At Chernoff Newman, I am technically the CFO – but in reality, I am more of an offensive line coach. When I’m yelling at the TV during a game as the QB gets sacked – it’s because an offensive lineman missed his assignment. I’m pretty tough on the O-line because I think they’re the most important group on the team – and the most underrated.
Most fans see the skill players (QBs, running backs, receivers, DBs) as the MVP but, there’s a reason the O-line gets the most expensive gifts – luxury trips, expensive jewelry, Amazon stock, personalized ATVs and more. They are often forgotten about when a huge play goes viral but they’re crucial to a team’s success. Without them, the team is incomplete.
The Chernoff Newman team includes many important players
Likewise, in the agency world, our client-facing teams are incomplete without our accounting and finance team. In “Chernoff Newman: Embracing Change but Retaining Our Values” David Campbell mentions our core value: teamwork. Being on a team undoubtedly involves collaboration, but it also provides checks and balances.
When we form our client-facing teams, we often focus on those who will have weekly contact with our clients, and ancillary team members (like accounting) are often only brought in when problems arise. Much like a web developer can foresee a flaw in a web design, financial team members can help prevent or eliminate any potential financial issues.
Bring in the offensive line coach – A.K.A. the finance team – from the beginning for a solid client-facing team
Including the financial team in client onboarding meetings helps:
- build a rapport with the client where they can also become an additional resource
- discover the client’s needs regarding billing cycles, payments and budgets before sending the first invoice
Quality work and getting results are both essential to maintaining happy clients. To be indispensable, every aspect of your business, including budget maintenance and invoicing, needs to be consistent with the expectations they associate with your brand.
No matter how good the work product, muddying the finances muddies the product.
Members of finance and accounting teams can be valuable, connecting resources between account service teams and the client.
And we promise, if you embrace what we can contribute, we won’t ask for a personalized ATV.
Connect with me
I may be the CFO but I am available to help you discover how your finance department could be of better use to your team and your clients. Feel free to complete this short form and I’ll reach out.
In the meantime, here’s another blog post I wrote that you may like called “What we see matters.” Enjoy and let me know what you think.
