Blog - rod burkert

Perform file autopsies if you want to build a better practice

July 27, 2015 by rod burkert Leave a Comment

I hope you found some helpful tips from our last conversation about speaking to prospects. This post includes a free coaching tool that I think you’ll find useful.

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

Quincy … CSI (pick a city) … Bones … Crossing Jordan … Body of Proof … Just a few medical examiner TV shows that I can recall off the top of my head. The docs are working toward a common goal – determining how their victims lived and died.

Not to be overly dramatic, but 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?

So if you’re interested in (a) identifying the work you love to do, (b) learning how to serve your clients better, and (c) seeing your profits grow … you may want to spend some time playing medical examiner.

Imagine your old engagement files on the slab, so to speak. Time to open them up and perform an autopsy. Here’s one way to go about it. Pick up a scalpel and …

#1 – Grab five of your old engagement files that have been closed for at least a year. Though you can choose files randomly, it might work better if you select some know you liked and others that you’d rather never think about again.

#2 – For each file, complete a File Autopsy using this downloadable toolkit. Be brutally honest as you answer questions, which include:

About the client:

Did the client like me? Did I like the client?
Were the client’s expectations met?
How would this client describe me to their peers?
What value did I deliver? Where was that demonstrated?

About the work:

Did I like the work?
Was I good at it? How could I have done better?
If I liked the work, should I become an expert at it?
If I didn’t like the work, how can I do less of it?

About the money:

Was this a profitable matter for me to work on?
Were my time budget and fee estimate accurate?
Did the client feel my fees were fair?
If I quoted this engagement again, what would I do differently?

Kitchen sink stuff:

With 20/20 hindsight, should I have taken on this engagement?
Were there any red flags I should have noticed?
Did I worry or lose sleep over this engagement?
Did I produce anything that can be re-used or re-purposed in a future engagement?

#3 – Every week, rinse and repeat with a few more files. If you used staff on the project, ask for their input as well.

Write down the common themes (good or bad) you start seeing.

So what

Once you’ve performed 20-30 autopsies, you should have a better sense of the work you like to do, the clients you enjoy serving, and alternative ways to price your services. But more importantly, you’ll understand the work you don’t like, the clients you don’t want, and the pricing mistakes you don’t need. Who doesn’t want that!

In real life

After you’ve completed the file autopsies on your old engagements, stay current going forward by using the same form as an After Action Review on your just-completed engagements. Not only will this keep you focused on the work you want, you’ll constantly be looking for better ways to serve your client and price your services.

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.

5 steps to prospect speaking success

July 20, 2015 by rod burkert Leave a Comment

I hope you got something out of our last conversation about attracting your ideal client. Here is another piece I think you will find useful – speaking to your prospects.

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

I subscribe to CJ Hayden’s “Get Clients Now” monthly e-letter. You might consider subscribing, too. Below is CJ’s 7/10/15 issue, verbatim, that you can easily relate to your BVFLS practice. It is all about a core authority building strategy regardless of your practice area or industry niche: public speaking.

“I’ve had several speaking engagements lately,” my client told me, “but I’m not getting any clients from them. I know speaking helps other people get business. What am I doing wrong?”

Public speaking can be a powerful approach to building your business as a self-employed professional. It’s always been a significant component of my own marketing plan, and it’s served me well. But it’s not just the exposure of speaking in public that produces results; there’s more that goes into it. Here are five steps to make sure your speaking gigs bring you paying clients.

#1 – Speak to the right audience

When you are new to public speaking, it’s okay to speak anywhere that will invite you, just to gain experience and a track record. But for speaking to turn into paying business, you must get in front of your ideal clients. Speaking is a time-consuming activity; you need to use it judiciously. Instead of speaking to audiences that might contain a few prospects, seek out groups with a profile that closely matches your most desired target market.

#2 – Choose the best topic

There may be dozens of topics you could speak on, but they won’t all be equally attractive to prospective clients. What is the number one issue that a new client typically brings to you? That’s what you should be speaking about. Picture one of your favorite clients, and make a list of the questions and problems that client asked you to help with when you first began working together. This will help you design a topic to attract more clients like that one.

#3 – Showcase your expertise

Take every opportunity to show the audience that you are an expert. Write your own bio for the organizers to use when promoting your talk and introducing you at the event. Make sure it includes the most impressive elements of your credentials. Give examples from your work when you speak, and tell stories about the positive results you’ve produced for your clients. Allow yourself to shine.

