Posts By
Bob Silvy

When private equity invests in an accounting firm, the expectation is that the business will become more valuable. Growth and improved profitability help deliver that return. For business development professionals, the impact can extend well beyond a higher revenue target. It can influence how growth is planned, where the firm…

Budget season has a way of turning last year’s event calendar into next year’s event strategy. We sponsored this conference last year, so put it back in the budget. We’ve hosted that client event for five years, so add it again. Partners will want money for golf outings, dinners and…

One of my favorite sessions at the Legal Marketing Association’s annual conference is the General Counsel panel. Year after year, general counsel candidly describe what they value in outside counsel and what frustrates them. The comments are remarkably consistent: communicate proactively, don’t surprise us, meet deadlines, understand our business and…

Professional service firms have invested heavily in proposal technology over the past several years. Proposal platforms, workflow automation, content libraries and AI are helping teams work more efficiently than ever before. Yet, many proposal teams continue to face growing pressure to deliver highly customized proposals in 24 to 48 hours.…

One of the clearest themes running through this year’s AAM Summit was that business development inside accounting firms is becoming far more intentional, measurable and structured than in the past. Across multiple sessions, speakers challenged firms to move beyond viewing growth as something driven only by relationships, personality or rainmaking…

Most accounting firms don’t have a lead generation problem. They have a follow-up problem. You sponsor the event. You attend the conference. You have three or four genuinely good conversations with people you should follow up with. Then Monday hits. Everyone goes back to client work. Priorities shift. The urgency…

Ask most accounting firm leaders how they differentiate, and you’ll hear familiar answers along the lines of relationships, responsiveness, deep industry knowledge and exceptional client service. These qualities matter. But when every firm leads with the same language, none of them actually differentiate. The result is predictable. Initial conversations are…

Cross-selling is one of the most talked-about growth strategies in accounting firms—and one of the most unevenly executed. Most partners understand its importance, yet many still rely on instinct rather than insight to decide when and how to introduce additional services. Data doesn’t replace relationships in cross-selling. Used correctly, it…

For many marketers, business development can be difficult to grasp because it has its own language, processes and measures of success – and understanding it requires becoming a student of the discipline. As firms face increased pressure to demonstrate growth and ROI, the ability for marketing and business development to…

When Cherry Bekaert flipped the switch on its redesigned website last year, the marketing team braced for the industry-standard dip in traffic that follows most major launches. Instead, the opposite happened: traffic increased, web leads climbed, and search visibility strengthened almost immediately. For a Top 20 accounting, advisory and tax…