Podcasts about professional services firms

We examine the growing credibility crisis shaking society, business, and professional services. Learn how declining trust in experts and institutions is reshaping decision-making. Featuring data from Edelman, Pew, Gartner, and Deloitte, this episode offers actionable strategies to rebuild trust and drive lasting success. The post The Credibility Crisis: Its Impact on Society, Business, and Professional Services Firms—and What to Do About It appeared first on Rattle and Pedal.

In the latest Family Office Sherpa Podcast I dig into the very important relationship that clients have with Big 4 accounting and consulting, Global Mid Tier and local specialists.   Hall Road Investments Pty Ltd ACN 621 299 269 is a Corporate Authorised Representative (CAR No. 001279456) of Non Correlated Capital Pty Ltd (AFSL No. 499882). Shaun Parkin is an Authorised Representative (AR No 001279458) of Hall Road Investments Pty Ltd (CAR No. 001279456) and is authorised to provide general advice to wholesale investors. Nothing in this podcast (Communication) constitutes an investment offering of any kind. This Communication is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment or financial advice. Before acting on any information contained in this Communication, each person should obtain independent taxation, financial and legal advice relating to this information and consider it carefully before making any decision or recommendation. Any views expressed in the Communication are those of the individual speaker only, unless expressly stated to be those of Hall Road Investments, or any of its related entities. Hall Road Investments does not accept liability in connection with the integrity of, or errors in, the Communication, computer virus, data corruption, interference or delay arising from or in respect of the Communication. The Communication remains the property of Hall Road Investments and is not for reproduction.

The post Episode 81 // When should Professional Services Firms Trust AI Content in their Marketing? appeared first on The Remarkabrand Podcast.

This week our host Brandi Starr is joined by Liz Harr, Managing Partner at Hinge Marketing. Meet Liz Harr, an accomplished entrepreneur and executive specializing in brand management and growth strategies for professional services firms. Leading Hinge Marketing's client delivery team, Liz helps businesses solve critical marketing and brand-related challenges. With co-authorship of several influential books and research studies, including the Visible Expert Revolution and Hinge's annual high growth reports, Liz is a regular speaker and writer in professional services circles. In this episode of Revenue Rehab, Brandi and Liz dive into the power of research-driven marketing strategies. They'll uncover how understanding your target audience's behavior can lead to spending less while achieving significant revenue growth. Get ready to explore actionable tactics for developing a science-based marketing strategy that drives relevance and revenue. Bullet Points of Key Topics + Chapter Markers: Topic #1 The Importance of Market Research [04:18] “When you approach your marketing with that formula in mind, your strategy is gold,” Harr emphasizes, identifying the powerful impact of research-driven strategies. She states, “Research yields relevance, and relevance yields revenue.” This key insight shapes the way marketing leaders should understand the behavior and needs of their target audience, ensuring that marketing efforts are not just aimless shots in the dark but are strategically aimed at achieving the highest impact. Topic #2 Conducting Effective Behavioral Research [07:45] Liz Harr underscores the need for structured conversations with your ideal clients: “You need to understand what keeps them up at 4 AM,” she says. Harr elaborates, “What are your chief organizational challenges? What criteria are important to you as you're whittling down that list from like 10 to 5 companies?” This type of research, focusing on why customers choose or reject certain solutions, is essential for crafting relevant marketing messages that resonate deeply with the target audience. Topic #3 Efficiency in Marketing Spend [16:48] Harr shares a poignant case study: “Instead of promoting some salesy aspect…you're actually promoting a piece of content,” she recalls, detailing how a client slashed their budget in half by switching to content marketing from costly, ineffective paid ads. She concludes, “We wrote some content and brought visibility to these executive guides…yielding better results with less spend.” This illustrates that understanding the target audience and meeting their needs with insightful content is more effective and economical compared to traditional, broad-spectrum advertising. Buzzword Banishment Liz's Buzzword to Banish is “actionable insights.” Liz finds this term redundant and unnecessary, stating, “None of us have time for unactionable insights. We don't want unactionable insights. So just call it insights. That is what we mean. Let's just say what we mean.” So, What's the One Thing You Can Do Today? Liz's ‘One Thing' is to delve into your metrics to uncover the priorities for your marketing strategy. "Look at your metrics. Those are probably the truest measure of how you're performing. And I would look at things not, I mean revenue growth. That's all important. Those are the obvious ones. But I would take a look at some more granular ones. Trends such as your sales cycle, has it been lengthening or shrinking your win rate? What are the trends going on there? Your win loss intel? Why are you winning? Why are you losing? So I would look at some of those more granular metrics to tell you just how or to signal to you how prioritized should a reworking of your marketing strategy be and whether you need to invest in research now or six months from now or a year from now. I think the metrics are going to give you the answer." Links: Get in touch on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eharr/ Website: https://hingemarketing.com/ Subscribe, listen, and rate/review Revenue Rehab Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts , Amazon Music, or iHeart Radio and find more episodes on our website RevenueRehab.live

We are delighted to share with you the recording of our recent webinar, ‘Managing Partner Performance in Professional Services Firms, Evaluating Contribution and Using Partner Processes to Drive Your Firm's Strategy', in which partnership and regulatory law specialists discuss how to manage successfully partner promotion and remuneration processes within professional services firms. Jeremy Callman, Barrister at Ten Old Square, David Shufflebotham of Pep Up Consulting and Sarah Chilton and Andrew Pavlovic, Partners at CM Murray LLP, explore the important and practical considerations professional service firms ought to consider when making decisions about partner promotions and remuneration. Their discussion addresses key questions and topics including: What do the regulators, such as the SRA, expect regarding workplace culture and partner performance? How does this impact firm strategy and decision-making? What factors should an organisation consider when developing its partner promotion and remuneration strategy and processes? What does an effective partner performance evaluation process look like? What governance powers and documentation are required to implement these evaluation and remuneration processes? If you would like to discuss any of the above issues in further detail, please contact Partners Sarah Chilton and Andrew Pavlovic, who specialise in partnership, professional discipline and regulatory law issues for firms and partners.

Peter Caputa explores building successful partnerships and the unique value partners bring. He talks about differentiation, customization, network effects, joint value propositions, unique data access, and turnkey marketing campaigns. Pete also discusses collaborative growth, leveraging customers and partners for effective marketing, and the shift from access-based to outcome-based pricing in SaaS. TakeawaysSuccessful partnerships involve creating a unique value proposition for partners.Differentiation, customization, and network effects are crucial in partner programs.Joint value propositions, unique data access, and turnkey marketing campaigns contribute to successful partnerships. Collaborative growth is a key strategy for effective marketing and business scaling.Leveraging customers and partners can lead to referrals and build effective flywheels within marketing and sales processes.The shift from access-based pricing to outcome-based pricing is a significant trend in the SaaS industry.Professional services firms face challenges in prioritizing and delivering outcomes for their clients in a market with a plethora of options.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Successful Partnerships02:53 The Power of Differentiation and Customization06:02 Joint Value Propositions and Unique Data Access09:07 Turnkey Marketing Campaigns: A Key to Successful Partnerships24:19 Leveraging Customers and Partners for Effective Flywheels32:29 The Shift from Access-Based to Outcome-Based Pricing in SaaS36:10 Challenges and Opportunities for Professional Services Firms

Welcome to Technology Revolution: The Future of Now, where we'll explore Professional Services Firms and AI, a futuristic wow, with Bonnie D. your host and guide, her Scarlett red mic always by her side AI, an ally in Professional Services' embrace, a dance of tech in a harmonious space, where data aligns and insight blends, envisioned by four Futurists whose wisdom transcends …  Lenore Horton, Horton Legal Strategies PLLC  Jesse Frye, Legal business coach and fractional CMO  Manny Cosme, CFO Services Group Krystal Speed, Your HR Strategist Watch or listen, it's your choice, as we lend The Future of Professional Services and AI our very human voice

