Build an Accounting Firm: Michael Haynes’ Go-To Marketing Strategies and Customer Engagement Insights

In today’s competitive landscape, accounting business owners and professionals can be easily overwhelmed by the sheer volume of potential marketing strategies they can use to attract and retain clients.

As highlighted in a recent episode of the “Building the Premier Accounting Firm” podcast hosted by Roger Knecht, Michael Haynes, a B2B Go-to-Market Specialist, says that you don’t need to know everything to grow a bookkeeping business with your marketing. You need go-to strategies that you can use as a base for more creative marketing first.

Haynes offers invaluable insights for accounting firms aiming to grow a bookkeeping business and enhance customer engagement. Check out the full episode of the podcast here.

Understanding Your Ideal Clients

According to Haynes, understanding the decision-making processes of your ideal clients is paramount, especially in the B2B space. He emphasizes the importance of recognizing key factors such as enhancing cash flow, increasing profitability, and ensuring tax efficiency. These are critical areas where your expertise can make a significant impact.

Haynes points out, “Potential clients are increasingly seeking advice from various sources, so it’s crucial for firms to engage in their clients’ ecosystems and offer educational content to build trust and authority.”

The Buyer AIR Driven Go-To-Market Framework

One of the standout strategies discussed by Haynes is the “buyer AIR driven go-to-market framework.” This approach encourages accounting firms to engage in content creation, micro events, and strategic collaborations. Here’s how you can apply this framework:

Content Creation: Produce a variety of content, including blog posts, videos, and case studies that address the specific needs and challenges of your clients. This positions your firm as a thought leader and a trusted resource.
Micro Events: Host webinars, Q&A sessions, or small networking events. These micro events are excellent for fostering connections and establishing your firm as an expert in the field.
Strategic Collaborations: Partner with other businesses or industry experts to amplify your reach and offer more comprehensive solutions to your clients.

Haynes stresses, “Engaging in these activities not only boosts your visibility but also helps in establishing long-term client relationships.”

Effective Client Engagement

Client engagement doesn’t end at acquisition. Haynes recommends that firms focus on post-transaction management and tailored onboarding processes to maintain and strengthen client relationships. This is especially crucial in bookkeeping and tax services, where ongoing engagement can lead to valuable insights and learning opportunities.

Listening and Learning

An often overlooked aspect is the power of listening. Haynes advises, “Listening internally and externally is crucial for comprehending firm dynamics and market conditions.” He suggests client interviews and workshops as effective tools for gathering insights and improving service offerings.

Overcoming Marketing Challenges

Many accounting firms fall into the trap of prioritizing tactical marketing over understanding client needs. Haynes critiques this approach, emphasizing that a business plan centered on client needs and exceptional service is key to successful marketing efforts. To build an accounting firm that lasts, a business owner needs a solid base of clients to work with.

Conclusion

Applying these insights from Michael Haynes can build an accounting firm’s marketing strategy and client engagement practices and take them to new heights. By focusing on understanding client needs, leveraging the buyer AIR framework, and fostering ongoing engagement, your firm can achieve sustainable growth.

Ready to take the next steps toward building an accounting firm? Contact us at 435-344-2060 to learn more about how we can help you implement these strategies and thrive in today’s competitive market.

Lessons from GrowCon – Kenny Harper’s Explains How to Authentically Attract Clients to Grow an Accounting Business

Sometimes the things we may not think much about can make all the difference at an accounting business.

Or as Kenny Harper, CEO of Growth Amplifiers, put it in his GrowCon 2024 presentation, “Small hinges open big doors.”

Harper shared a number of “small hinges” entrepreneurs need to keep track of in order to grow an accounting business with an audience of more than 200 accounting professionals at the Southbank Hotel in Jacksonville, Florida on May 6.

The main focus of his presentation was on how to use your authenticity as an asset to attract and enroll new clients.

Harper was one of 13 industry insiders who shared their insights in presentations at the conference.

If you weren’t able to join us in Florida, then you’re in luck. Today, we’ll look at the highlights from Harper’s presentation. If you’d like to hear his presentation, as well the other 12 presenters from GrowCon 2024, in full, you can access the all of presentations from both days of GrowCon here.

Let’s dive into Harper’s strategies and other highlights from his presentation:

The Power of Small Hinges

In our journey of life and business, small details often play a pivotal role. Many believe organizational skills when it comes to marketing the business are straightforward, yet there are hidden challenges that hold your business back. Harper noted that the business’ goal should be to attract the ideal customer and prioritize quality over sheer numbers.

Embracing the Challenges

The path to success involves three key challenges:

maintaining consistency in customer attraction,
engaging genuinely with potential clients, and
aligning team efforts seamlessly.

