For the last 20 years, I have been a generalist. The definition of a generalist is someone who is industry agnostic and willing to take on any client. The client calls me, and its fair game. I've had a variety of clients over my many years in business. From restaurants, landscapers, e-commerce, to media people, you name it. I've probably worked in that industry.
Back in 2016, I started to hear chatter about becoming specialized. At that time, it sounded very "pie in the sky" to me. Like many of my industry colleagues, I found myself questioning:
- Which industry should I pick?
- Which client did I like the best?
- Could I afford to let go of clients that were not in my niche?
- Will I get bored doing the same work in the same industry?
Yes, these are all questions that floated in my head. All very good questions. The idea of specializing 100% makes sense to me. You can automate the workflow, train your staff to learn specific apps for the industry. For me, I found the fun of doing this is in the details of how I can serve my clients better. With specialization, I can study the specific business type and learn the pain points from my clients. I can find ways to save my customers money and ways for them to grow. Once I am known as an expert in my field, I can charge more for my services. It is a win-win!
I answered these questions and I was able to make the decision to niche and what area I wanted to specialize in.
- Which industry should I pick? Law Firms
- Which client did I like the best? Attorneys
- Could I afford to let go of clients that were not in my niche? Yes, I had a good cash cushion.
- Will I get bored doing the same work in the same industry? Probably not. There is so much to learn!
Beginning the Transition
Once the decision of the niche is in place, I decided to make the change slowly. Here are the steps to set those wheels in motion:
Study
- Study your clients that you already have in the chosen industry.
- Sign up for webinars to learn the industry
- Listened to podcasts
- Read books and articles about your chosen field
- Find Facebooks groups on your chosen niche and be a presence there.
- Research the popular apps and automation and design your default workflow.
- Partner closely with the app developers of the programs you choose to use in your workflow. For example, I aligned myself with LeanLaw because I believe in the product. They have become a referral source for my firm.
Implement the Change
Research your target niche, learn where they look for information and the people they trust when they are looking. Follow the influencers they follow.
- Begin to transform your website landing page so it is clear what you specialize in.
- Write articles about your industry. Share them on all the social channels. The more you write, the more key words you use in your posts, the more backlinks you add, all of this will help with your SEO or search engine optimization. Helping your preferred customer find you.
- Use their social channels. Attorneys tend to use LinkedIn as their main social channel so that is where I will post my articles.
- Go where your clients are! Attend the conferences they attend. Be present and ask questions. Maybe arrange to speak to them at their conferences about their accounting needs or moving to the cloud.
- Begin to release some of the clients that no longer fit in your business model. That's the hard step. Probably the hardest. However, it comes down to providing your customers with the best possible service
Set Yourself Apart as that Expert
Once you have done the necessary homework, it is time to shine! Step into that advisory role to show you know your “stuff” and you do more than just data entry and study past transactions. Show your client you have the ability to help them grow and prosper in the future.
Many of my mid-market attorneys are using QuickBooks Online Advanced for their accounting needs. Because Fathom is included, I saved a favorite template grouping of KPI’s to use and select a total of only four or five based upon my review of the records and conversations with the client. You can dive deeply into the nitty-gritty of business find the KPI's find ways to help the firm grow. A few of the financial KPI's I commonly use are:
- Revenue per Attorney
- Percentage of Partner Hours
- The Average Fee per Matter
- Client Retention Rate
With Fathom, the KPI's don't all have to be financial based. My attorney-client is always surprised when I get creative and think out of the box when it comes to tracking other segments of their firm, such as:
- Tracking the attorneys by work that they bring to the firm.
- Monitor how many appointments turn into client matters/jobs for the firm and how many do not.
- Client satisfaction rating
Give the attorneys a goal and follow it and track it weekly in Microsoft Teams or Slack. Have each attorney be in a channel and be accountable to track the data. The sky's the limit on KPI's. Tracking other aspects of the business is a great way to help the firm thrive! Isn't that why we got into this business? We aren't just data entry people anymore. That was really what our job was not even ten years ago. With manual entry, there was not much time left in our day to be able to do advisory work. Today it is possible--thank you technology.
Final Thoughts
I hope this article motivates you to make the change! Be aware that this process is not a quick one. It has taken me over three years from the first thought of making the move to navigating, analyzing, padding my bank account and plotting my way through it.
Enduring the quietness of not getting the usual influx of leads from “any industry” is difficult but worth it. I am happy to say that I survived the moments of doubt with the help my business partner who never let me waiver. This work has paid off and I will be speaking at QuickBooks Connect this year on a Power Panel, “How to Provide Advisory Services for your Legal Clients.” If you come to QuickBooks Connect, find me. I would love to talk about your niching your firm and your path to it.
Lynda Artesani
Author Bio: Lynda Artesani is the president of Artesani Bookkeeping where she uses her expertise and organizational skills to help her small business clients grow their firms, thrive and become profitable. Her specialty is working with attorneys, real estate clients and start-ups. Lynda was recognized by Intuit and invited to be a member of the Intuit Advisory Council and the Intuit Trainer Writer Network. Additionally, she is the first Expert Columnist for the QB Community forum. She also co-admins a Facebook group with Matthew Fulton to help other business owners with QuickBooks, marketing, apps, workflow challenges and much more. The group is called QB Community Live!Originally from Rhode Island, Lynda relocated to Estero Florida. She is a registered yoga teacher and teaches two classes per week. Connect with Lynda on Facebook or Twitter @lynda_artesani and subscribe on YouTube at Artesanibookkeeping.