November 28, 2024 • 26 mins
Discover how Charlie Price, the mastermind behind The High Profit Accountant, redefined his career from crunching numbers in the corporate world to becoming a beacon for marketing consulting in the accounting industry. Charlie joins us to share his inspiring journey of pivoting towards high-value, relationship-centered activities, leaving behind traditional tax work to help accounting firms thrive through advisory services. Feel the excitement as we reminisce about our first meeting at a lively event in Tampa and how it sparked a professional partnership that has flourished over the past three years.
Charlie opens up about his transformation, touching on personal growth and building confidence—a challenge many of us face. From overcoming the daunting fear of public speaking to nurturing an internal team ready to elevate client services, Charlie’s experience is a testament to turning apprehension into achievement. His insights into effectively transitioning clients from tax services to advisory roles not only brought monumental results for clients but also enriched firm revenues. We encourage those hesitating to embrace the spotlight to trust in their vision beyond the fear of external judgment.
Ready to boost your accounting firm’s success? In our discussion, we explore practical client acquisition strategies that focus on organic growth through content creation and community engagement. Charlie shares his expertise in leveraging existing client relationships for greater gains and emphasizes the importance of defining a unique business vision. He encourages the pursuit of high-end advisory and CFO services as a pathway to sustainable revenue. Tune in to understand Charlie’s approach to attracting high-paying clients and the exceptional value he brings to his community. Join us for this episode, rich in insights, and don’t forget to connect with Charlie and follow us for more valuable content.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to CFO Chronicles the secrets behind
success, the go-to podcast forfractional CFOs and accounting
firm owners who want to attractmore high-paying clients and
increase their revenue.
Hosted by James Donovan fromNine Two Media, this podcast
dives into marketing strategiesspecifically designed for lead
(00:22):
generation and clientacquisition.
In each episode, you'll hearfrom industry leaders sharing
their success stories.
And Thank you All right.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Super excited about today's episode.
We got Charlie Price from theHigh Profit Accountant on today.
What's up everybody?
How's everybody doing?
Charlie, I'm super pumped tohave you on today.
We met probably three years ago, I'm thinking.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
That's crazy.
It's been three years.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Back in Tampa at a live event, which was really
cool.
We've had the pleasure of beingat a couple events together,
networking a couple.
Beers after the event had agreat time.
For those who don't know you,I'd love to just open up the
floor for you to give a quickintroduction yourself, and then
we can get into some of thehard-hitting questions.
(01:30):
Yeah, sure, James.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Yeah, I can't believe it's been three years, man, and
we were on the boat at the onetime, which was pretty cool.
We had some really cool things.
That was an awesome event, someevent.
Yeah, so my name is CharliePrice, cpa, so I guess my past
is.
I came out of, you know, 15years in the industry plus and
(01:53):
started consulting withaccounting firms in 2018, really
focusing on how to package,market and sell premium services
, really focusing in thatadvisory and CFO side, and we've
been doing that for the lasthandful of years and it's just
been incredible.
I've worked with over 200accountants and I've had an
(02:17):
absolute blast doing that.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
That's awesome.
I had no idea you had abackground in accounting.
I thought you were hey, justanother guy wanted to get into
the marketing space and startedworking with accounting firms.
That's really cool that youhave that background.
I hated my accounting course inuniversity, absolutely hated it
.
So I find it extremely ironicthat I'm now working with
(02:42):
accountants and loving it.
I caught myself laughing in thespring.
We were sponsoring an event inJacksonville and I was like, wow
, I never one thought I wasgoing to go to Jacksonville and
to be at an accountingconference.
So that's crazy, what willhappen.
But yeah, loving the space nowand who we get to work with.
(03:05):
How did you decide to make thetransition and now like being
really involved in the marketingspace coming from the corporate
world, yeah, and first of alllike glad to.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Yeah, like I came out of, I came out of industry and
you know tying the balancesheets and all that stuff and
going through those tax seasons.
But you know, just happy tohave you in the in the industry,
james, and just all the awesomestuff that you're that you guys
are doing over there for foraccountants too.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
I appreciate that.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
So what was the?
What was the?
What was the question there?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Yeah, so I was just curious how did you get into,
you know into this space now onthe marketing side of things
coming out of the corporateworld?
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Yeah.
So I just knew I, you know,there was a time where I really
enjoyed, you know, doing the taxreturns and that's where I was
really, you know, specialized in.
But I just wanted to make abigger impact.
I wanted to.
I wanted I had just had apurpose for.
I wanted to work more closelywith people, I wanted to learn
more more, do more relationshipbuilding, and I kind of had the
(04:12):
entrepreneurial bug for a fewyears before I resigned and left
and jumped out on my own.
So that was, that was a bigthing and I think I definitely
think there's accountants outthere that can relate to that.
These days, like you know they,I talk to a lot of people that
aren't as in love with maybedoing all the tax you know, tons
(04:33):
of tax work and they want to domore of the, you know, the
higher value relationship stuff.
So I think that's kind of acommonality pattern that people
can relate to, hopefully awesomeawesome as you were explaining
that and telling that story,charlie.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
I this might, we might go in a handful of
different directions here for 30minutes, but um, one, one thing
that's always stood out for mewhen I met you is one of the
stories you told at, uh, at oneof the events we're at with I
want to say it was one of yourfirst marketing clients, so I do
you know where I'm going withthis.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
I've had, I've had a lot of crazy stories over the
years just, yeah, I, I wouldlove for uh, for everyone who is
listening who works remote youknow, works home, has a remote
office the time you brought on anew client and you had your
onboarding or intro or kickoffcall with your new client yeah,
(05:34):
I know what you're talking about.