Harper shared the story of Gina, a frustrated bookkeeper. Her journey to discovering and multiplying ideal customers led to the creation of the Customer Value Journey framework. This eight-stage process, akin to building personal relationships, emphasizes awareness, communication, and genuine engagement. Documenting each stage is crucial for consistent outcomes, just as Gina did when she reassessed her strategy.

Understanding a customer’s position in their value journey is vital. Harper recommends collaborating with influential social media group owners or offering free resources to bridge the gap with potential clients. Sharing valuable content can reveal business gaps and foster connections.

The Power of Authentic Connections

Businesses should identify their ideal customers and craft a flagship offer that details the transformation provided. Authenticity in connections is key; insincerity can deter potential opportunities. Reflecting on a car-buying experience, the Harper underscored the importance of clarity and authenticity in sales interactions: if a car salesman changes the terms of the deal at the last moment, the customer will come away with a bad feeling about the dealership.

Because of interactions like that, we often view sales in a negative light, and many accounting professionals are reluctant to sell because they don’t want to come off like a slimy car salesman.

However, Harper noted, “Everyone is in sales,” and embracing your authentic self in these interactions will make the client more comfortable in your initial interaction. Putting your best self forward is more important than making the sale during that first meeting.

To improve sales skills, shift the mindset from assuming customer needs to helping clients recognize new possibilities. Effective conversations stem from genuine interest in others, which leads to enrolling them in new services, and building authentic connections to assess business needs.

“Don’t fall for the lie that if the customer doesn’t say anything, they don’t need anything,” Harper said. Business owners “don’t know what they don’t know” and introducing potential changes to them, like new service offerings at your firm, could be a great benefit to them.

Cultivating Team Excellence

Team engagement and communication are crucial for transformative outcomes. Motivation and growth within teams should be nurtured, akin to the relentless spirit showcased in the “Rocky” film series.

Harper proposed a framework to enhance team performance, beginning with clear vision alignment and identifying bottlenecks through assessments. This involves ideation before implementation, detailed planning, regular accountability check-ins, and success metrics for ongoing improvement as well as reconnecting with purpose, using assessments for clarity, and prioritizing impactful ideas are essential steps for team growth. By fostering a supportive environment and cultivating a growth mindset, businesses can effectively engage clients and achieve outstanding results.

Resources for Your Journey

Harper’s presentation is a call to action for accountants and financial advisors to embrace change and lead with their authentic self while interacting with clients. Doing so will build a bridge of confidence with clients, as well as introduce opportunities to sell them on a new service.

Are you ready to take your practice to the next level? Dive into these strategies and watch your client relationships—and your business—flourish. Check out Harper’s full presentation here, and if you’re ready to elevate your skills and add advisory to your repertoire, call 435-344-2060, or schedule a consultation online here.

Mastering Hiring and Leadership to Grow Your Accounting Business: Key Tips from Jamie Van Cuyk

Hiring effectively and developing your leadership skills are pivotal in order to grow your accounting business. Jamie Van Cuyk, a renowned hiring consultant, offered invaluable insights specifically aimed at empowering women small business owners in a recent interview with Roger Knecht on the Building the Premier Accounting Firm podcast.

Her journey from corporate operations to consulting illuminates a path to mastering these critical skills. Check out her full perspective in the podcast episode.

Understanding the Hiring Landscape

Van Cuyk emphasizes the importance of aligning candidates with both team dynamics and management styles.

“A team that understands each other is more likely to succeed together,” she asserts.

This alignment begins with defining an ideal candidate profile, focusing not only on necessary skills but also on cultural fit. In accounting, where precision and collaboration are key, this approach is essential.

Empowering Women in Accounting

Women entrepreneurs face unique challenges, from societal pressures to workplace biases. Van Cuyk highlights the need for flexibility, especially due to family commitments. She advises overcoming self-perception issues and emphasizes the importance of self-awareness in client positioning.

“Confidence should derive from skill rather than age or qualifications,” Van Cuyk explains, touching on the common hurdle of imposter syndrome.

A Two-Stage Interview Process

A structured interview process is crucial for accounting businesses, where each hire can significantly impact operations.

Van Cuyk recommends a two-stage interview process: an initial brief interview to verify qualifications and a more detailed second interview to assess skills and cultural fit. She advises against hiring overqualified candidates due to potential mismatches, emphasizing understanding candidates’ motivations.

Personality assessments, followed by in-depth discussions, can provide a comprehensive view of candidates, ensuring they align with the team’s culture. This is particularly important in smaller accounting firms with limited training resources.

“Focus on skills over passion,” Van Cuyk advises, as each hire in a small business is crucial to its success.

Additional Resources and Support

Van Cuyk also points out the value of resources like webinars and job placement programs. These can aid in aligning hiring practices with team culture and skills, minimizing future management challenges. Universal Accounting offers resources such as podcasts and conferences, providing platforms for networking among professionals.

