rod burkert

Turn the practice you have into the practice you want!

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The Titanic ran into one; you should, too!

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In case you missed my last post: Why are we on LinkedIn? Because that is where the audience is! But which audience? When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton is said to have replied, “Because that’s where the money is.” And social media is where our audience of leads, prospects, clients, and referral sources is. But that audience is split among different platforms, and there is little crossover between them. So who are you trying to reach? Whose money are you after?

Onto this week: Imagine a world in which you were prohibited from saying anything in your marketing that your competitors currently say.

None of the common platitudes like:
– Our service is better.
– Our people are better.
– Our reports are better.
– We care about our clients.
– We are committed to excellence.

(By the way, how do you prove any of those statements?)

You can’t say this stuff on your website.
Or in your speaking, writing, networking, or social media accounts.
Not even on your email trailer.
Nowhere.

Now what?

BVFLS marketing tends to be uniform … and painfully dull. There is no personality in it or to it. In fact, our last bit of personality was likely driven out of us by people who told us we needed to suppress it in order to be ‘professional.’

(By the way, if you don’t create the personality of your practice, your audience will assign one to it.)

Marketing is intended to create awareness and attract leads. But if we all say the same things the same way using the same font, we make it impossible for leads to become aware of us and be attracted to us!

When I talk about this to BVFLS professionals, they tell me that there’s nothing unique or special or different about their practice compared to other professionals with their practices.

They tell me they essentially do the same things in the same ways as everyone else they know so they have little/no choice but to say the same things as everyone else they know.

Well, here’s one question you can answer that will make you stand out: What do I get by hiring you that I can’t/don’t/won’t get from hiring someone else?

Can you articulate that?
Because if you can’t, you’re SOL!
Be prepared not to get hired or get hired for a commoditized fee that you’ll lament about to your colleagues.

But if you want to articulate that, there is an ‘iceberg’ model I learned that can help.
A model that I’ve not seen any practitioner in our industry using.
A model that I am teaching to my coaching clients.
Here it is.

The idea behind the model is that prospects expect:
– A price that is fair
– Service that is courteous and efficient
– A quality report that meets the relevant standards
– Results that will stand up
– A relationship with you that may last beyond the engagement

But all of these things are above the water line … part of the Obvious Value in the model above. If that is all you are offering – the tip of the iceberg – you are providing the bare minimum of what a prospect expects. And the commodity pricing you’re experiencing reflects that.

But if you can explain the Hidden or Unexpected Value that someone gets from hiring you, well, that’s a game-changer. And at the Hidden or Unexpected Value levels, price becomes less relevant.

(By the way, I want you to literally draw this model out for your client – use a napkin or your tablet – so you can draw them into your conversation).

In my world, I tell coaching prospects that my Obvious Value would be to get them more clients; they expect I will offer that. But my Hidden Value is that I help them get better clients. And if they are interested, my Unexpected Value is that I can help them get clients at scale, using proven, non-sleazy, time-saving automation tools and tactics.

If you don’t know the Hidden or Unexpected Value in what you create, make that your focus for the next quarter! And if you can’t figure it out for the work you’re doing now, it may be time to switch to a practice area or industry niche where you can.

NEW RULE

(with attribution to Bill Maher, host of the HBO political talk show Real Time)

From this point on, you are prohibited from saying anything in your marketing that your competitors can also say. You may need some help with your new messaging … either from clients you’ve already served, referral sources you work with frequently, or friends outside the BVFLS profession who know what you do and admire you for how you do it.

Because being able to articulate the Hidden or Unexpected Value you deliver is powerful. It amps up your marketing … it helps prospects make good choices about alternative service providers … and it delivers the kind of business (better clients) you deserve.

Don’t be the best. Be the only.

 

 

 

 

 

PS – Whenever you are ready, here are 4 ways I can help you build/grow your BVFLS practice:

1. Join Practice Development ROUNDTABLE
It’s a Facebook community for BVFLS professionals who are collaborating on how to turn the practices they have into the practices they want.

2. Download this Find Your Niche infographic
The riches are in the niches, as they say. But what’s missing is a process that can help you identify your niche. This infographic is the missing process.

3. Take a free Practice Self-Assessment
I have 10 quick questions, and your answers will help you get a sense of how well your practice is working for you.

4. Work with me privately
If you’ve hit a time and income ceiling and want to level up, email me and tell me a little about your practice and what you’d like to work on together. Then we’ll talk.

Why are we on LinkedIn? Because that’s where our audience is! But which audience?

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In case you missed my last post: The Five Ones … or The Five 1s … or The 5 Ones. Do you sometimes feel like your business model is too complex? The more stuff you have going on, the more scattered your energy. And the harder it is to build your practice … and the longer it will take to grow it. On the other hand, a simple(r) business model requires a similar amount of energy, but has a focused direction. As a result, your efforts multiply your results faster.

