"Partner Bootcamp"

Give us your old Partners - we'll send you back a new one!

Over the years we have heard many comments from CAs firms that there's simply no course for them to send their prospective partners of tomorrow to prepare them for the role of Partner. We've also been asked to provide a bootcamp style refresher for Partners who lose their way somewhat.

So, we listened and have put together "Partner Bootcamp". Full agenda and own web site (www.partnerbootcamp.com) coming soon!

Spot new opportunities...

Helping partners, sole practitioners and their team members to spot new opportunities with existing clients is one of our more popular services, often yielding a very high return on investment.

Improve your 'hit rate'...

We also coach and mentor people on developing a new approach to meeting potential new clients - often with dramatically improved results.

Raise your profile...

Helping senior people in the firm to raise their profile is another of our value-added services.

Let's Talk...

Improving internal communications within the practice for higher rewards is another high-yield investment that a firm can make in itself.

One-on-one Partner coaching...

We also work with a number of partners in public accounting firms on an individual basis, often by telephone, acting as a sounding-board for their ideas and goals and helping them to achieve more with less.

Developing tomorrow's Partners - today...

We call it 'The Marzipan Club' and for good reason. Today's Managers and Senior Managers (the layer just beneath the top) should form the supply chain of human capital for the firms partners of tomorrow. Unfortunately this is not always the case.

We work with a number of firms to help them identify, coach, mentor and develop the future Partners of the firm.

Lessons Learned

Our 25 years experience in working in the public accounting domain has taught us many lessons. The most important one being that ‘you never stop learning’.

With this in mind, we have developed a series of workshops and coaching sessions aimed at helping the progressive accounting practice to introduce a marketing mindset to their firm.

From the co-op student through to senior partner, each person has a role to play in helping the firm to foster good client relationships, which filters through directly to the bottom line.

The problem we see at many firms is, that not everyone is sure what their role should be.

The result? A confused team, even more confused clients, unrealized opportunities and money left ‘on the table’ in many, many cases.

In each case, we tailor the content to make the sessions totally applicable to YOUR firm.

We conduct extensive research with you on the issues you face, the experiences you have had, the things you have tried and the results you have achieved and then develop the course based on this information to deliver a tailored, high impact experience to those attending.

In-House Courses.

We offer a three-tiered level of in-house coaching for public accounting firms, helping them to implement a marketing mindset throughout the firm.

1. Introducing a marketing mindset - What do clients really want?

· Developing a marketing mindset for all professional staff.
· Do you do marketing TO clients, or FOR clients?
· Why clients change advisers.
· Understanding key client frustrations.
· How we can capitalize on these.
· Key questions to ask clients.
· Benefits NOT features!
· What is a marketing mindset?
· How well you serve your client this year has a major influence on whether they come back for more next year.
· Up selling skills.
· Cross-selling skills.
· The importance of differentiation.
· How to gain a truly competitive advantage.
· Getting more referrals by providing truly awesome service to clients.
· Using the Internet to research prospects.
· The suspect – prospect – client cycle.
· Get to be #2 on as many people’s lists.
· Making meetings work.
· The importance of being ‘Famous’.
· Developing long-term relationships with existing clients where both parties benefit.

Details: 1-day duration (usually delivered as 2 half days) - includes course materials, with all the tools to start to develop some marketing skills. Includes interactive sessions and case studies. Includes a look at how NOT to do it, and a second look at the same situations and examples of suggested ways to get better results.

2. Key selling skills for today’s Partners and tomorrow’s Superstars.

· The approach.
· The game plan.
· Game day.
· One mouth, two ears – listening for problems.
· Client meetings as a sales opportunity.
· Generating quality referrals.
· Not ALL business is GOOD business.
· The benefits of bundling.
· Fixed price agreements.
· Dialling for dollars (using the telephone to create opportunities).
· Behind closed doors - the client project status report as a selling tool (educating the client for success).
· Networking without cables.
· Developing a marketing plan.
· Implementing the plan.

Details: 1-day duration (usually delivered as 2 half days) - includes course materials, with all the tools to start to develop some marketing skills. Includes interactive sessions and case studies. Includes an open forum to discuss opportunities with existing clients.

