CPA Practice Advisor - 23

BRIDGING THE GAP
4 Phases of Launching
a New Service Virtually
JON HUBBARD

Director, Boomer Consulting, Inc.
Facilitator, Boomer P3 Leadership Academy,
Boomer Talent Circle, Boomer Marketing & BD Circle
and the Boomer NextGen Leader Circle
jon.hubbard@cpapracticeadvisor.com

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
When thinking of new services, many
firms put business development last
on their to-do list. They think they
need to create the service, train their
people, and develop a big presentation to take to clients. But at Boomer
Consulting, Inc., we like to say, "Sell
the tickets, then produce the show."
Talking with your clients is the
fastest path to launching a new service. Rather than trying to figure out
which services your clients need, ask
your best clients what they want. Lead
them through a discussion on the
Dangers, Opportunities and Strengths
(DOS) facing their business. Based on
that conversation, look for advisory
and consulting services you can offer.
An excellent question to ask
during these conversations is The
Relationship Question from Strategic
Coach: "If we were having this discussion three years from today, and
you were looking back over those
three years to today, what has to
have happened, both personally and
professionally, for you to feel happy
about your progress?"
Having these conversations positions you as a consultant. The client
tells you what they're willing to pay for.

PACKAGE & PRICE
Packaging and pricing advisory and
consulting services is an area many
CPA firms struggle with if they're used
to billing hourly for compliance services. If you're able to solve a client's

IF THERE'S ONE silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic, it's that the widespread, accelerated
acceptance of virtual work has lowered the barriers to entry for getting a new service to
market. There are so many things CPAs can be doing for their clients right now that deliver
incredible value for the client and create value for the firm. But if face-to-face business
development and sales are how you've always done things, you need to change your
mindset. Here are the four phases of launching a new service virtually.
problem and provide the advice that
client needs, you need to base your
fees on the value of the service to the
client - not an hourly rate.
Give your clients three paths to
success. These can be "bronze, silver
and gold," or "small, medium and
large" - whatever names you want to
give them. All three packages make
the client's business stronger. The
difference is the speed at which it
will happen.
The key is to ensure that everyone
in your firm is pricing these services
consistently. During our Certified Consultant Training, we perform an exercise in which we ask everyone in the
room to write down what they would
charge a client for strategic planning
services. When our participants reveal
their numbers, the results range
anywhere from $500 to $40,000. The
reason is simple: people think differently about pricing if they're making
$50,000 per year versus $500,000 per
year. A $10,000 engagement means
a lot more to a small firm than it
would to a Big 4 firm. Have a pricing
specialist or committee on your team
to ensure pricing is consistent and
appropriate across the firm.

VIRTUAL DELIVERY
The next step in launching a new
service digitally is to give your clients
confidence in your ability to deliver
value virtually. Often, this involves a
mindset shift for both parties.
There are a wide variety of tools

available to help you, but the key is
to keep it simple. Our team has been
delivering our consulting services
virtually for months using three tools
- two of which you're likely already
familiar with:
1. Zoom. Many firms have been
using Zoom for video conferencing
over the past few months, but surprisingly few are utilizing this technology
to its full potential. Familiarize yourself with its screen sharing, polling,
breakout rooms, transcripts, raise
hand and recording features. Whenever possible, have two team members
participate in each business development meeting: one to do the talking
and the other to ensure everything
runs smoothly on the back end.
2. PowerPoint. Nearly every
professional is familiar with this tool
for creating slide presentations. Share
your screen over Zoom to present to
your client.
3. Miro. This is a newer tool in our
toolbox. It's an online, collaborative
whiteboard. If you've ever used postits to brainstorm or organized ideas
on a whiteboard during an in-person
meeting, Miro replicates that feeling
in a virtual environment.
The tools you rely on to deliver
services virtually may be different. It
really doesn't matter what you use, as
long as they enhance the experience
for your clients rather than present
an obstacle.

SEPTEMBER 2020 ■

COACHING &
ACCOUNTABILITY
Offering ongoing coaching and
accountability creates the biggest
impact for your clients. Many
CPAs worry that consulting is a
one-time event, while compliance
is ongoing. The key is turning that
one-time engagement into ongoing work through coaching and
accountability.
Once you've helped a client
with strategic planning, hold them
accountable to the goals they established. This not only creates more
revenue for you, but it leads to better results for your clients and helps
build trust and makes growing the
relationship easier. The clients will
bring you back year after year.
If your firm is used to selling
new services in a face-to-face environment, transitioning to a virtual
model is possible, and it can make
your business model healthier in the
long run, provided you approach it
with the right mindset. Everything
may not be perfect the first time you
have a DOS conversation with your
clients, virtually deliver a consulting engagement or participate in a
coaching call, and that's okay. Learn
from the experience, and you'll get
better. If you spend too much time
perfecting your offering before
you get started, you'll never move
forward. ■

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