The other one now.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yeah, so I had one of my first clients.
I still tell my clients aboutthis sometimes.
I was just getting started inbusiness this time.
So it was 2018, early 2019.
And I enrolled our client andscheduled the kickoff call for
the same day or next day.
(05:57):
And they were local right andessentially I had scheduled it
as a zoom meeting.
But that person had shown up atmy, at my place, because at
that time I didn't have the pobox even set up at that point
right, because it was just readyfire aim.
But uh, yeah, that person hadlike showed up, like I'm here
(06:17):
for the kickoff call.
That one that was.
That was wild.
So, yeah, make sure you, youreiterate to your, to your folks
, that like, yeah, it's gonna beon zoom, but it hasn't happened
since since then so, and thenwhat happened?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
like you, you opened the door and said all right,
come on in.
I think I.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I think I really rescheduled the meeting to do it
on zoom and just clarified it.
So we were good oh, that's sogood.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I've told that story to so many people.
It it never is not funny yeah,that story.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
What about have you had something crazy happen, like
anything that you can think ofum?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
what has happened?
Yeah, there was.
I I feel like I've told you thestory before, when I was first
getting started, of theinappropriate phone call.
I won't get too in in depth onon that for this recording.
Uh, we can tell you about thatone again offline if needed.
But, um, if, if you'reremembering that one there was,
(07:19):
there was that as far as likekickoff calls or other things
happening, nothing really standsout like a client showing up at
your front door.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Um, but yeah, I think we all, we all have something
where the client surprised us,like you know.
I definitely know that theaudience can relate to something
it just blew us away with oh,wow, no, that's good.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
So tell me, charlie, um cpa gone gone marketing, gone
advertising, essentially nowhelping out other cpa, um
individuals who want to growtheir firm, package it properly.
Tell me about some of the thebiggest learning lessons you've
come across while growing youroffer, growing your business,
(08:07):
growing your firm.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Oh man, put me on the spot there a little bit, but I
think so many different places Icould go on this but I mean, I
would think I think we've alwayswe've done a great job of
creating offers and of creatingoffers and thinking about how to
(08:32):
do things in a fairly, in afairly scalable way so that we
can, as an owner you know I can,and this is what we work with
our clients on you knowconsistently continue to work
and operate as the CEO, and thisis something that you know
we've both worked with AlexShalinski.
Like that, alex would you know,consistently continue to work
and operate as the CEO, and thisis something that you know
we've both worked with AlexShalinski.
(08:52):
Like that, alex, would you know, preach for sure about being,
you know, working on thebusiness versus in the business.
So I think you know that's beena huge lesson.
It's just, you know, continuingto focus and operate
effectively as a CEO and tobuild out service lines that
scale.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Okay, cool, now let's flip to the other side.
What are some of the thingsthat you're most proud of in
your business?
And maybe, yeah, maybe, we'lljust start there and then we can
get to you know, some clientresults.
What are you most proud of?
I mean, that's the first thingsome client results.
What are you most proud of?
I mean?
Speaker 3 (09:25):
that's, that's the first thing.
That's the first thing I wasgoing to say is just just some
of the incredibletransformations that we've seen
from clients Like we've, youknow, we've seen a client this
year, you know, add 50% in firmrevenue from from up, just
upgrading clients.
You know, tax clients intoadvisory services and we've had
clients just massively changetheir business and their lives
(09:48):
through implementing, you know,just higher end advisory
engagements.
So that's number one.
And then two more things thatcome to mind.
Number two would be empoweringteam and watching team level up.
You know just our internal teamand just seeing them grow and
transform.
So this is all it's all.
(10:09):
Transformation.
It's it's transformation forour clients, it's transformation
for our team.
And then I say it'sself-transformation.
You know when I when I always Itell this story a lot, but when
I was just starting out like Iwas like who am I to?
talk to accountants to coach, toget on a Facebook live.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Who the hell?
Speaker 3 (10:27):
is going to listen to me.
I was sweating, scared to hitthe live button on Facebook live
.
I was scared to put out contentand share my voice.
I was sweating through my shirton coaching and I know people
can relate to that, hopefully.
But I just I guess throughrepetition and through
mentorship and and and buildingthat confidence, just through
(10:50):
putting the reps in and beingaround the right people, I think
I feel a lot better about doingthose things, you know that's
just a transformation for allthree.
You know this for everybodythere.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
That's cool.
What would you say to to thoselistening who are still a little
nervous to hit, you know, thelive button, to hit record on
their phone, to get in front ofzoom and film themselves, or,
you know, to try to positionthemselves as that authority
figure or that thought leader intheir space, because it is
scary and it's going to be scarythe first handful of times you
(11:25):
do it, and I'd be lying if Isaid it's still not scary
jumping on and doing certainthings, like at a certain point,
obviously that fear diminishes,but it's petrifying when you
get started.
I'd love to hear your take onhow someone could get overlook
that fear or get past it so thatthey can put themselves out
there more.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Yeah, I love it.