3. Strategic marketing for Senior Partners

· What type of client?
· What services to focus on?
· What price points?
· Where?
· How?
· When?
· Why many CAs will tell you that marketing doesn’t work.
· What the few ‘in the know’ know.
· How does this reflect on chargeable hours?
· What to look for in team members to fast-track.
· Key contributors to finding and keeping great people. (It’s way more than money.)
· Flying in formation (ensuring the firm’s web site, newsletters, brochures and marketing materials consistently reflect your goals and objectives).
· Using the Internet for success.
· Individual marketing plans for individual partners and clients.
· Workshop session – bring me your biggest marketing challenges and let’s discuss a plan of action.
· Setting priorities.
· Setting a budget.
· Return on investment.

Details: 1-day duration (usually delivered as 2 half days) - includes course materials, with all the tools to start to develop some marketing skills. Includes interactive sessions and case studies. Includes an open forum to discuss opportunities with existing clients.

One-On-One Partner Coaching

"Physician, heal thyself."

Many firms act as mentor and confidant to their clients, but who can they turn to for this type of help themselves?

In the past, many firms have turned to 'Management Gurus' but these people haven't spent a day in public practice themselves, so their knowledge of the real issues can only be theorectical.

In the past few years, we have established a reputation second to none for our partner coaching sessions.

We've been in your shoes, as a sole practitioner and partner in a larger public accounting firm, so we know - from first-hand experience - what you're going through and the problems you face.

We do not pretend to have all the answers ourselves - that would be foolish, but what we do have is 25 years experience working in and with the public accounting profession which gives us a real insight into the key issues you face and potential solutions.

But coaching is far more than that. Real coaching helps you to figure out your own answers to the challenges that you face, given your own intimate knowledge of your firm, your peoploe, your clients and your local market.

Our role is to act as a guide and catalyst for positive change, removing the 'Physician, heal thyself' cacth twenty two situation a practitioner often finds themself in.

We offer this service in two formats:

Face-to-face coaching, where we meet once a month and spend time with you to help resolve the issues of today and set an action plan for the following month with we review at the next meeting before dealing with additional matters that have arisen in the previous month.

Telephone coaching, where we 'meet' by telephone once per month with the same agenda.
Wherever you are located, this opens up the opportunity to benefit from quality, tailored coaching.

Raise your game by raising your profile.

By speaking at Board of Trade meetings, giving seminars, lectures, lunch speaches at Rotary meetings and a whole host of such activities, you can raise your profile among potential clients to the point where you are seen as THE ONLY Accountant to deal with.

Here's the problem - not all of us are born public speakers.

Fortunately these skills are attainable, and we work with a number of Partners to give them the confidence and ability to stand at a meeting and present to a crowded room of strangers, then work the room to generate new business.

Once you are armed with these skills, we can also help create opportunities for you to use them. We teach how to work a room without you coming across as a "slimeball" and show you how to gain permission to follow-up and keep in touch with valuable new prospects generated this way.

When this is coupled with our public relations program, you start to create a surprisingly large number of opportunities with prospective clients, your profile is raised substantially among your target market and you become known as THE accountant to deal with in your region.

Add to this the fact that client loyalty rises among your existing clients, and the true value of acquiring these skills starts shining through.

We are born with one mouth and two ears. Learning to use them in that ratio makes us all better listeners, and effective listening (and good questioning techniques) yield huge results when properly applied. By using effective listening techniques and showing the prospect that you understand their problems, you can then start to show them solutions that they will want to buy from you.

This is not rocket science, and these skills are relatively easy to learn - but learning how best to apply them is what makes or breaks the value of these skills. Fortunately, our people have had the benefit many thousands of dollars worth of training in public speaking, marketing and ethical selling skills from some of the world's best in the field.

Organizations that our people have been trained by include: Jay Abraham, Dale Carnegie, Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, David Maister and Anthony Robbins. Now you too can benefit from the insider secrets we learned.

Call us today on 905-842-2284 to arrange a free, no obligation, initial meeting to discuss how we can help.

© MFA Group Inc, 2003-2005. Email us at steve@mfagroup.com