CREATING THE ONE-STOP SHOP.

• Author: FOWLER, MARK H.

[The Nuts and Bolts of Building Strategic Relationships]

ALL INDICATORS POINT to the one-stop shop as key to the CPA's future. A one-stop shop allows your clients to receive a full range of services via a foundation of customized strategic relationships. For some CPAs, this might mean working exclusively with one insurance agent; being committed to two securities brokers; serving as a value-added retailer for a line of computer hardware; or acting as an accredited service provider for a business software company. In each case, you and your strategic relations share a mutual concern and benefit--if they do well, you do well, and vice versa.

For CPAs, strategic relationships generally fall into three categories:

* Occasional relationships are one-time or random situations with other companies to assist clients. These could include services such as a specialty audit, compensation agreement, executive search or business valuation.

* Strategic alliances are non-partnership relationships in which parties join forces to better serve clients. This could include a CPA working with providers of insurance, investment management services or computer technology support. For example, an alliance firm might help your clients with computer needs beyond your firm's capabilities, or in the case of payroll processing, you may do the front-end work while the alliance firm does the actual processing.

* Strategic partnerships or joint ventures are true partnerships in which each party may have ownership in a separate entity or entities. Service opportunities here are practically limitless and run the gamut from financial planning to human resource management. Your role in this type of strategic relationship will vary on a client by client basis. For example, for major consulting work you may serve as the lead partner and run the projects, but in the investment services area, your strategic partner might be the controlling entity while you are responsible for the client's needs and perceptions.

Deciding on which type of strategic relationships to enter into is an intricate process based on many variables including your firm's goals and objectives, client needs, expertise, existing and future markets, administrative support levels and overall commitment. What's more, since each client is different, even once you've established a relationship with, say, an insurance broker, that relationship is likely to take a unique form for each client. There is no simple formula into which you can plug your clients and strategic relations.

EDUCATE YOURSELF

No one can deny that information technology is hot. But if your clients' IT needs or wants are already satisfied, it's a cold fish as far as you are concerned, and not an area worth pursuing as a strategic relationship. Once you've committed to entering strategic relationships, it pays to know the hot market opportunities. Still, you have to educate yourself about your clients and their goals...