Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/667870
April 2016 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com 7 FROM THE TRENCHES receive ca l ls a nd send ema i l f rom mobile devices, enabled by having the right phone number, email and other contact information. I'm amazed how many professionals get outside of their ofce w ithout this key information available. • Accessibility from a browser – Tese products should be simple to use and intuitive when run on both a mobile dev ice and in a web browser. A ll of t he com mon brow sers shou ld be supported. Licensing may be generous allowing casual use without additional fees or it may be fa i rly e x pensive for an occasional user. Watch your acquisition costs here. • Two-way s y nch ron izat ion f rom opportunities into clients – This faci litates maintenance of contact lists, addresses, phone numbers, email a nd ot her i mpor ta nt i n for mat ion for t h ings as si mple as inv itat ions or holiday cards to coordination of events or major ser v ice announce- ments. If the CR M is not built into your pract ice ma nagement, you' l l want to understand how synchroniza- t ion work s f rom mobi le to C R M to Practice Management and back. Having more moving parts can easily cause greater issues. • I n t e g r a t i o n w i t h m a s s e m a i l products such as Constant Contact, SwifPage, MailChimp or similar tools – Even though there has long been a culture of minimal intrusion or no spam in the accounting profession, you need a way to stay in touch with clients communicating about your s e r v ic e s . E x pe c t not on l y e m a i l suppor t, but te x t message (SM S) support as well. • Relationships are important – Part of t he rea son t hat ma ny Prac t ice Management systems can't be used for business development is that they don't portray all of the information needed . I s t h i s cont ac t a refer ra l source? Have they provided many or very few referrals? W hat is the value of the services performed to the referrals provided? Is this contact a decision maker or a decision infuencer? • Process and project management is big, too – Tese systems should have a series of steps that help inexperienced people do the right "nex t thing". If you have a series of steps to qualif y a client, the steps should be obvious in your system. Further, projects can ofen be monitored for progression and completion in this same system. • I nteg rat ions to ot her plat for ms – Not a l l practice ma nagement or CR M systems can provide all of the functionality needed. For example, do you have l iterat u re descr ibi ng services in PDF format that you'd like to deliver? How about a video explana- tion that you recorded in Camtasia? If you need document management, portal and other functionality, look for the additional integrations ofered OR that everything you need is inside the system being considered. Tere may be more features and capabilities that you want in your ideal system. Tere is not an abun- dance of choices for the profession, but all of the systems ofered are beter than Excel spreadsheets and most Access databases. You should strategically strive to minimize the number of systems involved to work your business development model. And What's The Beneft? No technolog y should be deployed just for technologies' sake. Do you have any dropped balls, missed due dates, projects out of control or too many places to look for client information? Is the only master contact information inside your tax or billing system? How are you com - municating your frm's growth goals to team members? A re you reviewing your strategies on a regular basis with your team members? Do you have a tool that lets you have this discussion? Most frms don't have enough control over the information they have on product services, niches or business development to be able to adjust their strategy. A re you fying blind with old or no tools? Te right culture and the right practice management or CR M system can help you achieve your business goals. For more information, please visit CPAPracticeAdvisor.com/10058914