Episode 40: The Boutique: What No One Tells You About Failed Attempts to Exit

A top reason owners fail to exit is a decline in performance during the process of selling the firm. On this episode, we discuss how to avoid making this mistake.

TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:15] Welcome to the Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with this show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54 and your host. On this episode, I will make the case a top reason that owners failed to exit is a decline in performance during the process of selling their firm. I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander, Capital 54’s founder and chief investment officer. Greg has helped many owners avoid this mistake and has some practical advice on the subject. Greg, good to see you. Welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:09] Thanks, pal. Good to be here. It looks like today we’re going to take one of the WTF moments on this space. Should be a lot of fun.

Sean Magennis [00:01:18] Yes. This is a WTF moment for sure. Greg, for the benefits of our new listeners and for our regulars. Can you explain the issue we are discussing today in more precise terms?

Greg Alexander [00:01:29] Sure. So after selecting an investment banker, the official process to sell a firm kicks off. The workload placed on the management team to successfully exit is large. For instance, there is a never ending stream of information request. This creates a huge distraction and the net result of this distraction is a decline in revenue and profit performance during the nine or so months it takes to exit. This decline causes the potential buyers to doubt the dependability of the projections. And unfortunately, with their confidence shaken, investors pull out of the deal. This happens far too often. The good news is, is this is avoidable.

Sean Magennis [00:02:16] So let’s explore this good news. How can one avoid this mistake, Greg?

Greg Alexander [00:02:20] So there are some best practices to follow. Let me share a few of them here. First time the process to sell the firm when there is a robust backlog, backlog is defined as work that is signed and under contract. It has not been delivered yet. The future revenue is highly dependable. It reduces the risk of a decline in performance during the process. A good rule of thumb is to have nine to 12 months of backlog heading into the process. So, for example, let us say a firm communicates to a buyer a 12 month revenue projection of 50 million dollars. An owner should have at least thirty seven and a half million or the equivalent of nine months under contract. In backlog before kicking off the process to sell. This will keep the cash flow flowing at a crucial time.

Sean Magennis [00:03:12] That is an excellent example. It’s extraordinarily practical. So what are some other ways to avoid failing to exit due to a decline of performance during the process to sell?

Greg Alexander [00:03:25] Next after backlog, I recommend turning your attention to the sales pipeline. I suggest a sales pipeline of five to one. For instance, let us say that you’re a 12 month projections for new businesses, 10 million. This suggests having visibility on 50 million in new work before the process to sell your firm begins. A five to one project pipeline provides enough coverage to hit the target.

Sean Magennis [00:03:54] Boy, that’s a good one. And it seems reasonable as a five to one pipeline ratio suggests a 20 percent close rate, which is conservative. How about some other advice for our listeners, Greg, on this issue?

Greg Alexander [00:04:07] Here’s an idea I have seen work brilliantly, but for some reason it is not often implemented. The idea is to split the business development team in two. Team one is committed to bringing in new business. Team two is committed to selling the firm. This addresses a common, overlooked mistake, which is underestimating the work required to sell the firm. For instance, owners of a firm are typically rainmaker’s. They bring in a lot of new business when their time is consumed with selling the firm. They’re not bringing in new clients. The revenue takes a hit and the exit falls apart by dividing up the workload. This can be prevented. And before I get off my soapbox, let me share a few other tactical ideas. Bullet proof the forecast. Investors are buying the firm based on the future growth it will generate. They are very skeptical. And we’ll put your forecast under the bright lights. Lastly, it’s a good idea. Think about transaction preparedness. Firm leaders will be asked to perform work. They have never done before. For example, you’ll be asked to prepare materials such as an information memorandum and many others. Get your hands on a few examples. Well, ahead of trying to exit and give yourself enough time to practice before trying to exit. This will shorten the time it takes to go to market and will result in a shorter sales process.

Sean Magennis [00:05:42] Fantastic, Greg. So split the BD team in two, bullet proof the forecast, and practice transaction preparedness. These are items our listeners can get to work on immediately. Thank you, Greg.

Sean Magennis [00:06:01] And now a word from our sponsor. Collective 54, Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members join to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell their firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

Frank Digioia [00:06:26] My name is Frank Digioia and I am the CEO and owner of the Fort Group. At the Fort Group, we offer a wide range of marketing services and solutions across many industries to help solve marketing challenges for clients navigating a marketplace that’s in transition. By that, I mean marketing in the middle of a monumental digital transformation. These clients look to us for various marketing services, including strategy, channel and sales, promotion, digital, as well as the creative needs. We solve these challenges by partnering with our clients and working hard to find the right solutions with the right resources. If you need help with these marketing services, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].

Sean Magennis [00:07:05] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit the Collective54.com.

Sean Magennis [00:07:23] Okay, this takes us to the end of this episode. And as is customary, we end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows a listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm, our preferred tool as a checklist. And our style of checklist is a yes-no questionnaire. We aim to keep it simple by asking only 10 questions in this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, you can sustain performance during the process to sell your firm. If you answer no too many times, you’re likely to blow your opportunity to exit. Let’s begin.

Sean Magennis [00:08:02] Number one, do you have enough backlog prior to launching the process to exit? Number two, do you have enough pipeline prior to launching the process to exit? Number three, can the new business team stay focused on bringing in clients during the exit process? Number four, can the owners work be delegated to others during the exit process? Number five, is the forecast reliable? Number six, will the forecasts remain reliable during a time of great distraction? Number seven, have you provided enough deal support to the finance team? Number eight, can the finance team handle the constant requests for reports and information? Number nine, have you reviewed examples of the common documents used during transaction preparedness? And number ten, have you attempted a practice run in putting together these documents?

Sean Magennis [00:09:22] In summary, many exit attempts fail because the distraction of trying to exit causes a dip in revenue and profit performance. This should and must not happen to you, selling your firm is a big project lasting almost a full year. Get yourself ready ahead of time and be sure to time your attempt to exit correctly.

Sean Magennis [00:09:48] If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell a Professional Services Firm. I’m Sean Magennis. Thank you for listening.

Episode 39: The Boutique: 4 Different Recruiting Needs for Professional Services Firms to Scale

As your boutique professional service firm scales, talent acquisition shows up on the list of top priorities. Collective54 founder Greg Alexander discusses why the ability to recruit at scale separates the winners from the losers.

TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:15] Welcome to The Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with this show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54 and your host. On this episode, I will make the case that as your boutique scales, recruiting shows up on the list of things to excel at. The days of recruiting from your personal network are over, and the ability to recruit at scale separates the winners from the losers. I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander, Capital 54’s chief investment officer. Greg is considered one of the industry’s best talent pickers. In fact, Dr. Jeff Smart in his best selling book, Who the A Method for Hiring suggests Greg is one of the best he’s ever seen. Greg, great to see you and welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:26] Sean, it’s good to be with you. I see that you dug up Dr. Smart’s classic book and who Jeff and Randy who run smart and associates are the best in the world at hiring the right people. I encourage everyone to read that book and check them out. I was flattered to be mentioned as a success story in their work.

Sean Magennis [00:01:45] Will do. Greg, I have heard you mentor boutique funders in the area of recruiting. So during these conversations you discuss how there are four different recruiting needs when scaling. Can you walk the audience through these four?

Greg Alexander [00:02:01] I’d be happy to, but before I do, allow me to place this into the proper context. If you are a small, young firm in the startup phase, this does not apply to you. Recruiting in the startup phase is not a mission critical task. The needs are basic in most jobs can be filled from personal networks. In contrast, if you are a firm trying to scale, meaning build something more than a lifestyle business, then recruiting is a mission critical task. Not all the jobs can be filled from personal networks as there are just too many of them to fill. And also the stakes are higher. So, for example, as you leave the scale stage and start to prepare for exit, you will need to recruit a CEO so you can ride off into the sunset. If you miss higher this role, you can kiss your earnout goodbye. Recruiting goes from a passive activity to a mission critical task as you mature. Does this make sense, Sean?

Sean Magennis [00:03:00] Yes, it does. Thanks for setting the table, Greg, and for the context.

Greg Alexander [00:03:05] OK, so let’s jump into the four different types of recruiting as a firm scales. I will start with the first big change, replacing generalist with specialist. As you scale, you will attract more sophisticated clients. These clients will pay you more and therefore expect more. These clients are experienced buyers of professional services and they know what to look for. For example, they will require you to name and describe the team on the account in the proposal. This means you will need to spell out the years of experience, industry references, project case studies and many other items. The prospect is deciding on which firm to select, due in part to the bios of the account team. If you recruit generalist, you will lose too many deals and will not be able to scale sophisticated clients. The types of clients our audience wants to work for, the mad, hyper specialized talent. Does the first recruiting change makes sense?

Sean Magennis [00:04:12] Yes, it does, Greg. So switch from recruiting generalists to recruiting specialists in response to the needs to more sophisticated clients. What is the second recruiting change that happens as you scale?

Greg Alexander [00:04:26] The second recruiting change that pops up when scaling a boutique is the need to hire a manager of managers. You see, startups are filled with small teams, boutiques are filled with medium sized teams, and the market leaders are filled with large teams. Therefore, startups hire managers who manage individuals, boutiques, hire managers who manage other managers and market leaders, hire managers who lead entire departments. So during the scale stage, owners of boutiques need to recruit or develop managers of managers at about midsize. The need for this role again, manager of managers shows up. So this is the second recruiting change and does that make sense?

