It seems that today, all the focus for business improvement is on automation and apps, and this is, in part, a good thing. Certainly the vendors in our industry want you to buy their app which will solve all your client’s problems, right? But there is one thing that is possibly more profitable than automation, and that is working on processes. The big companies spent a lot of time in the eighties doing this. Small businesses are just now catching on.
Processes, for me, include developing and refining written procedures, forms, samples, and checklists that you and staff can use and follow in three major areas of your business:
1. Client service delivery
2. Internal processes – your back office work
3. The sales cycle up to onboarding your clients
Once your processes have been documented, you can then find areas that can be automated and improved. Automation is a subset of process development, not the prime component.
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The accounting businesses that have done the best in Accountant’s Accelerator and my other programs have done a fantastic job of developing these procedures. They’ve discovered something very important: You can’t improve what you don’t measure and you can’t measure what is not documented. So here is the flow:
Document -> Measure -> Improve = More Profits and More Free Time
I know how boring the first step is for some of you, but the remaining steps are downright fun and exciting. The “improve” step includes the fun part: automation, delegation, creating a form here and there, and inserting milestones into the processes.
Check to see how your firm measures up in the three areas by taking this quick mini-quiz:
Which best describes your client processes?
A. I have checklists and written procedures for all of my client services.
B. I have checklists and written procedures for more than half of my client services.
C. I am working on checklists and procedures and have gotten some done, but less than 1/2.
D. I do not have any checklists or procedures for my clients. Every client is different.
Which best describes your internal processes?
A. I have checklists and written procedures for all of my admin, hiring, accounting, marketing, and other back office processes.
B. I have checklists and written procedures for more than half of my admin, hiring, accounting, marketing, and other back office processes.
C. I am working on checklists and procedures and have gotten some done, but less than 1/2.
D. I do not have any checklists or procedures for my admin, hiring, accounting, marketing, and other back office processes.
Which best describes your selling process?
A. When I get a sales call, I have prospects go through a structured cycle with me. I know my close ratio and work to improve it.
B. When I get a sales call, I answer their questions, put them in my CRM, and follow up.
C. When I get a sales call, I answer their questions and close them right then.
D. When I get a sales call, I tell them my hourly rate and that’s it.
BONUS question: Regarding client delivery:
A. We know our client delivery time averages, strive to improve them, track and communicate service status to clients regularly.
B. We track and communicate service status to clients regularly.
C. We track service status internally but do not communicate it to clients.
D. We do not track or communicate services status; it gets done when it gets done.
Give yourself a 4 for each A, 3 for each B answer, 2 for each C answer, and 1 for each D answer. If you scored 12 or higher, congratulations; you are running a profitable and efficient business. A score of 8 – 11 means you have taken some measures to improve your processes, but have a ways to go. A score of 7 or less means this is a new idea for you with huge potential for your business.
Let me know how you score, and if you’re ready to get a head start (or are wondering where to start), our August program will be addressing this very topic.