Society 54 Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Jill Huse is renowned as a trusted professional services advisor. Jill, a certified Business Coach, is highly regarded for her progressive ingenuity, research-based strategy and, most importantly, her ability to deliver results for clients. In addition to her work with Society 54, Jill is also co-founder and CSO of Society Tech, a technology company that utilizes the proprietary software INform54 to help law firms track and analyze their firm performance initiatives to support strategic growth. Jill's strengths lie in ideation on high-level strategy, leadership development, and coaching attorneys and business professionals on career growth and relationship selling. She has worked in professional services marketing (legal and accounting) for over twenty years. She has an innate ability to identify, encourage, and develop her clients' unique and differentiating professional strengths, and to help clients leverage these strengths to meet and exceed bottom-line goals. Prior to launching Society 54, Jill led the marketing and business development department at one of the most reputable AmLaw firms in the southeast. While there, she structured and guided her team in developing, implementing, and managing award-winning communication, business development, and marketing initiatives. Further, Jill is a tenured member of the Legal Marketing Association (LMA), serving as the 2020 President of the International Board of Directors where she led the efforts to expand LMA to Europe; additionally, she also served as the president of the Southeastern Chapter. Jill is also one of the founding members of Law 2.5, a roundtable think tank focused on the future of the legal industry and how to implement and lead change, and was co-founder and Principal at The Chiral Project which focused on Leadership Development for Women in Professional Services. Jill was inducted into the Legal Marketing Association's Hall of Fame in 2024 for her leadership and contributions to the association and its membership. In 2023, Jill and Heather earned a spot in the Charlotte Business Journal's Fast 50, ranking Society 54 as the 8th fastest-growing private company in the Charlotte region. In 2021, she was inducted as a Fellow into the College of Law Practice Management. And, in 2016, Jill was personally selected as one of the “50 Most Influential Women in Charlotte” by The Mecklenburg Times. Jill is not only well-connected, but she is also highly respected and widely sought for her expertise and paramount perspective in all aspects of professional services marketing. ---------------------------------------- This show is sponsored by Leopard Solutions Legal Intelligence Suite of products, Firmscape, and Leopard BI. Push ahead of the pack with the power of Leopard. For a free demo, visit this link: https://www.leopardsolutions.com/index.php/request-a-demo/ www.theplacementclub.com Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillhuse/ https://society54.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BRX Pro Tip: 3 Ways to Build Brand Loyalty for Professional Services Firms Stone Payton: [00:00:00] And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, we have addressed through our BRX Pro Tips series the concept of branding from a lot of different angles. I’d like […]

Scott Butler, Jacqui Barrett and Nicole Tumiati discuss what happens when there's a complete breakdown between the parties, what owners should keep in mind when negotiating a restructure involving the exit of an owner, and issues to consider if you are the person leaving the organisation.

Scott Butler, Jacqui Barrett and Nicole Tumiati discuss how professional services firms can restructure equity and manage owner exits, especially when things get tough. They look at the common reasons why a firm may change its ownership structure – both good and bad – and the key obstacles owners may face to negotiate an acceptable outcome.

How can professional services firms prepare for whatever comes next? To learn more, we talked with Kyle Wilkinson, strategic industry advisor for professional services at Workday, in this installment of our Industrious podcast series. https://blog.workday.com/en-us/2024/workday-podcast-way-forward-professional-services-firms.html

The Paradox of The Generosity Mindset John Ray discusses the seeming paradox of The Generosity Mindset , noting that it’s easy to understand why some might think that achieving better pricing in your business and acting from a mindset of generosity might be at odds. Referencing ideas expressed in his book, The Generosity Mindset, John emphasizes […]

What is The Generosity Mindset ? Host John Ray discusses how adopting what he calls The Generosity Mindset leads to better business development and pricing strategies and outcomes. This podcast episode revolves around his book The Generosity Mindset, which suggests that focusing on others’ needs and cultivating empathy, compassion, and collaboration leads to personal and business […]

How many firms are using AI? What platforms are they using? How are the most effective firms using AI to drive their thought leadership programs? Jason breaks down his latest thought leadership research. The post How Professional Services Firms Are Using AI in Their Thought Leadership Programs appeared first on Rattle and Pedal.

How many firms are using AI? What platforms are they using? How are the most effective firms using AI to drive their thought leadership programs? Jason breaks down his latest thought leadership research. The post How Professional Services Firms Are Using AI in Their Thought Leadership Programs appeared first on Rattle and Pedal.

https://youtu.be/3J0qwlOkE7s Greg Alexander, the founder of Collective54, the mastermind community for boutique professional services firms. We discuss about the secrets of a good mastermind group, the Boutique Framework, steps to productizing a service and how to benchmark yourself as a professional service firm. --- Productize Your Service with Greg Alexander Our guest is Greg Alexander, the founder of Collective54, the mastermind community for boutique professional services firms. My name is Steve Preda. Greg, welcome to the show. Good to be here. Thanks for having me. So Mastermind Community for Professional Services Firms, that's obviously something that is close to my heart. I've got the big book on my desk, you know, Managing for Professional Services Firms, that's kind of my Bible as well. So tell me a little bit about your journey, Greg, how did you go to the point where you decided that this is your calling to have a mastermind for professional service firms and what's been your binding road? Yeah, so I was a founder of a consulting company called SBI, which stood for Sales Benchmark Index. I had that from 2006 to 2017. We were a management consultancy, kind of a very small version, specialized in benchmarking business-to-business sales forces and helping them improve their productivity. And I sold that firm in 2017 and thought I was done. I thought I was going to retire at that point, but I was still a relatively young man. I was 47 years old. And after traveling around and having some fun, I decided that, you know, there was still some things that I wanted to do. And I've been a long time member of Mastermind Communities. I started with EO and then I became a YPO member and then a Tiger 21 member. And I really liked the concept of mastermind communities. So when I started thinking about what I might want to do in the second half of my life, I realized that this community of what I call boutique professional services firms, which are dimensionalized as let's say between 25 and 250 employees or so. And this is consultancies, marketing agencies, IT service firms, accountants, lawyers, architects, people that market, sell and deliver expertise. They were underserved. There wasn't enough mastermind communities. The ones that existed probably weren't serving that particular community, which is a very well-defined niche, as well as they should be. So having been one of them and kind of gone full cycle from starting, scaling and selling a firm, I thought I could contribute there. So I married those two things together, the love of the mastermind community business model and the passion I have for helping entrepreneurs and I put them together and that's how it came to be. So in your mind, what are the secrets of a good mastermind group? Well, first, it's the quality of the peers and the members of the group have to be true peers, which means they have to be people in a similar role, working on similar challenges at a similar stage of business. That would be the first one. The second one is the members themselves have to truly be bought in and be willing to participate and engage. I would say a third is there's gotta be high quality programming and educational material, inclusive of data, benchmarking data that can help people make sound decisions. There's gotta be a healthy relationship amongst the members. So one day I might be a mentor, the next day I might be a mentee. And there's a lot of give and take, if you will, that needs to happen. Got to be a great events calendar. Those are some of the concepts that I would say that make for a great mastermind community. I like the benchmarking piece, which is not always available. So if you look at EO, I don't know EO, it's very specific, but I know Vistage, YPO, I don't know if they are using much benchmarking at all. And that is very, very helpful. So whenever I meet with a group where they use benchmarking, they are much clearer on what they're trying to achieve.

In the previous three episodes of Your Law Firm Success, we have covered the importance of sales and business development. So today's guest, Bernard Savage, is an expert in this area. He works with law firms and professional services companies, helping them to develop, improve and enhance their sales and business development processes.  