 On to this week: When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton is said to have replied, “Because that’s where the money is.” And social media is where our audience of leads, prospects, clients, and referral sources is. But oftentimes, that audience is split among different platforms, and there is little crossover between them. So who are you trying to reach? Whose money are you after?

Some BVFLS practitioners won’t touch social media marketing with a 10-foot pole. For others, it’s the be all, end all for attracting people who need our services. Either extreme will allow you to win friends and influence people (you’ll find your tribe). But neither extreme will likely serve you well.

When it comes to social media, it’s crucial to select one platform (maybe two) to focus on. Because creating, running, and following up on campaigns on multiple platforms—and making them equally effective—is almost impossible, at least without help.

For many years, most of us have chosen LinkedIn as the one (and only) platform to focus on. So let’s look at that first.

LinkedIn is where all of our referral sources hang out. But at the end of the day, we are tripping over each other on LinkedIn … trying to win the same audience of accountants, attorneys, bankers, insurance people, wealth planners, etc. We’re like a band of Hare Krishnas surrounding a lone street pedestrian. They see us coming and duck or hide.

An alternative tactic would be to play in a sandbox that few other BVFLS professionals are in. So consider Facebook. Or Instagram.

Business owners are obviously prime candidates for our services … if we can get to them. They are likely to have a LinkedIn profile. But if you scour your LinkedIn feed … how many business owners do you REGULARLY see posting on LinkedIn? My experience is hardly ever.

But they are likely to have Facebook and Instagram pages for their businesses. And they hang out there … a lot … or have someone at the company hang out on behalf of the business and monitor the traffic.

So why not use LinkedIn to go after referral sources?
And try Facebook or Instagram to attract business owners?

Just one word of advice. Regardless of which platform(s) you choose as your weapon, you want to be authentic. The best way to do that is to be you. And the authentic you is the one that traditional business manners told you to suppress under the guise of “professionalism.” Be mint chocolate chip, not plain vanilla … and people will appreciate you for that!

Don’t be good. Be great.

 

 

 

 

 

PS – Whenever you are ready, here are 4 ways I can help you build/grow your BVFLS practice:

1. Join Practice Development ROUNDTABLE
It’s a Facebook community for BVFLS professionals who are collaborating on how to turn the practices they have into the practices they want.

2. Download this Find Your Niche infographic
The riches are in the niches, as they say. But what’s missing is a process that can help you identify your niche. This infographic is the missing process.

3. Take a free Practice Self-Assessment
I have 10 quick questions, and your answers will help you get a sense of how well your practice is working for you.

4. Work with me privately
If you’ve hit a time and income ceiling and want to level up, email me and tell me a little about your practice and what you’d like to work on together. Then we’ll talk.

The Five Ones … or The Five 1s … or The 5 Ones

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In case you missed my last post: Exactly when do buyers buy? You probably have a segment of people in your Outlook/Gmail contacts and LI connections who you hear from on a regular basis. And another, likely much larger, segment of people who you rarely or never hear from. Would you still consider this latter group to be a potential source of new business? You probably guessed the correct/logical answer is “Perhaps,” but are not sure why. Read why.

On to this week: Do you sometimes feel like your business model is too complex? And your calendar—the days, the weeks, the months—is crazy busy full? The more stuff you have going on, the more scattered your energy. And the harder it is to build your practice … and the longer it will take to grow your practice. On the other hand, a simple(r) business model requires a similar amount of energy, but has a focused direction. As a result, your efforts can multiply your results faster.

We constantly hear that the world is getting more complicated.
And, of course, we need to conform to that greater level of complexity … or do we?

If you’ve been on that path, and stressing out, are you ready for a reset?
Here are five actions you can take … to simplify … in order to multiply.

#1 – Pursue ONE target market.

You can’t be everything to everyone, not successfully anyway. Figure out the clients you like serving—and that’s your one target market to go after.

#2 – Aim for ONE service.

That target market (e.g., automobile dealerships or family law attorneys) is likely to have a similar problem set. Figure out the work you like doing best—and that’s your one service to sell that delivers results.

#3 – Have ONE traffic source to attract leads.

It doesn’t do you any good to be an expert if no one knows you exist. You can attract traffic to your conversion tool organically (e.g., free newsletter), paid (e.g., LI or FB ads), or via an affiliate partnership (e.g., NACVA teaching).

#4 – Use ONE tool to convert prospects into clients.

You can speak or write or broadcast … what are you best at. Use that messaging platform to educate leads about who you are, what you do, and why they should hire you.

#5 – Give it ONE year.