I still feel, you know, I stillget a little nervous sometimes
when I hit that before I go liveor before I you know, like you
know how's this going to go,before I do something like this,
right, but it's like, you'reright, it's different.
Two things.
So I think, to build confidencein anything really, confidence
in anything really, there's twothings that we need, and it's
(12:08):
faith and evidence, right.
So number one is we have tohave faith that it's possible,
right, and that can come from,you know, yes, up above right
faith and spiritual, you know,faith.
But it also can be surroundingyourself with the right people
and like minded people that havedone that and made that
transformation Right, by, youknow, joining a mentorship
(12:32):
program or by surroundingyourself with, with peers that
are going through the struggleand that have come out the other
side of that journey, and thatgives you the confidence to
start, like that's the solereason why I got started and
started booking conversationsand bringing on clients was I
had that faith right that it waspossible.
(12:53):
Then number two is, now thatyou're starting to put those
actions into place, it's theevidence starts to come right.
You start to prove to yourselfOK, this is good, you know I'm
getting better and this is goingbetter.
And oh wow, this worked well,this went well, and that
evidence starts to build overtime in the reps.
So then you, then theconfidence comes, and then you
know, I think that's kind ofthat, that journey yeah, nice, I
(13:17):
, I would.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
I would add in as well that, like nobody's out
there, well, most people in yourcircle who that's going to be
shared with aren't hoping youfail.
So getting up and posting thatvideo or getting on stage and
and having a talk, whatever itis, people in the audience
aren't sitting there like hopingyou fail.
I mean, you might have a coupleof people and those just aren't
(13:41):
great great people, but most ofthe time people are rooting for
you to do that, and also whocares what other people think,
rooting for you to do that, andalso who cares what other people
think?
Like you're the one in thespotlight.
You have the opportunity now tomake your voice heard, your
your offer heard, where thepeople are probably judging you
or making comments, they'rehiding behind their keyboard
doing it.
So, um, I think it that comeswith time as well, and it's a
(14:06):
lot easier said than done.
But like, really, who careswhat, what the other people are
thinking?
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Yeah, and like, if you mean a lot of people care,
like a lot, I mean that's thetruth, right.
Like I still, I still havefeelings about, like, what
people think about me, whetherit's it's messaging people or
clients or whatever, but it'sbut.
Or whatever but it's, but it's.
Uh, you know, am I gonna let myfear of what other people think
of me, what's more important,like what I, what I'm shooting
(14:32):
for, my vision and what I wantto build, or, uh, you know my,
my fear, and what couldpotentially hold me back from
achieving that?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
so yeah, yeah, so that's so good.
Um, all right, let's.
Let's talk a little bit abouthow Charlie Price finds new
clients for for his business,and how you help your clients
and advise them on best ways tofind best ways for their client
acquisition.
(14:59):
That's, that's big.
We like to always hear fromeveryone what they're doing for
their acquisition channels, andI'd love to hear from those two
different perspectives from yousure, absolutely so.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Um, I've been a huge, huge proponent of organic.
That's how we've built ourbuilt our business, and I guess
just what that means is, uh, youknow, free putting out content.
We built a facebook communitycalled the high profit
accountant.
Now we rebranded it, uh, years,you know, years ago.
So that's been around for four,four plus years of just putting
(15:33):
out consistent content and thenon from that end, we're
leveraging that content to startengaging conversations, to
identify problems and painpoints that we can help people
with and ultimately give sharingsome insights and moving people
to conversations.
So that's how we've been,that's what we've been mostly
focusing on.
(15:53):
We've done workshops and eventslike that, you know, related to
that as well, and and that'sthat has helped.
And then with our clients, Ithink we definitely focus on
that, you know, I think that'sprobably one of the fast way to
(16:14):
the fastest way to get a sale, Ithink, is by asking somebody to
have a conversation.
I think there's some truth inthat.
But at the same time, I do wantto, you know, when you have
your offers, I think, packagedthe right way, um, don't just
throwing the towel on yourcurrent clients and upgrading
them, because we've seentremendous value in having
(16:37):
upgrade conversations in aspecific way where you upgrade
you can, you can upgrade clients, create more goodwill with your
clients, regardless of if theyupgrade or not, and I just think
it's a fantastic opportunitythat, um, that's where I would
probably start.
If you're an establishedaccounting firm that has, you
know, a bunch of a bunch ofclients yeah, awesome.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
I mean, like you just said, don't don't throw in the
towel.
And upgrading your own clients.
You can't say someone else's nofor them.
Make the ask, they'll tell youif it's not a fit, but you can't
.
You can't make that decisionand say no for them.
There's been too manysituations where I think, if I
look back in the past, I'veprobably said someone else's no
(17:20):
for them and just in the lasthandful of months where being
very intentional to not saysomeone else's no for them has
made a massive difference in mylife, and I tell that to our
team members, I tell it to ourclients and it's just something
I truly live by now.
Like, do not say someone else'sno for them because you may be
(17:41):
very surprised at the outcomethat takes place.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
That's awesome.
Yeah, I think my version ofthat is is don't sell with your
own wallet.
I think it's kind of a similar,similar kind of look there, um,
but yeah, I think, and there'sa way that you can do upgrades,
like if you, if you um structure, like we're getting towards the
tail end of 2024, like you caninvite your clients to a
(18:05):
strategic planning call for nextyear that's you know and then
that's going to allow you tohelp them come up with a roadmap
for their business as well asunderstand what their goals and
challenges are, so that you canmake a really powerful,
compelling, high level offer forthem, which is a win-win-win
for everybody.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
I that's so interesting.
