Practical Ideas for Growth

Let's talk about change – something everyone, everywhere, has had to navigate and, whether they like it or not, embrace during the past two years. That change has really impacted the accounting profession from staffing shortages to remote work, new tax regulations, a rapid acceptance of new technology, and the acceleration of evolving from compliance to advisory – just to name a few! Change is such a big, scary concept for a risk-averse profession. Find out what we're seeing firms do to embrace and navigate change with Sarah Dobek, founder and president of Inovautus Consulting and Sarah Elliot, CPA, PCC, in this episode of Practical Ideas for Growth.

Building an inquisitive mindset is crucial to selling a firm’s services, no matter what level a professional is at. The key to selling is to uncover a client or buyer's need or pain point and provide a service to address that problem. It may sound easy, and many professionals think they’re already doing that, right? It can be, but only when they adopt an inquisitive mindset. Inovautus Consultant Ty Hendrickson shares her insights with Sarah Dobek on how to approach every conversation with a client or prospective client ready to listen and learn to uncover new opportunities.

As firms continue adapting to the changes brought about by the COVID pandemic, especially the rise in remote services, we’re seeing firms becoming more strategic than ever targeting the right markets to be in to support growth. There are many, many factors to consider when looking at where to go to market in today’s new landscape. Inovautus Digital Marketing Advisor Christian Moises shares his insight with Sarah Dobek on what firms need to do to ensure a new region is the right fit for their services and industry support.

With employer brand impacting staff - and client - recruitment and retention, many firms are turning to social responsibility as a means to attract and keep new talent and revenue. We often talk about ways firms can differentiate themselves in the marketplace, and efforts such as B Corp certification and Environmental, Social, and Governance compliance are becoming key elements in their strategy. Jennifer Cantero with Sensiba San Filippo discussed these differentiators and how are firms leveraging them for success.

We’re always talking about succession planning for partners, but what about your marketing team and, more importantly, your overall growth strategy? When a marketing director leaves, the new director may take things in a completely new direction. While new ideas and approaches are great, having a well-documented plan that can be handed off is important to your strategic, consistent, and long-term growth. Inovautus Consultant Brian Falony shares his insight with Sarah Dobek.

We’ve been hearing for a while now that recruiting and keeping talent in the accounting profession is a constant struggle. The past two years only made that challenge even more difficult, especially with a shift to remote work and the Great Resignation. Firms now must go deeper to connect with the right talent. So how can they uncover where these candidates are hiding? Accountingfly CEO shares his insight with Sarah Dobek.

There’s no denying the past two years have been filled with unexpected turns – and lots of opportunities to grow and evolve. While some of the disruptions related to the pandemic accelerated changes that were already anticipated for the profession, others created new opportunities for firms to jump into the future. It’s difficult to talk about what is leading the charge this year without addressing three underlying issues that support these predictions. Sarah Dobek shares what she believes will shape the accounting profession this year. 

Pricing structure and approach at CPA firms is one of many strategies that continue to evolve in our profession, but it is one of the most important because it is how we get paid for our services! We see staffing shortages and the adoption of technology advancing a lot of conversations around changes here, which is exciting. There’s value, hourly, flat-fee, value, subscription, and some sort of hybrids. Getting partners out of that 30-year-plus pricing comfort zone is scary, though, so why is it so important to make a change? Michelle River, president of Fore LLC, shares her insight with Sarah Dobek. 

There have been so many mergers in the accounting profession in the past few years, and it seems like we’re seeing a new one announced every day. But marketers know there’s so much more that goes on in a merger beyond the financial side – and they're a critical part of that process from start to well-beyond the finish. Lori Colvin and Cheryl Foster share their experience - and role - in Armanino and Brown Smith Wallace combining firms and joining forces. Armanino Partner and Chief Marketing Officer Lori Colvin and Cheryl Foster, director of demand generation - industry, share their insight with Sarah Dobek. 

Many firms and marketers rely on their digital analytics from email marketing, website, and social networks to measure the effectiveness of efforts and adjust their strategy. But those analytics – and how they’re reported - are constantly evolving. Making sure you’re up to date on those changes to adjust your efforts and track the metrics that show meaningful buyer and client engagement is key to setting strategy.

While Apple’s iOS updates typically have little to no impact on marketing professionals, its iOS 15 update, released in September, is significant and will have significant implications. We know how important mobile efforts are in strategy these days, but the metrics firms monitor go beyond just email marketing. Inovautus Consulting Client Advisor Katie Renelt shares her insight with Sarah Dobek.