Client Service & Retention Centre

Practice Growth & Client Acquisition Centre

Trusted Client Adviser Toolkit

Helping Your Practice Move Forward in Today’s Global Marketplace

Table of ContentsResources for a Changing World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

The Backstory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

How It Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

What’s Inside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

The Right Tools for Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1. Win Clients. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2. Keep Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

3. Grow Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Connect to the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Registration Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

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Resources for a Changing WorldIt’s no secret that doing business in today’s global economy is more challenging than ever. Whether it’s finding new ways to run your firm, better serve an international client base or grow your practice, there is a constant barrage of issues to tackle. So what can busy practitioners do to achieve success in this constantly demanding environment?

Good news. There is a new resource, AICPA Firm Global Connection, that’s designed specifically for practitioners like you from around the world. It is all about providing immediate access to resources that can help you and your firm to successfully navigate the worldwide landscape while serving an international mix of clients.

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As a subscriber, your practice will have access to a number of benefits at your fingertips, including:

Customizable Tools and Defined Processes Designed by some of the profession’s leading advisers, there are proven practical tools and defined processes that you can easily download and put to work right away in your own firm. We are talking about all sorts of resources such as checklists, podcasts, guides, action plans, scripts, sample letters and more.

Worldwide Online Community of Peers One of the greatest strengths of any group lies within the knowledge of its members. That is why AICPA Firm Global Connection has developed a new virtual online community that lets you connect with practitioners from across the globe. This virtual space provides you and your counterparts with a forum to discuss current issues, share challenges, identify opportunities and zero in on best practices with peers around the world.

Resources to Stay Current With the Latest News and Emerging Trends Staying current with what is happening across the profession is increasingly difficult in this busy marketplace. Understanding what is on the horizon is more challenging than ever. As a subscriber of AICPA Firm Global Connection, you will have unlimited access to resources such as newsletters, webcasts, and more that you can rely on to stay up to date on the latest happenings and be in the know about new trends that are coming in the future.

Discount Pricing on Practice Management Publications and Conferences As the AICPA produces a variety of universal practice management publications to help small and medium sized firms improve their practices, AICPA Firm Global Connection subscribers will also benefit from deep discounts on publications, conferences, cloud computing and other practice management resources.

The Backstory So what’s behind AICPA Firm Global Connection? Here’s the inside scoop.

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) is the world’s largest member association representing the accounting profession, with more than 412,000 members in 144 countries and more than a 125-year heritage of serving the public interest. AICPA members represent many areas of practice including business and industry, public practice, government, education and consulting. The AICPA sets ethical standards for the profession and U.S. auditing standards for audits of private companies, not-for-profit organisations, federal, state and local governments. It also develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination and offers specialty credentials for CPAs who concentrate on personal financial planning, fraud and forensics, business valuation and information technology. Through a joint venture with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, it has established the Chartered Global Management Accountant® designation, which sets a new standard for global recognition of management accounting.

For years, the AICPA, through its Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS), has built practical tools and resources for U.S. CPA firms. With the help of some of the most knowledgeable consultants to the profession, these tools have been carefully designed to help practitioners better manage and grow their practices. In fact, PCPS is now home to 6,000 small and medium sized firms representing over 63,000 U.S. CPAs.

There is a growing buzz being voiced by non-U.S. accountants at international firm gatherings. “We are looking for support to cope with the intricacies of running a practice.” In direct response to this new concern, PCPS, as a part of its international strategy, is pleased to now provide an exclusive subscription package for non-U.S. firms that seek this type of support through the AICPA Firm Global Connection. The goal of this PCPS international initiative is to help non-U.S. firms more efficiently manage and grow their practices in this new global marketplace.

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How It Works As a subscriber, you and your colleagues can access exclusive resources and content right from the comfort of your office or mobile device. That means you can easily navigate to your desired location among the extensive resources. In addition, you can download tools when you are ready to use them, listen to a podcast or engage in a conversation with peers from across the globe at your own convenience.

What’s more, these resources will be provided in three different languages: English, French and Spanish.

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WIN CLIENTS

KEEP CLIENTS

GROW CLIENTS

What’s Inside All of the content has been carefully designed so that you can put it to work right away. You will find a wide array of tools and resources that you can easily customise for your own practice. That means with the click of a button, you can download specific tools to use whenever you want to use them. You will even find practical tips to help you get started and helpful hints to guide you along the way.