You brought that up the like,the strategic planning, the
forecasting call.
I think that's so important todo and it really positions
yourself as you know theirgrowth partner and more than
just a line item on theirbalance sheet.
Um, aside from that, is thereanything else that you have top
(18:48):
of mind that someone could takeaction on today?
If they're listening, that youknow, yeah.
Well, one thing for sure set upthat strategic call with your
clients so you're forecastingwhat's going to happen going
into 2025, or what are we doingthe remaining months of 2024.
Anything else, uh, that comestop of mind that maybe you're
sharing with your clients it'snot giving away the entire
(19:09):
playbook that you can share witheveryone who's listening.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Don't worry, I think we're just coming off of a tax
deadline here in the US, so thatwas October 15th.
So doing some reflection,looking at your current service
lines and what your hours looklike this year and what your
profitability looks like thisyear.
You know, we see a lot ofpeople that are putting their
(19:32):
firms up for sale right nowbecause they're not happy and, I
think, doing someself-reflection on, like what
would make me happy if you're inthat space?
So what does that vision looklike for the company?
And don't create that.
Don't put yourself in the boxthat your firm has to be a
certain way.
And don't put yourself in thebox that your firm has to be a
certain way.
(19:52):
You don't have to offer and belike every other cookie cutter
business out there.
You can create your own rulesand have your own boundaries and
have your own service lines,and that's going to really
differentiate you too.
So I think, starting with someself-reflection on knowing what,
ideally, you want your businessto look like how many days a
week do you work?
How many hours do you work?
Do you want a busy season or doyou know?
(20:12):
Do you want uh, I don't knowhow to say that but like how
many hours are you willing to dofor a busy season?
Do you want team members like?
I think that's a good place tostart and then, you know,
consider what service lines aregoing to um, you know best what
service lines are going to.
You know best what servicelines are going to best get me
there and which ones are goingto probably pull me away from
(20:33):
that.
So that's why you knowtransparently I think we both
focus on advisory and CFOservices because of the higher
end monthly recurring revenuebrings stability and security
and being at the ability to workwith fewer clients um to work
with.
To work with fewer clients um,which creates a lot less more
(20:56):
simplicity, I think, for a firmthat's so good, I hope.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
I hope whoever's listening is taking action and
thinking about this stuff andand it's being intentional as
well.
Right, I?
I got a some, some insight or alesson or a video I watched
from somebody recently or in thepast, and you know about what's
your ideal day look like.
Well, I'm sure so many peoplehave thought about this before
(21:22):
and probably a handful of peoplehave actually have done
something about it.
I know I was one of thosepeople for the longest time.
Well, this is my ideal day andwould not actually do anything
to try to structure what myideal day looked like.
And as I'm saying this, I'vekind of tailed off on it being
in my own calendar.
But I'm getting back to thepoint now where I have my real
calendar of what's happening,all of the back-to-back meetings
(21:44):
that I don't want to be having,always jumping from one thing
to the next, and then I have myideal calendar like kind of
carbon copy right on top of it,and the goal is, come the start
of 2025, we're based off of theideal calendar and the ideal
what the ideal work days andwork weeks look like, because I
(22:04):
think, unless you're takingthose actionable steps and
you're being super intentional.
You're just going to continueto relive the same six months
over and over.
So I really like what you'resaying about reflecting after
the tax deadline and seeingwhere do I want to make changes,
what do I actually want mybusiness to look like?
And you're 100% in the driver'sseat.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Yeah, and, guys, put yourself first.
I know that sounds selfish, butwe are like the most selfless
industry.
Right, you got.
I know you guys know what I'mtalking about.
Right, I'm speaking to thecamera right now.
Like we, you know, as anindustry, we're very, very
selfless and we put our clientsfirst to the sacrifice,
sacrificing health and all kindsof stuff, family, all kinds of
(22:46):
stuff, health and all kinds ofstuff, family, all kinds of
stuff.
But when you, if you could putyourself first and, do you know,
like, like you said, have it,do that, you know, design that
ideal day and start to thinkabout how to manufacture that,
you'll ultimately be able tohelp more people and create more
impact and that'll allow you to, you know, really, really serve
a lot of people in a big, bigway.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Put yourself first.
That's an awesome final pieceto to end on, Charlie, for
everyone who wants to get intouch with you, to continue the
conversation with you.
Learn more about what you'redoing, how you're helping your
clients.
How can they get in touch withyou?
Where can they find?
Speaker 3 (23:22):
you For sure.
Yeah, I would love to connectwith as many as many of y'all as
possible.
We have a.
I'm mostly on Facebook.
I'm on LinkedIn as well, butmostly on Facebook.
So you can just search CharliePrice on Facebook and you'll see
me.
And we have an incrediblecommunity of 3,700 accountants
which, james, you're going to beon, I think, tomorrow, rocking
(23:44):
and roll with us.
So we do expert trainings,interviews around packaging,
advisory services, around how tosell, overcoming objections,
how to generate more premiumengagements and appointments.
So jump in, jump into the highprofit accountant community.
We'd love to see you there.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Awesome.
I'll make sure that's linked inthe description of this episode
, charlie, so hopefully we getsome people joining your group.
