1. Build a world-class customer experience.
One of the most profitable ways to attract new clients is to have your existing clients sell your services for you. Turning clients into raving fans starts with creating an excellent customer experience and delivering on it consistently. Review the following elements of your current customer experience and look for opportunities to elevate it:
What welcome communication do new clients receive?
How easy is the client onboarding process?
What do clients experience in their first meeting?
How often do you communicate with clients?
When and how do you deliver and communicate results?
How do clients feel about you and your firm?
Remember: You want your firm to stand out from the pack. Don’t do what everyone else does. Do what a world-class business would do.
2. Create systems that are easy to follow.
Successfully scaling your business means empowering others to deliver results. You can’t be everywhere in your business all the time. The key to this is systems.
Examine each part of your business and create a system for executing on it. This way, you can ensure that work gets done the right way every time, regardless of who is completing the task.
Be sure to document each system in a way that is easy for employees to access and follow. Keep these up-to-date and easily accessible. Also, consider augmenting written instructions with short video walk-throughs when possible.
3. Delegate.
This is a hard one for leaders in any small business, and I find it’s especially true with CPAs. But the only way to scale your practice without burning out is to leverage other people.
This means hiring and training people to work alongside you in the business and then delegating meaningful work to them. If you have trouble in this area, make a list of all of the tasks you do in your business and challenge yourself to choose one thing you will stop doing and delegate to someone else. Try it for a week and then choose another. Repeat as necessary.
Too many CPAs are letting their firms run them. It’s time to put yourself back in the driver’s seat. When you focus on better clients and a better practice, you’ll soon find you have a better life. You, your employees and your family deserve it.
Want to find out how joining TFW Advisors® can lead to having better clients, a better practice, and a better life? Book a call with us today!