HOW SMALL FIRMS CAN STAND OUT AMONG THE CROWD By KATHLEEN HOFFELDER
NJCPA CONTENT EDITOR
Small CPA firms, those with fewer than 10 employees, are accustomed to operating with less and tapping into more of their resources.
CONTRIBUTORS
In order of appearance
DAVID LOPEZ, CPA Managing Member David A. Lopez and Company, LLC 4
To keep up with large and mid-size CPA firms that have staff ready to help with everything from fielding routine tax calls to niche advisory services, small firms need to compete on what they can — client relations, retention and growing their own practices. CLIENT RELATIONS While larger is not always better, the sheer size of large CPA firms enables them to offer more services and develop niche practice areas. But that does not always mean “better” service. Relationships still matter, and that’s where small firms can have an advantage. A long-term customer will only keep coming back until they see value elsewhere. Therefore, small firms need to still sell their value to customers all the time — even ones that have been there since the practice first started. While small firms may be able to compete on price in some instances, they cannot rely on that discrepancy forever as
SALLY GLICK Principal and Chief Growth Strategist Sobel & Co, LLC
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 | NEW JERSEY CPA
BENJAMIN ASPIR, CPA Manager EisnerAmper
more large firms pass down certain savings to customers as they merge, expand services and operate certain areas, such as tax, more cheaply. In short, as larger firms keep using their size to find better economies of scale, small firms will have to find their own ways to hold onto business. So just how do small firms make themselves irreplaceable to clients? By offering the best service around. Small firms can use a “personal touch,” agrees David Lopez, CPA, David A. Lopez and Company, LLC. “New clients often complain that large firms are stuck in their ‘stiff ’ pinstriped-suit personality. Small firms often have less internal ‘red tape’ and can be more nimble.” Some tend to identify themselves more as business people and not just CPAs, he says, which makes them attractive to a large pool of potential clients — typically those younger in age. According to Sally Glick, principal and chief growth strategist, Sobel & Co, LLC,
DAVID RUBIN Managing Director Credit Management Group
ANDREW GOLE President Bombadil LLC