Anyone who is listening highlyrecommend you speak with Charlie
.
He's incredible at what he does, has a great offer and you'll
be well looked after inside ofhis community.
Charlie, thank you so much forcoming on.
This was an awesomeconversation and I'm looking
forward to seeing you soon.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Thanks for listening to CFO Chronicles the secrets
behind success.
We hope today's episodeprovided valuable strategies to
help you attract morehigh-paying clients.
Be sure to subscribe, followand share with fellow
professionals.
Connect with us on LinkedIn andleave a review or comment to
join the conversation.
Your feedback helps us bringyou the best insights in finance
(24:45):
and marketing.
Until next time, keep strivingfor success and unlocking your
business's potential.
Welcome to CFO Chronicles the secrets behind
success, the go-to podcast forfractional CFOs and accounting
firm owners who want to attractmore high-paying clients and
increase their revenue.
Hosted by James Donovan fromNine Two Media, this podcast
dives into marketing strategiesspecifically designed for lead
(00:22):
generation and clientacquisition.
In each episode, you'll hearfrom industry leaders sharing
their success stories.
And Thank you All right.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Super excited about today's episode.
We got Charlie Price from theHigh Profit Accountant on today.
What's up everybody?
How's everybody doing?
Charlie, I'm super pumped tohave you on today.
We met probably three years ago, I'm thinking.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
That's crazy.
It's been three years.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Back in Tampa at a live event, which was really
cool.
We've had the pleasure of beingat a couple events together,
networking a couple.
Beers after the event had agreat time.
For those who don't know you,I'd love to just open up the
floor for you to give a quickintroduction yourself, and then
we can get into some of thehard-hitting questions.
(01:30):
Yeah, sure, James.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Yeah, I can't believe it's been three years, man, and
we were on the boat at the onetime, which was pretty cool.
We had some really cool things.
That was an awesome event, someevent.
Yeah, so my name is CharliePrice, cpa, so I guess my past
is.
I came out of, you know, 15years in the industry plus and
(01:53):
started consulting withaccounting firms in 2018, really
focusing on how to package,market and sell premium services
, really focusing in thatadvisory and CFO side, and we've
been doing that for the lasthandful of years and it's just
been incredible.
I've worked with over 200accountants and I've had an
(02:17):
absolute blast doing that.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
That's awesome.
I had no idea you had abackground in accounting.
I thought you were hey, justanother guy wanted to get into
the marketing space and startedworking with accounting firms.
That's really cool that youhave that background.
I hated my accounting course inuniversity, absolutely hated it
.
So I find it extremely ironicthat I'm now working with
(02:42):
accountants and loving it.
I caught myself laughing in thespring.
We were sponsoring an event inJacksonville and I was like, wow
, I never one thought I wasgoing to go to Jacksonville and
to be at an accountingconference.
So that's crazy, what willhappen.
But yeah, loving the space nowand who we get to work with.
(03:05):
How did you decide to make thetransition and now like being
really involved in the marketingspace coming from the corporate
world, yeah, and first of alllike glad to.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Yeah, like I came out of, I came out of industry and
you know tying the balancesheets and all that stuff and
going through those tax seasons.
But you know, just happy tohave you in the in the industry,
james, and just all the awesomestuff that you're that you guys
are doing over there for foraccountants too.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
I appreciate that.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
So what was the?
What was the?
What was the question there?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Yeah, so I was just curious how did you get into,
you know into this space now onthe marketing side of things
coming out of the corporateworld?
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Yeah.
So I just knew I, you know,there was a time where I really
enjoyed, you know, doing the taxreturns and that's where I was
really, you know, specialized in.
But I just wanted to make abigger impact.
I wanted to.
I wanted I had just had apurpose for.
I wanted to work more closelywith people, I wanted to learn
more more, do more relationshipbuilding, and I kind of had the
(04:12):
entrepreneurial bug for a fewyears before I resigned and left
and jumped out on my own.
So that was, that was a bigthing and I think I definitely
think there's accountants outthere that can relate to that.
These days, like you know they,I talk to a lot of people that
aren't as in love with maybedoing all the tax you know, tons
(04:33):
of tax work and they want to domore of the, you know, the
higher value relationship stuff.
So I think that's kind of acommonality pattern that people
can relate to, hopefully awesomeawesome as you were explaining
that and telling that story,charlie.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
I this might, we might go in a handful of
different directions here for 30minutes, but um, one, one thing
that's always stood out for mewhen I met you is one of the
stories you told at, uh, at oneof the events we're at with I
want to say it was one of yourfirst marketing clients, so I do
you know where I'm going withthis.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
I've had, I've had a lot of crazy stories over the
years just, yeah, I, I wouldlove for uh, for everyone who is
listening who works remote youknow, works home, has a remote
office the time you brought on anew client and you had your
onboarding or intro or kickoffcall with your new client yeah,
(05:34):
I know what you're talking about.
The other one now.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yeah, so I had one of my first clients.
I still tell my clients aboutthis sometimes.
I was just getting started inbusiness this time.
So it was 2018, early 2019.
And I enrolled our client andscheduled the kickoff call for
the same day or next day.
(05:57):
And they were local right andessentially I had scheduled it
as a zoom meeting.
But that person had shown up atmy, at my place, because at
that time I didn't have the pobox even set up at that point
right, because it was just readyfire aim.