#4 – Deliver a memorable experience

Craft your talk to provide your audience with takeaways – key ideas, realizations, or action steps that they will carry away with them. Give them something tangible to remember you by, such as a handout or tip sheet (with all your contact information, of course). Prepare and practice so you can present without being glued to your notes. This will allow you to better connect with your audience.

#5 – Follow up with everyone who attends

This crucial step can make the difference between a talk that brings only applause and a talk that brings clients. If the organizers will not be sharing the guest list with you, hold a drawing for a book, CD, DVD, or other gift to collect contact information from the audience. After the program, contact each audience member to thank them for attending, offer to answer questions about your topic, and ask if you can stay in touch.

So what

Many people list public speaking high on their list of fears … and I am not sure why. No one in the audience is hoping you fail. If you want to get started join your local Toastmasters group or talk to a successful public speaking colleague who can give you some tips.

In real life

Public speaking can help you fill your marketing pipeline while boosting your credibility. Follow these five steps, and you’ll begin to see why so many of your fellow practitioners swear by public speaking as one path to getting new clients.

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.

Attracting ideal clients: who are your bestest ones

July 13, 2015 by rod burkert Leave a Comment

Do your referral sources know who your ideal client is? Do you?

I am making a concerted effort to reinvent my practice. This is my second time retooling … the first time was when I started traveling full time in the RV in March 2010 and began offering my report review and project consulting services.

I am moving from compliance-type, tax purpose business valuations to using valuations as the cornerstone of my new transition planning consulting practice. Goodbye BUM, CAPM, and formal IRS reports. Hello IPCPL, completed transactions, and client-tailored “PowerPoint” reports!

As part of my makeover, I put together a profile of my ideal client – the modern term for this is an “avatar.” I sat down for a few hours and imagined (fantasized, really) what a stable of my newest, bestest clients would look like:

Who would be fun and interesting?
Who would excite me?
Who would I not get tired of serving?

From this imagining came my value proposition. And my elevator pitch and my new firm tagline. And the layout of my new website. Even my new report format.

Everything flowed (gushed, really) from MY understanding of what MY ideal client looks like. The process then allowed me to create a template that I can fold into an email or letter of introduction so I can tell my current referral sources EXACTLY what I am up to and what kind of client I can/will serve best.

So what about y’all? What thought have you given to your ideal client avatar? Do your referral sources know? Your friends? Family? Here are some things you might consider … remember, it’s your fantasy.

#1 – Type of valuation work you want to perform

Yep, the s-word (specialization) rears its ugly head. But when YOU have a problem in your home/business that you want to be solved – on time, with certainty – do you call a generalist or a specialist?

#2 – Type of business

Seems to me you can specialize by type of work or type of business: service, manufacturing, distribution, healthcare, software, pharma, etc. I just talked to someone who mentioned an appraiser with a multi-six figure practice who specializes in veterinary practices, of all things.

#3 – Size of business

I hear that valuing large companies is sexier than their (much) smaller brethren. But based on the experience of my business valuation practice, I know this smaller market segment is underappreciated, underserved, and wants/needs help. Then there is the supply and demand thing … there are a lot more smaller companies out there.

#4 – Male or female

Don’t laugh. A female appraiser serving mostly women-owned businesses could be a heck of a niche. This is already playing out in the VC world as a backlash to what is considered a predominantly male-dominated field: women-owned VC firms are being created to cater to women-owned startups.

#5 – Geographic location

If that matters to you. Just remember, we are living in a time when our clients can come from anywhere in the world. And, frankly, the same is true of our competition. It’s a big world that is getting smaller every day.

#6 – How you charge for your work

Hourly or flat fee, bordering on value-based pricing? And for those who roll their eyes at value-based pricing, the biggest pressure to change is being exerted on law firms, you know, one of our biggest sources of referrals. So they get it.

#7 – How you want to get paid

Still by check or are you ready for the brave new world of PayPal, ACH payment, and bank wire transfers. I’ve generally found clients to be very receptive to not having to write more checks.

So what

So there you go. Use this list to (re)create your own client avatar. And then let your referral sources know the kind of referrals you’re looking for.

In real life

I imagine this process sounds like a woo-hoo, New Age exercise. But really, do you or your referral sources really know who your ideal client is? Because marketing to everyone is marketing to no one. Who do you serve best?

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.