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Reciprocity or how you can help me help you. - Apr 8, 2009

Posted by: James E. Bateman in Articles

A friend asked me today to send him an email that answered two basic questions.

What are you looking for in terms of leads and referrals?

What can I tell my contacts you will do for them?

His intent was to make sure he knew what I wanted him to do for me and to make sure he could explain to others what I can do to help them. I thought that was a pretty reasonable request and I jumped right on it. Here are my answers.

Leads

An ideal lead for me is a warm contact with a professional service provider ( such as a CPA, attorney, banker, insurance, HR, systems, M&A, equity source or other similar role) that has privately owned small to midmarket clients that may need assistance with any traditional responsibilities of a CFO. While my objective is to get an opportunity to talk to owners of companies, I find that such conversations are much more productive if they occur due to a suggestion from a trusted advisor.

I am always looking for opportunities to speak to business owners individually or in groups about the benefits of using a part-time B2B CFO®.

What I do

Our website has a copy of my bio that tells who I am, and provides a good explanation of what we do and how we work in general terms. Below are some more specific examples of how my involvement can be a direct benefit not just to the client but to the other professionals as well.

For the bankers I can help their current or prospective clients:

Produce real GAAP financials,
Clean up accounting problems,
Get into compliance with covenants,
Provide competent cash flow projections,
Develop well structured and supported plans,
Prepare and present bank credit package,
Provide the financial knowledge to request the appropriate credit vehicles and banking services, and
Recognize the need for credit facilities.

For the CPA's, I help them service their clients by:

Digging in to complex problems,
Performing orderly monthly closes throughout the year,
Preparing for audits, reviews and tax returns,
Implementing their recommendations, and
Allowing them to perform within their proposed fee structures.

For the attorneys, I help them better serve their clients by:

Providing the accounting, financial and administrative follow-through on transactions,
Organizing, analyzing and presenting the business case for planned transactions, and
Grounding the entrepreneur with the required accounting and tax rules.

For shareholders or prospective equity providers, I can help them by:

Providing timely, accurate and competent financials,
Developing and implementing necessary corporate governance, and
Keeping the CEO focused on finding business not minding the business.

For the CEO, I help them with:

All the above.
Getting them the cash they need to do what they want to do,
Time to do their job,
Peace of mind that the fundamentals are covered, and
Be a source for sound financial counsel that understands and knows their business.

I hope the above is useful and I would greatly appreciate and welcome any feedback.