In this episode of Unleashed, Will Bachman talks to Scott Ratliff,  who is a principal at the search firm Beecher Reagan. Beecher Reagan is a specialty retained executive search firm that works across three industries: professional services, digital and technology services, and private equity. As a principal at Beecher Reagan, Scott leads the commercial excellence sales and marketing practice, focusing on growth roles across these industries. Scott talks about commercial leaders within professional services, specifically in three forms: true Hunter BD people, who are responsible for going out into the market, setting meetings, driving revenue, and bringing in new logos; a hybrid, who owns client relationships, farming large accounts, finding new lines of business within those accounts; and a commercial operations type of role, who sets up and builds out a sales structure, identifying the right people to process technology to build or develop a sales culture within a firm. Depending on the size of the firm, its growth journey, and the talent available, firms may have specific roles specific to one of these verticals or firms looking for someone who can come in and play across. Scott explains that some types of professional services firms have people who are separate from the actual delivery teams brought in as commercial salespeople effect. The traditional model in consulting involves starting as an analyst and working your way up to the manager level, where you shift into being commercially wired and focused. However, there has been a spike in commercial leadership in several places, such as the lower middle market, high growth, emerging market, and larger firms looking to build out new functional capabilities or geography. In addition to selling services, commercial leaders should also understand how to sell services specific to that functional area. This helps firms continue to supercharge growth and drive revenue. The Roles of Hunter/BD People in High Growth Firms Scott discusses the roles of Hunter/BD people in high-growth firms. He explains that these roles can range from five to $10 million firms looking to grow organically to $25 million and potentially leverage M&A. The role involves understanding prospective clients, targeting companies, gathering data for an effective approach, outreach, scheduling meetings, and creating a lead generation engine. The Hunter BD person's role is crucial in identifying potential clients and building relationships with them. They are responsible for taking initial calls, developing relationships, and deciding whether to bring in a partner or subject matter expert. Different firms have different compensation structures, with some expecting the sales leader to close business and the delivery team to execute or the role may be to generate meetings. There are two types of Hunter BD profiles: those who understand the business well enough to take the sales cycle from start to finish, build relationships, understand the selling proposition, and close deals. Another version of the role  involves supercharging what partners do well, pitching services, and understanding the problem statement of potential buyers. Scott suggests that the effectiveness of each role depends on the business's needs at its current stage of growth and the resources available. It is important to consider the business's staffing and talent requirements when choosing between meeting setters and sales leaders. Sales Success Strategies Scott emphasizes the need for a combination of strategies to achieve success in sales. First, a strong strategy is needed. Second, having the right technology in place to generate strong leads is crucial. He shares a few steps and mentions how important relationships are in selling services. People who have worked in the industry and built up a network can leverage their network to sell directly to potential buyers or introduce them to potential buyers. The best salespeople are not only doing one or the other, but also setting the engine, pursuing cold outreach, getting their story out there to the right people, and leveraging their own network and relationships. The typical background of successful salespeople is in the digital and technology services space, where they have exceptional sales training programs. However, when hiring commercial talent into professional services, it is important to see their experience in selling services and speaking to different types of customers. In conclusion, a combination of strategies, including cold calling and cold outreach, is necessary to achieve success in the sales world. It is essential to find individuals with a strong sales DNA and experience in both sales and professional services to ensure a successful transition into the industry. Evaluation Process for Sales Candidates Scott emphasizes the importance of communication skills and the ability to quickly connect with people within an organization. He also emphasizes the importance of talking in numbers and making things simple for clients. The typical compensation range for salespeople is typically between 150,000 and 250,000, depending on their experience level. However, at the high end, senior sales people typically earn between $350 and $400,000. Scott talks about attracting talent.  One of the most common questions asked by candidates is whether they are ready to walk away from their current position with existing relationships and recurring business. To help incentivize or help with the ramp period, firms should focus on having someone who can bring existing relationships with buyers who are fit for the role. This could include senior executives, civilian clients, or heads of business units at large companies. In summary, Scott emphasizes the importance of communication skills, numbers, and a strong understanding of the company's business processes when evaluating candidates for sales roles. Support Teams and Building a Commercial Team Scott suggests that hiring someone at this level should build a commercial team around them. This could include someone handling marketing, leveraging LinkedIn, and generating leads through marketing. A research person is also crucial in this team. In a professional services firm, the number of people involved in lead sales is considered a team number. The first 30-60 days should be spent identifying the right setup of the team and finding ways to make the most out of their resources. The sales leader or Chief Commercial Officer would lead the team in lead generation, research, and building lists for target audiences. The research capabilities may include using tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator to build lists and target different businesses. The audience for the firm will impact the size of the research function, but it is essential to leverage existing technology for lead generation and segmenting for cold outreach. By targeting the right people and buyers, the team can create targeted messaging and drive sales growth.  Compensation for Sales Leaders  Scott discusses the compensation for sales leaders in a professional service firm, including the process metrics for hiring salespeople, such as meeting frequency and revenue generation. For a salesperson at a higher level, the goal is to generate millions of dollars in revenue. However, the number of meetings may vary depending on the size of the deal and the industry. For a sales leader at a 150,000 base, the typical number of meetings would be two meetings per week. The number of meetings depends on the size of the deal and volume expectation. If the salesperson is selling large deals or farming accounts, the number of meetings may decrease. However, the goal is to maintain double-digits of meetings once the business is up and running. When hiring a sales leader, professionals should consider their organization's capability to handle downturns and be agile in their offerings. Scott believes that hiring a sales leader can help the company adapt to market changes and build new capabilities. By identifying different markets and products, the sales leader can help the company handle downturns and rapid changes. The best sales leaders are creative and can sell their product in various places, allowing the firm to hire against these expectations. This approach allows the sales leader to continue growing and function in challenging times. Incentive Compensation for Commercial Leaders Scott shares what a company should address before bringing in a sales leader. He discusses the normal rates of success expected in a sales leader and the incentive compensation for commercial leaders, and the different ways firms structure it. He talks about the various models for building a strategy,  how long the new logo belongs to the salesperson, and how much of that is shared with the partner who delivers the work, leading to recurring business. Some firms have a higher volume, a less consolidated sales model where the income is going elsewhere, while others focus on maintaining relationships and expanding on new accounts. Scott emphasizes the importance of paying attention to the core DNA of successful salespeople, which includes competitive spirit, motivation, commercial mode, and strong communication skills. The best salespeople are motivated, commercially awaited, and have a piano driver of their own success and fulfillment through their work. They also have strong interpersonal skills and a sense of people. By testing for these qualities and the experience of the sales leader, organizations can feel comfortable in the value they can bring to their organization.    Timestamps: 00:40 Recruiting commercial roles in professional services firms 01:49 Commercial leadership roles in professional services firms 06:14 Sales roles and responsibilities in consulting firms 12:04 Sales strategies for professional services 17:56 Evaluating sales candidates for consulting roles 20:38 Sales compensation and ramp time for high-potential salespeople 25:32 Building a commercial organization for a consulting or professional services firm 31:15 Hiring a sales leader for a professional service firm 36:25 Sales leadership and incentive compensation strategies   Links:   Website: https://beecherreagan.com/ CONTACT:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-ratliff-0294362b/   Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

In the 50th episode of the Master Marketer show, Kacy Maxwell, the CMO at Provisions Group, author, and entrepreneur joins our hosts Mike Grinberg and Gaby Israel Grinberg. He talks about his extraordinary journey in marketing, his work as an author, and business startup, Sketchwell. They dive deep into LinkedIn strategies, unraveling how a powerful narrative can help drive personal and business connections effectively. "You're just sharing to start a conversation around," Kacy Maxwell instills the idea of using LinkedIn more as a platform for meaningful conversations rather than just for promoting one's brand or services. What else is in it for you? - How can transforming LinkedIn activity into a conversation foster a more genuine and engaging presence? - What are the common mistakes and strategies to enhance one's LinkedIn presence? - Why is it important to have a strong point of view while avoiding grandiose claims? - What is the framework implemented by the Provisions Group to assess their team members' strengths, expertise, and personality traits? - How can one leverage LinkedIn for effective lead generation? Delve into these questions and more about digital marketing and content strategies with the Master Marketer Show.

In the 50th episode of the Master Marketer show, Kacy Maxwell, the CMO at Provisions Group, author, and entrepreneur joins our hosts Mike Grinberg and Gaby Israel Grinberg. He talks about his extraordinary journey in marketing, his work as an author, and business startup, Sketchwell. They dive deep into LinkedIn strategies, unraveling how a powerful narrative can help drive personal and business connections effectively. "You're just sharing to start a conversation around," Kacy Maxwell instills the idea of using LinkedIn more as a platform for meaningful conversations rather than just for promoting one's brand or services. What else is in it for you? - How can transforming LinkedIn activity into a conversation foster a more genuine and engaging presence? - What are the common mistakes and strategies to enhance one's LinkedIn presence? - Why is it important to have a strong point of view while avoiding grandiose claims? - What is the framework implemented by the Provisions Group to assess their team members' strengths, expertise, and personality traits? - How can one leverage LinkedIn for effective lead generation? Delve into these questions and more about digital marketing and content strategies with the Master Marketer Show.

Live from Los Angeles! As Mike records from Anaheim prepping for the California of Realtors annual REimagine event, and Paul Roetzer is coming off the heels of a whirlwind trip to Munich for an event he keynoted, they sit down for a quick 56 minutes to regroup on the latest in artificial intelligence, business, and marketing. Paul and Mike discuss: AI and the workforce: professional services plus AI's impact on our work, and what's next for AI? And then, a handful of rapid-fire topics for you. 00:02:48 — Major service firms pivoting to AI 00:21:04 — AI and its impact on our work 00:42:59 — Where AI is going based on real-world experience 00:38:34 — “Getting this right with AI” according to Silicon Valley 00:43:32 — Dreamforce AI updates 00:46:22 — Google Gemini nears release 00:48:27 — Deutsche Bank and generative AI 00:51:08 — Newsom's executive order on AI 00:52:39 — Stable Audio launches Listen to the full episode of the podcast: https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/podcast-showcase Want to receive our videos faster? SUBSCRIBE to our channel!   Visit our website: https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com Receive our weekly newsletter: https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/newsletter-subscription   Looking for content and resources? Register for a free webinar: https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/resources#filter=.webinar  Come to our next Marketing AI Conference: www.MAICON.ai Enroll in AI Academy for Marketers: https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/academy/home

Strategic growth is about more than just growth for growth's sake. It's about identifying the most efficient path for profitability and sustainability and then pursuing it. Our guest today, Gale Crosley, is a Strategic Growth and Innovation Consultant who has helped countless growth-oriented CPA and Accounting firms overcome barriers and achieve high-performing strategic growth. Crosley started her career as a CPA with Arthur Andersen before transitioning to technology sales. After the dot-com bust, she started her own growth consultancy to help CPA firms grow strategically. We discuss strategic growth within the CPA and broader professional services profession, including what firms can learn from traditional corporate enterprises and how technological innovations like AI are changing the industry. Gale explains that strategic growth is not just top-line growth but also about the bottom line. It's not growth for growth's sake; rather, it's about growing profitability. She also breaks down the biggest impediments to strategic growth, like unprecedented staffing shortages and adapting to revenue cycles.Finally, Gale notes that firms must shift their strategy as the market changes. Firms need to specialize and innovate to stay relevant. Gale believes private equity and technology are disrupters to the CPA profession that will accelerate the need to evolve current business strategies. Gale advises managing partners to focus on strategic growth and specialization instead of riding the rollercoaster of market conditions. By being forward-thinking and focusing on strategic growth, firms can achieve the most profit and the fastest growth.Key Points From This Episode: Get to know Gale, her deep experience, and her work as a Strategic Growth Consultant.Why she pivoted from accounting early in her career.How she partners with CPA firms to transform them into high-growth environments.The concept of strategic growth and how it is accomplished.How strategic growth is the most profitable and fastest growth and why it is not growth for growth's sake. Broadening geographic reach and its impact on opportunity and competition.An overview of the unprecedented disruption within the CPA profession and how private equity is changing the landscape so radically.Why strategic growth is the movement from an individual contribution, book of business, tactical generalist to a leader-driven and strategic specialist.The impediments to strategic growth that Gale has observed. What firms should be doing with increased revenue levels to optimize for strategic growth.How leadership and organizational structure can foster (or impede) strategic growth.The differences between what drives corporate America, private equity firms, and CPA firms.Combining the best parts of corporate America with the best parts of the CPA profession.Advice for firms on approaching industry changes and the role of private equity.Gale's predictions for what the industry will look like in ten years.Gale CrosleyGale Crosley on LinkedInConnection BuildersAlex Drost LinkedIn

