Tell me if this sounds familiar to you (my service provider clients).....
You meet with a new client and determine what you are doing for her (I am going to continue to use "her" since I think that "him/her" takes too long to type, and let's face it, no one ever uses "her"). On its face, it appears to be pretty simple. One thing. Bingo-bango.
Then, while you're completing the project, she needs you to fax something to her mortgage company. She also needs for you to please deliver the project in hard copy to her office since she's just down the street and conveniently located to your business. She also, very respectfully, asks you to please put postage on the envelope which holds the information she has to mail out, because she leaves work late and never gets to go inside the post office. And you want to keep this client happy, so you agree to do it. Does any of this sound familiar to you?
It certainly rings true with me. You've heard me refer to my coaching course, so here it goes again....In my coaching course, we have talked about Undiscovered Value....another term for this is "Un-billed Value!" I looked at my internal processes and quickly discovered that there are so many things I do for clients that go unrecognized from a billing perspective. In the past, I would bill engagements for the sole purpose of obtaining them and/or keeping them. I don't do that anymore. I bill engagements to.....MAKE A PROFIT ON THEM!! What a concept!
As service providers, I think it is safe to assume that we give away so much profit each year because we do things for clients that escape our calculations when we price engagements. For example, as part of our tax return preparation engagements with individual tax clients, we prepare estimated tax vouchers and tax estimates throughout the year. That is EXTREMELY valuable to the client, but I very rarely invoice for it. That is going to change. What are you doing for your client that is valuable, but isn't being billed and turned into profit for you?
The thing is....if a client finds a service valuable, the "keepers" don't mind paying for it. Yes, there are some clients that want something for nothing. You know what? Feel free to get rid of those clients and replace them with "keepers"! For the ones that truly recognize what an asset you are to them, no matter what service you provide, they don't expect you to give them away. So, why are you doing that?
As a service to our business clients, I am going to begin offering a consultation which allows for a conversation about my client's service process with their customers.....what are you doing for the client from start to finish? Are there services performed in that engagement, which you feel are just "part of the project" that truly bring value to the customer over and above the engagement you agreed upon? If so, then unlock that value and bill them for it.
Profit from the value you bring to your clients....after all, isn't that why we're in business? If you don't do this, you will most assuredly become frustrated and wonder why you've put yourself in a position to make less money than you're worth. It's time to admit that it's not a bad thing to know you're valuable to your client, and then expect them to pay for that value.
Otherwise, the profit just walks out the door....
10.15.2011
It's All in the Numbers
There comes a time in every man's life when he has to be honest with himself. The realization comes that you will never play in a rock band...you will never play professional sports in front of an adoring crowd of onlookers....and you will probably never have the occasion to wear that leather jacket with the fringes on it again. That day came for me about a month ago, as Meghan and I were walking through the office and making decisions on what to do with the back room of my office....the room that I never used, hardly ever walked in, and was sort of scared of.
You see, in that room lurked empty filing cabinets, lots of old tax reference materials that I had never thrown away, chairs that had met their demise by losing bolts and casters, an old antique desk that hadn't been used in about three years. Scary stuff, huh?
Maybe not to you....but to this man who had claimed that his CPA firm was paperless, it was a scary reminder that while I NO LONGER KEPT PAPER (everything is scanned in and kept on my server, but not in paper form), I had never gotten rid of all the paper that I had. I had old payables files for the firm, going back to 2002, which had never been scanned. All those old IRS reference books from 2003...old reference guides that are now online for me...I had left all that paper back there. I even had all the old files that held all the old paper. Why?
I really don't know. All I do know is that it took my wife looking me in the face and asking me "What do you intend to do with this paper? How will it make your firm and your life better by keeping it?" that I realized I had no plan and no excuse. I needed to get rid of it. The clutter was really cramping my feng shui vibe. And honestly, there are younger CPAs in my THRIVEal coaching course who were running circles around me when it came to technology and being paperless. I had to do better. So, we made a decision to move forward...