But uh, yeah, that person hadlike showed up, like I'm here
(06:17):
for the kickoff call.
That one that was.
That was wild.
So, yeah, make sure you, youreiterate to your, to your folks
, that like, yeah, it's gonna beon zoom, but it hasn't happened
since since then so, and thenwhat happened?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
like you, you opened the door and said all right,
come on in.
I think I.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I think I really rescheduled the meeting to do it
on zoom and just clarified it.
So we were good oh, that's sogood.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I've told that story to so many people.
It it never is not funny yeah,that story.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
What about have you had something crazy happen, like
anything that you can think ofum?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
what has happened?
Yeah, there was.
I I feel like I've told you thestory before, when I was first
getting started, of theinappropriate phone call.
I won't get too in in depth onon that for this recording.
Uh, we can tell you about thatone again offline if needed.
But, um, if, if you'reremembering that one there was,
(07:19):
there was that as far as likekickoff calls or other things
happening, nothing really standsout like a client showing up at
your front door.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Um, but yeah, I think we all, we all have something
where the client surprised us,like you know.
I definitely know that theaudience can relate to something
it just blew us away with oh,wow, no, that's good.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
So tell me, charlie, um cpa gone gone marketing, gone
advertising, essentially nowhelping out other cpa, um
individuals who want to growtheir firm, package it properly.
Tell me about some of the thebiggest learning lessons you've
come across while growing youroffer, growing your business,
(08:07):
growing your firm.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Oh man, put me on the spot there a little bit, but I
think so many different places Icould go on this but I mean, I
would think I think we've alwayswe've done a great job of
creating offers and of creatingoffers and thinking about how to
(08:32):
do things in a fairly, in afairly scalable way so that we
can, as an owner you know I can,and this is what we work with
our clients on you knowconsistently continue to work
and operate as the CEO, and thisis something that you know
we've both worked with AlexShalinski.
Like that, alex would you know,consistently continue to work
and operate as the CEO, and thisis something that you know
we've both worked with AlexShalinski.
(08:52):
Like that, alex, would you know, preach for sure about being,
you know, working on thebusiness versus in the business.
So I think you know that's beena huge lesson.
It's just, you know, continuingto focus and operate
effectively as a CEO and tobuild out service lines that
scale.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Okay, cool, now let's flip to the other side.
What are some of the thingsthat you're most proud of in
your business?
And maybe, yeah, maybe, we'lljust start there and then we can
get to you know, some clientresults.
What are you most proud of?
I mean, that's the first thingsome client results.
What are you most proud of?
I mean?
Speaker 3 (09:25):
that's, that's the first thing.
That's the first thing I wasgoing to say is just just some
of the incredibletransformations that we've seen
from clients Like we've, youknow, we've seen a client this
year, you know, add 50% in firmrevenue from from up, just
upgrading clients.
You know, tax clients intoadvisory services and we've had
clients just massively changetheir business and their lives
(09:48):
through implementing, you know,just higher end advisory
engagements.
So that's number one.
And then two more things thatcome to mind.
Number two would be empoweringteam and watching team level up.
You know just our internal teamand just seeing them grow and
transform.
So this is all it's all.
(10:09):
Transformation.
It's it's transformation forour clients, it's transformation
for our team.
And then I say it'sself-transformation.
You know when I when I always Itell this story a lot, but when
I was just starting out like Iwas like who am I to?
talk to accountants to coach, toget on a Facebook live.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Who the hell?
Speaker 3 (10:27):
is going to listen to me.
I was sweating, scared to hitthe live button on Facebook live
.
I was scared to put out contentand share my voice.
I was sweating through my shirton coaching and I know people
can relate to that, hopefully.
But I just I guess throughrepetition and through
mentorship and and and buildingthat confidence, just through
(10:50):
putting the reps in and beingaround the right people, I think
I feel a lot better about doingthose things, you know that's
just a transformation for allthree.
You know this for everybodythere.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
That's cool.
What would you say to to thoselistening who are still a little
nervous to hit, you know, thelive button, to hit record on
their phone, to get in front ofzoom and film themselves, or,
you know, to try to positionthemselves as that authority
figure or that thought leader intheir space, because it is
scary and it's going to be scarythe first handful of times you
(11:25):
do it, and I'd be lying if Isaid it's still not scary
jumping on and doing certainthings, like at a certain point,
obviously that fear diminishes,but it's petrifying when you
get started.
I'd love to hear your take onhow someone could get overlook
that fear or get past it so thatthey can put themselves out
there more.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Yeah, I love it.
I still feel, you know, I stillget a little nervous sometimes
when I hit that before I go liveor before I you know, like you
know how's this going to go,before I do something like this,
right, but it's like, you'reright, it's different.
Two things.
So I think, to build confidencein anything really, confidence
in anything really, there's twothings that we need, and it's
(12:08):
faith and evidence, right.
So number one is we have tohave faith that it's possible,
right, and that can come from,you know, yes, up above right
faith and spiritual, you know,faith.
But it also can be surroundingyourself with the right people
and like minded people that havedone that and made that
transformation Right, by, youknow, joining a mentorship
(12:32):
program or by surroundingyourself with, with peers that
are going through the struggleand that have come out the other
side of that journey, and thatgives you the confidence to
start, like that's the solereason why I got started and
started booking conversationsand bringing on clients was I
had that faith right that it waspossible.
