I’ll bet almost every professional accountant who reads this blog wants to know how to drive the competition crazy. In the right practice, it’s remarkably easy.
You might recall in an earlier post, I asked which partnerships are true partnerships and which a loose collection of individuals trading under the same banner? That was a teaser for this piece. The ones who will consistently select the right client profiles and win around 60% of the pitches they choose to make, are the ones that behave like the Borg. Single minded, single purpose, single vision – and fair distribution of reward. That’s it.
The reason I know this is because I’ve got experience in both types of situation. So has Philip Woodgate. And so does Brian Sommer, a gifted communicator and former partner with Accenture. He simultaneously ran three practice units (Finance Center of Excellence, HR Center of Excellence and Software Intelligence). Last weekend, he told me that:
I was fortunate in my career in that my old employer (ACN) operated like the Borg (in Star Trek). We had one single, collective consciousness that operated globally. As a headquarters partner, I made alliance decisions that were global in nature. However, my arch enemy at another global consultancy could only affect his firm’s US operations. The difference was telling but your readers should also understand that when global scale is exploited with alliance partners, the synergies are huge.
Accenture grew out of the old Arthur Andersen. I worked with some of those guys back in the late 1980′s and early 1990′s. Why would I do that when they could command 3x my fee rate? Because they were:
- Technically accomplished
- Delivering accretive value through re-use (so I ended up earning more than they as an outcome of the transaction for the cost of time spent on my part working with additional clients on similar issues)
- Prepared to share on my terms (most of the time)
- Trustworthy
I guess if you’re single minded about satisfying clients, then acting like the Borg has a positive impact. And this will work for practices of any size that wish to grow and prosper in an increasingly competitive world. The same principle applies to creating alliances. I know this is the secret sauce of at least one very successful smaller boutique firm. And to drive the point home, having met Philip Woodgate, I know he’s a man with whom I can do business. I’m sure he drives his competition crazy. People doing business with people.
Thanks Brian for sharing your insights – powerful stuff.
Technorati Tags: competition, innovation, professional training