Whatever metric you are trying to get to, e.g., practice revenue, implement the above … test, tweak, and improve as needed. Then give yourself one year to get there.

That’s it.
What about your practice is too complicated?
How can I help?

Don’t be good. Be great.

 

 

 

 

 

PS – Whenever you are ready, here are 4 ways I can help you build/grow your BVFLS practice:

1. Join Practice Development ROUNDTABLE
It’s a new Facebook community for BVFLS professionals who are collaborating on how to turn the practices they have into the practices they want.

2. Download this Find Your Niche infographic
The riches are in the niches, as they say. But what’s missing is a process that can help you identify your niche. This infographic is the missing process.

3. Take a free Practice Self-Assessment
I have 10 quick questions, and your answers will help you get a sense of how well your practice is working for you.

4. Work with me privately
If you’ve hit a time and income ceiling and want to level up, email me and tell me a little about your practice and what you’d like to work on together. Then we’ll talk.

Why BVFLS pricing is cratering (not for all, but for many)

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I’m celebrating: This week marks the 5-year anniversary of my newsletter—247 posts to date.

In case you missed my last post: Future-Proof Your Practice: Create a Minimum Viable Service. Looking back on our history of providing “traditional” BVFLS work, we’ve enjoyed the long-time luxury of complacency. And basically, we’ve gotten by—even flourished—by providing services that are primarily all-or-nothing, one-to-one, and once-and-done. But what happens when those traditional services aren’t needed. I’ve got an app for that!

On to this week: If the value we deliver to clients is obvious and similar to what others like us do, we are likely providing commodity services and competing on the basis of price. But if we can deliver hidden or even unexpected value that differentiates us from what others do, we can earn “excess profits” that are not likely to be eroded by competition.

Last week I received an email from Simon Bowen. If you have never heard of Simon, he is—among other things—a business performance improvement coach. And the creator of the highly recognized Genius Model—which you’ve likely seen before.

Here is Simon’s email, verbatim:

I just have one simple, but super challenging question for you.

What unanticipated, but profoundly valuable paradigm shift do your clients experience, as a result of buying your product or service?

As an extension to that, what are the top three tangible, differentiated results your product or service creates for them, that they are unlikely to get from anywhere else?

Tough questions for all of us … but absolutely worth the effort to unpack the answers.

WOW. Just wow.

Now Simon’s languaging may seem over-the-top to left-brained people like us.
After all, we “only” provide BVFLS services, not deliver live-changing news (and checks) like Publishers Clearing House.

And yet, put yourself in the shoes of our clients.
Generally, they expect we will delight them by delivering over-the-top results.
That our reports (and, perhaps, our testimony) may even save their bacon.

But what areas of BVFLS can really deliver on that promise?

I think more so FLS than BV.

And that’s because the FLS work normally involves more creative type approaches, methods, and procedures (within the bounds of professional standards, of course).

And the BV work is more compliance related—estate and gift tax valuations are perfect examples—with an accompanying client focus of “I have to do this” rather than “I want to do this” or “I need to do this.”

But not everyone aspires to do FLS work … and that’s okay.

And what clients are willing to pay for that kind of outcome?

I believe larger clients with more at stake are less price sensitive and are willing to pay for paradigm-shifting (bacon-saving) results, which can translate into higher fees for us.

But not everyone aspires to serve larger clients … and that’s okay, too.

In real life

On a recent coaching call, I lamented the fact that “my generation” of appraisers remembers the days when we easily got $15k to value a minority interest in a closely-held C-corporation for an estate/gift tax purpose valuation.

Now the pricing is what … two-thirds of that? Half of that?

I can see the next generation lamenting the decline in pricing they’ll see from this level years from now.

So what

You are either going to be moved by Simon’s question or you’re not.

If you are delivering hidden or unexpected value, the sky is the limit for the Authority you can build and the fees you can command.

If you’re not motivated to provide paradigm-shifting results and offer differentiated services (which may require redefining your services and/or specialization), be prepared for what Seth Godin calls a race to the bottom.

Don’t be the best. Be the only.

 

 

 

PS – Whenever you are ready, here are 4 ways I can help you build/grow your BVFLS practice:

1. Join Practice Development ROUNDTABLE
It’s a new Facebook community for BVFLS professionals who are collaborating on how to turn the practices they have into the practices they want.

2. Download this Find Your Niche infographic
The riches are in the niches, as they say. But what’s missing is a process that can help you identify your niche. This infographic is the missing process.

3. Take a free Practice Self-Assessment
I have 10 quick questions, and your answers will help you get a sense of how well your practice is working for you.

4. Work with me privately
If you’ve hit a time and income ceiling and want to level up, email me and tell me a little about your practice and what you’d like to work on together. Then we’ll talk.