Sean Magennis [00:05:14] It sure does. So when small startups graduate to the scale stage in their life cycle, the need to hire managers of managers shows up for the first time. This is a big change and it makes logical sense. What is the third recruiting change on the journey?

Greg Alexander [00:05:33] So the third recruiting change that pops up when scaling and boutique is the need to hire executives, boutiques at scale require an executive leadership team. These executives have autonomy to make decisions. They’re not simply executing the founders plan. They are drafting their own plans in at times even have their own independent profit and loss statement, which means they have spending authority. Does the third recruiting change make sense to you?

Sean Magennis [00:06:00] It does Greg and I have seen many a founder stumble at this point. This requires giving up some control and that can prove to be difficult for some. What is the fourth and final recruiting change as a firm scales?

Greg Alexander [00:06:17] So the fourth change that pops up when scaling is a need to reassign the founder. So we all love our founders. They are the pioneers who created jobs and wealth. However, at a certain point, founders become a bottleneck founders. They want to launch new services into new markets and innovate. They do not want to install process and systems and scale. And yet that’s what’s needed at this stage. Therefore, founders must hire or promote a new CEO. The objective is not for the founder to stop working or to work less. Rather, it’s to make the founders contributions much more impactful. The CEO runs today’s business while the founder is developing tomorrow’s business. This one two punch accelerates the pace of scaling. Does that fourth recruiting change makes sense?

Sean Magennis [00:07:15] It absolutely does. Greg and I especially like the word reassign as opposed to replace. We are not showing the founder the door. Instead, we are creating an environment that allows his or her creativity to blossom and not be strangled.

Greg Alexander [00:07:31] Yeah, that’s correct. I mean, where would jobs have been without Cook or Zuckerberg? Without Sanders?

Sean Magennis [00:07:36] Absolutely. Excellent advice and examples as usual. Greg, thank you.

[00:07:44] And now a word from our sponsor, Collective 54, Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members joined to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell their firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

Matt Rosen [00:08:09] Hello, my name is Matt Rosen. I’m the founder and CEO of Allata. Allata service enterprise clients in the financial services, health care, retail distribution and professional services sectors. Our clients are nationwide and we have offices in Dallas, Pheonix, Salt Lake City and Boise. Our clients, such as Freman Associates, and the Army Air Force Exchange, turn to us for help with strategic initiatives typically creating new revenue streams, creating digital customer experiences or increasing productivity. We help our clients by building digital strategies and roadmaps, designing product custom, developing software and helping them gain insights into their data. If you ever need help with a digital strategy, product development, customer development or data initiative, please reach out to me at [email protected] and the websites www.allata.com.

Sean Magennis [00:08:56] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit Collective54.com. OK, this takes us to the end of the episode, let’s try to help listeners apply this. We end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows a listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm. Our preferred tool is a checklist and our style of checklist is a yes-no questionnaire. We aim to keep it simple by asking only 10 questions. In this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, your recruiting strategy is working for you. If you want to know too many times, recruiting and the lack thereof is more than likely getting in the way of your attempts to scale. Let’s begin.

Sean Magennis [00:10:01] Number one, the individual contributors need to evolve into manages? Number two, the managers need to evolve into managers of managers? Number three, do managers of managers need to evolve into executives? Number four, do you need to shift from generalists to specialists? Number five, are you attracting sophisticated clients with higher expectations? Number six, has the founder become a bottleneck? Number seven, can the impact of the founder be amplified if partnered with the CEO? Number eight, does Decision-Making need to be pushed to those closest to the clients? Number nine, is it time to shift from experimenting with the model to scaling the model? And number ten, is it true that what got you here won’t get you there?

Greg Alexander [00:11:17] You know what I love about those 10 questions in particular in this episode is there’s a yes box in a no boxes, no maybe box.

Sean Magennis [00:11:24] That’s exactly right.

Greg Alexander [00:11:26] So you founders’ out there when you’re asking yourself these questions, make sure you’re you’re answering accurately.

Sean Magennis [00:11:32] Thank you, Greg. In summary, recruiting as a startup is not a mission critical task, yet when scaling, it is the need for specialists, managers, executives and a CEO arrive on the scene. These are new roles and usually cannot be filled correctly from the founder’s personal network. To scale, your boutique needs to become a master recruiter.

If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell a Professional Services Firm. Thank you, Greg. I’m Sean Magennis and thank you, our audience, for listening.

Episode 38: The Boutique: How to Market and Sell Like a Pro

Founders of boutiques can increase their rate of growth by professionalizing their marketing and sales approach. On this episode, learn the fundamental building blocks to professionalize your firm’s sales and marketing skills.


TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:15] Welcome to The Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with the show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54 and your host. On this episode, I will make the case that founders of boutiques can increase their rate of growth by professionalizing their marketing and sales approach. I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander, Capital 54’s chief investment officer. Greg founded Sales Benchmark Index in 2006 and went on to become one of the world’s foremost experts in the field of sales and marketing effectiveness. Today, he will offer you the fundamental building blocks to professionalize your sales and marketing efforts. Greg, good to see you. Welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:20] Hey, Sean. So in prep for this show, I did a little homework on myself. So the year 2020 was my twenty seventh year carrying a quota, so to speak. And I have made my number 25 out of 27 years, which is 92 percent of the time. I missed in the year 2000 while I was at EMC in the dotcom bubble burst and I missed it in 2020 while at Capital 54 because the global pandemic destroyed the economy. I mention this not to brag in any way. When I saw the title of the show, How to Market and Sell Like a Pro, I felt compelled to check myself to see if I am indeed a pro. And I’m a proud I’m very proud of that 92 percent success rate over almost three decades. But more importantly, gosh, I learned a lot and I’ll share that with you guys today.

Sean Magennis [00:02:09] And you’re still doing it, Greg, which I admire tremendously. So, yes, it’s these lessons from the battlefield that I want you to share with the audience. But first, why is it that you think so many of our listeners struggle in this area?

Greg Alexander [00:02:23] Yeah, well, most CEOs and founders of boutiques are not natural marketers or salespeople. They are experts. Many are giants in their field. In some cases, some are on TV. The best seller list, the speaking circuit. However, when I look at their panels, I’m shocked to see how little revenue they bring in. I asked myself, how can this be? Well, these brilliant experts would rather go to the dentist and make a sales call. They simply do not know how to go to market with their services. And their personal networks only generate so many referrals so they they never grow past the point of a nice little lifestyle business.

Sean Magennis [00:03:01] Greg, this is so accurate. I mean, we’re living this, you know, today with so many of our collective 54 members. I see it every day. What I find frustrating is many of these brilliant boutique CEOs, they know this. They want to fix it. They just don’t know how to. What advice do you have for these folks?

Greg Alexander [00:03:21] So these CEOs need to be great at two things. Number one, they need to attract new clients. And number two, they need to generate additional revenue from existing clients. And when I say great, I mean it. They need to develop these as fundamental core competencies on par with their domain expertize.

Sean Magennis [00:03:42] Agreed. So these are the two fundamental building blocks and the standard to deliver to is great, not good, but these are a little abstract for me. So can you unpack this a little more?

Greg Alexander [00:03:55] How much time do we have?

Sean Magennis [00:03:57] Let’s say about 10 minutes.

Greg Alexander [00:03:58] OK, here are the Cliff Notes. I will start with the seven building blocks of a great sales model. So number one prospecting process. This is a consistent way for business developers to find opportunities. Number two, buyer journey map. This is an outline of how a prospect buys your type of service. Number three, sales methodology. This is a step by step method to convert opportunities into clients. Number four, channel optimization. This is how the right services will be sold to the right clients at the right time. Number five, incentive system. This is a compensation mechanism that motivates every employee to generate revenue. Number six, training program. This is a program to increase the effectiveness of each employee when pursuing sales opportunities. And lastly, number seven, coverage model. This is a headcount allocation plan to ensure that the target market is properly covered. Well, that was quick. Listeners should ask themselves, do they have these seven building blocks in place? Are you ready for the marketing Cliff Notes?

Sean Magennis [00:05:09] Yes, go for it.

Greg Alexander [00:05:11] OK, so here are the marketing Cliff Notes. There are nine building blocks of a great marketing model, number one brand strategy. This is an inspiring story uniquely relevant to your target clients. Number two, value proposition messaging. This explains to a client how they move from the problematic status quo to an opportunity filled future by hiring your firm. Number three, positioning statements. This articulates why your firm is better than the alternatives. Number four, campaign strategy. This is hyper targeted marketing campaigns that hit the sweet spot of your market. Number five, content strategy. This allows you to earn brand preference by satisfying the information needs of your target clients. Number six is budget. This is dollars and non billable hours assigned to specific accounts to stimulate demand. Number seven is agency. This is a trusted service partner who can help you execute all of this and has two more. Number eight is lead generation. This is a method to attract the right clients to your firm and the right quantity. And lastly, number nine is clients marketing. This is a method for delivery staff to locate new opportunities inside the current client base. So listeners should gut check themselves against these nine basics. I went through that really quickly that I communicate clearly.

Sean Magennis [00:06:43] Yes. Greg, you did this worked out this worked out well. Listeners think of these as two checklists to run yourself through to see if you are marketing and selling like a pro. If you do not have these items, you are behaving like an amateur. And this may be the reason revenue growth is not where you want it.