This specific section is all about helping practitioners accomplish three key objectives. Each is dependent on the other and is vital to the sustainability of the firm.

Much like preparing a tax return or conducting an audit, winning, keeping and growing clients follows a defined process. It starts by identifying the type of business that you want and letting those potential clients know about your firm and the services that you provide. Once a prospect becomes a new client, it’s time to jump-start client service and retention by offering them the value that they seek. A big part of client service involves identifying ongoing needs to help them grow. Finding ways to meet your clients’ changing needs through cross-selling additional services is essential to building trust and expanding relationships into the future.

Be mindful that client acquisition, retention and growth are part of a never ending process. More than a one-time endeavour, these involve staying focused on the process over time.

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The Right Tools for SuccessHaving immediate access to the right tools for the growth and sustainability that your firm desires is a distinct advantage for today’s busy practitioners. As a subscriber of the AICPA Firm Global Connection, you will have 24/7 access to such tools and best practices that your firm can use to align with its goals and objectives.

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1. Win Clients Clients are the lifeblood of your practice. As competition for new business

strengthens, your firm’s ability to win new clients is essential. Explore effective

strategies to gain prospective clients’ attention, trust and ultimately their

business. From defining the roles to prospecting, sales and productivity, use

these tools to retain new clients and strengthen your firm’s performance.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the tools that you will find in the Practice

Growth & Client Acquisition Centre.

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From Opportunity to New Client

Pursuing perspective clients always will be important to firms looking to grow. In the new global economy, this pursuit is more important than ever. Landing new opportunities will enable a firm to increase revenues, move up-market, expand technical and industry capabilities, provide opportunities to develop people and raise the visibility and stature of the firm.

The Practice Growth & Client Acquisition Centre has incorporated From Opportunity to New Client, a guide developed by Gale Crosley, CPA of Crosley + Company, to provide a defined process for pursuing opportunities in the most efficient manner. Not only does it demystify the sales process, but also outlines best practices at each step of the process. The following is a sample of what is included in this guide.

Before spending significant time pursuing an opportunity, it’s important to assess whether it is really an opportunity. In other words, does it have sufficient business potential to be worth pursuing? Qualifying the opportunity involves a call on the prospect to uncover the answers to the following five questions:

1. Why Buy? Why is the prospect considering buying or changing providers? This will give you clues about whether they are just superficially looking at alternatives to compare pricing with their current provider or whether you have a serious chance of being considered.

2. Why Now? You are trying to uncover the reason why they have to make the decision now, vs. a year ago or a year from now. This will help you understand whether they actually are required to make a decision at this time before you expend significant effort, only to discover that they’ve delayed making a decision.

3. Why Us? Why is the prospect considering your firm? This line of questioning will reveal potential past relationships, current perceptions of your firm and underlying agendas that can help you with strategy development. For example, it’s relevant that a member of their board recommended that you be evaluated vs. merely that they’ve heard about you in the business community.

4. Who Else? Who else is the prospect considering? This question is designed to reveal past and incumbent relationships. The sooner you understand existing relationships, the better you can assess whether you have a real chance to win the opportunity or whether you are probably not going to be a serious contender. This will help you decide whether to pursue the opportunity and if so, how much resource you want to expend.

5. Who Cares? This helps to reveal who will be involved in the decision-making process. Spending time with the wrong players, who are not influential in the decision, is a waste of time and resources.

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Pricing and Profitability

Do you ever feel like you are beaten up on your fees? Take charge of your billable time with the tools in this section. Once you’ve developed an intentional plan to review your pricing strategy, you might consider saying goodbye to hourly billing by embracing value pricing in your firm. These resources will show you the way to strengthen growth in your practice:

• Pricing & Profitability Strategies Learning Guide — In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn about the keys to profitability, client buying behaviours, price differentiation and market pricing, fixed price agreement and effective client culling strategies.

• Pricing & Profitability Strategies Action Plan — As a companion to the learning guide, this action plan will give you the seven steps to achieve your firm’s maximum profitability potential.

Social Media Toolkit

Like it or not, social media has made a significant impact on the way people buy. Today’s consumers want easy access to information so they can make more informed decisions when they are ready to buy. Practitioners must be closely tuned in to buyers’ needs so they can provide the information that potential clients want when they want it.

To help subscribing firms harness the power of social media’s marketing promise, PCPS worked with Michelle Golden, Growth Leader/Principal, K·Coe Isom, LLP, to develop a toolkit packed with relevant resources for CPAs and their firms. From the strategy, set-up and user guides to customizable action plans, there is everything you need to successfully command your social media.

