Last week, Rick Telberg posted an excellent article on his blog, CPA Trendlines. In The One New Year’s Resolution You Can’t Ignore, Telberg encourages us to embrace change. Embrace the dynamic and rapid pace that is now the only constant in the CPA (or any) profession. He reminds us also that “it all starts with the client, the client’s needs, the client’s opportunities, the client’s business and financial issues.”
We know that change is hard. But what if I told you that the ROI for embracing change can be worth the effort? Embracing change has been a requirement for successful firms, not just in 2010, but over the last 20 years.
Imagine that your firm is a speed boat, not a barge. That’s the visual we used in my former firm. Our strategy and business plans were grounded in being aware of and embracing our client’s changes and then adapting to help them solve their business problems.
I can remember it like it was yesterday. I was having a networking breakfast with a leader at a local hospital system. This organization was not a client at the time but it was a relationship that I was focused on cultivating. Our breakfast was a casual one. You know, catch up and connect. And then everything changed.
I listened as the leader responded to my questions of current challenges and issues facing the hospital system. One significant challenge for them at the time involved the physician community and the hospital’s new proposed strategy of acquiring physician practices. Primary care, internal medicine, pediatricians and OB Gyns would be the starting point. At the time, this would be a radical move for the hospital and our local healthcare systems.
But how were they planning to implement the strategy? Who would they engage to consult with them on the intricacies of physician practice management? The hospital’s challenge involved understanding the quality of the practice not only from a financial standpoint but operationally and clinically as well.
As I listened to his challenge, my wheels were turning. We were a CPA firm, not clinical practice consultants. Our firm did have a physician practice management niche that was one of the service offerings that I led. But the niche only focused on the financial side of the physician practice. Our existing services included preparing monthly financial statements, tax returns and some hospital guarantee calculations. We did not delve into operational issues including coding, fee analysis and other clinical aspects of a physician practice. But, I thought, by hiring the right clinical consultant and embarking on a team approach, we could meet the hospital’s needs. After gathering more information on what they might be looking for, I left the breakfast, open to new possibilities for my firm.
It could have easily ended there. But because our firm’s culture was one of embracing change, I felt empowered to take the next step. I immediately met with our Managing Partner, outlined my ideas and proposal to expand our services and got the thumbs up. We pursued hiring an individual with the appropriate talent and clinical background to provide the necessary services. I gathered a team to meet the demands of the hospital. They were looking to move quickly on acquiring these practices to beat the competition.
It was a whirlwind for sure. We embraced change and adapted to the marketplace. After one year we generated new fees of a half a million dollars ($500,000). We were the firm of choice for the hospital and the niche we built generated at least that amount for the following five years. Needless to say, we had an outstanding ROI!
Change is hard. But it will keep coming at us. Remaining open to new possibilities and adapting is the key.
To your success,
Mary
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