Publisher's comment: This is a synopsis of the original article entitled "Joe Woodard's Secret Sauce to Great Client Service" from Intuit Accountants News Central. When I think of secret sauce I can't help but recall the McDonald's commercials from the 70's that made the "secret sauce" part of our vernacular. Joe shares how every business needs to have it's own "secret sauce" in order to be successful, just like McDonald's, including his three key ingredients of the special sauce driving the growth and success of his businesses.
The secret sauce has three ingredients: Vision, Mission and Purpose.
Vision
Your vision is your life goal – your perpetual passion and your perpetual pursuit until the day you die.
A vision defines the high level direction of your firm, but it is not ultimately achievable. If your vision is something you can accomplish within the span of your career, your vision is far too
small. Instead, your vision must, by its nature, extend beyond what you can do alone or even what an entire company can accomplish in a single generation. A vision, therefore, is ultimately a baton you pass along to your successors.
Mission
Your mission is a set of measureable actions you perform toward the fulfillment of your vision. Simply put, a mission statement is what your firm does – the actions your firm performs as part of the perpetual journey toward the firm’s vision.
Purpose
Your purpose is a client-centric statement that defines every action you take.
Your purpose statement connects the mission statement to the daily operations of the company, infusing the mission statement into the energy of your team and the culture of your practice.
If written correctly, your purpose statement is the only answer to the question, “What are you doing right now?”
What Is Your Secret Sauce?
The secret sauce for excellent client service is a blend of a compelling and communicated vision, a challenging but achievable and measureable mission, and a practical sense of purpose.
I challenge you to become a purpose driven firm. What are you waiting for?
You can read the full article here.