We called our shred vendor, Shred360, and they came out. I knew it felt like a lot of paper, but I didn't know how much it truly was. They shredded over 1,200 pounds of paper from my office. Yes, you read that right....one thousand two hundred pounds of paper. With each piece/box/shred of paper that left my office, I felt a little more relieved, a little more like I was actually paperless after all. The value that this change adds to my life is measurable and wonderful. I can't really explain it, but I feel it every day when I walk in that clean back office, which now is an open map for a new design and use. And once the job was done, Meghan and I rewarded ourselves with some office furniture to fill up some of the space, furniture that serves a purpose unlike paper from the early days of the Bush presidency.
For those of you who feel like you want to make a move to a paperless environment, I encourage you to take the leap and DO IT! If you want to talk with me about it, bounce ideas off me, ask me about the trauma and separation anxiety associated with getting rid of your paper, call me! I can walk you through the process, the software we use to continue our paperless vision, and I can teach you how to make it work in your business. These are the reasons WHY we do what we do....it's those things that make your life easier that we embrace!
You see, in that room lurked empty filing cabinets, lots of old tax reference materials that I had never thrown away, chairs that had met their demise by losing bolts and casters, an old antique desk that hadn't been used in about three years. Scary stuff, huh?
Maybe not to you....but to this man who had claimed that his CPA firm was paperless, it was a scary reminder that while I NO LONGER KEPT PAPER (everything is scanned in and kept on my server, but not in paper form), I had never gotten rid of all the paper that I had. I had old payables files for the firm, going back to 2002, which had never been scanned. All those old IRS reference books from 2003...old reference guides that are now online for me...I had left all that paper back there. I even had all the old files that held all the old paper. Why?
I really don't know. All I do know is that it took my wife looking me in the face and asking me "What do you intend to do with this paper? How will it make your firm and your life better by keeping it?" that I realized I had no plan and no excuse. I needed to get rid of it. The clutter was really cramping my feng shui vibe. And honestly, there are younger CPAs in my THRIVEal coaching course who were running circles around me when it came to technology and being paperless. I had to do better. So, we made a decision to move forward...
We called our shred vendor, Shred360, and they came out. I knew it felt like a lot of paper, but I didn't know how much it truly was. They shredded over 1,200 pounds of paper from my office. Yes, you read that right....one thousand two hundred pounds of paper. With each piece/box/shred of paper that left my office, I felt a little more relieved, a little more like I was actually paperless after all. The value that this change adds to my life is measurable and wonderful. I can't really explain it, but I feel it every day when I walk in that clean back office, which now is an open map for a new design and use. And once the job was done, Meghan and I rewarded ourselves with some office furniture to fill up some of the space, furniture that serves a purpose unlike paper from the early days of the Bush presidency.
For those of you who feel like you want to make a move to a paperless environment, I encourage you to take the leap and DO IT! If you want to talk with me about it, bounce ideas off me, ask me about the trauma and separation anxiety associated with getting rid of your paper, call me! I can walk you through the process, the software we use to continue our paperless vision, and I can teach you how to make it work in your business. These are the reasons WHY we do what we do....it's those things that make your life easier that we embrace!
10.06.2011
Value - In the Eye of the Beholder
Value....defined as the worth, importance, or usefulness of something to somebody.
Okay, my first thought when reading that definition is that value is totally subjective. What I find valuable may not be what you find valuable. Value, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
As a service provider, and someone who is in the business of providing an experience along with that service, I think about value all the time. I have discovered over time that to truly understand what a client finds valuable requires a little work and maybe a little creativity. I started asking a question, which was recommended by one of my THRIVEal coaching course classmates...."If you had to envision the perfect relationship between my firm and your business, what would that look like?" I love the answers I get, and those answers tell me a lot about what the client finds valuable.
Here is an example of a relationship I find valuable within my firm. I value my IT provider, Dee McCraw with the McCraw Corporation. I value his staff as well, from the very nice young lady who answers the telephone to the technician who comes to my office when I have a problem. I value these folks because (1) I can't tend to my own IT issues; (2) if I could tend to them, I probably wouldn't want to spend my time doing it because I have other things to do; (3) they are quick to respond to me when I need them; and (4) they treat me like I hope I treat my clients, and like I expect to be treated. Dee is proactive.
It takes work and intent to impart value to a client. Do you agree? Why is it so hard?