Is Your Firm prepared for the Financial Year Ahead? Key Trends and Challenges for Professional Services Firms in 2023/24 We are delighted to share with you the recording of our recent webinar, 'Is Your Firm prepared for the Financial Year Ahead? Key Trends and Challenges for Professional Services Firms in 2023/24', in which our expert panel discuss the financial year ahead for professional services firms. Listen to the recording here and see below for further details.  In this webinar, you can hear from Chair, Corinne Staves (CM Murray LLP), and speakers Robert Millard (Cambridge Strategy Group), David Shufflebotham (Pep Up Consulting) and Andrew Pavlovic (CM Murray LLP) as they discuss the following issues to include in professional service firms 'to do' list for the next financial year:  - How to remain profitable and effectively manage the firm's cash flow at a time of stalled economic growth, inflation, cost of living crisis and basis period reform. - Implementing a strategy and the importance of having a Plan B strategy, especially during a time where firms are adapting to deliver client services in a new technological era. - How to maintain and enhance a firm's culture and productivity in a hybrid working environment, including the impact that long-term hybrid working may have had on a firms culture. - Key regulatory developments and the practicalities surrounding how to approach them, specifically the new SRA regulations to address toxic work environments by actively challenging behaviours in the workplace. - Whether ChatGPT could spell the end of lawyers or whether it can be harnessed to improve service delivery and profitability of firms. - The potential regulatory issues that arise from using new technology (such as Chat GPT) to assist with delivering client services. - The increasing need for professional service firms to address environmental issues. If you would like to discuss any of the above issues in further detail, please contact Partner, Corinne Staves, who specialises in partnership issues for firms and partners.

We are delighted to share with you the recording of our recent webinar, ‘Is Your Firm prepared for the Financial Year Ahead? Key Trends and Challenges for Professional Services Firms in 2023/24', in which our expert panel discuss the financial year ahead for professional services firms. In this webinar, you can hear from Chair, Corinne Staves (CM Murray LLP), and speakers Robert Millard (Cambridge Strategy Group), David Shufflebotham (Pep Up Consulting) and Andrew Pavlovic (CM Murray LLP) as they discuss the following issues to include in professional service firms ‘to do' list for the next financial year:  How to remain profitable and effectively manage the firm's cash flow at a time of stalled economic growth, inflation, cost of living crisis and basis period reform. Implementing a strategy and the importance of having a Plan B strategy, especially during a time where firms are adapting to deliver client services in a new technological era. How to maintain and enhance a firm's culture and productivity in a hybrid working environment, including the impact that long-term hybrid working may have had on a firms culture. Key regulatory developments and the practicalities surrounding how to approach them, specifically the new SRA regulations to address toxic work environments by actively challenging behaviours in the workplace. Whether ChatGPT could spell the end of lawyers or whether it can be harnessed to improve service delivery and profitability of firms. The potential regulatory issues that arise from using new technology (such as Chat GPT) to assist with delivering client services. The increasing need for professional service firms to address environmental issues. If you would like to discuss any of the above issues in further detail, please contact Partner, Corinne Staves, who specialises in partnership issues for firms and partners. 

John Ray is a Pricing and Business Development Coach for Professional Services Firms, and a Podcast Host and Producer. In this episode, John shares optimal strategies for positioning your value proposition to attract the best fit clients for your business.   What you will learn from this episode: Discover how to craft a compelling value proposition by identifying the unique value that your clients perceive in your offerings Learn about the importance of continuing value conversation Overcome the fear of pricing the value you provide to your clients   "Develop your options around that client and let them choose. And you'll find out your pricing suddenly improves." - John Ray   Topics Covered: 01:15 - How he got himself into pricing 02:10 - Who is his ideal client? 03:59 - Insights on solopreneurs making their business work even if they don't necessarily plan on being a business owner 05:28 - The feeling of fear and inadequacy in pricing in a lot of solopreneurs 06:11 - It's not all about expertise but the value you deliver 08:13 - Suggested value proposition to this case: Roger [the client] loves the fact that I calm him down when he gets notice in the mail, I'm trying to win some new business 09:01 - The importance of continuing value conversation 11:10 - One way to lead a value conversation and for people to dig deep with you 11:47 - Optimal win rate or rejection rate and the significance of having a value conversation 15:25 - Benefits of accepting all clients when you're just starting out [and advantages of niching] 18:42 - Turning the intangible value you have into a tangible range of values for the client 20:47 - Price effectively or end up costing your business 24:10 - John's thoughts on this: If I'm bidding and there's no competition or there is competition 26:11 - John's pricing advice   Key Takeaways: "By definition you'll be getting better clients by that measure [35% win rate]." - John Ray "The great thing about a value conversation, it's a net that allows the great clients in that fits you well, and keeps out the ones that are not great fits." - John Ray "You don't lean on what you think you're worth, you lean on what the value that you've been able to uncover in that conversation." - John Ray   People / Resources Mentioned: Ron Baker: https://impactpricing.com/?s=Ron+BAker Allan Weiss: https://alanweiss.com/shop/books/hardcover/value-based-fees-3rd-edition/   Connect with John Ray: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnray1/   Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com  

Today we are joined by Timothy Keith, the CEO and Founder of Propense.ai, an AI cross-selling platform that helps professional services firms grow more efficiently and holistically. Tim shares his unique career path that helped build his expertise in the professional services industry, starting with his experience in CRM implementation at a large-scale CPA firm. Tim's path to becoming a founder is as inspiring as it is unique, and he explains how a love for solving difficult problems fuels his passion. Tim shares his view of why CRM implementation can be particularly challenging in the professional services space due to the partnership model, and he notes that most growth in professional services firms comes organically, making cross-selling a crucial element in their growth strategy.During our conversation, Tim identifies that the problem of cross-selling in professional services is often two-fold: first, there is a lack of transparency and visibility of the services the firms offer, and second, there is a lack of process behind their cross-selling strategy. We also talk about how behavior and accountability influence a company's cross-selling success, why humans are driven by incentives, and what Propsonse.ai as a company is hoping to achieve with its AI-driven products. Key Points From This Episode:Tim's unique path to becoming a founder, and his love for solving difficult problems.  The process of implementing a CRM; what he's learned and the problems he's encountered. Exploring the behavioral elements of CRM implementation for individuals versus businesses. Tim's definition of cross-selling, and his solutions for its complicated problems.   What firms should focus more on regarding behavior and accountability in cross-selling. The basic human trait of seeking incentives. What Propense.ai does and what the company is hoping to achieve. How many big companies don't understand the full extent of the benefits of a CRM.What Tim has learned from being a founder and using AI in the CRM implementation space. The first steps to take to improve cross-selling at your company. Timothy Keith on LinkedIn Timothy Keith Email Propense.aiConnection BuildersAlex Drost LinkedIn

In this episode of Lunch Money, we were joined by special guests Daniella Mancuso from Nationwise Financial Solutions and Ian Hyman from Hymans Valuers & Auctioneers. We discussed the challenges of diversifying and growing professional services firms, with our commercial finance broker audience in mind.  

Our guest on the Performance Leader's podcast is Lewis Iwu, co-founder and CEO of Purpose Union, a social purpose strategy firm united by the belief that the world is better off when companies and organisations think, act and communicate with a defined social purpose. Lewis advises organisations on how to devise and execute winning arguments and campaigns on social and environmental issues. Over the past 15 years he has worked with some of the world's most influential organisations and individuals, and led campaigns and coalitions on issues such as racial injustice, climate change and education access. He is the author of Words that Win, a book about how to win arguments on social and environmental issues.  Lewis was previously the founding Director of the Fair Education Alliance, a national advocacy coalition of almost 100 non-profits and businesses. Lewis has also worked at leading global corporate reputation agencies, Finsbury and Brunswick. In this podcast we discuss: The work of Purpose Union The historical link between the professions and social purpose, including how firms can resolve purpose conflicts such as which clients to represent The connection between social purpose, organisational purpose and individual purpose Building purpose into the employee value proposition And The role of leaders in advancing purpose   I hope you enjoy this conversation with Lewis Iwu.