Micro-influence: This 1 strategy can grow your practice locally, regionally, or nationally

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In case you missed my last post: How to build prospect trust into your marketing. Prospects aren’t experts – that’s why they consider engaging us. And that requires a leap of faith, aka trust. But we can build trust (confidence/competence/ benevolence) into our marketing. One way to do that is with LI recommendations.

On to this week: Most small BVFLS practices are geographically limited. Much of the work these practices do is for clients who are located, say, within a 5- to 25-mile radius if they are situated in or near a large city and maybe a 25- to 100-mile radius as they become less urban.

On the other hand, some BVFLS practices have a regional or even a national scope. For them, geography is less meaningful or not meaningful at all. These practices “travel well.”

Do you want to expand the reach of your practice … locally, regionally, or nationally? You probably do. So how do you do it?

There is a new strategy gaining momentum: micro-influence. And if we want to expand the reach of our practices – locally, regionally, or nationally – we need to embrace it. Micro-influence is created when 4 points converge:

  1. When specific expertise …
  2. Uses a specific medium …
  3. To reach a specific audience …
  4. In a specific geography.

1. Specific expertise = what are we really good at

Most practitioners position themselves to do all the work they could be hired for rather than the work they are best suited for. For example, the other day I saw a LinkedIn profile that listed “15 key competencies.” Really? Would you believe anyone who touted 15 key competencies?

So what work (or practice area) do you enjoy doing? What clients (or industry niche) do you like serving? Make THAT your specific expertise.

2. Specific medium = how do we communicate our expertise

There are many options available for us to communicate our expertise: ads, articles, blogs, books, email, public relations, podcasts, seminars, webinars, websites, and videos.

We can use these options to focus on our strength in writing, speaking, and broadcasting. And if we are consistent and persistent, our efforts gain momentum and our audience grows month over month, year over year. Think of this as compound marketing.

So for you, what are the 2 or 3 or 4 media options that would showcase your expertise … that can feed off of each other … and that if done consistently and persistently would create a compound marketing effect?

3. Specific audience = who wants or needs to hear from us

Based on our specific expertise, who are the people who want or need to hear from us? And also, who are the people who influence those people?

Now, what media will be most likely utilized by that combined and connected audience? Do they read, watch, or listen? For example, the explosive growth of podcasting is partly due to people’s desire to listen to content – of any type – during their work commutes.

So who is the audience that can send work your way? And how do you best reach them?

4. Specific geography = where are those people located

Many practitioners I talk to do not believe they can “major in” a specific expertise because there are not enough clients in their city to support that kind of a practice. But if we have expertise that is needed by local, regional, or national clients, we can be micro-influencers with local, regional, or national practices.

I am not saying you want or need a national presence. But it is possible …

Gary Trugman lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He advertises his divorce expertise in local bar association journals. Over the years, that compounded into word of mouth that gave him a national practice. You could do that.

Jim Hitchner lives outside of Atlantic City, New Jersey and uses webinars to convey his expertise. The webinars reach a national audience. He has a national practice. You could do that.

Russell Parr lives in rural Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He has expertise – intellectual property – that is sought after by national clients. His books on the subject gave him a national practice. You could do that.

So what

If we want to, we can expand our practices – locally, regionally, or nationally. We can make expertise, medium, and audience converge by focusing on our positioning (who we serve), our messaging (what makes us different), and our marketing (where we show up). The geography will be a function of how much – or how far – you want to ramp up.

In real life

It all begins with specific expertise – being known for what you know, advancing your perspective of it, and being recognized for it. I call that Authority, and it allows you to scale your expertise beyond your geographic boundaries. You can’t be everywhere but your ideas can be.

* * *

So that is this post’s practice development message.
Hopefully, you can put it to good use.
How can I help you move in the direction of a micro-influencer?

And if you are looking to grow your BVFLS practice faster and smarter so you can get more time, money, and freedom from it – subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Related posts

20 questions that will help you find your practice niche
Your 3 greatest fears about niching
Industry disruption – time to leave or dig your heels in by niching

* * *

Don’t be good. Be great.

 

 

 

PS – Whenever you are ready, here are 4 ways I can help you build/grow your BVFLS practice:

1. Join Practice Development ROUNDTABLE
It’s a new Facebook community for BVFLS professionals who are collaborating on how to turn the practices they have into the practices they want.

2. Download this Find Your Niche infographic
The riches are in the niches, as they say. But what’s missing is a process that can help you identify your niche. This infographic is the missing process.

3. Take a free Practice Self-Assessment
I have 10 quick questions, and your answers will help you get a sense of how well your practice is working for you.

4. Work with me privately
If you’ve hit a time and income ceiling and want to level up, email me and tell me a little about your practice and what you’d like to work on together. Then we’ll talk.