Differentiate Yourself as a Fractional CFO in 2023 (DO THIS!)

Hey there. My name is Michael King. Welcome to the CFO Report where I talk about starting, scaling and optimizing fractional CFO services. If you're anything like I was when I first started my firm about seven years ago, you're probably struggling with figuring out how to differentiate yourself from all the other CFOs out there. You might be struggling with how to figure out how to communicate the value that you can bring, even though you haven't had any clients yet. Or maybe you've only had a few clients. In today's episode of the CFO Report, I'm talking to one of my inner circle coaching clients who's just getting started with his firm. And in this episode, I'm walking him through exactly how he can leverage his background, coupled with his values and his perspectives to create an amazing value proposition that literally no one else in the market can replicate. And if you follow this same formula, you can do the exact same thing, even if you're just getting started as a fractional cfo. Let's dive in.

I'm just starting out. I have not yet launched my website, I haven't hung up my shingle and I need to go find some clients. So I'm trying to learn from everything you guys have all done to make sure I do it right. The first time I'm offering CFO services. My question is I've been doing CFO work for probably 30 years. Most of my work is with some A list companies. I've worked for Johnson and Johnson, IBM, Honda, companies like that. And I've done consulting. I've had my own practice, mainly ERP implementations and some training, executive coaching. Most of it was with medium sized and large organizations. So I want to get back to what I find is the most rewarding is the entrepreneurial side, the small to medium sized business. So going out on my to find clients, I don't have my first clients. My worry is are they going to want to do work with me? I have the experience, I have the knowledge, I can give the same level of advice to an owner manager, but I don't have the experience at that level. So I guess I'm looking for some tips on how to get around that thing of have you done this before? Can I have a referral? I don't have any referrals for the package that I'm doing now in terms of monthly package. So how do I address that with my clients? And obviously I can sell my experience, but it's at a higher level and want to be able to relate to the people that I'm going after now.

It's interesting listening to that. You know how many people on this call would kill to be able to put behind their name? Like, oh, I've only worked with Johnson and Johnson and Coca Cola and these major companies and they're feeling that they don't have the resume that they need to go out and get clients. And to hear you, you're like, oh, man, all I have is this great resume of these. And so now it's not going to be relatable if I'm you, that's going to be like, my thing, right, Is look what you give. 30 years of all the secrets, the tips, the hacks, the best practices that the largest companies in the world leverage in their strategies. And I'm going to bring those to your small business to help you achieve your goals. Like, I would wear that as a badge of honor. That would be like, so do you know what the hero section is on your website? So it's like the very top part, right? So if you go to like the Connected Accountant.com, you'll see like a photo of me and Carlos, like right there, that's called the hero section. A lot of times on the bottom of the hero section will be a little banner that says, like, we've worked with companies. Like, I would have all their logos, you know, right there. Like, that would kind of be my thing you've got to be really good at or intentional about is talk about the reason why you're not working with Johnson and Johnson anymore. And I don't know what your story is and so don't, like, copy and paste this. This isn't one of those, like, record this and share with us, but something that looks a lot like this. Look, my heart is in entrepreneurs. My dad was an entrepreneur. I know the struggle that entrepreneurs go through after seeing the big companies do all of this stuff. And I see the small businesses struggle. My heart, my passion, my love is in taking that knowledge now and turning it into actionable things that small businesses can do to get ahead. Because I want to help you create jobs. I want to help you pay off your mortgage, pay for your kids college tuition, whatever your thing is, right? I would lead with the look at my experience and then hit them hard with your values and the things that drive you and that have driven you to start your own business. I think that's a killer combination. First of all, does that make sense? It does.

Yeah, exactly. That's really, really helpful.

Here's another thing I want you to Think about you talked about referrals. How many people have asked you for a referral?

Not that many.

I can probably count on one hand in the last five years the number of times I've been asked for a referral. And I think the reason for that is I've really refined my sales call. I have a very mediocre website. It's not like my website's great, the copies needs to be redone. I'm not a CPA. I've never worked at Deloitte, I've never worked at PwC. I haven't been a CFO of Johnson and Johnson. People still don't ask for the referrals because of the sales call. I think that sales call is so important and I think when you combine that experience you have, if you really do a good job of hitting the values and then you work through the sales call, you're gonna do great. Have you seen the free training that I have? The eight step sales forum? I've been through it really practice that you don't have to do it copy and paste, but find a version that works for you. And then really critically think I talk about it. I think in the training non obvious step is to watch the replays of your calls. It feels really icky and gross and nobody likes to do go through the checklist like okay, how good of a job did I do? Asking them questions and getting into their goals, dreams, aspirations, fears and uncertainty. Like go through that stuff and then really kind of practice that intellectual honesty and say like where could I be better? I really don't think people are going to ask for referrals.

Right. Yeah. I just want to get my website up and that's my problem right now is I'm hoping by the weekend I can have it done. I took your advice on it doesn't have to be pretty. Just get something out there that's not working on what the footer is going to look like. It's not going to land me a client. Right?

That's right.

Do it later.

So you guys don't know how much I like Google stalk you guys and look at your, your pages. One simple upgrade that most people in the program can make that I do think will help. Put your mug on the website, quit with the stock images on your website. Right. Like up in that hero section, have your picture like this. Especially for the fractional CFO work. It's all about trust. People don't trust stock images, they trust your face. So don't be afraid to put your face up there. So if you've just got your logo up there, find a way to put your face up there with it. I know, I know, it's weird. We're accountants, we don't like to have our faces on websites. But I'm telling you, it really does help people. They see a person behind the firm and that's really important for what we do. I think the big takeaway here is whether you've got experience working with Johnson and Johnson and IBM or if you've got experience as a controller for small size businesses. The important thing is, is to really look and dive into experiences that you've had and learn how to tell that story about how those experiences that you've had are applicable. And they are applicable. Learn how to tell that story about how they're applicable to the types of clients that you want to serve. And don't forget, couple that with your values and those perspectives that you bring. So why is it that you're passionate about moving from the controller role of a company and now into the fractional CFO world where you're able to serve so many more small or medium sized businesses and help them do their thing? The combination of those two things for you and your situation are completely unique. Nobody else can copy those because that's special to you and your background and what you believe. And I want to encourage you, make sure that you communicate that, make sure that you kind of shout that out because those are the things that are going to convince people to do business with you, even if you don't have any or a lot of experience as a fractional cfo. I hope you found this helpful today, my friends. If you're interested in being part of my CFO inner circle, then I'd love for you to go to the cfoaccelerator.com and check out the Inner circle. Every month I go live and I teach for about an hour on current events, things, trends, best practices that I'm seeing in the CFO industry. Once a month I also go live for office hours where I take calls via Zoom with people like you and I answer any questions that you have about starting, scaling or optimizing a fractional CFO firm. So go to the cfoaccelerator.com, check that out, learn more. If you have any questions, let me know. In the meantime, I can't wait to see you right back here next week, my friends. I'll see you then.

Sam.