Take Your Next Steps

For accounting business owners and professionals, mastering hiring and leadership is within reach. Jamie Van Cuyk’s insights offer a roadmap to success, empowering women in the industry and refining hiring practices. To explore these strategies further and grow your business, reach out to Universal Accounting at 435-344-2060. The journey to growing your accounting business starts with a single step.

Reignite Your Entrepreneurial Passion: A Five-Step Blueprint Inspired by Tanya Fox

In the world of accounting and business ownership, maintaining entrepreneurial passion can sometimes feel like an uphill battle.

Whether you’re feeling the weight of operational stress or just in need of a fresh perspective, it’s not uncommon to encounter these feelings as a business owner. Tanya Fox, a seasoned accountant and author of “How to Collaborate,” shares her invaluable insights on how to breathe new life into your entrepreneurial journey.

In her conversation with Roger Knecht, president of Universal Accounting Center on the Building the Premier Accounting Firm podcast, Fox offers a practical five-step framework for reigniting passion and improving profitability through collaboration. Check out the full episode here.

Step 1: Step Back and Analyze

Fox emphasizes the importance of taking a step back to assess your current situation through financial reports. She explains, “Understanding the financial narrative of your business is crucial. It’s not just about numbers; it’s about identifying the underlying issues that could be holding you back.” This introspective approach allows you to uncover hidden challenges and opportunities, setting the stage for informed decision-making.

Step 2: Define Your True Goals

Clarifying what success means to you is the next crucial step. Fox advises, “Define your goals by considering both your work-life balance and financial needs. It’s about creating a vision that aligns with your personal values.” By understanding your true aspirations, you can craft a roadmap that not only guides your business growth but also enhances your personal fulfillment.

Step 3: Assess Feasibility

Once your goals are clear, it’s time to assess whether your current business model aligns with these aspirations. Fox suggests asking, “Is this model sustainable, or does it require a pivot?” This step is about aligning your ambitions with practical growth steps, ensuring that your efforts are both effective and sustainable.

Step 4: Embrace Collaboration

Drawing from her book and personal experiences, Fox highlights the transformative power of collaboration. She shares, “Collaboration is not just about working together; it’s about mutual investment towards a common goal.” Whether it’s through partnerships or team-building exercises, fostering a collaborative environment can lead to innovative solutions and shared successes.

Step 5: Cultivate a Positive Work Environment

Creating a positive workplace is essential for long-term success. Fox advocates for addressing team issues head-on, using tools like “anger journaling” to identify role mismatches. She notes, “Tracking what irritates us can lead to profound insights and necessary changes.” Additionally, implementing a recognition board to celebrate achievements can strengthen team cohesion and morale.

Moving Forward: Overcoming Challenges and Celebrating Small Wins

The journey to writing “How to Collaborate” was not without hurdles. Fox faced publisher rejections but persevered, driven by the need to provide resources for low-income entrepreneurs. Her book, born from real-life speaking engagements and client feedback, aims to empower newcomers by celebrating small achievements, not just grand success stories.

Fox introduces unique methods like “anger journaling” to her team, identifying mismatches in roles and boosting morale. She advocates for creating a positive work environment by addressing issues head-on, sharing humor, and recognizing individual contributions.

Taking the Next Steps

Fox’s journey from accounting to multiple business ventures underscores the importance of exploration and adaptability. As you consider these steps, remember that the path to reigniting your passion is as much about personal growth as it is about business success.

Are you ready to take the next steps toward growing your business and revitalizing your entrepreneurial spirit? Join us at GrowCon, our annual conference, for expert insights and networking opportunities that can propel your business forward. For personalized guidance, call us at 435-344-2060 and embark on your journey to success today.

By embracing these strategies and leveraging the power of collaboration, you can not only reignite your entrepreneurial passion but also pave the way for a more prosperous and fulfilling business journey.

Lessons from GrowCon – Gaining Skills that Will “Wow” Clients with Mark Kohler

As the dust settles after a challenging tax season, accountants, CPAs, and financial advisors are often left wondering how they can better serve their clients while expanding their practice.

Mark Kohler, partner at KKOS Lawyers, thinks the best opportunity on the table for scaling a firm is in advisory, and the way to win advisory clients, he said, is to gain knowledge that “wows” them.

“[Clients] don’t want the accountant who was up in the band [in high school],” Kohler said during his presentation at GrowCon 2024. “They want the accountant under the bleachers who smoked pot!”

Kohler presented strategies for thinking outside the box as an advisor to the hundreds of accounting professionals in attendance at GrowCon 2024, held on May 6 at the SouthBank hotel in Jacksonville, Florida.

The presentation covered 5 key strategies for tax advisors, with Kohler noting that one of the biggest challenges for advisors is that the strategies clients need aren’t taught in traditional college programs, from the undergrad up to law school.

Kohler was one of 13 industry insiders who shared their insights in presentations at the conference.