Making an impact that matters. Deloitte konzentriert sich als eine der führenden Professional Services Firms auf mehr als nur die klassischen Aufgaben einer Prüfungs- und Beratungsgesellschaft. Wir erbringen Dienstleistungen in den Bereichen Audit & Assurance, Risk Advisory, Tax & Legal, Financial Advisory und Consulting für Unternehmen und Institutionen aus allen Branchen. Als Vorreiter entwickeln wir innovative Lösungen für unsere Kunden und eröffnen Chancen für unsere Talente. Ganz gleich, ob BWL oder MINT - Diversity fördert Innovation durch unterschiedliche Sichtweisen und Charaktere. Wir freuen uns, Sophia und Jessica im get hyrd Podcast begrüßen zu dürfen! Mehr zu Sophia, Jessica und Deloitte: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophialuisepietsch/?originalSubdomain=dehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-l%C3%B6scher/?originalSubdomain=dehttps://www.linkedin.com/company/deloitte/https://www2.deloitte.com/de/de/pages/careers/articles/cloud-karriere.htmlhttps://job.deloitte.com/job-junior-consultant-mwd-dein-quereinstieg-ins-cloud-consulting-_45744 hyrd: https://www.instagram.com/gethyrd/https://www.linkedin.com/company/gethyrd/https://www.facebook.com/gethyrd/https://twitter.com/gethyrd get hyrd Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2OHMNxXljWpKs1hU5eDqm2 ‎https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/get-hyrd/id1621089768 https://music.amazon.de/podcasts/d9924d00-9a8d-4882-9b27-b2f4d7fa9e2e/get-hyrd

Strategy legend Rita McGrath and Ron Boire, her partner at Valize, share a ton of insights on the issues that inhibit professional services innovation and the solutions to address them. The post Why Professional Services Firms Can't Innovate with Rita McGrath and Ron Boire appeared first on Rattle and Pedal.

Strategy legend Rita McGrath and Ron Boire, her partner at Valize, share a ton of insights on the issues that inhibit professional services innovation and the solutions to address them. The post Why Professional Services Firms Can't Innovate with Rita McGrath and Ron Boire appeared first on Rattle and Pedal.

Be sure to rate our show on Apple Podcasts!Be sure to follow Ashley on Instagram at @theashleynicoleshow and @speakyourwaytocash Join our Speaker Mailing List & Learn About Our Other Resources Here: https://www.ashleynicolekirkwood.com/connect-with-ashleyAbout Speak Your Way To Cash: Speak Your Way To Cash® was started to help speakers, authors, experts and entrepreneurs start at the top of the speaking market instead of working your way up from the bottom! The company is designed to help speakers land 5-6 figure corporate speaking offers! Side note; our clients also work with colleges, associations, corporations and government entitis too! If you want to grow your business - speaking or otherwise - there's a Speak Your Way To Cash® Course, Event or Coaching Program for you! Learn more about us at www.speakyourwaytocash.com About Ashley Kirkwood: Speak Your Way To Cash® (‘SYWTC') founder and former Fortune 100TMTrial Attorney Ashley Nicole Kirkwood has carved a niche as one of this nation's leadingthought experts on the speaking and training industry. Her internationally recognizedpodcast and book - both titled, Speak Your Way To Cash® - helps speakers around theworld learn to land five and six figure corporate speaking contracts. Her clients havegarnered national media attention and landed hundreds of thousands of dollars in speakingcontracts!Ashley is recognized as a distinct, inclusive, and authoritative voice by Forbes, The ChicagoTribune, FOX32 Chicago, NBC5 Chicago, Crain's Chicago Business, The American Lawyer,Black Enterprise, and many more. She lives in Chicago, and her unique workshops,programs, and talks are highly sought after by companies across the United States whowish to become better, both internally and as community citizens.Want to connect with Ashley? Email her at ashley@ashleynicolekirkwood.com or check outspeakyourwaytocash.com to learn more about how she can help you!

Simon Severino helps business owners run their companies more effectively which results in sales that soar. Trusted by Google, Roche, Consilience Ventures, Amgen, and AbbVie. He created the Strategy Sprints™ Method that doubles revenue in 90 days by getting owners out of the weeds. TEDx speaker, Contributor to Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazine, and member of the SVBS Silicon Valley Blockchain Society. ---------------------------------------- This show is sponsored by Leopard Solutions Legal Intelligence Suite of products, Firmscape, and Leopard BI. Push ahead of the pack with the power of Leopard. For a free demo, visit this link: https://www.leopardsolutions.com/index.php/request-a-demo/ Links https://www.strategysprints.com/ https://www.facebook.com/strategysprints/ https://twitter.com/strategysprints https://www.instagram.com/strategysprints/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonseverino/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnSFgJd0CrsEdQdO21txR2A https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/strategy-sprints/id1299008831 https://www.amazon.com/Strategy-Sprints-Accelerate-Growth-Business/dp/139860349X