(12:53):
Then number two is, now thatyou're starting to put those
actions into place, it's theevidence starts to come right.
You start to prove to yourselfOK, this is good, you know I'm
getting better and this is goingbetter.
And oh wow, this worked well,this went well, and that
evidence starts to build overtime in the reps.
So then you, then theconfidence comes, and then you
know, I think that's kind ofthat, that journey yeah, nice, I
(13:17):
, I would.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
I would add in as well that, like nobody's out
there, well, most people in yourcircle who that's going to be
shared with aren't hoping youfail.
So getting up and posting thatvideo or getting on stage and
and having a talk, whatever itis, people in the audience
aren't sitting there like hopingyou fail.
I mean, you might have a coupleof people and those just aren't
(13:41):
great great people, but most ofthe time people are rooting for
you to do that, and also whocares what other people think,
rooting for you to do that, andalso who cares what other people
think?
Like you're the one in thespotlight.
You have the opportunity now tomake your voice heard, your
your offer heard, where thepeople are probably judging you
or making comments, they'rehiding behind their keyboard
doing it.
So, um, I think it that comeswith time as well, and it's a
(14:06):
lot easier said than done.
But like, really, who careswhat, what the other people are
thinking?
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Yeah, and like, if you mean a lot of people care,
like a lot, I mean that's thetruth, right.
Like I still, I still havefeelings about, like, what
people think about me, whetherit's it's messaging people or
clients or whatever, but it'sbut.
Or whatever but it's, but it's.
Uh, you know, am I gonna let myfear of what other people think
of me, what's more important,like what I, what I'm shooting
(14:32):
for, my vision and what I wantto build, or, uh, you know my,
my fear, and what couldpotentially hold me back from
achieving that?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
so yeah, yeah, so that's so good.
Um, all right, let's.
Let's talk a little bit abouthow Charlie Price finds new
clients for for his business,and how you help your clients
and advise them on best ways tofind best ways for their client
acquisition.
(14:59):
That's, that's big.
We like to always hear fromeveryone what they're doing for
their acquisition channels, andI'd love to hear from those two
different perspectives from yousure, absolutely so.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Um, I've been a huge, huge proponent of organic.
That's how we've built ourbuilt our business, and I guess
just what that means is, uh, youknow, free putting out content.
We built a facebook communitycalled the high profit
accountant.
Now we rebranded it, uh, years,you know, years ago.
So that's been around for four,four plus years of just putting
(15:33):
out consistent content and thenon from that end, we're
leveraging that content to startengaging conversations, to
identify problems and painpoints that we can help people
with and ultimately give sharingsome insights and moving people
to conversations.
So that's how we've been,that's what we've been mostly
focusing on.
(15:53):
We've done workshops and eventslike that, you know, related to
that as well, and and that'sthat has helped.
And then with our clients, Ithink we definitely focus on
that, you know, I think that'sprobably one of the fast way to
(16:14):
the fastest way to get a sale, Ithink, is by asking somebody to
have a conversation.
I think there's some truth inthat.
But at the same time, I do wantto, you know, when you have
your offers, I think, packagedthe right way, um, don't just
throwing the towel on yourcurrent clients and upgrading
them, because we've seentremendous value in having
(16:37):
upgrade conversations in aspecific way where you upgrade
you can, you can upgrade clients, create more goodwill with your
clients, regardless of if theyupgrade or not, and I just think
it's a fantastic opportunitythat, um, that's where I would
probably start.
If you're an establishedaccounting firm that has, you
know, a bunch of a bunch ofclients yeah, awesome.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
I mean, like you just said, don't don't throw in the
towel.
And upgrading your own clients.
You can't say someone else's nofor them.
Make the ask, they'll tell youif it's not a fit, but you can't
.
You can't make that decisionand say no for them.
There's been too manysituations where I think, if I
look back in the past, I'veprobably said someone else's no
(17:20):
for them and just in the lasthandful of months where being
very intentional to not saysomeone else's no for them has
made a massive difference in mylife, and I tell that to our
team members, I tell it to ourclients and it's just something
I truly live by now.
Like, do not say someone else'sno for them because you may be
(17:41):
very surprised at the outcomethat takes place.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
That's awesome.
Yeah, I think my version ofthat is is don't sell with your
own wallet.
I think it's kind of a similar,similar kind of look there, um,
but yeah, I think, and there'sa way that you can do upgrades,
like if you, if you um structure, like we're getting towards the
tail end of 2024, like you caninvite your clients to a
(18:05):
strategic planning call for nextyear that's you know and then
that's going to allow you tohelp them come up with a roadmap
for their business as well asunderstand what their goals and
challenges are, so that you canmake a really powerful,
compelling, high level offer forthem, which is a win-win-win
for everybody.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
I that's so interesting.
You brought that up the like,the strategic planning, the
forecasting call.
I think that's so important todo and it really positions
yourself as you know theirgrowth partner and more than
just a line item on theirbalance sheet.
Um, aside from that, is thereanything else that you have top
(18:48):
of mind that someone could takeaction on today?
If they're listening, that youknow, yeah.
Well, one thing for sure set upthat strategic call with your
clients so you're forecastingwhat's going to happen going
into 2025, or what are we doingthe remaining months of 2024.
