best interests in mind:

  • How does this presentation fit into my business plan?
  • What do I need attendees to do when I’m done?

Answering all of these questions keeps my presentation focused, my audience interested, and my business model happy.

What does it take to be a better speaker

I won’t say what you should or shouldn’t do on stage because we each have our own style. For example, I’m a walker. No matter how hard I try, I can’t stay and speak in a 3-foot radius. That’s a cardinal sin when speaking. No one is perfect.

Instead, here are the best four things I’ve learned to do before I hit the stage so I can be better on stage – my roaming notwithstanding.

#1 – A workhorse presentation

I have a “workhorse” presentation that I constantly refine. In 2018, I spoke 14 times on the subject of How to Turn the Practice You Have Into the Practice You Want; it was my theme for the year. This year, my workhorse presentation is How to Scale Your Business Model; I expect to speak as many times on that theme.

Sticking with a theme builds your Authority in the practice area or industry niche you want to be known for. And having a workhorse presentation allows you to constantly refine the message. Also, it takes less time to prepare for an event because you are only ever speaking about one theme.

Here is a great example of a great speaker who does a great job with a workhorse subject: Roger Grabowski. All he ever speaks about is cost of capital. It is the space where he created his Authority and where it rests. (It would do him little good to discuss DLOMs, even though he assuredly applies them in his reports, because that is not what he wants to be known for.) And every year there is a workhorse “update” presentation that provides the latest information to all of the groups he addresses.

#2 – Don’t wait till the last minute

When an opportunity comes up to speak about something not covered by my workhorse presentation, I allow a lot of time to gather my thoughts and create my draft slides.

For example, l landed a speaking gig in mid-April. I’ve had conversations with the organizers, we’ve agreed on the message, and I already started a “notes & thoughts” file for a presentation I won’t be giving until October 28.

#3 – Limit your material

My presentations only have one core message. And I only discuss three points that support it. Why only three points? Because research shows that is all we can hold/process in our short-term memory. Go beyond three and you risk losing your audience.

I make my three points easy to formulate and remember for every presentation I give: WHAT the audience needs to know; WHY it is or should be important to them; and a little of HOW to get moving in the right direction. (I don’t give my audience all of the HOW because that is why they hire me!)

#4 – Rehearse

I rehearse because I want the audience to know that I know what I am talking about. And I don’t want to read (or even look at) my slides. But I need to rehearse less as the year goes on because I will have already given my presentation X times before.

I also rehearse to get my timing down. Generally, an important part of my presentation comes at the end when I am discussing the HOW (and the logic for hiring me). I don’t want this part of the message to be rushed because I didn’t manage my time and just got the 5 MINUTES TO GO sign from the moderator and-now-I-have-to-cram-everything-left-to-be-said-and-rush-through-the-remaining-slides-so-I-can-finish-on-time.

So what

Almost every prominent, successful practitioner I know got there because they used a combination of speaking and writing to build their Authority. Nuff said.

In real life

I drafted this newsletter in the Amtrak waiting area at New York’s Penn Station, having just finished my 85th presentation, How to Scale Your Business Model, to the NYSSCPA BV Conference.

I am not sure it was a “conference.” It didn’t feel like a conference because there were more people attending online than in person. Online attendance is a growing audience trend and something to keep in mind when you are speaking … because how do you “reach out and touch someone” who isn’t there?

Related posts

5 steps to prospect speaking success
Why I promote my speaking events on LinkedIn … and you should, too

Reading that can help

How to write a great talk: murder your darlings by Nancy Duarte
19 Powerful Presentation Stats to Transform Talks in 2019 by Alexa Harrison
(both are really good reads)

Cheers!

 

 

 

Action Items:

– If you like what I write about, tell a colleague.

– If something resonates and you want to reach out directly, email me.

– If you think we share common interests, connect with me on LinkedIn.

– If you want a sense of how well your practice is working for you, take this Practice Self Assessment.