why do we accept poor new business results?

5 critical steps to turn things around.

by domenick j. esposito
8 steps to great

the question to ask is why do so many firms accept poor performance from so many of their partners relative to growth and generating revenue?

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there isn’t a firm in existence that does not depend on constant growth to be successful and to generate enough profit to pay its staff and partners well. yet, so many firms accept the old bell-shaped curve argument that they are winning if just 20 percent of their partners are good at generating business.

imagine if every partner was contributing to growth from generating new business. it’s not impossible, not even hard if the “forces” work together coupled with effective leadership.

the bottom line is that every partner in every firm should be held accountable for generating new business every year. new business can come from totally new clients or expansion of revenue from existing clients. in addition, not all partners will be created equal and partners will achieve different, but growing levels of business development success if you follow a model similar to that described below.

“growth is never by mere chance, it is the result of forces working together.” – james cash penney

growth in too many firms is almost anecdotal in that it is by chance that growth occurs not by specific strategies, goals and expectations. the forces that need to work together to create a growth culture are:

lack of skill – selling is not a natural skill that somehow every partner has: we all know that partner who can sell snow in the winter, that partner for whom success in sales is a given and it’s not even a challenge. unfortunately, that partner is the exception – too bad we can’t clone him or her. far too many partners lack the selling skills to be successful in generating new business and firms for the most part do nothing to address that skill gap. networking, building relationships and then generating new business is a process and a skill that everyone can learn and be successful at.

training is the first step. every firm should have a robust and continuous training program for partners and senior staff to teach the skills of networking, building relationships and generating business for the firm. it works and if you think about it, you can’t be successful at anything if you don’t have the skills so let’s tackle that and get all your partners and senior staff the skills needed to be successful in developing business.

lack of confidence – with the lack of skill comes the lack of confidence: no partner wants to be put into a situation where they are not confident in their abilities. so many firms set goals for their partners for new business and simply expect the partner to figure it out and deliver. they never do and firm management can’t understand why. part of the answer is in building the skills, training. but there are other steps to consider.

mentoring – pairing partners who have trouble with new business development with partners who are good at it.
sales clubs – establishing sales groups comprised of no more than five (three partners and two senior staff) who meet as a support group to help each member get better at sales.
sales experience – making sure that a partner weak in business development goes on sales calls with a stronger partner as a team to see success in action.
targeting – implement a sales targeting program for partners who are weak in business development. giving partners a defined list of “targets” along with the way to successfully implement a target market program will build confidence because done right, each partner begins to achieve success and nothing builds confidence more than success.

lack of accountability – goals or expectations without accountability is like running a marathon without training – just does not work and it is painful: if there is no accountability for results, no matter how many times at partner meetings or partner evaluations a partner is told they must generate business, there is no change in behavior or results because the lack of real accountability leaves the partner thinking it’s not really that important. accountability needs to be based on agreed-upon goals and coupled with quarterly or monthly meetings with each partner to evaluate results against goals. these meetings also provide a coaching moment to help the partner evaluate what they are doing, where they need help, what the firm can do, etc.

lack of consequences – you cannot change behavior or therefore outcomes if there are no consequences for ignoring business development in the first place: all partners need to understand that there are three things that each must do to add value to the firm and therefore make themselves valuable: (1) excellent client service, (2) train and mentor staff, and (3) generate business for the firm. each of these must be reflected in partner compensation in order to clearly establish the linkage between performance, expectations, results.

business development goals need to be established for every partner according to his/her current skill level and those goals should be stretch goals. each partner must also understand how their compensation will be impacted by the results they achieve and then those consequences must become real based on what each partner actually achieves against their goal.

lack of a road map – business development to be successful must be done within a well thought out road map to ensure that everyone is focused on the right stuff: as with all other aspects of a successful firm, there needs to be a clear road map, strategic direction, that defines what the focus of business development should be (type of client, cross selling/expansion, industry, geography, services, economics). absent a strong strategic road map for business development, every partner will go looking for what they think is needed versus defining what the firm needs right up front and focusing everyone’s business development efforts there.