Greg Alexander [00:07:04] You know, one last thing, Sean, I want to mention, if I may remember, that marketing and selling services is entirely different than products. So why is this? Well, products are sold and consumed and services are bought and experience, and that’s a big difference. So, for instance, I watch the halftime show on Super Bowl. It featured the artist called The Weekend. I went to Spotify, listen to his music music and I bought it. I never met the weekend. It was sold to me. I consumed it. In contrast, I recently needed to update my estate plan, I hired an attorney, we met, we worked together to produce the new estate plan. The service and the person delivering it cannot be separated. The service is experience, not consumed. The attorney did not sell it, but rather helped me buy it through a great experience. The point is to not make the rookie mistake of trying to use best practices to market and sell products in the professional services industry. They just don’t work.

Sean Magennis [00:08:06] That’s great practical advice. Greg, thank you. And now a word from our sponsor, Collective 54, Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members joined to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell their firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

Kris Sugatan [00:08:38] Hello, my name is Kris Sugatan. I own Sugatan.IO. We are founders of E Commerce Brands all over the world. These clients turn to us for help with scaling their brands by acquiring new customers profitably. We solve this problem by creating video and graphic ads that convince the viewer to buy your product. If you need help with acquiring a new customer profitably, reach out to me at [email protected] That’s [email protected].

[00:09:15] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit collective54.com. OK, there was a lot to absorb, this takes us to the end of the episode, let’s try to help you, the listener, apply this. We end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows a listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm. Our preferred tool is a checklist and our style of checklist is a yes-no questionnaire. We aim to keep it simple by asking only 10 questions. In this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, your marketing and selling strategy is working for you. If you answer no too many times your marketing and selling strategy is more than likely getting in the way of your attempts to scale. Let’s begin.

Sean Magennis [00:10:21] Number one, is it obvious to prospects who you serve and how you serve them? Number two, is it obvious to prospects why you are the best at what you do?

Greg Alexander [00:10:36] So this goes to both value proposition and positioning statements.

Sean Magennis [00:10:40] Number three, are you in front of enough prospects to hit your revenue targets?

Greg Alexander [00:10:45] Lead generation.

Sean Magennis [00:10:47] Number four, do you understand how clients decide to hire someone like you?

Greg Alexander [00:10:53] How they buy versus how you sell.

Sean Magennis [00:10:56] Number five, can you consistently win more than 50 percent of the time?

Greg Alexander [00:11:01] Now, some listen again and say that’s too high of a bar to clear. And I would call B.S. on that. If you close rates beyond 50 percent, you’re pitching the wrong clients.

Sean Magennis [00:11:09] Right. So if you’re targeting is right, if it’s working properly, generation, psychographic, demographic, you’re going to exceed that 50. Number six, are you extending your reach through multiple marketing channels?

Greg Alexander [00:11:22] And here’s what’s unique about a boutique. You don’t have brand recognition. Nobody knows who you are. So you got to get the word out.

Greg Alexander [00:11:28] Right.

Sean Magennis [00:11:28] Yep. Bingo. Number seven, but you and your team motivated to bring in more revenue?

Greg Alexander [00:11:35] Put your money where your mouth is.

Sean Magennis [00:11:36] Incentivize. Number eight, are you and your team highly trained to win new business? Sharpening that saw. Number nine, are you covering your market sufficiently?

Greg Alexander [00:11:49] Often overlooked, but coverage is a big issue.

Sean Magennis [00:11:52] And number 10, do you have an agency capable of multiplying your efforts?

Greg Alexander [00:11:58] Don’t go it alone here? Listen, you don’t clean your own teeth, go to a dentist. So when it comes to marketing, in particular, find an agency and hire them.

Sean Magennis [00:12:05] I love that, Greg. And we have many great agencies in Collective 54. So in summary, I bet you the listener is an expert in your field, a true giant who knows more about your domain than just about anybody. I’m here to tell you that is not enough. If no one knows about your brilliance, what good is it? The world is filled with bankrupt ideas. Master your go to market, elevate your marketing and sales capability to professional grade. Earn what you were worth. If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell a Professional Services Firm. I’m Sean Magennis. Greg, thank you. And thank you, our audience, for listening.

Episode 37: The Boutique: The One Thing No One Tells You about Scaling your Firm

Founders of boutiques often mistakenly equate the number of employees with success. However, lots of employees signal a poorly run firm. Collective 54 founder Greg Alexander makes the case for lean staffing and illustrates the impact to profitability.

TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:15] Welcome to The Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with this show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54 and your host. On this episode, I will make the case that fewer employees are better than many employees. Founders of boutiques often mistakenly equate number of employees with success when in fact lots of employees signals a poorly run firm. I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander, Capital 54’s chief investment officer. Greg’s firm, SBI, at the time of exit averaged one million dollars in revenue per employee. This was driven by having fewer employees than most, this resulted in exceptional profitability and wealth creation for the owners. Greg, I’m looking forward to this. Good to see you and welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:33] It’s good to be with you. What a great topic we have today.

Sean Magennis [00:01:37] So, Greg, I often encounter boutique owners with bloated staffs and below average margins. Why is this happening?

Greg Alexander [00:01:46] Somewhere along the way, it became cool to say, quote, Hi, my name is so-and-so. The name of my company is X, Y, Z, and we are a 200 person firm in the blah blah, blah, blah space. Founders brag about lots of people to establish credibility, and maybe this works on the uneducated, but when I hear this, I think, oh no, this poor schmuck is working his tail off and not making any money.

Sean Magennis [00:02:14] So, Greg, what advice would you give a listener who is making this mistake?

Greg Alexander [00:02:18] Geez, where do I begin? I think the first thing I should do is explain that labor is the biggest expense in a professional services firm, often 80 percent of the total expense line. Therefore, anything you can do to reduce labor expenses, do it because this will equate to more profits. I mean, the best boutique in the world would have no employees and lots of clients and revenue.

Sean Magennis [00:02:43] Yeah, exactly. And let’s assume this poor schmuck, as you affectionately referred to earlier, was actually willing to listen. What steps would you have him or her take?

Greg Alexander [00:02:55] I would ask Mr. Schmuck three questions. Question number one, how many people do you need and why? The question number two, what type of people do you need and why? And question number three, which organizational structure would work for you and why?

Sean Magennis [00:03:13] And Greg, how would he know the answers to these questions?

Greg Alexander [00:03:17] Well, he would know the answers to these three questions if he understood three things. First, he would understand the skill level needed to perform the work skill level could be simply junior, mid-level or senior as an example. Second, he would understand the knowledge required to perform the work knowledge level could be simply industry knowledge or knowledge of the problem or knowledge of the solution. And third, he would know how long it would take to perform the work. This is measured in hours and rolled up into a level of effort budget.

Sean Magennis [00:03:57] Got it. And when he had the answers to these questions, what would he do with them?

Greg Alexander [00:04:02] Well, this would tell him how many people he needed and what type. And this is the most important part. He would have the data he needs to engineer a profitable organizational model.

Sean Magennis [00:04:15] How so Greg?

Greg Alexander [00:04:17] So after he knows what it really takes to perform the work, I mean, down at the task level, he will notice he is destroying profits. My friend, poor Mr. Schmuck will see almost every time he can do the work with less people, with more junior people and at less cost.

Sean Magennis [00:04:36] And how does he see that ?

Greg Alexander [00:04:39] Listen, we’re living in a different time today. The service delivery has forever been altered in three very distinctive ways. First, services can be automated with technology. For example, look at what is happening with robo advisors in the wealth management space. Portfolio managers are being replaced by algorithms by the thousands. Second work can be offshored. The big market leading firms offshore approximately 40 percent of their work, yet boutiques offshore about five percent. This is a missed profit opportunity. And third, the gig economy is here in the professional services space. And for real, you can now rent a Harvard MBA X McKinsey type from the to marketplace for less than one hundred bucks an hour. You can get excellent graphic design work from one of collected fifty four members, Russ Perry at Design Pickle for as little as five hundred dollars per month flat fee. These are just a few examples. If Mr. Schmuck picked his head up, he would see there a profit improvement opportunities all around him. Adding headcount is a lazy man’s way of scaling. The days of proving your success with large staffs have been replaced by today’s standard, which is profit. Standard of proof now is profit, not number of employees. There’s nothing cooler than fat profits. I encourage all of our listeners to intelligently design the org structure. Do not just throw heads at every problem.

Sean Magennis [00:06:20] That’s excellent advice, Greg, and great examples. Thank you. And now a word from our sponsor, Collective 54, Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members joined to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell their firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

Don Goldstein [00:06:54] Hello, my name is Don Goldstein. I am president and part owner of 5Q. 5Q primarily serves commercial real estate companies across the United States. Our clients turn to us for help with maximizing technology, efficiency, security and compliance. We provide worry free I.T. with our full spectrum of technology solutions through four service lines I.T. and cyber leadership, I.T., managed services, cyber security, managed services and I.T. project management. If you need assistance in any or all of these areas, reach out to me at [email protected].

Sean Magennis [00:07:34] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit Collective54.com. OK, this takes us to the end of the episode, let us try to help listeners apply this. We end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows a listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm. Our preferred tool is a checklist and our style of checklist is a yes-no questionnaire. We aim to keep it simple by asking only 10 questions in this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, your employee count is working for you. If you answer no, too many times, you are likely unsure of how many employees you need, which is getting in the way of your attempts to scale a profitable firm. Let’s begin.

Sean Magennis [00:08:41] Number one, can you decouple the rate of revenue growth from the rate of headcount growth?

Greg Alexander [00:08:47] Yeah, I mean, this is so important. You grow in revenue, 30 percent headcount of 30 percent. You’re running in place if you’re growing revenue, 30 percent in headcount growth to, let’s say, 10 percent, you’re expanding your margins.

