ADVISORS
i) Getting the Right Professional Help
Getting The Right Professional Help
In these complicated economic times every business faces more and more situations in which it needs the best legal, accounting, and other specialist advice it can get. And with billing rates for professional services relatively expensive, one can hardly afford anything less than top-quality advice that exactly meets your requirements. Unfortunately, a professional designation does not distinguish between the merely adequate and the highly competent, as many have discovered to their regret.
One Ontario businessman, for example, agreed to the repayment schedule of a debt he was owed when his lawyer assured him that his interests were fully protected. Later when the debtor company went into receivership, the client found himself merely an unsecured creditor; yet had the businessman fully understood this possibility at the time of the agreement he could have pursued other options which were open to him. Still, the client was not entirely blameless since he had after all chosen this particular advisor. In fact, many businesses continue to select their professionals in a surprisingly unbusinesslike fashion.
There are, for example, some business persons who insist on treating professional advisors with kidgloves. While professional advisors are educated and skilled, they are doing no more than offering their services in the marketplace, like any merchant. Your attitude when hiring a professional should therefore be the same as when hiring anyone: you're paying the shot and you have every right to be demanding and inquisitive.
But that means you have to know what you're going to be demanding about. While advisors can make suggestions, it is the client's responsibility to decide what the strategic direction is and what kind of advice is needed. And given the wide range of specialized legal, accounting, and consulting services available, deciding will take careful thought. A jack-of-all-trades advisor who sounds like he would tackle any subject on earth is probably to be avoided. Of course, a reputable firm will also tell the client what services he does not need. Nevertheless, it is the client who makes the final decision on what services are necessary; if you don't know what you want, you'll never know if your professional is delivering it or not. Nor will you know whether his experience is appropriate to your needs or not.
One must also consider the personal characteristics that an advisor should have. First and foremost are excellent communication skills, combined with a commitment to keeping the client continuously and fully informed. Hence, if the advisor is not able to ask questions you can answer, or if his own answers are not clear, look without hesitation for someone else.
In addition, there should be a sense of personal affinity between the advisor and client, the "right chemistry". A sense of openess and trust are essential. It should also be noted that the best professional relationships are those which are built up over time.
If your present advisors seem unsatisfactory, tell them so and explain why. Perhaps it is something they did not know about and can change. If not, or if you're in the market for an advisor for the first time, you draw up a short list of likely prospects, all of whom you will interview.
Your list will of course include recommendations from colleagues. But include those recommendations only after asking for corroborating information. Remember that some persons are unlikely to admit they paid for the services of an idiot and some will badmouth an advisor because he or she did not tell them what they wanted to hear. You can also select names from the membership directories of professional societies, some of whom, like the Law Society of Upper Canada, provide referral assistance, from advertisements and promotional literature, and from yes, the telephone yellow pages. Select 3 or 4 possibilities; if they prove unsuitable, draw another batch.
It is important to note that these interviews need entail little or no expense. Most reputable consulting and accounting firms do not usually charge for an initial interview of an hour or so as long as its clear purpose is to explore the possibility of a relationship. Some lawyers waive any fee for an initial half-hour interview and others charge token fees. But in all cases when you phone for an appointment, make sure no significant fee is involved. If it is, scratch the name and move on. And don't trouble to hide the fact that you're shopping around. Any competent firm should be prepared to set their credentials up against the competition; if they're not, move on.
Since you wish to accomplish a good deal during your initial conversation, be prepared. Know what kind of experience and background you want your advisor to have; make sure you discuss costs; be alert for communication skills and personal compatibility. Take the initiative in these conversations.
Finally, while professionals accept the need for competitive evaluations, they urge prospective clients to be sophisticated enough to base their judgement on more than a small difference in price. With professionals, as with all shopping, it's the value you get for your money that counts.
ii) The Good Advisors Checklist
The good advisor is someone who:
iii) The Good Client Checklist
You are a good client of an advisor (something useful happens) when you: