| # |
Date/Time |
Topic |
End in mind |
Contents |
| 1 |
20 Nov 2007
[Tuesday]
9:00am – 10:00am PST |
Firing clients |
You want to improve your business, but are too busy. You need to free up time so you can skill up, proactively market and maybe have more time for yourself and family.
You have some clients that are holding you back. They need to go! |
- Why you should fire clients
- How to select clients for firing
- Selection criteria
- Communicating your decision
- Where should they go?
- Taking on new clients
|
| 2 |
27 Nov 2007
[Tuesday]
9:00am – 10:00am PST |
Product design and moving to fixed pricing |
We have traditionally, sold our time and said we’re in the service industry. This has meant we’ve got away with being sloppy over what we deliver, and made it hard for clients to buy,
It also gets in our way as we move to fixed pricing.
Think product! |
- Why should we think products
- What products do you have now
- How to develop bundles from what you have
- How to innovate products
- Costing products
Setting a fixed price
|
| 3 |
11 Dec 2007
[Tuesday]
9:00am – 10:00am PST |
Value creation for the team |
Partners love the idea of value pricing, but why should the team? And anyway, what value do we create?
If the team don’t know, don’t expect your clients to know. |
- Where value creation comes from
- What generic needs do our clients have?
- What specific needs can we fulfil?
- What should we be doing?
- WII-FM – what’s in it for me: why your team should be excited
|
| 4 |
18 Dec 2007
[Tuesday]
9:00am – 10:00am PST |
Questioning – for better dialog with clients and better consulting outcomes
|
A difficulty that accountants have in moving into new areas - of work or of ways of working such as value pricing – is because we are used to being the expert. The answer lies in improving your questioning skills. You'll achieve better needs analysis and sales conversations and will help your client get more value from your accounting and consulting work.
We don’t have to know all the answers!
|
- The trouble with being “the expert”
- Don’t tell – ask questions!
Why questions work
- How questions help us
- Questions that work
- Don’t sell – ask questions!
- Developing good habits
|
| 5 |
8 Jan 2008
[Tuesday]
9:00am – 10:00am PST |
Moving to value pricing and proposals that sell |
From fixed pricing and understanding the value we create, we can move to capturing more of that value through our pricing. How do we get our client to give us clues as to the value they place on an assignment?
When you have to do a proposal, how do you give your self the best chance of winning?
Think options! |
- Pricing is where we capture some of the value we create
- What we mean by value pricing
- Problems over knowing how much a client values us.
- Questions to test their sense of value
- RFPs / competitive tender requests
- Non-competitive proposals – an approach that works 9 times out of 10
|
| 6 |
22 Jan 2008
[Tuesday]
9:00am – 10:00am PST |
Fixed Price Agreements (FPAs) and scope |
The formalities of agreeing with the client what’s in – and what’s out. Getting the team to do all that’s required – and no more.
Clarity in agreeing terms and scope saves tears and recriminations later. |
- What is an FPA
Before you issue an FPA
- Documenting assumptions
- Proactively test assumptions fulfilled
- What to say when it’s out of scope
- Payment terms
|
| 7 |
29 Jan 2008
[Tuesday]
9:00am – 10:00am PST |
Managing knowledge in a firm |
If we are firms of knowledge workers, how do we benefit from it? How do we know what we know and share not just facts, but tips, insights, wisdom?
The client should be able to access all the firm’s smarts, no matter who the accountant. Are you making that possible right now? |
- We don’t sell hours, so what do we sell?
- We have all the tax facts, templates, precedents down, right?
- What else would be nice to know and share?
- Why don’t knowledge workers share?
- AARs
|
| 8 |
12 Feb 2008
[Tuesday]
9:00am – 10:00am PST |
Keeping it going |
Everything covered so far will help you to re-engineer for value. But change is hard and making it stick is even harder.
This workshop will give you hard hitting insights into how to keep the benefits of the changes made and ensure momentum and enthusiasm for more? Especially relevant as tax season approaches! |
- What we know about change
- What we know about innovation
- Keeping the team interested
- Keeping the partners interested
- You’ll know it’s working when…
|
