Client at the Core

AUGUST J. AQUILA is one of the country’s leading consultants in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, succession planning, and management issues for professional services firms. He was an early pioneer and leading force in the accounting profession’s consolidation movement. In 2003, he was inducted into the Accounting Marketing Association’s Hall of Fame. BRUCE W. MARCUS is a widely published author and consultant to some of the nation’s largest corporations and professional services firms. The author of hundreds of articles and more than a dozen books on marketing and marketing-related subjects, he is the editor of the Marcus Letter on Professional Services Marketing, read internationally by more than 22,000 lawyers, accountants, consultants, and professional marketers.

• Foreword xviiPreface xixAcknowledgments xxvPart I Professions and Professionals in Turmoil 11 If Something Can Change, It WillStrategic Factors in a New Environment 3Part II Clients—Who They Are and How to Find Them 112 What a Client Really WantsListening to the Client for Fun and Profit 133 Are We a Client-centric Firm Yet?Organizing to Meet Client Needs 194 Now, Here’s My PlanDefining the Right Client for You 31Part III Making Your Vision a Reality 395 I Can See Your Future from HereVision? A Working Tool? 416 Seizing Those OpportunitiesMaking the Vision a Reality 497 Making Marketing a Nice WordBuilding a Client-centric Marketing Culture 738 It’s the End Game that CountsContact—Turning the Prospect into a Client 89Part IV Marketing Tools and How to Use Them 1119 Hang High the Rafters, CarpenterThe Tools of Marketing that Build the Marketing Program 113Part V Managing the Client-centric Firm 16310 Turning Recipes into CakesManaging for Results 16511 Who’s at the Helm and Who’s on the BridgeFirm Governace and Structure 17312 Holding a Handful of MercuryManaging the Knowledge Worker for the One-Firm Firm 18513 For Love or Money—or BothPaying for Performance 19114 Didn’t We Tell You What We’re Doing?Internal Communications—Let Me Count the Ways 201Part VI Economics in the Client-centric Firm 21715 A Farthing for Your GoatPricing in a Client-centric Firm 21916 What Did I Get for My Money?Measuring the Marketing ROI 22917 Cash Is KingWhat’s the Lifetime Value of Your Clients and the Financial Health of Your Firm? 233Part VII What Will We Do Tomorrow? 23918 The Future for Professional ServicesAre We There Yet? 241Appendix A The Balanced Scorecard 247The Balanced Scorecard—Financial Measures 247The Balanced Scorecard—Client Measures 251The Balanced Scorecard—Internal Business Process Measures 252The Balanced Scorecard—Marketing Measures 253The Balanced Scorecard—Employee Growth and the Learning Measures 255Appendix B Managing the Knowledge Worker 257Take the Pulse of Your Staff 257Compensation 257Career Advancement Opportunities 258Firm Culture 258Appendix C Pricing in a Client-centric Firm 261Analyzing Price Sensitivity 261Appendix D Accounting and Law Firm Benchmarks 263Accounting Firm Benchmarks 263Bibliography and References 267Index 271