Becoming a Trusted Business Advisor: How to Add Value, Improve Client Loyalty, and Increase Profits

Being your clients’ Most Trusted Business Advisor is not about selling and making pitches. It’s really about showing an interest in your clients, asking the kind of questions that will help you learn what is important to them, and then listening. Based on the AICPA’s successful Trusted Business Advisor Program and intended for CPAs who want to take their consulting practice to the next level, this workbook provides approaches to help you do just that. By the time you finish working through the book’s helpful forms and exercises you will be better able to: have critical conversations with your clients ask the right questions effectively be a better listener easily identify services that will add value to your clients’ organizations avoid administrative pitfalls throughout the process effectively market your services, and profitably grow your practice Find out how to uncover critical client needs in ten minutes or less, how to help your clients prioritize their wish lists, and how to help them quantify the value of addressing each of the issues that keep them awake at night!

Table of Contents:
Section 1: The CPA as Most Trusted Business Advisor Chapter 1: Becoming Your Clients’ Most Trusted Business Advisor 2 Overview 3 Frequently Asked Questions about the MTBA Role 4 Organization of This Text 9 It’s Time 11 Chapter 2: The Changing Profession 12 The World Continues to Change 13 The Profession Is Continuing to Be Reshaped 13 The Commoditization of Traditional Services 15 Unbundling Services 17 Moving to the Future 18 The AICPA’s Position on Advisory and Consulting Services 19 What About Attest Clients? 21 Incorporating the MTBA Framework Into Your Daily Routine 22 Who Should Become an MTBA? 23 The Minimum Transition Requirement for Moving to MTBA Status 38 Chapter 3: Making the Transition to Most Trusted Business Advisor: How and Why 39 The Essence of the Most Trusted Business Advisor Framework 40 Obstacles or Opportunities 40 Our Answers to the Questions and Objections 41 Fees and Pricing Issues 41 Positioning Issues 42 Workload Issues 42 Addressing These Issues 45 Compensation Systems 45 Clients and Fees 45 Stop Giving Away Work 48 Technology 49 Managerial Leadership 49 The General Contractor Model 50 More on the Opportunities of an MTBA 51 Revenue Growth 51 Account Control 54 The MTBA Framework Is a Logical Role for CPAs 55 The Market Has Changed 55 Organizational Opportunities 56 To Answer the Question 57 Chapter 4: The General Contractor Model 59 Using the General Contractor Model 60 The Role of MTBA 60 The General Contractor Role 61 GC Case Study 61 Skills Required for the GC Role 63 Will People Pay Me to Function as a GC? 64 Case Study 65 Important Nuances of the GC Approach 66 Being a GC Means More Than Just Referring Someone 66 Bill for Your Time 67 Build Your Subcontractor Network 67 Benefits of a Strong Subcontractor Network 68 Your True Value as MTBA and GC 68 Your Need to Stay Involved as MTBA and GC 68 Your Role as GC in Dealing With Subcontractors 68 Final Thoughts on the GC Model 69 Section 2: The MTBA Framework Chapter 5: Developing Your Self Skills 72 Treating the Symptoms 73 What is Your Emotional I.Q.? 74 Taking Down the Barriers 76 Self-Esteem: The Greatest Obstruction to More Effective Communication 77 Communicating With Your Friends 78 Self-Esteem: Awareness Goes a Long Way 80 Failure: A Sign of Real Growth 81 Your Attitude Makes a Big Difference 84 Recapping Some Potentially New Ideas 86 Before You Move On 87 Chapter 6: Refining the Most Important MTBA Tool: Communications 89 Communication Foundation 92 Making a Good First Impression 92 Interpreting Nonverbal Messages 93 Ask Questions 99 Take Notes and Refer to Them Often 99 Ask Only One Question at a Time 101 Ask Open-Ended Questions 101 Probing and Follow-Up Questions 103 Don’t Forget to Use the Global Functions as Your Questioning Checklist 104 Avoid the Impulse to Announce Quick Solutions 109 Your Job Isn’t to Have Answers 111 Listen Actively 113 Clarification and Paraphrasing for Understanding 117 Does Gender Make a Difference? 117 In Conclusion 118 Before You Move On 118 Chapter 7: Advanced Communication Skills: Working as a Facilitative Advisor Instead of as a Technical Expert 130 Show Me the Money!—Quantification 131 The Omnipotent Advisor: A Relationship You Can’t Count on Having as Well as a Risk You Can’t Afford 134 If This Is So Straightforward, Then Why the Opposition? 136 Perspective is the Key 137 Different Approaches Are Necessary for the Advisory (MTBA) and Expert Advice Roles 138 The Hierarchy of Sources 140 Before You Move On 142 Chapter 8: Delivering Value-Added Services 146 Cash, Capacity, and Capability 147 The Balancing Act 151 How Do You Find the Right Balance? 152 A Simple Format 153 What If the Client Doesn’t Want to Do the Leg Work! 154 The End Result 154 Estimating the Project: Pricing Approaches 154 Commissions and Contingent Fees: Where Do They Fit in? 160 Before We Move On 161 Chapter 9: Advanced Advisory Skills and Practices: Conducting Effective Sales Calls With Clients and Prospects 167 Where We’ve Come From 168 Going Even Further 168 The Structured Discovery Call 169 The Structured Sales Call 169 The Structured Consulting or Advisory Call 169 Uncovering Relevant Information 170 The Structured Discovery Call 173 The Sales Process 180 Feature, Benefit, Result 181 The Structured Sales Call 182 The Closing Phase of the Sales Call 191 Service Delivery 199 The Structured Consulting or Advisory Call 199 The Number One Failing 206 Before We Move On 207 The Discovery Call Role Play 207 Paper Closing Exercise 209 Sales Call (Information Gathering or Branch) Exercise 209 Self-Assessment 210 Section 3: Administrative and Organizational Issues Chapter 10: Billing and Engagement Considerations 223 Tracking Your Time for Billing Purposes 224 Time and Charges Approach 224 Project Billing Approach 228 Value Billing Approach 229 Frequency of Billing 231 Survey Information You Might Find Interesting in This Context 232 Gaining an Edge on Being Paid for Your Involvement 236 The Value of Advisory Fees Is More Subjective 237 Sometimes When Senior Management Asks You What the Problem Is, You Have to Tell Them That They Are the Problem 238 Project Deadlines Are Internally Generated 238 Client Commitment Is Imperative 238 Retainers Aren’t a Panacea 239 Asking for a Retainer 240 How Much Retainer Should You Ask for? 242 Summary Regarding Retainers 242 Proposals 243 Typical Proposal Structure 245 Attachments 248 Engagement Letters 248 Section 4: Identifying and Marketing Your Services Chapter 11: Two Approaches to Providing Advisory and Consulting Services 256 Understand to Whom the Service Is Targeted 258 Building Your Fortress’ Wall of Services 262 Building the Wall Profitably 264 In the Real World 265 Building the Empire 266 Determining the Most Appropriate Services: The Notion of Synergy 268 We’re Doing both and It Seems to Be Working Fine 273 Don’t Get Complacent 275 Stay on Top of Your Marketing Focus 275 A Summary of the Differences 276 It’s Time to Make the Determination 278 Before We Move On 278 Chapter 12: Marketing Your Firm and Your Services 283 Developing a Marketing Strategy 285 Developing Your Marketing Plan 286 Understand Your Market 286 Understand What You Are Selling 287 Determine Your Objectives 288 Fine Tune Your Target Audience 289 Fine Tune Your Message 295 The Role of Exposure 296 Choose Which Exposure Vehicles Are Best for Your Organization 297 Monitor the Results 316 Don’t Let Marketing Get Out of Hand 317 Manage Your Marketing Time 318 Marketing Must Be Planned 319 Everyone Has to Be Accountable to Someone for Marketing to Work 319 Customer Relationship Management 321 Where Your Firm Is in Its Life Cycle Matters Too 322 Before You Move On 323 Section 5: Putting It All Together Chapter 13: Facilitating Your Clients’ Meetings 344 Our Role in Meeting Facilitation 345 Stay Neutral—Do Not Take Sides 345 Manage the Process 346 Help the Group Stick to Its Guidelines 346 Help Stay on Track and Keep Moving Along 347 Ensure All Are Heard 347 Provide Concepts and Comments When Useful 347 Suggest Procedures 348 The Bottom Line About Our Role 348 Types of Meetings 349 Problem Definition Meetings .349 Decision Analysis Meetings 350 Implementation Planning Meetings 351 Process Facilitation: Facilitating Your Clients’ Meetings 353 Gaining a Shared Understanding of Objectives, Agenda, and Approach 355 Expectations and Concerns 355 Keeping Everyone Focused on the Matters at Hand 356 Processes to Help Your Group Be Productive 356 Dealing With Difficult Behavior 358 Meeting Management 360 Utilizing the Minimum Decision Resource to Make Decisions: Who Should Be Making the Decision? 362 The Bottom Line 365 The Right People, the Right Number, and the Right Climate 365 Effective Group Presentation Techniques 366 Control Your Eyes 367 Be Aware of Your Posture 368 Use Gestures to Give Emphasis and Avoid Appearing Stiff 368 Project Your Voice 368 Clear Your Visual Aids 369 Using PowerPoint or Other Presentation Packages 369 Look, Then Turn and Speak 370 Silence Is Powerful 370 Handling Questions 371 Practice Creates a Path to Comfort 373 Before We Move On 374 Conclusion 377 Appendix A: Sample Timed Agenda 380 Appendix B: Food for Thought for CPAs Regarding Facilitating Client Meetings 382

