146. Before vs After Having a Fractional CFO (From Clients' Perspective)

Foreign.

It's literally made us a different company. We've gone from, I mean, darn near the potential of closing. We were kind of waffling pretty bad because we had a wrong butt, wrong seat issue. Everything he said is spot on.

And I found that when I take that approach, it really gets those potential clients or the new clients to trust us a little bit more, to believe more like what we're saying because we're not just rushing to judgment. That's impact. That's people that didn't have health insurance, that have health insurance. Now I'll get out of bed every day to serve people that are doing that kind of stuff.

And prior to working with you guys, I was always against working with agencies or consultancies. Everything is in house for me, which is ironic because I have an agency. I'm like, I know how you guys work, but it's been a no brainer for us.

How has your business results been impacting by the result of having a cfo?

The impact was made almost immediately. We actually had a CFO change in there. We got assigned a person and, and there's some changes happened within their company and, and it just. But it was all seamless. We weren't ever worried about that. But it's made us a different company. It's literally made us a different company. We've gone from, I mean, darn near the potential of closing. We were kind of waffling pretty bad because we had a wrong butt, wrong seat issue. And within a few months, you know, I think one of the initial interviews with Mike was, hey man, we're not sure we got the right people on the bus. And he, he said, okay, we'll figure it out. And they did real quickly. And, and it's made us not only rebound from that potential to. Last year was our largest year ever in the history of the company in almost 34 years with the largest profit margin with a large number.

So when you hear stuff like that, guys, and I'm telling you what, and I heard Mike's presentation, I was in the back, back there taking notes. Everything he said is spot on. I mean, he's a nuclear engineer, but he knows the importance of teamwork. He knows the importance of the heart of a teacher. He knows the importance of we. And one of the ladies that was with us at, at lunch said, we're going to ask stupid questions. We're, we're electricians, we're applying spokes. We're, whatever we do, we don't know the numbers. I don't even like the finance numbers. I hate it. But it's kind of important, so you guys have to understand. But the lady asked. She said, so it's really common that y' all ask the same question over and over and over. Yes. Don't get frustrated at it. We're. We're not that silly. Dumb. But. But we just don't know what we don't know in our industry. If y' all have heard a whip report, because it's a beating, so. But forever. I mean, almost a year. He's calling Whipper Port. Whipper Port, Whipper Port. But then we call it over and underbilling in our software. Well, they don't match. Why is this thing not matching? Well, make sure that we understand what you're talking about, because we're the technicians that can't get out of our own way. So be. Be willing to communicate, you know, we just don't know what we don't know.

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One of the things I'll point out there that I see as an opportunity, a lot of times, you know, when we get on a sales call or we get a new client, a lot of times you'll see, you know, they'll say, hey, you know, I don't think my bookkeeper is the right person. Or I don't think my accountant's doing a good job. I don't think my tax person's doing a good job. One of the things that I found that will really build trust quickly in those situations is if you make sure to not rush the judgment until you have all the facts, you know, because a lot of times we want to look like the hero and we'll be like, we'll get her out of there if she's not doing a good job. I like to approach it with like, hey, let's let us come in and just take a look and evaluate. Let us look at the books and the tax returns and those kind of things, and we'll make a recommendation really quick. We'll see. Is this something that we can kind of work with them and kind of coach them up to get them there, or is this just the person that, you know, maybe the company has outgrown their competency and we need to make a change. And I found that when I take that approach, it really gets those potential clients or the new clients to trust us a little bit more, to believe more like what we're saying, because we're not just rushing to judgment. So if you get those, like on a sales call, I get them on sales calls half the time. Right. I don't think this person's cut out for it. I don't know. Let me, let me, give me a chance during onboarding to dive into that and we'll do a really unbiased assessment to see if they are the right person or maybe it's time to make a change in one of those roles. It'll very quickly build your trust and credibility with a new client.

