DETalks - Kurt Siemers - Report from a Top 100 Firm

Kurt Siemers, CEO of Top 100 CPA firm, Kennedy and Coe, shares the story of how he and his fellow partners are making the transition to becoming a Firm of the Future. In his DETalk he shares six key elements that have helped them during this journey.

1. Our Value Creation Process is an operations model that is guided by our Mission of "enhancing the well being of our people and the clients we serve", as well as a way to demonstrate our positioning statement of "Genuine People. Creative Ideas. Valuable Results."
2. Our firm has always believed in creating value for clients. The Value Creation Process helps us walk the talk.
3. To enhance the well being of both our people and clients over the long-term, we must create value for each of our clients and be paid on the basis of that value. Without doing both, our ability to continually bring value to our clients will be lost.
4. It is critical to be genuine with our clients at all times so we both understand each others expectations-this is a foundational piece of a long- term caring relationship that is imbedded in our value creation process.
5. Once we were able to accept that an hours worth of work does not define the value of what may have accomplished for a client, were able to be more creative in seeing more ways to create value for our clients.
6. Discussing value with our clients helps both of us more effectively understand what is valuable to the client and that helps both of us contribute to the quality of the relationship.