Rethinking your Client Fulfillment process?

Since I sent out last Tuesday’s blog, I can’t tell you how many messages I’ve gotten from readers and clients about why a CPA would want to discuss seemingly “internal” systems related to my clients’ businesses. 

Simple – we both want the same thing – your business to be more successful!

Now, last week, I asked you to track some numbers about the amount of time you spent in tasks relating to Client Fulfillment, Lead Acquisition, and Prospect Nurturing. 

Did you do it? 

Were you surprised by what you found?  (Were you more surprised at the number of hours you lost “doing” non-work-related tasks during business hours?) 

Now, I can’t possibly teach you how to make the most out of your client fulfillment process (essentially the “core” of the job your business does) in an email.  But I can ask you to think – really think – about if the system you currently have is the best system.  Are you leaving money on the table?  Are there ways to reimagine your business model (in terms of client fulfillment) that can streamline either A.) the amount of time YOU are stuck doing those tasks or B.) the amount of time it takes to deliver (and get paid!) by your clients.

Let me give you an example:  Several years ago, a client’s business was building websites for small businesses.  One of the challenges she continually had was getting the content for the website – the actual copy that would appear on the website.  At that time, she didn’t have a content writer on staff, and since she sold based on the value proposition/cost of the actual programming, a part of her “pitch” to clients was they saved money on the copywriting since they would handle it. 

Worked pretty good, but the real challenge?  Her clients couldn’t write copy, so the amount of time it took her to finish a project was measured in months – while the time it took her to actually program her clients’ new website was measured in days.

Her solution?  Hire a content writer and take away the option of her clients having to write copy.  She raised her prices to reflect the content writing and the result – with no other changes to her business model, was a 4X increase in sales the first year. 

Why? 

She could close sales and complete sales 4X faster – 3 months became 3 weeks.

So, this week, I want to ask you to simply think about how your business “works” and if there are places you can streamline the entire client fulfillment process. 

Some examples include – how you “onboard” new clients, what products are you offering that maximize profits, and are you focusing on products with poor overall profitability.

Think about all of that this week and we’ll talk soon!