Accelerating your Career Path in Public Accounting (with Marketing!) July 2015 DZH Phillips Presented by Art Kuesel

Art Kuesel, President EXPERIENCE  Sales Executive  3 years inside $60M CPA firm  5 years inside $25M CPA firm  6 years at PDI/Koltin Consulting  2 years at Kuesel Consulting EXPERTISE Sales Coaching Sales/Marketing Training EXPERTISE (Cont.) Keynotes, Presentations, Workshops on Growth Growth Plan Development/Implementation Managing Partner Coaching Sales & Marketing Recruiting STREET CRED →Top 100 Most Influential Person in Public Accounting: 2014 →In-house and external experience →Clients include scores of T250 Firms including a third of the T100 →Frequent writer and blogger for Accounting Today →Accomplished speaker and presenter on growth trends 2

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Workshop Agenda 1.Accelerating your career path 2.The four quadrants of personal marketing 3.Top strategies and tactics for success in each quadrant 4.Next steps 4 3

Accelerating your Career Path

Career Accelerants in Public Accounting Throughout History Before the Great Recession Technical Knowledge Client Service 6 Since the Great Recession Technical Specialty Client Development PLUS Staff Development New Business Development

Career Accelerants in Public Accounting Throughout History Before the Great Recession Technical Knowledge Client Service 7 Since the Great Recession Technical Specialty Client Development PLUS Staff Development New Business Development

Four Quadrants of Personal Business Development

Four Quadrants of Marketing Success Q1: Client Development Q2: Referral Development Q3: Personal & Professional Development Q4: Prospect Development 9

Top Strategies for Success

Q1: Client Development 1.Relationship Depth 2.Relationship Breadth 3.Cross-Selling 11

Q1: Client Development 1. Relationship Depth 12

Q1: Client Development/Relationship Breadth Partner Manager IT Consultant Accounting Services 13 CPA Firm Client Generation 1 Owner CFO Generation 2 Owner Office Manager

Q1: Client Development/Relationship Breadth Partner Manager IT Consultant Accounting Services 14 CPA Firm Client Generation 1 Owner CFO Generation 2 Owner Office Manager

Q1: Client Development 3. Cross-Selling 15

Q2: Referral Development 1. Access your client’s COI 16

Q2: Referral Development 2. Aim for 10 “A’s” and think broadly An “A” RS sends you one good client/year Most accountants only have 2-3 “A’s” Think beyond bankers and attorneys… You will need to meet people (or more) before you find ONE “A” 17

Q2: Referral Development 2. Aim for 10 “A’s” and think broadly An “A” RS sends you one good client/year Most accountants only have 2-3 “A’s” Think beyond bankers and attorneys… You will need to meet people (or more) before you find ONE “A” 18

Q2: Referral Development 3. Touch your “A’s” quarterly! A good referral source for you is a good referral source for your competitor “last touch” does influence referrals Lunch, coffee, cocktail, thought leadership, event invitation, etc. Plan and execute effectively 19

Q3: Personal/Professional Development 1.Find a few trade/civic/business groups to join 2.Find a niche and specialize (personal brand) 3.Find a sponsor within your firm 20

Q3: Personal/Professional Development 1.Find a few trade/civic/business groups to join High quality target audience Frequent meetings (8-12x/yr) Vendor member friendly Low competition Opportunities to get involved, promote, share thought leadership 21

Q3: Personal/Professional Development 2. Find a niche and specialize (personal brand) Specialization is the future Niche expertise influences decisions Specialists deliver greater value …Charge more …Earn more 22

Q3: Personal/Professional Development 3. Find a personal sponsor within your firm Who’s looking out for you? Who has your back when you’re not in the room? Who can advocate for you? Who can coach and support your career development? Meet with your coach quarterly! 23

Q4: Prospect Development 1.Define your target market 2.Touch these targets frequently 3.Succeed at the sales process 24

Q4: Prospect Development 1.Define your target market Size Industry Geography # Employees Now, identify your “top 25” 25

Q4: Prospect Development 2. Touch these targets frequently Research connections on LinkedIN Circulate your list to your partners, referral sources, clients, etc. Make value added touches based upon your research Be persistent and patient! 26

Q4: Prospect Development 3. Succeed at the sales process Facilitate an effective discovery meeting Create compelling value propositions by asking great questions during the discovery meeting! Skip the old quality, service, and relationships pitch and create unique value propositions that prove you’ve been listening 27

Q4: Prospect Development 3. Succeed at the sales process ASK: What do you expect from your CPA/advisor? What do you like/dislike about your current firm? What’s missing from your current relationship? What’s the biggest change on the horizon? What are you most concerned about? How will we be evaluated/What do we need to do to earn your business? 28

What’s Next?

What’s Next 1.Find a BD buddy 2.Commit to increasing your personal BD activities Staff/Senior Supervisor 2-4x Month Manager 2-3x Week Director/Senior Manager/Partner 1x Day 3.Ask to be more involved! 30

What’s Next 31

Thank you! Resources for you at Art Kuesel