According to research, one in seven clients has an unvoiced complaint. Do you know how your clients feel about your firm's service?  

In today’s episode, Alyson Fieldman, founder of Rockit Results, an independent consulting firm specializing in strategic marketing for high-growth professional services firms, shares her expertise in client experience (CX) and why it is a strategic differentiator in the marketplace. Alyson explains that CX is the sum of all a firm's touchpoints with its clients and how it makes the client feel. She emphasizes the importance of empathy and understanding the emotional components of CX, which technical professionals often overlook. 

The key to happier repeat clients, less client attrition, more client loyalty, an easier sales cycle, and more referrals is to ask, listen, and act. It’s as simple (and as complicated) as that. Although it requires time, resources, and ongoing effort to get to the bottom of what your clients really want and to make the changes that will give them that, it will always be a worthy investment!  

Key Points From This Episode:

• Alyson shares her thoughts on why client experience (CX) is a strategic differentiator in the marketplace. 
• Elements that CX is made up of and why they matter to your firm’s success.
• The difference between client service and client experience. 
• Why so many professional services executives struggle with CX.
• Examples of different CX approaches.
• Ask, listen, act; why this is Alyson’s favorite CX approach.
• How to ask questions in a way that will allow you to make the biggest impact.
• The opportunity that presents itself when there is a breakdown in client service.
• Some of the obstacles that prevent companies from enhancing their CX.
• The many benefits of taking the time to understand what your clients really want.
• Why CX is a program rather than a project.
• Examples of the types of questions to ask your clients in order to understand their feelings towards your company. 
• How to respond to different types of client feedback.
• The best place to start on your journey of improving CX.

Alyson Fieldman on LinkedIn
Rockit Results
Connection Builders
Alex Drost LinkedIn

Does it ever feel as if your life has become mechanical or routine? Do you find that it’s becoming more and more difficult to find success in your career? This is the episode for you! Today, we speak with keynote speaker, CPA, yogi, technologist, TEDx speaker, Breaking Beliefs Podcast host, and CEO of the B3 Method Institute, Amy Vetter, who guides business professionals on their journeys to become happier, more engaged, and more successful. 

As a CPA and a yogi, Amy has a unique perspective to offer on achieving work-life harmony, changing our thoughts and habits, becoming connected leaders, and more; all of which we discuss in this episode. Above all, Amy emphasizes the importance of doing the work, and she encourages listeners to step back, get still, and embrace new perspectives, especially when doing so feels like it challenges your existing belief systems. To discover some of the tools you need to overcome adversity, identify your personal purpose, and align it with the work you do, be sure to tune in to this insightful conversation with Amy Vetter!

Key Points From This Episode:

• A look at the B3 Method Institute and its methodology: business plus balance equals bliss.
• The importance of doing the work to change your thoughts, habits, and belief systems.
• Tips for taking the first steps on your journey to transform your work and life.
• Dispelling the myth that there’s never “enough time” for self-development.
• Why individual buy-in is essential for workplace transformation.
• Leadership, self-deception, and the importance of prioritizing people.
• What it means to become a more connected leader (according to Amy).
• Key elements of successful workplace transformation, including intentional culture.
• The role of empathy, mutual respect, collaboration, detachment, and mindfulness.
• Listening and feedback techniques for connected leaders.
• Finding the energy for iterative growth and the value of learning in real-time.
• Why firms need to evolve to continue to attract the talent they want.
• How organizations can benefit from allowing people to inform their strategy.
• Actionable advice for firm leaders: begin with self-assessment.

Amy Vetter
The B3 Method Institute
Breaking Beliefs Podcast
Disconnect to Connect
Business, Balance & Bliss
Amy Vetter on LinkedIn
Amy Vetter on Twitter
Amy Vetter on Instagram
Connection Builders
Alex Drost LinkedIn

Strategic growth is about more than just growth for growth’s sake. It’s about identifying the most efficient path for profitability and sustainability and then pursuing it. Our guest today, Gale Crosley, is a Strategic Growth and Innovation Consultant who has helped countless growth-oriented CPA and Accounting firms overcome barriers and achieve high-performing strategic growth. Crosley started her career as a CPA with Arthur Andersen before transitioning to technology sales. After the dot-com bust, she started her own growth consultancy to help CPA firms grow strategically. 

We discuss strategic growth within the CPA and broader professional services profession, including what firms can learn from traditional corporate enterprises and how technological innovations like AI are changing the industry. Gale explains that strategic growth is not just top-line growth but also about the bottom line. It's not growth for growth's sake; rather, it's about growing profitability. She also breaks down the biggest impediments to strategic growth, like unprecedented staffing shortages and adapting to revenue cycles.

Finally, Gale notes that firms must shift their strategy as the market changes. Firms need to specialize and innovate to stay relevant. Gale believes private equity and technology are disrupters to the CPA profession that will accelerate the need to evolve current business strategies. Gale advises managing partners to focus on strategic growth and specialization instead of riding the rollercoaster of market conditions. By being forward-thinking and focusing on strategic growth, firms can achieve the most profit and the fastest growth.

Key Points From This Episode: 

• Get to know Gale, her deep experience, and her work as a Strategic Growth Consultant.
• Why she pivoted from accounting early in her career.
• How she partners with CPA firms to transform them into high-growth environments.
• The concept of strategic growth and how it is accomplished.
• How strategic growth is the most profitable and fastest growth and why it is not growth for growth's sake. 
• Broadening geographic reach and its impact on opportunity and competition.
• An overview of the unprecedented disruption within the CPA profession and how private equity is changing the landscape so radically.
• Why strategic growth is the movement from an individual contribution, book of business, tactical generalist to a leader-driven and strategic specialist.
• The impediments to strategic growth that Gale has observed. 
• What firms should be doing with increased revenue levels to optimize for strategic growth.
• How leadership and organizational structure can foster (or impede) strategic growth.
• The differences between what drives corporate America, private equity firms, and CPA firms.
• Combining the best parts of corporate America with the best parts of the CPA profession.
• Advice for firms on approaching industry changes and the role of private equity.
• Gale’s predictions for what the industry will look like in ten years.

Gale Crosley
Gale Crosley on LinkedIn
Connection Builders
Alex Drost LinkedIn