What you'll learn in this episode: Why advertising for professional services is unique compared to other industries How to make the subjective creative process more objective The process behind some of Brad and Larry's most well-known campaigns Why law firms need to be responsive to the changes in the marketplace, and why advertising is no longer optional Why a good website is a nonnegotiable, especially when it comes to hiring and retention About Larry Cohen: Larry Cohen is the president and co-founder of advertising agency Glyphix. His vision of a small agency of talented, skilled professionals doing great work for great clients is what drives the group. He's a writer. Copy. Scripts. Children's books. In addition to his work with clients, he understands the financial side of their investment in Glyphix…and keeps Glyphix financially strong and stable. About Brad Wilder: Brad Wilder is creative director and co-founder of Glyphix. Art direction and design are his thing. The national and international awards he's won prove the point. Awards for almost everything… corporate identity, advertising, packaging, in-store merchandising, display and trade show booth design, interfaces, for clients like Nestlé, Mercedes-Benz, Baskin-Robbins, Xircom and Disney. He's also a tech geek. Transcript: In the legal industry, advertising has done a 180. What was once considered tacky is now a requirement. And according to Larry Cohen and Brad Wilder, co-founders of advertising agency Glyphix, if you're going to advertise, you better make it count. They joined the Law Firm Marketing Catalyst Podcast to talk about how to make the creative process run smoothly; why a strong website is a critical part of attracting top talent; and why even the best brands need a refresh from time to time. Read the episode transcript here.  Sharon: Welcome to the Law Firm Marketing Catalyst Podcast. Today, my guests are Larry Cohen and Brad Wilder, who are some of the professional forces behind Glyphix. Glyphix is an advertising agency which works across all genres but has particular expertise in the professional services space. They're specialists in all kinds of advertising, websites, print, etc. I say specialists because they're specialists in having their work stand out from the crowd. We will learn more about Glyphix today. Larry and Brad, welcome to the program. Larry: Thank you very much for having us   Brad: We're glad to be here.   Sharon: We're so glad to have you. Each of you, give us your career paths just briefly.   Larry: Interesting question, because our career paths are almost exactly the same in the sense that—   Sharon: Larry, that's you speaking?   Larry: Yeah, this is Larry. Brad and I met in high school at Hamilton High School in Los Angeles. I was a writer for the school paper. Brad was the photographer and designer, and that's where we met. After college, we got together and began working for an advertising agency called Mendelson Design. Back in 1986, when the Mac came out and gave us the tools to do a lot of great creative work for a very affordable price, we decided, “Hey, let's start our own new agency.” We've been together since 1986. So, it's been a very similar career path.   Sharon: So, you've known each other a long time.   Brad: Longer than we've known our wives, yeah.   Sharon: Can you tell us what Glyphix does in general?   Larry: In general, we do professional services-focused, full-service advertising, some marketing, no PR. We try and delineate those two things, but it's soup-to-nuts advertising from brand building to SEO and social.   Brad: The bottom line for us is really helping our clients position themselves in the marketplace against the competition and keeping them ever-present in the minds of their potential customers and clients. That can start with the strategy, and then from there move right through to naming their websites, logos, branding, TV advertising, print. All those are different tools we have at our disposal to keep our clients front and center in front of their clients.   Sharon: How do you describe each of your roles at Glyphix? Are they the same?   Larry: No, our roles are very, very different. I came out of university with a business degree. So, for me, it's the business, dealing with clients, doing some copywriting. Brad is our creative director, so he runs the creative. Whether we're designing websites, shooting TV commercials, doing print ads, Brad's the guy that runs the creative here. I think it's one of the reasons we've survived together, as we have a good delineation between who does what with respect to each other's talents.    Sharon: That is a good delineation. You're not crossing over on each other. Brad, the first time I ever saw the agency was when you did something—I can't remember which company it was for—it was advertising an x-ray. It was for a healthcare law firm.   Brad: It was for Fenton Nelson which is now Nelson Hardiman, health-care attorneys. What was the question? That was a great piece. It was so radically different at the time. No one had ever done it before.   Sharon: It was radically different. It was for healthcare marketing attorneys, as you say, and it really stood out.   Brad: To give some background on that, Fenton Nelson is a healthcare law firm specializing in all things healthcare. They wanted direct mail, not digital, but they wanted it to completely stand out. We actually shot x-ray film with a design that became a direct mail line. It was a full x-ray in an x-ray envelope. It was sent to all the healthcare agencies on their call list. It was 10, 15 years ago, and people are still talking about it.    Sharon: So, it was a real x-ray?   Brad: Yes.   Larry: We actually had to source x-ray film.    Sharon: How did you come up with that?   Larry: That's a great question. We came up with it because Brad and I always try to look for what makes a client unique, what makes them special. In this case, we interviewed Harry Nelson and his staff and they said, “We could go to any healthcare facility. We can walk through the facility and see what their issues are and where they're going to get in trouble. We see things that other people don't.” That gave us the idea that an x-ray allows you to see things other people don't. That gave us a positioning line for the firm, and it was, “We see things other firms don't.” It was a positioning that said, “We're unique because our experience and expertise allow us to help our clients.” In that case, it was to help healthcare clients, hospitals, and facilities stay out of trouble.    It really came out of the client organically, and that's what Brad and I tried to do. I think we're good at helping clients find a position for themselves, find the thing that makes them unique. Are you the most expensive? Are you the most experienced? What is it that you're the best at, and how do we translate that into a creative message? Then, how do we get that in front of our potential clients?   Sharon: Do you tell the client that even if they don't ask for it? Do you tell them what you're working from?   Larry: Yes, absolutely, because we want to educate the client. I think clients find it exciting. People love hearing stories, and every firm, every client has a story to tell. The trick is to find that story. I have to uncover that and deliver that story. It's compelling. You think about great brands. Most of them have a story behind it: why the company was started, what problem you are solving for your customers. That's what customers and clients care about. Nobody cares about what you do. They care about what you can do for them, how you make them successful. Our job is to translate what you do into why somebody should care.    Sharon: Is that how you got the name Glyphix? Is there something with Glyphix that tells clients that?   Larry: It was painful naming. We're a creative firm, so we have to have a creative name; we have to do things differently. We went through hundreds of names. We kept focusing on the name “glyph” as in a hieroglyph. It's using a picture or several pictures in a row to tell a story. At the time, everything that ended in X was much cooler, and we just stuck with Glyphix. Even our logo is a little “GX” man—it's on Glyphix.com; check it out—that tells a story through pictures and simple storytelling.   Sharon: I was thinking this while I was looking at the website. You have these very simple line drawings that tell what you do. Was it you who came up with that, Brad?   Larry: Are you talking about the video?   Sharon: Yeah, the video.   Larry: We typically come up with work as a team. At Glyphix, we have a great bunch of people who work together as a team. At the time, we had a gentleman, David Allman, working with us. I think David and Brad came up with that idea. Then we had it animated, and we had a wonderful gentleman who did the voiceover. We wanted a very simple way to explain what we do to people.   Sharon: As I was looking at it, I thought it was great, but it's like, “How do they come up with it?” I don't know if I could have.   Larry: We're very glad that other people can't do it; otherwise, we'd be out of work.    Sharon: If somebody says to you, “What does the firm specialize in?” do you have an area you specialize in?   Larry: I'm not sure about the word specialize. We do a lot of work with professional services firms. We understand how they function and how they work. We work with dozens and dozens of law firms and accounting firms, helping them craft their position, understand the brand and keep it in front of clients.    Ballard Rosenberg is a firm out here in the Valley. We keep them in front of their clients by keeping them in the business journals every month. For other firms, we'll get them on television. For others, we'll put them on KCRW radio. For us, it's helping our clients manage their brand. For others, it's evolved into websites and doing some social media for them. I think nowadays people are so busy, it's difficult to keep up with everybody. The key is keeping our clients front and center in the minds of their clients so when a need comes up, they remember them.   Brad: And I should say we don't do only professional services. We just happen to be very good at it. Professional services, especially with law firms, they bring their own special challenges, and we've learned to work around those things. You often hear that working with law firms is like herding cats. We've gotten pretty good at herding cats, but we handle many other firms. Our newest onboard is an AI and machine learning company. It couldn't be any more different than law firms, and the approach is very different from law firms, but again, we're looking for that story, that one thing they do best.   Sharon: How would you say that working with professional services firms is different than working with a products firm, let's say?   Brad: It's super different, because with professional services firms—I don't mean this in a negative way, but there's a lot of ego involved because it's personal. You're talking about selling the people. With a product, you can get some distance in between them. I can go to a CEO or marketing group in a firm and say, “Hey, your product is this and that. Here's the audience. Here's how they're going to respond.” There's some objectivity you can bring to that.    With professional services firms, it's very, very personal, especially when you get in a room with three, four, five partners of a law firm. They all have opinions. They're all valid, but they're all personal. Imagine taking five lawyers at a law firm out to purchase one car. You'd come back with a motorcycle. They have very strong opinions. They're always very articulate. They're very bright folks, so they all have valid opinions. Trying to get to a consensus is oftentimes difficult, as opposed to a product that stands on its own. Instead of telling a story about the product, you're telling a story about the people at the firm, and you have to get them over that hurdle. The firm itself has a brand and that brand stands for something. If you can get to that point, they can put their own personal biases aside and do what's best for the firm, but that's a challenge sometimes.    Sharon: I'm sure that's a challenge if you're dealing with ego. How do you overcome that? If you have a managing partner who feels one way and a senior associate feels differently, or if you're talking to an equity firm and the driver feels they're going one way and the other people are going another, how do you overcome that?   Larry: It's a great question. It's challenging. You can start by listening. Hopefully, we can spend the first meeting or two really listening and coming back to them with a creative brief that says, “Based on all the input we've received, this is what we're hearing. This is the direction to go in. Do we all agree on this?” We'll never start a design, whether it's a logo or a website or an ad campaign, until we understand who we're talking to, what we're trying to say, what our goals are. We try to get them all on the same page. That's the first hurdle.   The second hurdle is when you show creative. Creative is subjective in nature. People like blue, but they hate green, and they like flowers, but they don't like butterflies. Who knows? With that subjectivity, we try to bring objectivity to this process by saying, “Based on what we heard, this works well for you. Here's why these colors work well. Here's why these graphics work well. Here's why this typestyle works well.” We bring objectivity and some rationale behind the design, but again, you can look at a painting and you can love it or hate it. It may be a Rembrandt, but you may still hate it. It's hard, and you just take time. Sometimes these projects will go on for months and months because they're debating in-house or they're busy. We do our best to keep moving things along and trying to get to a final answer.   Brad: In addition to that, I think it's partly common ground. If you have a lot of partners and they all have strong opinions, it's sitting down long before any creative and discussing likes and dislikes, because personal likes and dislikes are every bit as valid as any other design criteria. In talking with you as long as possible, we try and pick out the common ground they all agree on to start with and then build outward from there. We build on the common ground and the trust that's been created in the initial discussions. Then that's where, as Larry was saying, we try and make it as objective as possible in a very subjective industry. That's one of the biggest challenges about being in advertising.    