Program Description

Most marketing and BD professionals at CPA firms are handed a growth goal without a real plan for hitting it. The work ends up reactive: chasing whatever comes up, responding to partner requests, and hoping the pipeline fills itself.

This session gives you a better way. Neil Barrow and John Atkinson will walk through a practical, repeatable framework for building a business development plan that fits a small or mid-sized accounting firm. You will learn how to get clear on your role and your firm's growth priorities, sharpen the way you talk about what your firm does, figure out who you should actually be spending time with, and turn all of it into a plan you can run week after week.

This is built for the people who do the work, not for theory. You will leave with a structure you can put to use right away and the accountability tools to keep it going.

Learning Objectives

After this session, attendees will be able to:

1. Clarify their BD role and focus, including where to spend time across new client acquisition, cross-serving, and brand building.
2. Build messaging that connects with real client problems and makes their firm's differentiators clear.
3. Define an Ideal Client Profile and use it to prioritize targets, referral partners, and the right events and networks.
4. Create a repeatable BD plan that covers setting meetings, running pursuits, following through, and qualifying needs.
5. Use simple accountability tools like a Good Week Scorecard and a meeting rhythm to stay consistent and track what is working.