I think a lot of the things is just that we learn what the numbers meant, what levers to pull to make the things work. Like Jared was saying, we also went through a change with our accountant. They just simply weren't doing what we needed and ultimately we made a change with it. As far as other things, the we've been able to hire more technicians so we're putting more guys into a job that didn't have jobs before. Prior to working with these guys, we had no benefits because we just had no cash. And now we've got insurance company wide for Everybody. We've got 401ks for everybody. And you know, I just can't say enough of how it's transformed our entire company.

So thanks to you guys, that's impact. That's people that didn't have health insurance, that have health insurance. Now I'll get out of bed every day to serve people that are doing that kind of stuff.

I think what's been really big for us is the safety piece because I think prior to working with kfe, I was always just overly safe with our spending because I just didn't have visibility. I didn't really know. So I was really, really, really tight with our spending and now I have so much solace. He'll let us know exactly like where, you know, he'll do a pulse check, see exactly where the numbers are. That allows me as to know and understand like what I have budget for and it allows me to really stick in my lane because I too always thought that I didn't need anybody managing finances until I got big enough to need a full time cfo. But that's like a really big hire for a big company. And prior to working with you guys, I was always against working with like agencies or consultancies. Like everything is in house for me which is ironic because I have an agency so I know the market.

I wasn't going to say it, but.

Yeah, I'm like, I know how you guys work, but it's been a no brainer for us.

One thing I'd like to point out is you listen to the different panelists up here. Notice how they all use very different language a lot of times to describe a very similar idea or concept. Like Anna talked a lot about safety and solace and what I would encourage you to do is you start getting into your market or your niche if you decide to do that, pay attention to those words that continue to rise to the top. Use that in your marketing, use that in your sales. Use that in your CFO report, right? Use the language that resonates with them. Because a lot of times, like, I know a lot of times, like for creatives, the word budget, if you tell them that you're going to help them put together a budget, they're done, right? Because creatives, they don't like those restrictions. They don't like to feel the constraints.

So listen to the words that they.

Use, like, how do they describe those things? And don't be scared to change your vernacular to match what it is that they want so that you can relate to them. Because again, that, that trust comes when it's like, oh, they get me, Then they give you their money, right? Then we get to serve and make it and have an impact.

He nailed it. And you know, from a branding perspective, I always tell our clients, like, everything visually and messaging wise should always be reverse engineered to appeal to the end user. So it all really depends on who you're trying to target. What age range are they? What, you know, what's their socioeconomic background? Like, what words are really going to resonate with them. And there are a lot of tools you can use online to like, cherry pick these words and then use them verbally, use them on your website, use them on your onboarding forms, because the more that people think you're speaking directly to them, you're going to really be resonating with them.

What is the creative form of budgets, by the way? What is a good word? Because I have plenty of creative.

A spending plan, a profit plan.

Yeah, treat yourself.

Plan.

Treat yourself. All right, I need to sign up with a cfo.

But look, everybody's kind of giggling. But in all seriousness, if I went to Scott and I said, we've got a profit plan for you guys, he's going to roll his eyes and walk the other way. But I tell Anna, we've got a profit plan for her, she lights up. That's exciting to her. So it's not that one's right or wrong or better or worse than the other. You've just got to know who your people are and make sure you're speaking to them. That's one of the. I know a lot of people scoff at the whole niching down thing, right? Like, we're all too good to niche down and we're limiting ourselves and all of these things, but you can start to catch these nuances, right? And even though the market is smaller, you rise to the top is the one that gets them.

Yeah, right. I think the niching down, especially in your guys, this field is really important because that was one of the reasons why I worked with you, because you understand businesses like me. And for me, anytime I shop around with anybody to work with, I need to know, I need to know that they understand my unique business, business model. Like, I felt this when I was like searching for like a CPA too. I'm like, who's going to help me, like tax hack, like personal brands specifically. So I think there is something about niching down that does feel scary, but that comes from a place of scarcity. Like there are so many people that I think would really, you know, within a target market would really appeal and it's just going to benefit you guys the more you're really hyper focused on them and they feel like you're the expert and like, and really understand their needs.

This is awesome. This is incredible. I feel so happy to be here.

All right, my friends, I hope you found this episode helpful.

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See you back right here next week. I'll see you then.