About the Author :
Bill Reeb has been consulting for over three decades to all sizes of businesses, from mom and pop operations to Fortune 100 companies. Prior to his life as a CPA, he worked for IBM in sales in the late 1970s. As an entrepreneur, he has founded seven small businesses, from retail to software development to advisory work. An award-winning public speaker, Reeb lectures throughout the United States. and Canada to thousands of executives and CPAs each year. As an award-winning author, he is internationally published, with numerous magazines, journals, newspapers, and books to his credit. Besides Securing the Future, Reed and his partner Dom Cingoranelli have also authored Becoming a Trusted Business Advisor: How to Add Value, Improve Client Loyalty, and Increase Profits. Dom Cingoranelli is a  consultant whose engagements over the last three decades includes organizational development work for CPA firms and associations, as well as on construction projects for the Big Three auto makers; for regional, national, and international contractors; and for organizations in a variety of other industries. He has performed strategy consulting and planning; process improvement studies; management consulting, training, and development; team building; coaching; and group process facilitation for a variety of groups. He co-authored Securing the Future and Becoming a Trusted Business Advisor: How to Add Value, Improve Client Loyalty, and Increase Profits, as well as the AICPA PCPS Succession Resource Center and Trusted Business Advisor Resource Center. Cingoranelli has also written numerous articles and CPE offerings on executive recruiting, performance management, leadership, planning, and organizational culture. He speaks frequently on management and consulting topics throughout the country.