Anything else, uh, that comestop of mind that maybe you're
sharing with your clients it'snot giving away the entire
(19:09):
playbook that you can share witheveryone who's listening.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Don't worry, I think we're just coming off of a tax
deadline here in the US, so thatwas October 15th.
So doing some reflection,looking at your current service
lines and what your hours looklike this year and what your
profitability looks like thisyear.
You know, we see a lot ofpeople that are putting their
(19:32):
firms up for sale right nowbecause they're not happy and, I
think, doing someself-reflection on, like what
would make me happy if you're inthat space?
So what does that vision looklike for the company?
And don't create that.
Don't put yourself in the boxthat your firm has to be a
certain way.
And don't put yourself in thebox that your firm has to be a
certain way.
(19:52):
You don't have to offer and belike every other cookie cutter
business out there.
You can create your own rulesand have your own boundaries and
have your own service lines,and that's going to really
differentiate you too.
So I think, starting with someself-reflection on knowing what,
ideally, you want your businessto look like how many days a
week do you work?
How many hours do you work?
Do you want a busy season or doyou know?
(20:12):
Do you want uh, I don't knowhow to say that but like how
many hours are you willing to dofor a busy season?
Do you want team members like?
I think that's a good place tostart and then, you know,
consider what service lines aregoing to um, you know best what
service lines are going to.
You know best what servicelines are going to best get me
there and which ones are goingto probably pull me away from
(20:33):
that.
So that's why you knowtransparently I think we both
focus on advisory and CFOservices because of the higher
end monthly recurring revenuebrings stability and security
and being at the ability to workwith fewer clients um to work
with.
To work with fewer clients um,which creates a lot less more
(20:56):
simplicity, I think, for a firmthat's so good, I hope.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
I hope whoever's listening is taking action and
thinking about this stuff andand it's being intentional as
well.
Right, I?
I got a some, some insight or alesson or a video I watched
from somebody recently or in thepast, and you know about what's
your ideal day look like.
Well, I'm sure so many peoplehave thought about this before
(21:22):
and probably a handful of peoplehave actually have done
something about it.
I know I was one of thosepeople for the longest time.
Well, this is my ideal day andwould not actually do anything
to try to structure what myideal day looked like.
And as I'm saying this, I'vekind of tailed off on it being
in my own calendar.
But I'm getting back to thepoint now where I have my real
calendar of what's happening,all of the back-to-back meetings
(21:44):
that I don't want to be having,always jumping from one thing
to the next, and then I have myideal calendar like kind of
carbon copy right on top of it,and the goal is, come the start
of 2025, we're based off of theideal calendar and the ideal
what the ideal work days andwork weeks look like, because I
(22:04):
think, unless you're takingthose actionable steps and
you're being super intentional.
You're just going to continueto relive the same six months
over and over.
So I really like what you'resaying about reflecting after
the tax deadline and seeingwhere do I want to make changes,
what do I actually want mybusiness to look like?
And you're 100% in the driver'sseat.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Yeah, and, guys, put yourself first.
I know that sounds selfish, butwe are like the most selfless
industry.
Right, you got.
I know you guys know what I'mtalking about.
Right, I'm speaking to thecamera right now.
Like we, you know, as anindustry, we're very, very
selfless and we put our clientsfirst to the sacrifice,
sacrificing health and all kindsof stuff, family, all kinds of
(22:46):
stuff, health and all kinds ofstuff, family, all kinds of
stuff.
But when you, if you could putyourself first and, do you know,
like, like you said, have it,do that, you know, design that
ideal day and start to thinkabout how to manufacture that,
you'll ultimately be able tohelp more people and create more
impact and that'll allow you to, you know, really, really serve
a lot of people in a big, bigway.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Put yourself first.
That's an awesome final pieceto to end on, Charlie, for
everyone who wants to get intouch with you, to continue the
conversation with you.
Learn more about what you'redoing, how you're helping your
clients.
How can they get in touch withyou?
Where can they find?
Speaker 3 (23:22):
you For sure.
Yeah, I would love to connectwith as many as many of y'all as
possible.
We have a.
I'm mostly on Facebook.
I'm on LinkedIn as well, butmostly on Facebook.
So you can just search CharliePrice on Facebook and you'll see
me.
And we have an incrediblecommunity of 3,700 accountants
which, james, you're going to beon, I think, tomorrow, rocking
(23:44):
and roll with us.
So we do expert trainings,interviews around packaging,
advisory services, around how tosell, overcoming objections,
how to generate more premiumengagements and appointments.
So jump in, jump into the highprofit accountant community.
We'd love to see you there.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Awesome.
I'll make sure that's linked inthe description of this episode
, charlie, so hopefully we getsome people joining your group.
Anyone who is listening highlyrecommend you speak with Charlie
.
He's incredible at what he does, has a great offer and you'll
be well looked after inside ofhis community.
Charlie, thank you so much forcoming on.
This was an awesomeconversation and I'm looking
forward to seeing you soon.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Thanks for listening to CFO Chronicles the secrets
behind success.
We hope today's episodeprovided valuable strategies to
help you attract morehigh-paying clients.
Be sure to subscribe, followand share with fellow
professionals.
Connect with us on LinkedIn andleave a review or comment to
join the conversation.
Your feedback helps us bringyou the best insights in finance
(24:45):
and marketing.
Until next time, keep strivingfor success and unlocking your
business's potential.
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