Are you interested to learn more about our Specialist Groups and how they could help you and your business? Read the latest Business Development Focus to find out more
In January's Business Development Focus, Nicki Lynn reflects on MGI Worldwide CPAAI's Specialist Group model, sets out the groups' objectives, and takes a look at some of the ways in which being a part of these groups can help promote your business.
An objective of the business development efforts has been to work with the global specialist groups. Some groups have been in existence for some time whereas others are relatively new to the network and have been pushed forward into vibrant groups of specialists with a passion to share what they do, such as the VAT group. It is not always immediately obvious that a group will succeed, and it is the reliance of these strong leaders to champion the groups and make them work.
What are we trying to accomplish?
By identifying the most important business sectors rather than trying to cover every possibility, it means that we narrow the scope to a small number of focused groups that include transfer pricing, global mobility, IFRS and VAT. Each group has a slightly different objective but the overriding common goal is that of creating new business opportunities for member firms.
The journey of the Global VAT Specialist Group led the way for the other groups to follow. There are a few areas that each group share; the most important is having strong and committed members to lead the group by providing energy, focus and strategy.
Monthly Zoom calls with these leaders, the “operational groups”, have made a large difference to the development of the activities they are undertaking. By making this regular commitment, the groups have been able to plan and implement activities such as relevant newsletters, white papers, and webinars to promote the group expertise and share knowledge.
Dedicated microsites
Each group now has an online presence on the website with a dedicated page to showcase the expertise provided. Some of these pages have been updated with new imagery and others are in the process of being revitalised for a fresh appearance.
The specialist groups are an additional benefit of membership to MGI Worldwide CPAAI. It is understood that client work will always take precedence so sometimes things do not always happen when originally planned. But this is one of the great things of this group structure, flexibility.
Working together as small cohesive teams means that activities can be reorganised to accommodate these changes without the group being adversely affected. There will, naturally, be quieter times for the different groups depending on the time of year but the important thing is that they are regularly promoted to members and the outside world in one form or another.
Having the time to focus on these groups in terms of their structure and operation was invaluable to ensure they work as efficiently as possible for the future. Establishing the core teams of lead members has already seen some great new friendships and working relationships flourish during a time they have been unable to meet face to face. These groups will continue to evolve so watch this space to see what new initiatives come up during the next year.
Read the full document here.
For more information, please contact Nicki Lynn at [email protected]
MGI Worldwide with CPAAI is a top 20 ranked global accounting network and association with almost 10,000 independent auditors, accountants and tax experts in some 460 locations in over 100 countries around the world.