Sean Magennis [00:08:58] Yes. Number two, are most of your problems, people related?

Greg Alexander [00:09:03] They say all your problems walking around on two feet. So fewer people, fewer problems.

Sean Magennis [00:09:08] Number three, is your payroll your biggest expense?

Greg Alexander [00:09:12] Obvious question.

Sean Magennis [00:09:13] Number four, can technology perform work that humans are doing today? Number five, are you offshoring less than 40 percent of your work?

Greg Alexander [00:09:25] Yeah, there’s still some fear there and our listeners need to get over this. I mean, this is well-worn territory at this point.

Sean Magennis [00:09:32] And the quality of offshoring is spectacular.

Greg Alexander [00:09:35] Sure.

Sean Magennis [00:09:36] Number six, can you flex up or flex down headcount to match demand in close to real time?

Greg Alexander [00:09:44] This is what’s great about these talent marketplaces like CATALIN.

Sean Magennis [00:09:49] Number seven, are you skilled at labor arbitrage? Number eight, is it clear that scale does not refer to the number of employees, but to the amount of cash flow? Number nine, is it hard to match revenue and expenses?

Greg Alexander [00:10:09] In a project based firm, it’s brutally difficult.

Sean Magennis [00:10:13] Number ten, do you have limited forward visibility in your business?

Greg Alexander [00:10:18] Yeah, and again, most of the listeners here run some version of a product project based firm. So forward visibility is a problem. That’s why these flexible labor models are so critical.

Sean Magennis [00:10:29] And really keeping all of those relationships warm.

Greg Alexander [00:10:31] Yes.

Sean Magennis [00:10:32] So, in summary, the best boutique would have no employees. Labor is your biggest cost. Organize to reduce employee related expenses. This will drive your profits up. If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell Professional Services Firm. I’m Sean Magennis. Thank you for listening.

Episode 36: The Boutique: The 3 Commandments of Service Design

Collective 54 founder Greg Alexander discusses how to re-think service design and delivery to accelerated profits.

TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:15] Welcome to The Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with this show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54 and your host. On this episode, I will make the case there are three commandments of service design. The service offering is to the founder of a professional services firm, what the product is to the founder of a product company. It’s how they deliver value to the client and designing it correctly is a mission critical task.

Sean Magennis [00:01:01] I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander, Capital 54’s chief investment officer. Greg is actually one of the pioneers in service offering design in the boutique professional services industry. His approach has helped many founders rethink how they deliver their service value, leading to accelerated profits. Greg, great to see you. Welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:29] Good to be here.

Sean Magennis [00:01:30] OK, Greg, let’s jump in. Explain to our listeners why they should care about this subject.

Greg Alexander [00:01:36] OK, so many founders and executives leading boutiques are not imaginative when designing their service offerings. They do not think about how to design the service in a way that increases the value it brings to clients while simultaneously decreasing the cost to deliver it. So let me share a story to make this point. Not too long ago, I met a brilliant bookkeeper. She developed a way for small business owners to outsource bookkeeping for one hundred and nineteen bucks per year. Her prospects are those who do bookkeeping in-house, paying internal staff on average 40,000 dollars per year. She is, get this, three hundred and thirty six times cheaper for the same service as you can imagine, she is shooting ducks in a barrel and growing like a weed. So how did she do it? She reimagined. Our bookkeeping should be performed by uniquely blending technology automation in offshore labor. This is an example of a boutique founder winning because of intelligence service design.

Sean Magennis [00:02:42] Geez, I would not put growth and bookkeeping in the same sentence, but it seems to me this is a commodity service with an with an attractive growth prospects.

Greg Alexander [00:02:52] When I met her, I entered the meeting with the same assumption and she corrected this false assumption by telling me that she is one of a 183,000 bookkeeping firms in the U.S. That is a lot of firms, a lot of firm owners making money in the bookkeeping space.

Sean Magennis [00:03:09] And why are you attracted to such a crowded field?

Greg Alexander [00:03:13] I am attracted to her because she’s going to take lots of share. For instance, her typical competitor charges a small business owner sixty two hundred dollars per year for the same service. The way this will play out is more and more small business owners will outsource bookkeeping because of the 40000 dollar per year internal cost mentioned earlier. When these new prospects enter the market, they will look at her service at 119 dollars a year in her competitor’s service at sixty two hundred dollars a year. She’s going to win a lot of deals and take a lot of share. She just needs to get into as many deals as possible. Her close rate will be crazy high. This is why I’m attracted to her.

Sean Magennis [00:03:55] Greg, this is a great story. What lessons should the audience take from this?

Greg Alexander [00:04:00] Gosh, there are many. Let me share a few. So the first lesson is to be imaginative with designing a service. Too many boutique founders, a conventional in this area, for example, they turn their expertize into a methodology. They hire expensive domestic labor, train them on it and take it to market. This conventional approach constrains growth. Why? To earn an acceptable margin on this, a founder must charge a certain price and sometimes his price will price them out of the market. As you can see in the bookkeeping story, a little tech automation and offshore labor can go a long way. The second lesson is commodity services are ripe for disruption prior to meeting her. I would not have believed that bookkeeping is a growth industry and in the aggregate it is not. But she is a growth company. What is different between her and her industry? Intelligent design. The third lesson takes us to the three commandments of service design. Are you ready for them?

Sean Magennis [00:05:00] Yes have at it.

Greg Alexander [00:05:01] OK, so clients are boutiques for one of three reasons. The first reason is you can do what they can do better. The second reason is you can do what they can do faster. The third reason is you can do what they can do cheaper. Ideally, the boutique combines better, faster, cheaper into a single value proposition. And when I say better, faster, cheaper, I mean in relation to the alternatives, which can be internal staff, other boutiques, the big firms, etc.. So the three commandments of service design are better, faster, cheaper.

Sean Magennis [00:05:38] Excellent. I understand the three commandments better, faster, cheaper. How should we listen to put them to work in his or her business?

Greg Alexander [00:05:47] I suggest two immediate actions. First, screen all your current service offerings against the Three Commandments. If they are not clearly better, faster or cheaper than the alternatives, redesign them or sunset them. Second, screen your service roadmap against the Three Commandments. Do not bring a new service to market until you know for sure it is better, faster and cheaper than the alternatives.

Sean Magennis [00:06:13] Greg, that’s great practical advice. Thank you. Of course, this assumes our listeners have a service roadmap, but that is a topic for another day.

Greg Alexander [00:06:22] It is.

Sean Magennis [00:06:26] And now a word from our sponsor, Collective 54, Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members joined to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell their firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

Jessica Nunez [00:06:52] Hello, my name is Jessica Nunez. I own TruePoint Communications. We serve a company’s marketing needs with B2B and consumer services. Our clients turn to us to propel their brand forward through marketing, public relations and social media. We solve this problem by providing a custom marketing and communication strategy tied to business goals and designed to meet the unique needs of their core audience. If you need help with awareness for your business that propels your brand forward, visit our website at TruePointAgency.com.

[00:07:27] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit Collective54.com. OK, this takes us to the end of the episode, let’s try to help listeners apply this. We end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows a listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm. Our preferred tool is a checklist and our style of checklist is a yes-no questionnaire, we aim to keep it simple by asking only 10 questions. In this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, your service design is working for you. If you answer no too many times your service design is likely getting in the way of your attempts to scale. Let’s begin.

Sean Magennis [00:08:27] Number one, are you offering a service that clients already by? Number two, are there many legacy firms providing the service? Number three, are these legacy firms ripe for disruption?

Greg Alexander [00:08:45] Yes, I mean, one, two and three, if you answer yes to those three questions, I mean, you’re in a great space.

Sean Magennis [00:08:49] Yep.

Greg Alexander [00:08:50] Just outmaneuver everybody.

Sean Magennis [00:08:52] Number four, can you use less expensive labor to deliver it?

Greg Alexander [00:08:57] And that’s where to start, because 80 percent of the cost structure is is human capital.

Sean Magennis [00:09:01] Number five, can you use technology automation to streamline it? Number six, can you perform the service better than the alternatives?

Greg Alexander [00:09:13] And that’s in the eyes of the beholder. The client.

Sean Magennis [00:09:14] Right. Number seven, can you perform the service faster than the alternatives? And number eight, can you perform the service cheaper than the alternatives? Number nine, can you combine better, faster and cheaper into a single value proposition? And number ten, are you staying away from the latest fad that might not have staying power?

Greg Alexander [00:09:45] So number 10 may appear to be out of place when compared to one through nine, but it’s been there for a reason, and that is sometimes boutique owners think the only way to grow is to get into the new thing. And as you saw with bookkeeping, that’s not true. You know, if you’re in a large, quote, commodities market, then be the disruptor. And if you are the disruptor, meaning you do things differently, can make a lot of money in traditional marketplaces.

Sean Magennis [00:10:08] That’s what I love about this Greg, it’s introducing contrarian thoughts, very powerful. So in summary, entrepreneurs often do not put innovation and service design in the same sentence. Boutiques do not look at themselves as disruptors. The innovator label is most often only applied to leaders of product companies. Yet the facts point in another direction. 67 percent of the US economy comes from the service industry, and 49 percent of the workforce is employed by small businesses. The biggest opportunity for you is to disrupt the legacy professional services sector. If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell a Professional Services Firm. Thank you, Greg. I’m Sean Magennis and thank you for listening.

Episode 35: The Boutique: How to Prevent Greed from Stopping Your Exit

Greed, if left unchecked, can get in the way of a successful exit. On this episode, Collective 54 founder Greg Alexander shares a shareholder alignment framework to help you keep greed from stopping your successful exit

TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:16] Welcome to the Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with this show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54 and your host on this episode. I will make the case that greed, if left unchecked, can get in the way of a successful exit. I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander. Capital 54’s founder and chief investment officer. Greg has developed a framework to help you keep greed from sinking your deal. Greg, as always, good to see you. And welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:06] Thanks, pal. Nice to be here. I see we are tackling one of the seven deadly sins today. Maybe we should start by saying 10 Hail Mary’s.

Sean Magennis [00:01:16] I use that frequently, but I think we’re okay as I actually took… My mother would be proud. Greg, in all seriousness, what does greed have to do with exiting a boutique professional services firm?

Greg Alexander [00:01:32] Unfortunately, a lot. A common reason that attempts to exit fail is a lack of shareholder alignment. A good deal for some is not a good deal for others. Disagreements over who gets what and when they get it have sunk. Many deals. Greed is a very powerful force.

Sean Magennis [00:01:52] It is indeed. And I can see this being a real issue as many professional services firms are organized as partnerships with each partner being a shareholder. They all have rights and getting everyone on the same page can be tricky. Greg, I. I often hear you speak about shareholder and stakeholder alignment. Can you define these terms for our audience?

Greg Alexander [00:02:16] Sure, a shareholder, is anyone who owns a share in the boutique. A stakeholder is a person or group who has a stake in the business. For instance, in boutiques, clients, they’re a stakeholder. They rely on the firm. So they have a stake in the firm’s business. Or your bank is a stakeholder. They depend on you to pay back the line of credit, for instance.

Sean Magennis [00:02:45] And why do shareholders and stakeholders play an important role when an owner is trying to exit?

Greg Alexander [00:02:52] They can prevent a deal from happening. So let’s start with the shareholders. For instance, they will vote on the exit, either approving it or not. If enough shares vote against the deal, it does not happen. And at times, it can be nuanced and more nuanced than this. For example, let’s say one of our listeners is the majority shareholder and he has enough power to approve the exit. However, his junior partner, who owns 10 percent of the shares, does not want the deal to happen. The junior partner can cause real problems as he is a key employee. And if he threatens to quit, the acquirer might get cold feet and not do the deal. The investor is buying a people driven business. And if key employees do not want to stay, they’re not going to go through with the sale. Majority and minority control are an important element, but in practical terms, not as much as you think. The same can be said about stakeholders. Stakeholders have rights and can prevent deals from closing as well. For example, the landlord is protected by the lease agreement. The bank is protected by the loan agreement. In some cases, stakeholders are not protected by legal agreements, but they might as well be. For example, a key client legally cannot prevent a deal from happening, but they can stop it in other ways. The key client can tell an investor during diligence that if this deal goes through, he will take his business to a competitor that can stop a deal dead in its tracks.

Sean Magennis [00:04:36] I can clearly see how getting both the shareholders and the stakeholders on the same page is absolutely mission critical. This is a tough question. How is this accomplished?

Greg Alexander [00:04:51] Well, as they say, half of a solution to a problem is recognizing that you have one. So if you’ve listened to this show, you’re halfway there. The remaining 50 percent can broking- can be broken down into two actions. So, number one, have the difficult alignment conversations before you attempt an exit, negotiate who gets what and when they get it way before a deal is on the table. And number two is to remind everyone about the alignment frequently during the process. It’s important to keep everyone in the boat focused on the predetermined definition of success. When offers start coming in, you cannot let anyone conveniently change their mind.

Sean Magennis [00:05:41] This is excellent advice, Greg. Negotiate internally first and get everyone to agree on an acceptable price and deal terms prior to attempting an exit. And now a word from our sponsor. Collective 54, Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members join to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell their firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

Scott Conard [00:06:22] Hello, my name is Dr. Scott Conard and I own Converging Health Consulting. Warren Buffett talks about health care being a tapeworm on the economy. Well, it’s a vampire on young companies who need their capital for growth. We serve companies that want to decrease the cost while improving their health benefit offering. They turn to us for help with the number two cost in most service companies health benefits. We initially work with them to flatten and then lower their costs while building a stronger culture, loyalty and engagement. We do this by having a 20 minute call with a CEO or president and their H.R. staff, where we explain a 30 day free evaluation of their current situation from a contractual and clinical viewpoint. If you need help with reducing health benefit costs while building and improving a stronger culture, reach out to me at [email protected] or 817-691-4970.

Sean Magennis [00:07:15] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit Collective54.com.

Sean Magennis [00:07:31] Okay, so this takes us to the end of this episode. And as is customary, we end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows a listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm. Our preferred tool is a checklist. And our style of checklist is a yes-no questionnaire. We aim to keep it simple by asking only 10 questions in this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, you have greed in check. If you answer no, too many times, shareholders and stakeholders will put your deal at risk by bickering over who gets what and when they get it. Let’s begin.

Sean Magennis [00:08:14] Number one, do you have more than one shareholder?

Greg Alexander [00:08:18] You know, obviously, if you’re the sole proprietor.

Sean Magennis [00:08:21] It is a lot easier.

Greg Alexander [00:08:22] It is a lot easier. Yeah.

Sean Magennis [00:08:24] Number two, do they agree on an acceptable price?

Greg Alexander [00:08:28] You know, I would tell you this is a difficult conversation and the reason for that is, is that when you get all the shareholders together in a room and you asked a question, you know, what would you accept for the firm? They throw out these numbers and they have no basis, in fact. So handling this with care and making sure that everybody understands the common way upon which to value a firm like yours and bring some type of method to the conversation helps a lot.

Sean Magennis [00:08:52] And you always said preparation is key and planning and taking the time to do it properly.

Greg Alexander [00:08:57] Sure.

Sean Magennis [00:08:58] So number three, do they agree on the terms of the deal?

Greg Alexander [00:09:01] Another issue. You know, sometimes people are doing this for the first time, so they don’t understand things like rolling your equity or an earn out, how much cash is paid at closing, etc..

Sean Magennis [00:09:12] Number four, are everyone’s expectations, which is what we discussing, are everyone’s expectations realistic?

Greg Alexander [00:09:19] Yeah.

Sean Magennis [00:09:20] Number five, do you have multiple stakeholder groups?

Greg Alexander [00:09:24] Yep. So don’t just pay attention to shareholders. Make sure you’re thinking about your stakeholders as well.

Sean Magennis [00:09:29] And number six, do you know what each stakeholder group wants? Number seven, are their expectations realistic? Number eight, do you know which stakeholder groups could get in the way? Number nine, do you know what the acquirer will require from each of them? And number ten, can you find a compromise between the acquirer and the stakeholder group?

Greg Alexander [00:09:57] Yeah, there’s always a compromise. OK. So the solution to preventing greed from stopping your exit is just find- just find common ground and, you know, at the risk of being crude. Don’t be a pig, yourself. You know, if you want to keep greed in check. Don’t be greedy.

Sean Magennis [00:10:14] Yes. Well said, Greg. So in summary, remember that shareholders own part of your firm. They have rights and will need to agree with you and your deal. And keep in mind, you have stakeholders as well. They also need to agree for you to close. It is best to get alignment prior to attempting to exit. There is usually a compromise that makes everyone happy. However, this compromise is very hard to identify under the hot lights of a deal.

Sean Magennis [00:10:49] If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell a Professional Services Firm. I’m Sean Magennis. Thank you for listening.

Episode 34: The Boutique: What to Do When Clients Do Not Recognize Your Brilliance

Firms that add a great client experience to high-quality work reach scale, and those who do not, stay small lifestyle businesses. On this episode, we discuss the importance of the client experience to driving client satisfaction.


TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:15] Welcome to The Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with this show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean McGuiness, CEO of Capital 54 and your host. On this episode, I will make the case that there is a difference between quality work and a great client experience. Firms that add a great client experience to high quality work reach scale and those who do not stay small lifestyle businesses. I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander, Capital 54’s chief investment officer, Greg has helped many firms see the importance of the client experience. Greg, great to see you. Welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:19] Hey, Sean, good to be with you today.

Sean Magennis [00:01:20] Greg, I’d like to start by asking you, what is the difference between quality and client experience?

Greg Alexander [00:01:28] OK, so quality is measured by the finished product. So, for example, the quality of this podcast is determined by the quality of the recording. If the audience could not hear us clearly, this would be a low quality product. Client experience is measured by how a client feels when working with you. For example, I drive an old Cadillac which requires service. I love my dealership because when I show up, they remember my name. They greet me with a hot chocolate chip cookie.

Sean Magennis [00:02:01] Nice.

Greg Alexander [00:02:03] They have the vehicle history in front of them and they get me on my way quickly. They don’t just fix the car. Does this make sense?

Sean Magennis [00:02:11] Yes, it absolutely does. So why should a boutique professional services firm care about this?

Greg Alexander [00:02:19] Well, some should not care. So, for instance, firms who are not trying to scale can get away with ignoring this. However, for those listeners who are trying to scale, this is a must have not a nice to have. And here’s why. The reason is as you scale, you will attract more sophisticated clients. This is wonderful because they have bigger budgets and these clients are very profitable. However, they also have higher expectations. Chances are they have hired many professional services firms before and some of the best in the world. Their idea of what good looks like is very different. And if you don’t rise to the occasion, you will not be able to do work for these top companies. And if you cannot serve the top clients, you will never scale.

Sean Magennis [00:03:14] That makes complete sense. I would also add that one of the best things of scaling a firm is the opportunity to work with the best clients. The work is much more stimulating. So, Greg, what is a firm trying to scale really need to do?

Greg Alexander [00:03:31] So, they need to implement a client experience program.

Sean Magennis [00:03:35] Greg, what’s a client experience program?

Greg Alexander [00:03:37] Yeah, so that’s a big question. So I would ask you in the audience to bear with me as I attempt to answer this.

Sean Magennis [00:03:43] Got it. I know you’re going to do a great job.

Greg Alexander [00:03:45] OK. So a client experience program can be described as understanding the client journey and acting on it. So an illustration of a typical client journey is going to be helpful here. Usually a client journey starts when sales hands off the client to an engagement manager after a contract is signed. This is a delicate situation as the client will be leaving someone they have grown to know and are now being introduced to a stranger. Approaching the client at this moment takes skill as there is a heightened level of stress. Next, this handoff usually leads to some kind of project kickoff or a client onboarding process. It is critical the engagement team starts to build trust and credibility. This is done by keeping the effort level from the client very, very low. For example, the engagement manager should demonstrate that she has been fully briefed by sales and knows exactly what has transpired up to this point. Clients hate having to repeat themselves as they are very busy people. The project kickoff or client onboarding process lays out the goals and what’s going to transpire over the next few weeks or months. A great client experience always sets expectations and keeps the focus on outcomes and milestones. Clients hate uncertainty. After the onboarding or kickoff, the client begins adopting the early parts of the project. This is a great moment of stress as a client will be on a steep learning curve and no one likes to feel stupid. Be sure to recognize this insecurity and take action to replace their feelings of ignorance with some quick wins. The next part of a typical journey moves from early adoption to an expansion phase. This is where the client begins to use more advanced pieces of your solution. At this moment, clients are dealing with the fear of change. Getting a client to push beyond the basics and get more advanced is like trying to get someone to lose the last five pounds after losing the first one. Complacency sets in. Yet if you do not get the client to push through this, the full benefit of the project will not be realized. And lastly, the client enters the final stage of the journey. And this is project completion. It is important for the boutique to quantify the benefits of the project and to congratulate the client for a great job. This will result in a new client journey kicking off as another project starts up. Or if the project did not go well. This results in the parting of ways between the client and the boutique. Sean, that was a lot. But did you get the essence of it?

Sean Magennis [00:06:55] Yes, Greg, I did. And what struck me about this example is the emotional swings a client goes through along the way. This is a good reminder that how a client feels during the project is as important as what the client gets at the end,\.

Greg Alexander [00:07:13] You got it and notice in this example, I never once mentioned deliverables.

Sean Magennis [00:07:18] Yep didn’t.

Greg Alexander [00:07:19] You know, the quality of the work. And this is very typical. The client experience has nothing to do with the quality of the work.

Sean Magennis [00:07:26] Yes, I noticed that, Greg. And in my experience, many clients cannot tell the difference between average work and great work, but they sure can tell the difference between a bad experience and a great experience. Heck, they can feel it in the depth of their soul.

Greg Alexander [00:07:42] Yes, they can. And sophisticated clients demand a great client experience. As our listeners scale, they will be dealing with clients with higher expectations. So this becomes very important.

Sean Magennis [00:07:55] Absolutely. And now a word from our sponsor, Collective 54, Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members joined to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell their firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

Denise Lambertson [00:08:24] Hello, my name is Denise Lambertson and I own an agency called LMS. We serve the consumer packaged goods industry in the US that are distributing the brick and mortar retail as well as direct to consumer and e-commerce. These cries turn to ask for help with connecting with the consumer, whether it’s sales, community building, like social media growth or education and awareness. We solve this problem by the most effective celebrity and influencer marketing solutions. If you need help with building your influencer marketing program, reach out to me through www.wearelms.com. That is w-w-w-.-w-a-r-e-l-m-s.com.

Sean Magennis [00:09:06] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit Collective54.com. OK, this takes us to the end of the episode, let’s try to help the listeners apply this. We end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows a listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm. Our preferred tool is a checklist and our style of checklist is a yes-no questionnaire. We aim to keep it simple by asking only 10 questions. In this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, your client experience is working for you. If you answer no too many times a poor client experience is likely getting in the way of your attempts to scale. Let’s begin.

Sean Magennis [00:10:12] Number one, have you documented the client experience journey for your firm? Number two, do each of your clients feel that they are important to you? Number three, do you understand the emotional context of the client during the engagement

Greg Alexander [00:10:35] most often overlooked.

Sean Magennis [00:10:37] Yep. Number four, do clients know why you were doing what you were doing? Number five, do clients feel they are part of the engagement team?

Greg Alexander [00:10:51] Super important, the client needs to feel like you’re on their team and you’re pursuing their goals.

Sean Magennis [00:10:58] Number six, do clients know what is going to happen next before it happens?

Greg Alexander [00:11:03] Again, they hate uncertainty. Yeah, tell them what you’re going to do before you do it.

Sean Magennis [00:11:06] Communicate and overcommunicate. Number seven, do you research meeting attendees prior to each meeting? Number eight, do you send prereading material to clients with enough lead time?

Greg Alexander [00:11:22] This drives me crazy. You know, I hire service runners myself and they’ll send me a deck five minutes before the meeting. I want to strangle them.

Sean Magennis [00:11:29] Absolutely. Number nine, do you make it easy for clients to use your materials internally?

Greg Alexander [00:11:36] That’s the other thing. You know, sometimes people are proud of their work. So they they, you know, put their logo everywhere and they want to take credit. This isn’t about you. It’s about the client. So allow your client to plagiarize your work.

Sean Magennis [00:11:48] And they paid for it.

Greg Alexander [00:11:48] Yes.

Sean Magennis [00:11:49] Number ten, do you call the client after every meeting to confirm the goals were met?

Greg Alexander [00:11:55] Just good hygiene.

Sean Magennis [00:11:58] So in summary, quality work is a commodity that’s tough I know, for a lot of you to hear you are proud of what you produce and you should be. It took years to develop your expertize. However, some clients are not capable of recognizing your brilliance. And you are not the only firm, by the way, providing quality work boutiques that scale understand the client experience is much more important for fewer firms can deliver outstanding experience in addition to quality work. This is the unique differentiator to develop in the scale stage. If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell a Professional Services Firm. I’m Sean Magennis. Thank you, Greg. And thank you to our audience for listening.

Episode 33: The Boutique: A Practical Guide to Monetize Professional Services

In this episode of The Boutique podcast, Collective 54 founder Greg Alexander explores the nine common ways to make money in the professional services industry. You will learn how to monetize your services and which monetization strategy makes the most sense for your business.

How Can a Professional Services Firm Monetize Its Services?

Sean Magennis [00:00:15] Welcome to The Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with this show is to help you grow, scale, and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. 

I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54, and your host on this episode. I will make the case that boutiques constrain their growth by thinking too narrowly about monetization. They often think there is only one way to charge, and only a couple of revenue sources are available to them . When in fact, there are nine common ways to make money in the professional services industry. 

I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander, Capital 54’s chief investment officer. Greg is a monetization wizard of sorts. He will present a practical guide on how to monetize your services. Greg, good to see you. Welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:22] It’s good to be here.

Nine Common Ways to Monetize Professional Services

Sean Magennis [00:01:24] OK, let’s jump into it. Greg, tell us about the nine common ways to monetize professional services.

1. Hourly Billings

Greg Alexander [00:01:30] OK, so the nine most commonly used sources of revenue in professional services are number one hourly billings. Charging clients an hourly rate has the benefit of being easy to implement. However, it limits how much revenue you can generate. 

There is a fixed number of hours, and there is an upper limit on how much you can charge for each hour. 

2. Retainer

OK, number two, retainer. This is when a client pays you upfront to secure your services when needed. This has the benefit of getting paid in advance in a predictable cash flow. However, there are only so many retainers a boutique can handle at one time. 

3. Fixed Bid

OK, number three, fixed bid. This is using a flat amount, regardless of the hours worked. This is profitable work for boutiques if they can scope projects correctly. Clients are buying the deliverables, not the boutique’s time. If a firm struggles with estimating the level of effort for a project, this can be a money loser. These are the first three. Let me pause here and check in. Should I keep going?

Sean Magennis [00:02:36] Yes, Greg, I’m tracking right with you and hopefully the listeners as well. So taking note, hourly billings, retainer, and fixed bids. Got it. So a good refresher on the differences between the three, for example, many boutiques confused retainers and hourly rates.

4. Performance-Based Contracts

Greg Alexander [00:02:57] OK, good. So, number four, let’s move to performance-based  contracts. So goals are established. If the firm is successful, they get paid. And if they fail to deliver, they do not. This allows a boutique to capture upside as they are usually uncapped. The risk, of course, is if you do not produce, you lose your shirt. 

5. Membership Dues

Hey, let’s go to number five membership dues. This is when a client pays a professional services boutique if they see value in being in a group with other clients. The annual dues grant access to a group of people in similar jobs dealing with similar issues. This is profitable for boutiques as it scales nicely. 

Small amounts of staff can manage a large number of clients. The risk, however, is if you have unhappy clients, the word is going to spread very quickly. 

6. Licensing Revenue

OK, number six is licensing revenue. A client pays a licensing fee to a professional services boutique to use intellectual property. Many boutiques have methodologies and tools that clients want unlimited access to. They pay a license fee for this right. 