• Social Media Matters — Start your journey with this guide to get acquainted with all the tools in the Social Media Toolkit.

• Establishing a Social Media Presence Action Plan — This tool will help you to keep track of critical learning and implementation steps along the way.

• Social Media Basics — Learn the why and how of social media with this primer.

• Social Media Tools Comparison — Determine which tools are well suited for you and your firm with this table that compares Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and blogging.

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• Sample Social Media Policy and Guidelines — Use these tools to help you develop a social media policy and guidelines that are appropriate for your practice.

• Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Blogging Set-up and Use Guides — Put these detailed instructional guides to work for set-up and use once you have decided which social media tools your firm will employ.

Additional Tools to Help Grow Your Clients Include:

• Gearing Up for Business Development Success — Whether your firm is just getting started in business development or is ready to take your initiatives to a new level, you can use this guide to get everyone on the same page.

• Marketing and Sales Roles in Accounting — Unclear on the different marketing and sales roles for an accounting firm? This guide will show you the way. Learn who to hire and when to hire them as the scope of your practice increases, too.

• Annual Marketing Plan Check-Up — Use this tool to determine where you can improve your firm’s marketing efforts. The checklist provides the opportunity for a quick annual review.

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2. Keep Clients Today’s clients are looking for more support than ever from their advisers.

Are you and your colleagues doing all that you can do to strengthen your

service offerings in order to build trust and ongoing client loyalty? If not, it is

easy for your clients to outgrow your firm and look to a competitor that offers

a more diverse array of offerings. As clients become more demanding and

competition for their business is on the uptick, it is no longer good enough

to provide average service. Use these resources in the Client Service &

Retention Centre to help your firm strengthen client trust and retention.

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YOU Are the Value

Do your clients and prospects understand the unique value that your firm can offer? Does everyone in your firm recognise and articulate the unique value that your practice can provide? When your firm goes through a structured process to examine how you add value and communicate that value to others, the results can be quite beneficial to your practice:

• Provides enhanced team spirit and confidence to you and your colleagues.

• Empowers professionals to understand that they themselves are the value they provide.

• Helps your team realise when they have delivered great value to a client. And it helps them to articulate that value to others.

• Changes how you and your colleagues talk with others about your firm.

• Enables your team to talk specifically to referral sources about the types of business that you want vs. talking in generalities. This can lead to better, more qualified leads.

• Helps you gain a clearer picture of the types of clients that your firm should be serving.

• Encourages the firm to reassess some of the client it is currently serving.

• Helps you to clarify your marketing and branding initiatives.

• Strengthens your ability to win, keep and grow clients.

• Helps increase your rates, billings and collections, while reducing write downs.

Want to discover what makes you and your firm valuable and different from others? Through the Client Service & Retention Centre you will have access to YOU are the Value, a comprehensive workshop series developed by Leo Pussateri. This online video workshop was developed from his book, You Are the Value: Define Your Worth, Differentiate Your CPA Firm, Own Your Market. Use it to guide you and your team through the steps in facilitating a value-defining exercise. You can utilise the related tools to explore practical strategies that will help you build meaningful and lasting relationships with your clients, prospects and referral sources.

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Client Advisory Board Toolkit

A Client Advisory Board (CAB) can be an extremely powerful tool in retaining current clients and attracting new ones. CABs enable firms to hear directly from their clients about how they are fulfilling client expectations and about how the firm can improve, cross-sell and add to its service offerings. Use the following resources to gain the perspective of your clients before your competitors do. From the foundation and action plan up to the actual meeting agendas, this toolkit has everything you need to take your firm to the next level with your own Client Advisory Board.

• Client Advisory Board Learning Document — This walks you through the essential foundation and processes involved in developing and implementing a CAB system in your firm.

• Client Advisory Board Action Plan — Use the action plan to get a high-level view of the steps involved with this process.

• Client Advisory Board Timeline — The timeline gives an idea of sample timing for the CAB process.

• Client Advisory Board Invitation Scripts — Practitioners can use these scripts to remember all important points when inviting clients, spheres of influence and friends of the firm to be board members.

• Client Advisory Board Confirmation Letter — Use this sample letter to communicate relevant information to members.

• Client Advisory Board Meeting Scripts — The scripts contain important information that the facilitator must relay. They help to set the flow for each meeting, too.

• Client Advisory Board Questions — This tool provides the meat of the CAB system — the questions within lead the members’ discussion, which should produce constructive feedback.

• Client Advisory Board Meeting Agendas — The short agendas lay out the major components that must occur during each meeting.

• Client Advisory Board After Action Review — After each board concludes its final meeting, the board champion should employ this template to review the system’s strengths and areas of improvement.

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Exceptional Client Service

As clients become more demanding and competition for their business is on the uptick, it is no longer good enough to provide average service. This can be a challenge for practitioners who are forced to do more with less staff. But it is a new reality that must be addressed. It’s essential for practitioners to be tuned in to clients’ changing needs and deliver solutions to meet those needs. From new clients to age-old relationships, practice growth requires outstanding service. Tools such as the Five Star Client Service Guide from the Rainmaker Consulting Group and the Exceptional Client Service Action Plan will help you learn ways to provide exceptional client service, along with steps to enhance that service in your practice.

As you develop and increase your client service delivery skills, your firm will be better positioned to reap many benefits:

• Distinguishes your firm by anticipating client needs, really listening to their wants and delivering above and beyond what the client expects.

• Increases the possibility to cross-sell services without pushing by listening to the client’s wants and needs and then communicating the services your firm offers that may fit.

• Provides an opportunity to save potential lost clients by being proactive in determining their satisfaction with your firm and alleviate any concerns they are having.

• Creates a culture in your firm where employees share with each other.

• Encourages listening and asking of questions among team members, which leads to more accurate work being produced the first time and reducing excessive reworking.

• Creates a culture where employees are requesting feedback and coaching.

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3. Grow Clients Clients are more demanding than ever following the recent economic

downturn. As a result, they are looking for more guidance on how to

achieve greater success and growth. A big part of client service involves

identifying their ongoing needs. Finding new ways to meet your clients’

changing needs through cross-selling services is essential to build trust

and expand your business.

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Trusted Client Adviser Toolkit

Earn your clients’ trust, enhance your unique value and grow your practice by looking beyond core accounting services to become your clients’ strategic partner. This customizable toolbox along with its additional resources expands upon the concepts offered in the Trusted Client Adviser Workshop, an eight-hour, CPE-eligible workshop. These tools will support you in this process.

• Research Tactics Checklist — Prepare for discussions during the initial consultation.

• Identify and Prioritise Tool — Ask the right questions and prioritise items of concern.

• Client Goals and Challenge Worksheet — Narrow the client’s goals and challenges.

• Engagement Management Worksheet — Determine steps necessary for successful engagements.

• Pricing Tool — Develop your pricing structure for Trusted Client Adviser engagements.

• Overcoming Pricing Objections Tool — Move beyond client concerns and questions.

• Proposal Meeting Prep List — Prepare for the proposal meeting.

• Sample Engagement Letter — Use these samples to hone your firm’s engagement letters.

• Engagement Action Plan — Develop your action plan for each engagement.

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Connect to the World If you are ready to move your practice forward in this global economy, why not take along the resources of the the AICPA Firm Global Connection? It will provide you and your colleagues with well-defined processes and tools that are customisable and easy to follow as you tackle today’s tough challenges. In addition, it will afford the opportunity to connect with other firms around the world to share ideas, discuss current issues, align for potential new service offerings and identify opportunities for growth — resources and connections that can lead to more meaningful and profitable work. So what are you waiting for? To put these resources and connections to work in your firm, visit aicpa.pcps.org/FGC and subscribe to the AICPA Firm Global Connection today.

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AICPA Firm Global Connection Registration

1. PERSONAL INFORMATION

FIRST NAME* LAST NAME*

BUSINESS ADDRESS*

TITLE*

COUNTRY* CITY* STATE* POSTAL CODE*

EMAIL ADDRESS* TELEPHONE NUMBER*

2. COMPANY INFORMATION

ACCOUNTING FIRM NAME*

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FGC@aicpa.org | aicpa.pcps.org/FGC

*Required to finalize the application

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© 2016 American Institute of CPAs. All rights reserved. 19139-386

Prices: SOLE PRACTITIONER $195/yearly (one accountant/CPA)

SMALL FIRMS $295/yearly (2–10 accountants/CPAs)

MEDIUM FIRMS $595/yearly (11–20 accountants/CPAs)

LARGE FIRMS $895/yearly (21+ accountants/CPAs)

FGC@aicpa.org | aicpa.pcps.org/FGC

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