lack of leadership – firm leadership must promote a culture that includes successful business development from all partners to drive the firm’s growth: leadership is about leading people where they want to go. a great leader takes people where they are not comfortable going. variation of a quote by rosalynn carter. but it says it all when we are talking about getting every partner to be successful in business development.

every firm ceo must be the leader who can get the partners to move into the uncomfortable zone of selling and by fully implementing the other five points above, it will provide the firm and its ceo with the road map to begin to build a successful business development culture, great business development success and in so many ways a much stronger group of partners.

implementing each of the five steps, will result in your firm achieving significant organic growth, year after year. it will also create greater teamwork and a real shared responsibility for growing the top line of the firm. once successful with partners, this process should be moved down to senior staff so that they become good at business development before they become partners and create more effective future partners for the firm.

posted on april 11, 2018

dom esposito

about the author

domenick j. esposito was the ceo of grant thornton, vice-chair of bdo, and national growth director at cohnreznick.

he is the author of "8 steps to great: the eight essential strategies driving success at the world's largest cpa firms. and how to apply the lessons at firms of all sizes," published by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间.

a life in public accounting

in 2016, esposito, then a former ceo of bdo, moved from a 46-year career in public accounting into the next phase of his professional life – consulting to cpa firms, launching a boutique advisory firm, esposito ceo2ceo, that provides advice to ceos, managing partners and other senior partners of cpa firms focused on the mid-market throughout the u.s.

with the launch, esposito authored “8 steps to great," a guide for ceos, managing partners, and other senior partners on how to move their firm to the next level.

cohnreznick national growth director

esposito was one of the most qualified individuals in the country to advise cpa firms on growth and profitability. through 2015, he was national practice & growth director and an executive board member of cohnreznick, llp, a mid-market sustainable brand and the tenth-largest cpa firm in the united states. he oversaw cohnreznick’s go-to-market industry specialization and consulting and advisory service lines. he was also intimately involved in the firm’s mergers and acquisitions and strategic and tactical activities for its public company and capital markets initiatives. dom joined the predecessor firm of j.h. cohn in 2002 as the chief operating officer and executive board member.

dom was also an independent director of ethan allen interiors inc. for several years (through 2014), dom was a member of the nasdaq listing and qualifications committee to the organization’s board of directors. he formerly served as the leader of the new york state society of cpas committee for large and medium-sized firms practice management. he also was an adjunct accounting professor at c.w. post/long island university.

bdo and grant thornton

through october 2002, dom was vice chairman at bdo, a mid-market sustainable brand and the seventh-largest international accounting and consulting firm in the u.s., with almost 50 offices and 3,400 employees. during his brief time with bdo, he was responsible for the alliance distribution network (at the time consisting of over 80 cpa firms, 10 law firms, and 25 consulting firms). he was also responsible for attracting and servicing a number of clients.

from 1979 through 2001, dom was with grant thornton, another mid-market sustainable brand and the sixth-largest international accounting and consulting firm in the u.s., with over 50 offices and 4,500 employees. he joined grant as an audit manager, became a partner in 1981, led the long island office from 1984 to 1986, became assistant managing partner of the new york office in 1986, and from 1988 to 1999, led the new york office. in 1999, esposito became a regional managing partner and for two years, through 2001, was the firm’s chief executive officer.

cpa, partner, mba, leader, influencer, media celebrity

between 1996 and 1998, and while he was ceo, esposito was on the partner board and was also on the board of grant thornton international – the worldwide umbrella organization. in these capacities, he developed strong experience in strategic thinking and execution, international relationships, corporate governance, partnership matters, branding, expense control, client relationships, and new business development.

as ceo, he took grant thornton to record earnings, consummated the largest line-of-business sale in the firm’s history, developed a major joint venture with axa financial, and made the largest practice acquisition in the firm’s history. from 1969 to 1979, esposito was with price waterhouse (now pwc), servicing ibm when he was promoted to manager in 1976.

dom was a cpa, has been quoted in national and local media, and has appeared on radio and cable tv.

esposito also testified before the securities and exchange commission.

he received his m.b.a. from st. john’s university and his b.s. from ferris state university. accountingtoday, one of the leading trade journals for the accounting profession, named esposito one of the most influential people in the profession for two consecutive years.

he passed away in 2021 at the age of 74.

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