Sharon: I bet it's a challenge with a lot of professional service industries. Are you ever the order takers, as we sometimes get accused of being? Do people call you and say, “We need a new website,” and you go in thinking, “O.K., let's look at the website. We may not need everything new.”   Larry: I would say definitely not. In fact, we've lost business in the past by saying, “This is not what you need.” I feel like our responsibility is to talk to the client and say, “Based on your goals, here's what we suggest.” Now, if you want to ignore that, O.K., we can do what you're asking us to do. But I'll always give a client our best advice right up front, because otherwise I don't think we'll be successful in the long term, and they won't be successful. That doesn't work for us.    Most of our clients we've had now for, some of them, five, 10, 15 years. I think they know we will make the hard call and give them good advice. We may not be so popular, but I think in the long run, it serves them well. We try very hard to avoid being order takers. We always say, “If you ask for this, we'll give you that, but here's what we think you should do as well. Here are both options for you.” I always want to feel good that we gave the client the best thinking we could, even if they want to make a bad decision. That's up to them, but I want to give them an option and say, “Here's another way of going. What do you think?   Brad: We will never do only what the client asks for. I don't want that to be taken wrong, but if they ask for something very specific, if they've got something in their mind they want to get out and see how it looks, we're happy to help them with that process. But we're always going to give another opinion or two about a possible better way to get them thinking in larger spheres or in different directions.   Sharon: Do you think it's possible to rebrand? If everybody has a brand in their mind, is it possible to change that?   Brad: Oh, absolutely. Brands evolve constantly. If you look at the big brands, the Apples and Cokes of the world, they're constantly evolving and changing and staying current. We do that very often. We just finished a project for Enenstein Pham & Glass, a great law firm over the hill in Century City. They wanted to tighten the name up to EPG. We had a great project we did with them. We redid the logo and updated collateral materials.    I think firms constantly need to be responsive to the changes in the marketplace. They need to stay fresh. Law firms oftentimes say to us, “We don't need a website because nobody checks our website.” Well, the truth is when you're hiring, that's the first place they go. We've been working with a lot of our law firm clients and accounting clients so their site is designed in part to attract young talent, to bring people on board. Your website is your calling card. It's your office. Everybody goes there and checks it out just to validate who you are. Oftentimes, you have to understand who is going there. If you are looking to hire, which every accounting firm we know of right now is looking desperately to hire talent, that's where talent goes. They check out your site and get a sense of who you are.    Larry: And to see if it's some place they want to join. The better the candidate, the better the website should be to impress in both directions. Most people think of a website as outbound. I don't get new business from my website, especially in professional services. It's usually word of mouth. But they're always going to validate, and that validation has to be up to date. It has to be modern. It has to be credible for every law firm, and everybody knows this.    For 20 years, the professional services industry has been going through upheaval after upheaval because it came from a time when law firms, if they advertised, they were shysters. Now more than ever for law firms, you have to think about marketing and social and putting your best face forward. That's a huge turn of events, and I think some law firms are still having trouble getting used to that idea.   Sharon: Do you think that in any professional service there's room for traditional advertising, for print, for newspaper ads or magazine ads? Is there room for that?   Larry: Oh, sure. I think they all complement each other. As I said, for Ballard Rosenberg, we keep them current. They represent companies in employment law cases. So, for that firm, we keep them in front of the L.A. Business Journal, the San Fernando Valley Business Journal and some other publications where businesses are looking, where CEOs are reading those publications. I think there's definitely room for that.    For other clients—I'll give you an example. With direct mail, people think, “Why would you use direct mail for a law firm?” Well, we've got a number of law firms who don't want to do traditional advertising, which I completely respect. They have a list of 5,000 clients they've worked with over the past 10 years who they don't normally talk to. We put together a concept called an annual review. It's an annual report that goes out, basically. It's not the financials, but it's a yearend review on what happened at the firm this past year. It talks about cases they've won and publicity and pro bono work and new hires. It's a lovely booklet, and it goes out at the end of the year to 5,000 clients. Suddenly, it's a non-advertising way to get in front of all those clients you've had in the past, remind them of who you are, remind them of the exciting things going on at your firm and why they should do business with you.    We've done this for a number of firms and they've gotten tremendous response. People say, “I love this. I get an update on what's happening at the firm.” It's a very non-solicitous advertising piece, but it still an advertising piece because it communicates what's going on. It's a communication tool. I think it's traditional because it's direct mail, but it's been tweaked a little bit to be more contemporary. All these things combine to deliver an impression to your clients.    Sharon: That's interesting. Given the amount of direct mail I receive, my first reaction to what you're saying is, “Who would do direct mail today for any kind of marketing?” But I guess a lot of people do.   Larry: I think the key is to do it well. I agree with you. You get a lot of crap in the mail. 90% of it is garbage. Our job is to make sure that whatever we do, like that x-ray we did for Harry Nelson years ago, it's got to stand out. We've done those campaigns for law firms. We have a lot of nonprofits we work with. Whenever Brad and I do a direct mail campaign, we always push the pedal to the metal on creative. How out there can we be to get some attention, whether that's headlines, colors, different sizes, different materials? Brad and I have sent things out in tubes before.    Brad: Even bubble wrap.   Larry: The direct mail piece was sent out in bubble wrap because they were an insurance company. It was about protecting yourself, so it went out in bubble wrap. People went nuts. They were like, “This is so creative. I had to open it. I got a piece of bubble wrap in the mail. I had to open it up and see what was inside. You got me. I gave you the 10 seconds to read it.” So, I think the trick is to get creative.   Sharon: That makes a lot of sense. Brad, when it comes to picking the right photo, you did a little booklet on your website. What do you think about when it comes to picking the right photo? What do you both think about?   Brad: Actually, that one was very specific. That wasn't actually about photo composition choice. We tried to educate our clients about aspects that are really different with digital advertising. The biggest problem we've had over the last five, six years is responsive web design. Every screen has a different ratio, a different dimension, a different pixel count, and website elements move depending on how big the screen is. Most people think of websites as the old desktop publishing page layout, where you put everything in. Then, if you want to move it around, it's going to stay exactly the same, like a print piece. The web is not that way at all anymore. It is completely data-driven and responsive to the screen size. It's a phone up to a 32-inch monitor. It still has to lay out properly, but it's not the same.    So, we had this issue with photos. People would pick the exact cropping of a photo they liked, and it would have things on the edges and the corners of the photo that were very important to the composition. When we put it in the website, when the website responsive design would change for different screen sizes, the photos would crop differently and something that was important on the edges would get cut off. It's a very difficult concept to understand, that even a webpage looks different on every screen. It's a difficult concept for everyone to deal with. I know people in the industry who still have trouble with it. So, that booklet was to try and help clients understand that digital technology is not the way it used to be and there are adjustments that need to be made in that area.    In terms of regular composition of photos, we generally do it for the client. We alter it. We choose stock photos, and we work with them to find the photo they like. We are always keeping an eye on the images we give them to make sure they are proper for the branding with their approval. I totally forgot about that being on the website.   Sharon: How do you keep current? As you said, it changes so quickly.   Brad: Neither of us wants to answer that. It is insanely difficult. I personally spend probably eight hours a day in addition to work trying to keep up. I'm not the spring chicken I used to be, and it's getting harder and harder, but I love the industry. In fact, I love the web far more. I grew up on traditional advertising. I've done print. My first job was for a print company, actually, on the presses. I know traditional, but I prefer digital. It's more free flow. It's more creative. Sometimes, when things have a lot of hard parameters, you have to get super creative, and the web has a lot more parameters than print. I love it.    I love being in it, but it's starting to vulcanize a little bit where you need specialists. There are specific SEO specialists now in different areas. Social has become an industry in itself. We used to do it all in-house, and it's starting to get too complicated to do that. So, we find the best we can. We don't do PR, but I love the industry. If I didn't love design and trying to make companies look better, I wouldn't have been doing this for the last 30 years. It's barely better than ditch digging, but I really love it, as an old partner of ours said.   Sharon: You have to love it. You have to bite the bullet, I suppose, to keep abreast of everything.   Brad: Absolutely. Larry, on the other hand, he wants nothing to do with technology. So, we keep him doing what he does best, and we try and educate him as best we can on the fly. But we have developers in-house, we have designers in-house, and all of them have to be more up to date on the nuts and bolts of digital marketing than you did before. It used to be that a designer had to know how to create something that will print correctly, but he didn't have to know how to do the printing. Now, you have to learn a little about coding and what coding platforms there are for web and for social and APIs and all of that stuff. It's getting into the weeds, but once you grasp it, it's actually fascinating. It really is.    Larry: You're talking about technology. Once we thought we had it all figured out and websites were a piece of cake, then the ADA comes along. Now you have ADA compliance issues. You have to really understand what ADA limitations are in terms of fonts and colors and be responsive to that. Technology is always going to be encroaching on the creative aspect. You have to learn how to balance the two of them.   Sharon: I agree with a lot of what you're saying. You do have to balance, and it seems as soon you've learned it all, it changes. Let me ask you before we end, because you did write something about this. How do you know if your logo sucks and what do you do about it?    Larry: That's a tough one. It's hard to go up to someone and tell them their logo sucks. It's like telling them their baby is ugly. They may love the logo or hate it, but if you say something about that, they're going to take it personally. They should take it personally. Your logo represents you and your company, especially in professional services, and very few friends are going to tell you your logo sucks. That's just the way it is. When someone's building a company and building a brand, you don't want to tear them down if you're a friend.    So, the best thing to do is get a third opinion. Get an objective view. Every design firm, every ad agency will be more than happy to do a quick review of your identity. Every marketing design firm is going to have a different opinion about it, but they will be as objective as possible within their preferences. There are design rules that can't be broken. So, if it breaks design rules, the logo needs work.   Brad: Things also just get dated. I'll go back to the Cokes and the Disneys and the Apples of the world. These are companies that don't need to change their logo, yet they do because society evolves. Things change, and you want to look progressive and contemporary. I think even just a logo refresh is a great idea. You don't have to change the whole thing, but maybe bring it up, make it current. Fonts change. Colors change. There are lots of ways to refresh a brand. Plus, it gives you a wonderful opportunity to go back to your clients and say, “Hey, check out our new logo. Same great commitment to service, but a new logo reflecting whatever it is.” It's a nice way to take a new look. It's like painting your house. It gives it a new, fresh look.    Sharon: Larry and Brad, thank you so much for being with us today. You've answered a lot of questions and given us a lot to think about.   Brad: It's a pleasure. It was great.   Larry: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Ian explains: "We're really trying to bring all of the tools reports, the data, the workflow, the validation, all of that stuff into one place and really have it work as an extension of that company's worldview." Thank you for listening! Please subscribe and give us a rating. - Need marketing strategy? Go to https://alpenglo.digital/ - Contact Jean: https://alpenglo.digital/get-in-touch/

