Purpose:

The purpose of this process is to provide a framework for professional services firms to do strategic planning. Based loosely on some of the ideas from EOS/Traction.

<aside> 👋 Madison helps market professional services firms by making your Partners or Managing Directors slightly famous. **Learn more about Madison** or Book a Strategy Call.

</aside>

Part 1: Review the Previous Year

Remind and Celebrate:

• Vision: what is the difference we’re trying to make in the world? Why do we exist?
• Gratitude: what are the big wins we had this year? In what ways should we be really proud of ourselves?

Financial Review:

• Revenue analysis by service line: Identify fastest/slowest growing services, compare against previous year's projections (if relevant), analyze seasonality and trends if any.
• Profitability by client/project type: Identify most/least profitable client segments, review project budget performance, analyze scope creep and how it impacted profitability, etc.
• Utilization rates and billing efficiency: Review billable vs non-billable time, analyze team utilization targets vs actuals, review billing rates or rate cards, etc.
• Cash flow and working capital: Review payment terms, analyze accounts receivable aging, assess working capital needs, review expense management

Client Portfolio:

• ICP assessment: Assess current state ICP and make any necessary refinements.
• Client concentration risk: Assess dependency on key accounts, review client and/or industry diversification opportunities, look for ways to reduce concentration.
• Service line penetration: Map services used by each client, identify cross-selling opportunities, review service bundling effectiveness, etc.
• Client satisfaction metrics: Review NPS or satisfaction scores if you have them, analyze anecdotal or structured feedback for themes, look for improvement opportunities.
• Referral source analysis: Look at primary referral sources, assess conversion rates by referral source, consider potential incentives for referral, explore ways to design more structured referral programs.
• Client lifetime value trends: Look at client tenure relative to previous years, review success with cross-sell or upsell initiatives, identify any trends with client churn or retention risk and design mitigation strategies.