The risk to a professional services boutique with this is an inability to productize this service offering. If every project is a snowflake, this does not work. 

7. Subscription-Based Model

And number seven, a subscription-based  subscription is paid to a boutique by a client to gain access to an asset. For example, many boutiques have proprietary benchmark data. Clients who want access to this data pay subscription to a database. 

The risk with this is managing the asset. For example, in this case, if the data ages, it becomes worthless, and clients attrit. So Sean, let me check in again. Are you still tracking?

Sean Magennis [00:04:45] Yes, I’m right with you. So let me recap for five, six, and seven. We have performance-based  fee memberships, licensing, and subscriptions. Tell me about the last two, eight, and nine.

8. Events 

Greg Alexander [00:04:59] OK, so number eight is events. This is when clients buy a ticket or tickets to be granted admission to an event the professional services boutique puts on. This is very profitable as, typically, sponsors cover the cost of the event, and ticket sales are all profit. The risk is, of course, if no one buys tickets and no one shows up, that can be embarrassing. 

9. Royalties

And then lastly, number nine is royalties. This is when a boutique does not monetize the client but instead, they monetize other boutiques. This is often used by boutiques that  have training products in their bag. They allow other firms to use their training materials and collect a royalty every time they do. 

The risk with this is theft. A boutique that  chooses this monetization strategy needs to understand paywalls and royalty agreements. So, there you have it—nine ways to monetize professional services.

How Do You Pick The Right Way to Monetize a Professional Services Firm?

Sean Magennis [00:05:54] This, Greg, was an excellent overview of the practical ways to monetize. I have a nagging question in my head. So how do you pick the right one?

Greg Alexander [00:06:04] Well, you don’t. So going into the market with a single revenue source is a mistake. The important lesson here is to have multiple revenue sources. Therefore, our listeners should be asking themselves, what is the right mix for me? 

If you have one, try to get to two. If you have to try to get to three and so on. It is not uncommon for me to meet an owner, look at her business and locate two to three additional revenue sources within an hour. This opportunity is often right under an owner’s nose. They just need to know where to look.

Sean Magennis [00:06:38] Greg, again, really connecting hard and a little creativity and courage can also go a long way.

Greg Alexander [00:06:45] Yes, it can.

Sean Magennis [00:06:46] So thank you, Greg. And now a word from our sponsor, Collective 54. Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members joined to work with their industry peers to grow, scale, and someday sell their firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

Stephanie Groschup [00:07:16] Hello, my name is Stephanie Groschup, and I’m co-founder of GM Wealth Group. We serve women entrepreneurs and other business owners, corporate executives, and high net worth individuals across the United States. 

At GM Wealth, we create strategies to address tax-efficient growth of their businesses, planning for concentrated positions of company stock and other financial issues affecting them and their families. We create solutions by understanding those challenges that they face. Each solution is customized and client-specific. 

Please reach out to me if you’re facing some of the same challenges with company stock, tax-efficient growth in your business, or if you need help with addressing specific financial needs for you personally. You can reach me at www.GMWealthLLC.com or [email protected].

Questions to Ask to Know If Your Monetization Strategy is Working or Not

Sean Magennis [00:08:12] If you are trying to grow, scale, or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit Collective54.com. OK, this takes us to the end of the episode. Let’s try to help listeners apply this. We end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows a listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm. 

Our preferred tool is a checklist, and our checklist-style  is a yes-no questionnaire. We aim to keep it simple by asking only ten questions. In this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, your monetization strategy is working for you. 

If you answer no too many times, your monetization strategy is not working, and you are more than likely getting in the way of your attempts to scale. Let’s begin.

Sean Magennis [00:09:13] Number one, will the client pay you more than five hundred dollars an hour?

Greg Alexander [00:09:19] So, this is important if you’re going to charge by the hour, and many of our listeners might say, “Boy, that’s a big number.” Well, the reason why it’s a big number is because you’re going to have wage inflation. 

So, if you hire somebody today and pay him one hundred thousand dollars next year, you will pay 110,000 the year after that and pay them 125,000. So, you better be able to charge a high hourly rate to accommodate for wage inflation.

Sean Magennis [00:09:37] Yes. Number two, will a client pay you in advance to secure your services on demand?

Greg Alexander [00:09:44] If yes, then you have a retainer.

Sean Magennis [00:09:46] Number three, can you scope your projects with precision?

Greg Alexander [00:09:51] If yes, that’s a fixed bid.

Sean Magennis [00:09:54] Number four, can you prove direct attribution of results in your project?

Greg Alexander [00:09:59] This goes to performance-based .

Sean Magennis [00:10:01] Number five, will your clients pay you for the privilege of speaking to your other clients?

Greg Alexander [00:10:06] If yes, that’s a membership.

Sean Magennis [00:10:09] Number six, will your clients pay you for the right to use your intellectual property?

Greg Alexander [00:10:15] If yes, that’s a licensing fee.

Sean Magennis [00:10:18] Number seven, do you have proprietary data that clients would like to subscribe to?

Greg Alexander [00:10:23] If, yes, you have a subscription business.

Sean Magennis [00:10:26] Number eight, do you put on events that are clients willing to buy tickets to attend?

Greg Alexander [00:10:32] Obvious.

Sean Magennis [00:10:32] Yep. And number nine, are other boutiques willing to pay you royalty to distribute your intellectual property?

Greg Alexander [00:10:40] Do you know who are  the most profitable rock and roll band of all time?

Sean Magennis [00:10:44] It’s got to be the Rolling Stones.

Greg Alexander [00:10:47] Kiss.

Sean Magennis [00:10:48] Kiss, great band.

Greg Alexander [00:10:49] Because of their royalties and their licensing.

Sean Magennis [00:10:51] Wow.

Greg Alexander [00:10:51] They figured out how to make money without touring.

Sean Magennis [00:10:54] That makes total sense now that I think about it. And then finally, number ten, does your business model include at least three sources of revenue?

Greg Alexander [00:11:02] And that’s the most important one.

Sean Magennis [00:11:04] Yep. Greg, thank you again. This is brilliant stuff. So, in summary, there are many different sources of revenue available to boutiques. Develop a clever monetization strategy. Think about a mix of revenue, not just one source. 

If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, please pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled “The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell a Professional Services Firm.” I’m Sean Magennis. Thank you for listening.

Episode 32: The Boutique: The Anatomy of the Buy vs. Build Decision

To sell your firm you must prove to a buyer that buying your firm is a better move than building the practice internally. Collective 54 founder Greg Alexander reviews a framework to assess the buy vs. build decision from the perspective of an investor.

TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:15] Welcome to the Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with this show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54, and your host on this episode. I will make the case that to sell your firm, you must prove to a buyer that buying your firm is a better move than building the practice internally. I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander, Capital 54’s, founder and chief investment officer. Greg has developed a framework to help you think through the buy versus build decision from the perspective of an investor. Greg, great to see you. Welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:11] Thanks, Sean. Good to be with you today.

Sean Magennis [00:01:13] So allow me to set the stage a bit before I begin asking you some questions. When considering an acquisition, a strategic acquirer starts with a fundamental question. Should we buy this boutique or build the practice internally and owners who want to sell their boutiques must make it more attractive for a strategic to buy. Greg, in this context, what makes it more attractive to buy?

Greg Alexander [00:01:41] Three things. Time, cost and probability of success.

Sean Magennis [00:01:46] So time, cost and probability of success. Let’s take this one at a time when you say time. What do you mean exactly?

Greg Alexander [00:01:56] Sure. When a strategic buyer is looking at acquisition it is often to fill a gap. The market shifts and at times larger firms portfolio of service offerings falls behind. Clients are asking them for help in a certain area and they cannot deliver. So they must often miss the revenue opportunity. This gap can be filled either by building the capability internally or it can be filled by purchasing a firm who specializes in the area. The urgency on which the gap needs to be filled drives the timeline. If the market allows the strategic enough time to build the capability internally, they will. However, if the market is moving very fast, the strategic will buy a boutique. This gives them the capability the day the deal closes. And this is much, much faster.

Sean Magennis [00:02:49] Excellent. That this makes total sense. So let’s now turn to number two cost. So in this context, how does cost impact the buy versus build decision?

Greg Alexander [00:03:01] Well, cost is just as important as time. So, for example, right now, marketing agencies are buying up tech specialists. Why? Their clients are demanding more and more digital capability from them. And it is very expensive to build this out internally. Those who have tried to do so have failed miserably and paid a lot of dump tax. It is much more cost effective to acquire boutiques with specific digital capabilities.

Sean Magennis [00:03:33] I can see that, Greg, and there are many examples of multi-million dollar technology mistakes. Number three is probability of success. I think I know what you’re referring to here, but please expand for the audience.

Greg Alexander [00:03:48] So probability of success is often added to time and cost when deciding to buy or build. Professional services firms are only as successful as their reputation allows. A few high profile failed projects and a firm could become worthless overnight. When a large firm expands into new service areas, they are putting at risk long standing client relationships and millions of dollars of annual billings. They cannot afford to stub their toe, so they often buy and pay up great boutiques just to be sure this is going to work.

Sean Magennis [00:04:30] These are great examples, Greg. So this three point framework to think through the buy versus build decision from the viewpoint of the buyer is very helpful.