Today we're going to talk about success with professional services firms, from leadership, to sales and marketing, to client relationships. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome Sean Campbell, Founder & CEO of Cascade Insights.   RESOURCES   The Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcast   Sign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com    Get the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/    For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.com    The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow

Can you think of a top business book exclusively for professional services firms? If so, your list is probably short and presumably headed by any title from David Maister. In this episode, a new book for this industry is introduced, The Boutique: How to Start, Scale, and Sell a Professional Services Firm by Greg Alexander.In this conversation, we talk about elephant and rabbit hunters, the one-thirds of billings, the only three types of firms in existence, and two critical metrics that buyers of professional services firms are examining closely.

There's been a recent surge in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in professional services. But what's behind the bustle of deal booms? And, most importantly, what are the key ingredients for M&A success? Michael Hemingway of Alight Solutions and industry expert Mark Turner share insights about trends and how companies can more easily and quickly integrate their M&As after the deal dust settles. https://blog.workday.com/en-us/2022/workday-podcast-professional-services-firms-ignite-ma-success.html

The Unified Commercial Engine used by Smart Technologies is an intuitive and innovative approach to organizing the sales and marketing function. We discuss the pros and cons of using it in professional services firms. The post Is the Unified Commercial Engine Organizational Structure Right for Professional Services Firms? appeared first on Rattle and Pedal.

The Unified Commercial Engine used by Smart Technologies is an intuitive and innovative approach to organizing the sales and marketing function. We discuss the pros and cons of using it in professional services firms. The post Is the Unified Commercial Engine Organizational Structure Right for Professional Services Firms? appeared first on Rattle and Pedal.

In his book The Boutique, author Greg Alexander describes a Boutique professional services firm as being past the start-up stage but pre-scale. Examples being found in consulting, marketing, advertising, IT, etc. Basically, anyone that sells their expertise, maybe even an accounting or exit planning firm.Greg explains in The Boutique how to start, scale, and sell a professional services firm and he is a very credible source as he has done just that successfully launched, scaled, and then sold his professional services firm for nine figures.In this episode we're going to focus on growth and scalability with the hopes of having Greg back in the future to discuss exit.Our topic today is Professional Services Firms and Scalability.Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

If you're in the legal, accounting or professional services sector and you're looking to harness the intelligence and creativity of your partners and employees through performance management, don't miss Ray D'Cruz, CEO of Performance Leader, a consulting and software for professional services firms, on The Melting Pot. In this episode, Ray shares why firms should consider moving away from the annual performance review for partners and employees, to a more 360 review, incorporating client feedback and behavioural and project based feedback.He discusses why prioritising leadership is vital in remote or hybrid organisations, why purpose is more important than ever before, and how nudge tools can benefit everyone. So, if you're wondering how to leverage performance and feedback software in your professional services firm, download and listen today.On today's podcast:The problem with a traditional performance review The benefit of continual performance managementUsing nudge tech for hybrid working The growing interest in purposeLinks:Pre-order book -  Ray D'cruz - The Partner Remuneration HandbookPerformance Leaders podcastTwitter – @PerformanceLDRLinkedIn – Ray D'CruzWebsite – Performance Leader

Our latest research reveals the greatest shake-up in what clients tell us is important when working with a consulting firm since we started tracking this metric seven years ago: Having an innovative approach has been replaced by brand & reputation as the most important attribute. Could this signify a flight to brand, caused by the pandemic? To discuss the topic of brands in professional services, Fiona Czerniawska is joined by Beth Ann Kaminkow, Global CEO at VMLY&R Commerce.

Finding the Ain’t A visit with one of my clients and a CPA we were interviewing led to “finding the ain’t.” The “ain’t” in this meeting was the intangible my client identified which attracted him to this CPA. A real-life lesson in how intangibles are what makes prospective clients lean in, not our certifications or […]

Mark Wainwright is an established consultant for business development and sales growth. Through his current firm, Wainwright Insight, he applies his method of fractional sales management to help clients get organized and grow their practice. He also serves as a consultant for giving campaigns, fundraising, and sponsorships for purpose-driven organizations. Prior to his own firm, Mark had worked in marketing for businesses such as Kotter and GGLO. He received his first job out of college at K2 Sports, where he first learned some of his managerial principles in their bicycle division. In this episode: Over the years, the word “sales” has taken on a loaded connotation within the marketplace. It seems to imply a callous and sometimes even greedy mindset when working with other companies. While all businesses are driven by sales, the term itself has started carrying a new meaning. But what would it look like to breathe life into the concept and reemphasize sales in a new way? Mark Wainwright is a sales management consultant with a thorough background in marketing and development. His approach, which he calls fractional sales management, is both personal and effective for helping clients get organized. He knows the baggage behind sales and has found a way to transform the process. Now he shows you what it looks like in action. In this episode of the Spill the Ink podcast, Michelle Calcote King talks with Mark Wainwright about sales management and how to adapt to the current business climate. They start with his consultancy and how he uses fractional sales management to give clients the attention they need. They then dive into topics such as making the sales process more comfortable, taking on a vendor mindset and what makes a good businessperson.

https://youtu.be/mosnzvRntRk Steve Preda breaks down the key aspects that make professional services companies different from other businesses, and the unique difficulties involved in the leadership and management that these kinds of businesses must overcome in order to break through to the next level.    --- Six Ways Professional Services Firms are Different The second episode is about how a professional services business is different from all other services businesses and all other businesses, in fact. And there are six areas that I find these professional service firms are really, really different. And I include technology firms here as well in this category from other type of businesses. So what are these things? So the first one, it's much harder, I find, to manage a professional services business from other businesses. Why that is? I believe this is because in a professional service business, you have a lot of highly trained and highly skilled smart people, and they are kind of cats that are hard to hurt. These people tend to be more autonomous, they are more in charge of their careers, and you really have to be a good leader and a compelling leader to lead these people. So that's one difference. The second difference is that in professional services firms, there are traditional hierarchy structures that you don't always find in other companies. Like when I joined KPMG back in the early 90s, then we had a very rigid hierarchy there. We had the first year auditor, second year, and then you become a senior, and I think it was a assistant manager, and a manager, and a senior manager, and partner. So that was the career structure and it took someone from anywhere between 9 to 15 years to become a partner. And people were looking at always progressing in this career structure, which means that when you are a leader of such a firm, it's much harder to manage these firms and to make changes because people expect the rigidity, they expect the predictability of a career structure. And if you mess around with it too much then you take away that long-term incentive of someone becoming a partner. So you really want to be careful with that but that it creates some constraints on the manager to make changes there. So that's number two. Number three is the focus on billability of people in a professional service firm. And what that means is that because that's the primary focus that let's make as many people as possible billable and whoever is not billable is kind of a second-rate citizen that creates this incentive for people to step up into leadership roles. I mean, who wants to be a second-rate citizen? Who wants to take the risk that they step out of their professional service role and become a leader and then maybe their skills might lose some of their edge or because they are not billing as much, they are seen to be by those professionals who are billing highly to be not as productive. You know, there's a need to justify the value of the work of the leader. So that can be a real trap and that can become a real disincentive for people to want to become leaders in these firms. And then you end up with these firms with no leaders. Everyone is just billing. One of my former clients, an accounting firm, they resolved their issue was that they promoted someone who was not on the partner track. That person was more of an operational person. Billability isn't just a metric; it's the heartbeat of professional services. Leaders must balance the pursuit of billable hours with cultivating a culture that encourages leadership and innovation.Share on X She started in IT and then she was promoted to manager of operations and COO. And eventually they made her kind of the, what we call, integrator in entrepreneurial operating system parlance, integrator of the firm. She became the person who actually started managing the firm, and because she was a very strong personality, she could actually exert power even over tenured partners....

Transitioning away from a Partner Led sales model to a commercial sales engine is a key to creating wealth for owners of professional services firms. Learn how in this episode. 

ProfServ Traction Podcast Episode Run Time: 8:43 Welcome to the ProfServ Traction Podcast, dedicated to exploring how professional services and technology businesses break through the ceiling. In this episode, Steve Preda breaks down the key aspects that make professional services companies different from other businesses, and the unique difficulties involved in the leadership and management that these kinds of businesses must overcome in order to break through to the next level.  Time Stamps [00:15] Introduction: How managed professional service firms are different from other businesses    [00:47] Why managing a professional services business is much harder than other businesses  [00:59] Reason 1: Highly skilled and trained people require compelling leadership  [01:09] Reason 2: Career structure hierarchies within professional services firms [02:00] Difficulties in leading and managing a team with expectations of traditional business hierarchies [02:16] Reason 3: The focus on billability of people in a professional services firm  [02:55] Identifying disincentives for people who want to become leaders and how to open the door towards  creating the leaders a company needs  [04:01] Reason 4: The firm is a collection of solopreneurs [04:25] Managing and overcoming challenges when leading a team that sees themselves as solopreneurs/entrepreneurs  [04:53] Reason 5: Dispersed ownership  [05:00] Examples of dispersed ownership structures and their complexity [05:40] Reason 6: Challenges in decision making and leadership [06:55] The first steps involved in starting a professional services firm's EOS journey. [07:10]  Examples of identifying some of the major functions of a business.  [08:00] Strategic questions business leaders can answer through EOS in order to  take a company forward to that next level.    Website: https://StevePreda.com  

Culture is at the heart of whether a company is going to succeed or fail. In Part 1 of this two-part episode, we explore the cultural problems that exist inside the unique environments of professional services firms that keep them from reaching their full growth potential. The post The BS of PS — The Inherent Dysfunctionalities of Professional Services Firms appeared first on Rattle and Pedal.