Businesspeople Sitting At Conference Table

In part 1 and part 2, we covered how networking events, matched with paid marketing can be a powerful combination. Now let’s take a look at an often forgotten channel, which is partnerships! Often times we leave partnerships to “chance”, but as you’ll see, being strategic can make a huge impact on your firm or practice.

In this lesson, we’re going to review three types of partnerships: Service Providers, Content Providers, and Product Providers.

Service Providers

Service providers can be a great resource for ongoing leads and referrals, however, never approach a partner with an “ask”. Instead think through the benefit you can provide to them. For example, Sandi Holst created an excellent partnership with local firms by providing a “wow” factor by way of creating a robust, easy to use client binder and packet. This made the workload significantly less for her partner, so of course, they were happy to work with her! With that in mind, here are some service providers to connect with:

  • Legal
  • HR
  • Banking and Finance
  • Wealth Management (or you can start your own like Chris Regain)
  • Marketing Companies
  • Design Companies
  • Website Companies
  • Consultant and Advisors
  • Commercial Realtors

Feel free to add more, but keep in mind you can meet with multiple service providers in each category in order to find the one that would best fit your clients (and vice versa)
If your focus is on individuals, here are a few to connect with:

  • Personal Trainers
  • Personal Chefs and/or Cooks
  • Mortgage Bankers
  • Realtors
  • Car dealerships and mechanics
  • HVAC companies
  • Plumbers and Roofers

Any service provider that interacts with your target client base is worthwhile connecting with. Some will be a huge win, others will not, but remember, it only takes one strong partnership to completely accelerate your firm or practice!

Content Providers

Content providers are often one that is left behind, but bear in mind that many will be writing content directly for your audience!
Here are some content providers to keep in mind:

Anywhere you prospect is researching or getting their daily dose of information is a great place to connect with. Ideally, you’d want to write an ongoing article for them, but at the very least connect with them to learn about their publication, resources, and if so inclined, their ad rates. Having said that, writing articles for content providers and hubs is a great way to get new leads while positioning yourself as an expert.

Product Providers

Finally, remember about all the vendors and product providers your target market will interact with. For business clients, software is an easy one to start with. I would recommend reaching out to their CRM, project, task, accounting software, budgeting software, reporting software, and even their marketing software providers! Here are a few software categories to get started:

  1. CRM
  2. Project and Task Management
  3. Accounting Software
  4. Budgeting software
  5. Marketing Software
  6. Sales Software

It’s also important to keep in mind that businesses buy products outside of software 🙂 So here are some others to keep in mind:

  1. Office supplies and suppliers
  2. Caterers / Food services
  3. Employee Training Companies and Products
  4. Industry specific vendors (ie part companies for manufacturing, etc)
  5. Technology providers (phones, tablets, computers)

With this list, we hope you find a few you can connect with immediately, and begin building a strong partnership base. Remember, think about the value you can add or provide to them first! Research their company beforehand, so you can meet them with confidence and know how you can potentially be a “value add” to their client base!

See Jetpack Worflow In Action

Get under the hood of Jetpack Workflow’s accounting workflow and project management platform. See some of the top features and how it helps your firm standardize, automate, and track client work more efficiently.
Businesspeople Sitting At Conference Table

Bringing new accountants into your firm can be exciting but training them in the ways your office runs can be frustrating. There are rules to remember, steps to go through, and a process that everyone must follow in order to keep each client happy and let everything run smoothly.

Project management software for accountants gives every new employee a platform to work with from day one. The skills they already have along with the software you use in the office will make training time go a lot faster and work wonders in ensuring all of your clients receive the level of service you hope to maintain.

The Way Things Work

Offices can be particular in the way they work and one of the most difficult things for a new accountant is acclimating to the new environment. They have to learn about the way things work and that doesn’t just mean finding the coffee pot and bringing witty banter to the water cooler.

Get started by showing your new employees how your project management software for accountants works as an introduction to the office environment.

Schedule the first appointments with them and show them how to add notes, find and import clients, and communicate with other people within the office.

Use your software to show new accountants how to find notes about shared clients and ensure they’re always giving the best level of customer service possible.

Set new accountants up with a senior accountant to learn by seeing and doing under someone who knows for the first few days. Let them experience the office from the eyes of someone who’s been around for a while and can easily show them the ropes.
 
Learn Together

When new employees come in, the dynamic of the office can become compromised until the new addition has successfully blended it. Avoid this imbalance by bringing everyone together.

Hold a seminar for new additions when you have a few coming in at once. Mix them with people who have been there for a short time so that they can refresh as well as get to know the new people.

Encourage social conduct between senior accountants and new ones by giving them a mixer or small party during a slow time of the day. Welcome new people into the fold with celebration.

Introduce new accountants to your prime clients and let them follow along during a meeting or two. They can see how you do things with the clients that have stayed and learn about the way your office and your business works.

Provide Support

There’s a learning curve with every new addition and some people may not know about using project management software for accountants even with a little training. It is important to provide ongoing support for use of this software so mistakes are easily and quickly rectified.

Let new people know where to find technical support for the project management software for accountants they’ll be using. Give them a “cheat sheet” with numbers to call and e-mails to use when they have trouble.

Assess progress on a regular basis to see where more training is needed and in what areas new additions excel. Use constructive criticism to promote a positive environment and keep employees reaching for the next best standard.

Encourage goal setting for new employees and show them how project management software for accountants will help them reach their goals. Having something to work toward lets employees have a next step to keep them getting better.

Promote friendly competition within the office and give incentive for things like bringing in new business and improving client services by taking initiative. 

Promote a Positive Office

Competition is good and assessment helps people grow but make sure that the incentives you offer and the criticism given is always positive. Stop negativity in its tracks by never letting it continue when you spot it. Project management software for accountants gives you the tools you need to keep things organized so the chaos that causes discord is kept out. Learn more how you can use these tools to  create a faster training period and a more positive office environment with JetPack Workflow today!

See Jetpack Worflow In Action

Get under the hood of Jetpack Workflow’s accounting workflow and project management platform. See some of the top features and how it helps your firm standardize, automate, and track client work more efficiently.