I found out that I didn't do a great job of imparting value to my business clients when I proposed to a client that I perform CFO Services for them, and they replied with "Wow, I didn't know you guys did that!" Oooohhhh, that hurt! Why didn't he know? Was it because he hadn't visited my website lately? It wouldn't have helped because it's not that obvious on my website. The blame rested with me. I had never told him that we offered the service. I knew I had struck a nerve with him because he immediately wanted the service....he found it VALUABLE. He understood what my firm could offer, because I explained it in painful detail to him. He understood what sort of value it would bring to his life because now he could focus on working ON his business and not IN it. To most small business owners, that's a value-added proposition! I know it is to me!
As I discover new strengths within my firm, I find that capitalizing on those strengths and making sure to enrich my clients' lives by sharing the information imparts value. My industry has not always been known as a "sharing" environment. CPAs in the past have very closely guarded their client lists and office procedures because that's all they feel they have of any value. I can't tell you how many clients have thanked me for showing them something that may come second nature to me, but totally changed how they approached a challenge in their office. If I can add a few minutes of precious time to your day, I have accomplished something.
No matter how intangible it may seem, it's our job to make sure that clients understand the value of what we bring to the table. Because you know what? If we do our job, then we ARE valuable to our clients! That's not bragging, either. You have to believe it, promise it, then you better deliver on that promise. As I have said, I do believe I am an asset to my clients when I do my job properly. If you see my name, and immediately think, "Man, I like what that Godwin guy does for me. He makes my life easier and takes care of my business..." then I have succeeded.
And if none of this works, then I'll give you lots of Godwin pens and coffee mugs so you can see my name everywhere....
Okay, my first thought when reading that definition is that value is totally subjective. What I find valuable may not be what you find valuable. Value, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
As a service provider, and someone who is in the business of providing an experience along with that service, I think about value all the time. I have discovered over time that to truly understand what a client finds valuable requires a little work and maybe a little creativity. I started asking a question, which was recommended by one of my THRIVEal coaching course classmates...."If you had to envision the perfect relationship between my firm and your business, what would that look like?" I love the answers I get, and those answers tell me a lot about what the client finds valuable.
Here is an example of a relationship I find valuable within my firm. I value my IT provider, Dee McCraw with the McCraw Corporation. I value his staff as well, from the very nice young lady who answers the telephone to the technician who comes to my office when I have a problem. I value these folks because (1) I can't tend to my own IT issues; (2) if I could tend to them, I probably wouldn't want to spend my time doing it because I have other things to do; (3) they are quick to respond to me when I need them; and (4) they treat me like I hope I treat my clients, and like I expect to be treated. Dee is proactive.
It takes work and intent to impart value to a client. Do you agree? Why is it so hard?
I found out that I didn't do a great job of imparting value to my business clients when I proposed to a client that I perform CFO Services for them, and they replied with "Wow, I didn't know you guys did that!" Oooohhhh, that hurt! Why didn't he know? Was it because he hadn't visited my website lately? It wouldn't have helped because it's not that obvious on my website. The blame rested with me. I had never told him that we offered the service. I knew I had struck a nerve with him because he immediately wanted the service....he found it VALUABLE. He understood what my firm could offer, because I explained it in painful detail to him. He understood what sort of value it would bring to his life because now he could focus on working ON his business and not IN it. To most small business owners, that's a value-added proposition! I know it is to me!
As I discover new strengths within my firm, I find that capitalizing on those strengths and making sure to enrich my clients' lives by sharing the information imparts value. My industry has not always been known as a "sharing" environment. CPAs in the past have very closely guarded their client lists and office procedures because that's all they feel they have of any value. I can't tell you how many clients have thanked me for showing them something that may come second nature to me, but totally changed how they approached a challenge in their office. If I can add a few minutes of precious time to your day, I have accomplished something.
No matter how intangible it may seem, it's our job to make sure that clients understand the value of what we bring to the table. Because you know what? If we do our job, then we ARE valuable to our clients! That's not bragging, either. You have to believe it, promise it, then you better deliver on that promise. As I have said, I do believe I am an asset to my clients when I do my job properly. If you see my name, and immediately think, "Man, I like what that Godwin guy does for me. He makes my life easier and takes care of my business..." then I have succeeded.
And if none of this works, then I'll give you lots of Godwin pens and coffee mugs so you can see my name everywhere....
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