© U PSTREAM A CADEMY W ORLD C LASS T RAINING: G ETTING Y OUR F IRM O N T RACK P RESENTED BY S AM M. A LLRED, F OUNDER & D IRECTOR O F U PSTREAM A CADEMY M AKING A C OMMITMENT T O Q UALITY P RESENTED BY S AM A LLRED F OUNDER AND D IRECTOR OF U PSTREAM A CADEMY

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY When I began my career in the mid-80s the driving management fad was quality. Large organizations, including many of the bigger CPA firms, worked diligently to qualify for quality-oriented awards such as the coveted Malcolm Baldridge Award.

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY It concerns me that I hear less and less about quality as time goes by. Rather than encountering firms that are filled with quality processes, I regularly find firms filled with a great many mediocre processes.

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY As you know, the goal of Emerging Leaders Academy is to help you become the very best leader you can be. During this first year, the focus of the Leadership Training Forums has been on you... what you can do personally to become a better leader.

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY This training forum is all about one of the fundamental building blocks of great leadership: quality.

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY P RESENTATION R OADMAP 1.We know quality when we see it 2.Quality is never an accident 3.ELA participants answer key questions 4.Question and answer session questions to

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY  W E K NOW Q UALITY W HEN W E S EE I T

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY How would you answer if you were asked to name a quality person, product, service or organization? What makes you think of that person, product, service or organization? How would you define quality?

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY “Quality is part of the process, it's in the doing. Quality isn't a set of rules or a set of metrics; it's in the spirit of the smallest of our daily activities. It is a verb trapped in a noun's body.” Author Unknown

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY “Quality in a product or service is not what the supplier puts in. It is what the customer gets out and is willing to pay for.” Peter Drucker “Quality is not an act, it is a habit.” Aristotle

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY We often speak of providing our clients with “quality service.” The most progressive view of quality is that it is defined entirely by the client and is based upon that person’s evaluation of his or her entire client experience... the aggregate of all the touch points the client has had with our firm’s services.

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY Do we ever feel we are receiving quality service if we think the individual serving us is not giving his/her best effort? Q UESTION

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY John Smith is a dentist in Helena and has been our family’s dentist for the past 18 years. We couldn’t be happier with him as our dentist. He understands quality service and, because of this, we are raving fans.

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY When I think of John Smith and his service to our family through the years, I’m reminded of a quote by Colby Chandler of Eastman Kodak: “We must take quality beyond customer satisfaction to customer delight.”

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY  Q UALITY I S N EVER A N A CCIDENT

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY "Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.“ Willa A. Foster

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY Where does quality begin? “Quality begins on the inside... and then works its way out.” Bob Moawad Q UESTION

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY “What he told me was something nobody has every said to me before in any job. He said, ‘The work we do is a reflection of who we are. If we’re sloppy at it, it’s because we’re sloppy inside. If we’re late at it, it’s because we’re late inside. If we’re bored by it, it’s because we’re bored inside, with ourselves, not with the work. How we do our work becomes a mirror of how we are inside.’” The E-Myth Revisited

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY Let’s think of quality as numbers on a spectrum of 1- 10, with 1 representing lousy quality and 10 representing world- class quality. Too many firms are willing to accept a mediocre level of quality. Most processes within the average CPA firm are done at a level 4.

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY We seldom get the positive results we want from level 4 processes. Yet, these things consume our time. As leaders, we need to work to develop a quality attitude across the firm. We should have the courage to throw out a challenge before doing another level 4 thing within the firm.

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY  ELA P ARTICIPANTS A NSWER K EY Q UESTIONS

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY We have asked a number of ELA participants to respond to several questions regarding the importance of quality. Please know that response to these questions is not limited to those participants who have been contacted in advance.

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY What do you think the quote by Willa Foster means: “Quality is never an accident?” Q UESTION

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY How do we know that we are delivering quality services? Q UESTION

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY What are the biggest barriers to delivering quality service? Q UESTION

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY What are some ways to spread the desire for quality throughout the firm? Q UESTION

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY  Q UESTION A ND A NSWER S ESSION

© U PSTREAM A CADEMY Thank You!