If you weren’t able to join us in Florida, then you’re in luck. Today, we’ll look at the highlights from Kohler’s presentation. If you’d like to hear his presentation, as well the other 12 presenters from GrowCon 2024, in full, you can access the all of presentations from both days of GrowCon here.

Let’s dive into Kohler’s strategies and other highlights from his presentation:

1. Embrace the Trifecta Approach: A Holistic Financial Strategy

Kohler noted that for firms that want to scale, the days of basic number crunching are gone.

Today’s financial landscape demands a more integrated approach, combining legal and tax advice to build lasting client relationships and unlock new business opportunities.

Kohler introduced the trifecta strategy, which emphasizes the importance of creating a seamless financial plan that encompasses all aspects of a client’s financial affairs.

This comprehensive approach not only ensures privacy and avoids probate through revocable living trusts (RLTs) but also fosters trust and loyalty with your clients.

Essentially, Kohler breaks out a client’s finances into two buckets: the assets side and the deductions side. The assets include tax free sources like Roth IRAs, HSAs, Foundations, Group 401ks, plus the after taxed assets: houses, crypto, and that everything that may be contained in an LLC.

All the assets and deductions flow down into the client’s 1040, Kohler said. This holistic framework makes it easy for the client to understand what you do, and illustrate to them how you’ll help save them money come tax season.

2. The Power of Structuring: From S Corporations to Real Estate Investments

Most of Kohler’s clients who have ordinary income are “getting killed with self-employment tax.” Some accounting professionals think that using an S-Corp is too aggressive because they need to show more payroll in the case of being audited. But the so called “risk” is so so worth it,” as it could provide tens of thousands of dollars in savings, he said.

If your clients are earning over $50,000 annually, it’s time to introduce them to the benefits of operating as an S Corporation. Using an S-Corp allows your client to take 50% of their earnings and report it as their payroll, and they can continue to report that payroll figure as their earnings grow. Kohler recommends flatlining the payroll total at 10% to 15% and putting the rest of the earnings back into the business.

“If your client is doing numbers, find something to save them and they’ll LOVE you,” Kohler said.

This structure, along with smart payroll strategies, can significantly reduce self-employment taxes. Kohler dove into a framework involving K1s, Schedule E, and Schedule C, highlighting the potential of multiple LLCs for asset protection.

Kohler also highlighted the underestimated tax-saving potential of real estate investments, encouraging advisors to guide clients toward wealth-building opportunities beyond traditional 401(k) contributions.

3. Maximize Tax Savings with Real Estate Losses

When clients need to save on taxes, accounting professionals need a long term strategy, Kohler said. The 401k is a start, but real estate is a major opportunity for savings.

The best rental tenant you can have is yourself, and Kohler recommends that every accountant own the building where they practice.

You can then rent that space to your S-Corp, and if you have continuity of ownership between the LLC that is renting and owning, you can take 100% of the depreciation.

Kohler also highlighted the value of short term rentals because you can write off the depreciation as long as you put 100 hours of use into the property.

“You need to be locked in on this element,” Kohler said. “You need to be able to answer it immediately because dentists, and everyone else, need to have a place to operate.”

4. Empower Through Education: The Main Street Certified Tax Pro Advisor Program

Education is key to transformation, and wives, kids and teenagers can teach business and financial principles that you can then write off as payments to family.

Kohler also recommends having your children serve as board members of the businesses you own so they can pay for college using that salary, and you can prepare a business continuation plan for them to take over the business when they’re ready.

5. Innovate with Self-Directed Retirement Accounts and Unconventional Investments

In a world where financial landscapes are constantly evolving, staying ahead means exploring unconventional investment avenues. From rental properties to crypto mining, self-directed retirement accounts like Roth IRAs and solo 401(k)s offer higher returns than traditional methods.

Your retirement funds can be invested into anything, Kohler said. That includes gold, silver, small businesses and the like.

Kohler has invested the funds in his Roth IRA in cows in Idaho and his HSA in a small real estate property in Chicago. If you, or your clients, form an LLC, those funds can be invested.

Kohler explores these options more fully in his presentation, providing insights into the projected $2 billion in client funds managed by Directed IRA, a project of his that invests retirement money somewhere other than Wall Street.

Conclusion: Redefine Your Role as an Advisor

Kohler’s presentation is a call to action for accountants and financial advisors to transform their practice through innovative strategies. By using out of the box strategies for finding tax savings, prospective clients will be desperate to work with you. Join us in redefining your role as an advisor, where the emphasis is on providing value, fostering growth, and nurturing long-term relationships.

Are you ready to take your practice to the next level? Dive into these strategies and watch your client relationships—and your business—flourish. Check out Kohler’s full presentation here, and if you’re ready to elevate your skills and add advisory to your repertoire, call 435-344-2060, or schedule a consultation online here.

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