Frank's Vignette

A long, long time ago, I started my career as a Big 4 staff auditor.  Two hours into the first day of the entry level training course, a partner spoke to the 30 of us in the class about the importance of business development (aka sales or new business).  “Frank” was everything I pictured a partner to be:  tall, executive presence, well-dressed, smooth, more like a TV broadcaster than accountant.  Actually, not all that smooth, because the very first words out of his mouth were:  “Good morning, I am Frank ____, a partner with the firm, here to talk about the importance of business development.  Any orgasm that wants to sustain itself needs business development.”  With that, my head jerked up, quizzically, what did he just say?  I looked around, and saw similar looks around the room.  Frank didn’t seem to notice, just kept going, and no one said a word.  Half an hour later, he finished, and left.  At lunch, that was all we could talk about, and the group consensus was that Frank was distracted by the two stunners from Dallas in the first row who apparently didn’t get the New England dress code memo and looked more ready for a night of clubbing than first day of Big 4 accounting.  Clearly, Frank meant to say ‘organization’ and to this day, none of us know if he was aware or ever learned of his faux pas.  Lost in the hoopla was his actual message, all anyone remembered from that day was good ol’ Frank and the two hotties from Dallas.

Herman's Vignette

“Herman” was determined to be the most competent accountant he could be.  He studied accounting rules and regulations one hour each day after work.  If he missed a day, he made up the time on Sunday.  As a result, he easily passed the CPA exam and developed a reputation for being technically proficient.  The firm assigned him the most difficult clients, eventually focusing him on manufacturing clients.  He became the office cost accountant guru.  He moved up the ladder and had a solid but not super career in the Big 4.  He stalled out at Manager, saw the writing on the wall and jumped when a client called with a good offer.  He never stopped to analyze why the stall.

Jack's Vignette

Jack was a goof ball.  Everyone in the office loved him, he was gregarious and fun-loving, always in a great mood.  His office looked like a dorm room, the walls filled with Boston College memorabilia, a top notch stereo system continuously playing the latest music just shy of the obnoxiously loud level, a jar of candy available to a steady stream of co-workers.  He spent most of his time planning a never-ending series of events:  BC alumni dinners; golf outings; charity gambling; fundraising drives etc.  Frequently during the day, he marked successful calls by blasting a stadium-quality fog horn.  No one remembered ever seeing him do any work.  In fact, his nickname, which he himself used often, was “Jack ‘You don’t know Jack’”!
Nonetheless, Jack progressed steadily within the firm through manager, then lo and behold, after just two years as manager, was promoted to partner.  Ten years later, he was promoted to managing partner.  What happened?

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The common thread is of course business development.  Simply, public accounting is a business and if you have the clients, you are a partner.  Herman didn’t, Jack did.  In fact, Jack was a star because he knew everyone in town and was a client magnet.  The firm recognized this and kept promoting him away from his weakness, accounting and audit work, to his strength, business development and client relations.  He eventually made managing partner and had no client work responsibilities!

How to do you perfmor such an ambiguous task as ‘business development’?  Here’s an easy step-by-step approach:

• Call it sales, which is easy to understand.  More business, higher fees.
• Keep a current record of everyone you meet: business, school, community, other.  This used to be called a rolodex, now Contacts list or LinkedIn.  If you haven’t done this before, start.  Establish and build your network.  Spend 5 hours per week staying in touch with your network.  Make sure everyone you speak with has your contact information, knows that you are an accountant, your firm does quality work, and you are open to referrals, new clients and leads for who is looking.
• Get involved doing something you like outside of work that puts you in touch with business people and other potential clients.  Country club, gym, charity organization, local business organization such as chamber of commerce, networking group, planning/zoning board, PTA, whatever.  Again, make sure…(same as #2 above).
• Specifically build a network of attorneys, bankers, insurance brokers, financial advisors, real estate brokers, mortgage brokers and other such professionals who deal with the public.  Again, make sure…(same as #2 above).  Whenever possible, refer business to them and you will find the favor being returned.
• Cross-sell and up-sell your existing clients.  On each engagement, identify 5 potential additional services and projects to pitch to your client, and do so.  On as many engagements as possible, bring your tax and consulting counterparts in the firm to the client, introduce them, and have them perform a cost-free review for cost-savings and other benefits, to be pitched as additional projects.  Develop your own expertise to identify such additional tax and consulting work.  Expand your current clients’ work.
• Develop your sales presentation and proposal preparation skills.  If necessary, polish and gloss the firm’s marketing and standard proposal package.  Make sure that the biography and profile the firm has for you is current, tailored to the specific client and compelling.  Inform the partners and marketing department that you have an interest in business development, and want to be involved in as many proposals as possible.  Your skills and confidence will improve dramatically with experience.
• Understand the firm’s marketing strategy and participate in the strategy development if possible.  Study the market and strategy to identify and recommend improvements.
• Task yourself with business development goals.  It’s part of your job and should be part of your job.
• Communicate your business development (sales) goals to your counseling or managing partner.  Obtain his buy-in and support, ask for his help and guidance, make it a team effort.
• To the extent possible, make business development a formal part of your job by carving out an annual time budget for it.  Far better to do all of the above during the day rather than after-hours!

What have you found helpful in growing you client base? And we'll see you in the corner office!