Sean Magennis [00:04:43] And now a word from our sponsor. Collective 54, Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members join to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell their firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

Charles Fenstermaker [00:05:09] Hello. My name is Charles Fenstermaker. My family owns CH Fenstermaker and Associates LLC. For over 70 years, we served customers in the energy market as well as state and municipal governments, primarily throughout the Gulf Coast region. Our clients turn to us for help with projects dealing with surveying and mapping, civil engineering and environmental regulatory challenges. If you need our help in the surveying civil engineering and environmental regulatory space, you can find us at www.Fenstermaker.com. That’s www.f-e-n-s-t-e-r-m-a-k-e-r.com.

Sean Magennis [00:05:49] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit collective54.com.

Sean Magennis [00:06:05] So this takes us to the end of this episode. And as is customary, we end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows a listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm, our preferred tool as a checklist. And our style of checklist is a yes, no questionnaire. We aim to keep it simple, by asking only ten yes-no questions. In this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, strategics will find buying you is more attractive than building internally. If you to no, too many times strategics will most likely decide not to buy you and instead build internally. Let’s begin.

Sean Magennis [00:06:48] Question number one, as the market shifted, creating a gap in the service portfolios of the market leaders in your niche? Number two, are these market leaders aware of this gap?

Greg Alexander [00:07:03] Don’t assume that sometimes these big firms are just plotting blind. Yeah.

Sean Magennis [00:07:08] Number three is the gap, one that urgently needs to be filled? Number four, have you directly competed with the market leaders on a deal in this specific area? Number five, did you win?

Greg Alexander [00:07:25] Yeah, I mean, the quickest way to get people’s attention is be to beat them at that deal.

Sean Magennis [00:07:29] Question number six, do the market leaders know they lost to you? Number seven, do they know they lost because you have a capability advantage over them?

Greg Alexander [00:07:40] This is key. Very often they assume they lost because you were cheaper. What would be fantastic if the listeners could pull this off, is you competed head to head, you won and you were more expensive than them. That will really catch their attention.

Sean Magennis [00:07:54] Outstanding. Number eight, if they were to fill the gap, would it be faster to buy you? Number nine, if they were to fill the gap, would it be cheaper to buy? And number ten, does their probability of successfully filling the gap go up if they buy you?

Sean Magennis [00:08:16] In summary, the buy versus build discussion is happening with or without you. It is best for you to participate in and frame that discussion. Make a strong case that acquiring your firm is faster, cheaper and more likely to be successful than building out an internal practice.

Sean Magennis [00:08:40] If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique Artist Start Scale and Sell a professional services firm. I’m Sean Magennis. Thank you for listening.

Episode 31: The Boutique: 5 WAYS TO REMAIN RELEVANT TO YOUR CLIENTS

Scaling a boutique requires creating new service offerings. Firms that keep bringing the same thing to clients, over and over, stall out due to client fatigue. Building a system to continuously listen to clients and develop new offerings is key.

TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:15] Welcome to The Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with this show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54 and your host. On this episode, I will make the case that to scale a boutique, it is required to develop new service offerings. Firms that keep bringing the same thing to clients over and over stall out due to client fatigue. I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander, Capital 54’s chief investment officer. Greg took his firm from one offering at launch to 100 offerings at Exit. Greg, good to see you and welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:13] Sean, it’s good to be with you today. I look forward to today’s episode.

Sean Magennis [00:01:16] Greg, the other day, we were meeting with an entrepreneur who was inquiring about growth capital from Capital 54. Her firm is nine years old and she asked you how you broke out of the complacency trap. You answered her by saying, we went from a one hit wonder to a firm with a greatest hits album. Can you explain to the audience what you meant by this?

Greg Alexander [00:01:43] Sure. So I launched SBI in 2006 with one service offering. It was a methodology to interview and hire salespeople. It was a hit. It got me on the main stage keynoting the INC 500 show, got me on TV and on the bestseller list. It generated lots of clients and it got me in the door of top companies. As we began servicing clients in this niche, we noticed our clients had other problems. For example, you could hire a great salesperson, but if you did not train him, he would fail. We would bring this to the attention of the client and because they trusted us, they acted on it. Unfortunately, at that time, this meant they hired other consulting firms who specialized in that problem area. I felt this was revenue that was rightfully ours as we identified the need. Yet we did not have service offerings in these areas, so we missed out. This prompted me to build a system to continuously listen to clients and develop new offerings. This significantly increased our addressable market and was a main contributor to our future growth.

Sean Magennis [00:02:55] Excellent, Greg. And when you say we built a system to continuously listen to clients, what do you mean?

Greg Alexander [00:03:02] Yeah, we did five specific things, and I’ll walk you through each one because this will be helpful to the audience. So first we created a client advisory board. This consisted of a mix of current and past clients. We met periodically through the year whereby they told us the problems they were having, their priorities and goals, and described for us the solutions that they were looking for. Number two, we created a post project review process. In practical terms, this meant we did an autopsy on project objectives, timelines, profitability, budgets, deliverables and adherence to our SOPs. This often led to ideas for new service offerings. Number three, we initiated a client satisfaction program. This consisted of sending client personnel a questionnaire from time to time. And some of the questions were defined to get input on our product roadmap. Number four, we obsessed over our win loss program. After every sales campaign, the client told us why we won and the client told us why we lost. This was a treasure trove. Often we lost because we lacked the capability the prospect wanted. We immediately built that capability and watch the close rate improve as a result. And number five, we sent the team to conferences and these were not conferences for our industry. The sales effectiveness industry. No, we went to the conferences our prospects and clients went to. We would deconstruct the speaker decks, the agenda, the trade show floor, the sponsors. This told us where the market was heading. It told us what our clients were focused on and we would build offerings directed at these top priority items. And I should say this was a lot of work. But I can tell you, it taught us a very important lesson that I’d like to share with the audience. The lesson is your opinion doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is the clients start with the big question what does the client want? And expand your offerings to make yourself more valuable to your clients. They will reward you with their budget dollars.

Sean Magennis [00:05:17] This is so excellent, Greg. And right on. So start with the question. What does the client want? And do five things to find the answers. One, create an advisory board. Two, conduct post project reviews. Three, execute a client satisfaction program for and this is one of my favorites, perform win-loss interviews after each sales campaign and five attend the conferences your clients attend.

Greg Alexander [00:05:51] You got it partner.

Sean Magennis [00:05:51] Perfect Greg. So, great takeaway value for our listeners. And now a word from our sponsor, Collective 54, Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members joined to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell their firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

John Amos [00:06:25] Hello, my name is John Amos and I’m the founder and owner of Invex Technology Solutions. Index is a veteran on small business that provides cloud cybersecurity and big data services for the federal government and commercial businesses in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Our clients turn to us for help with designing and building and operating their systems in a secure cloud environment. We apply industry best practices to deliver cloud based systems that meet the client’s goals and objectives while complying with rigorous security constraints. If you need help with moving or operating your systems in a secure cloud environment, reach out to me www.Invextechs.com or drop me an email at [email protected].

Sean Magennis [00:07:09] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit Collective54.com. This takes us to the end of the episode, as is customary, we end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows the listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm. Our preferred tool is a checklist and our style of checklist is a yes-no questionnaire. We aim to keep it simple by asking only 10 questions in this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, developing new service offerings is not getting in your way. If you answer no too many times you have a lack of new service offerings, which is a problem. Let’s begin.

Sean Magennis [00:08:10] Number one, is your growth dependent on increasing revenue from existing clients?

Greg Alexander [00:08:17] And in scale, it has to be.

Sean Magennis [00:08:18] Yep. Number two, do you need new reasons to remain relevant to your clients?

Greg Alexander [00:08:25] All the time.

Sean Magennis [00:08:27] Number three, do your clients eventually get fatigued? Number four, do you know what your clients need?

Greg Alexander [00:08:37] Now, let’s be careful, audience, don’t be arrogant here. You think you do, but you only know the answer to that question if you ask him relentlessly.

Sean Magennis [00:08:44] 100 percent. Number five, can you continuously learn what your clients need?

Greg Alexander [00:08:50] It’s right under your nose to do some of the basics.

Sean Magennis [00:08:53] Yep. Six. Would your clients participate on a client advisory board?

Greg Alexander [00:08:59] You’d be surprised. Clients love to do that. They if you have a good relationship with them, they’re happy to participate.

Sean Magennis [00:09:05] Number seven, can you implement post project reviews?

Greg Alexander [00:09:10] Well-worn territory, lots of best practices available.

Sean Magennis [00:09:13] Yep. Number eight, can you perform client satisfaction reviews after every project?

Greg Alexander [00:09:20] Also c sats everywhere.

Sean Magennis [00:09:21] Got to do it. Number nine, and you perform when the reviews after every sales campaign?

Greg Alexander [00:09:28] You know, I’m shocked at this, but I would tell you that within collective 54 as an example. I’d say less than 10 percent of members do that religiously, and it’s such a shame to missed opportunity.

Sean Magennis [00:09:38] It’s a huge missed opportunity and a missed opportunity for your sales professionals who really get a tremendous amount out of it. And number ten, are they relevant industry conferences that you can attend?

Greg Alexander [00:09:51] You know, the people that put on those conferences know what they’re doing. Right?

Sean Magennis [00:09:54] They sure do.

Greg Alexander [00:09:54] So they think long and hard about that agenda. So if there’s a topic on that agenda, you can guarantee that your clients care about it.

Sean Magennis [00:10:00] I love that idea. And in summary, if you have one thing to sell and deliver, scale will be very hard. Expand your offerings, increase your addressable market, be more valuable to your clients, accelerate scale through service offering development. If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell a Professional Services Firm. Greg, great to be with you. I’m Sean Magennis. Thank you for listening.