Introduction to coaching club - Rob Nixon and Colin Dunn 

Every elite athlete or business leader has a coach or mentor. Someone to be accountable to and someone who can give a fresh perspective to a situation.

If you want to grow your business and continually improve your service to clients, then you should join one of our proactive coaching clubs. A coaching club is where a maximum of 8 like-minded businesses (1-2 people from each business) meet regularly, share their financial details (targets & actuals) and intellectual property, learn from each other and become accountable to each other. At the same time, supporting each other with new projects and initiatives. This program is not designed to be passive. The aim is for you to get very involved in helping each of your fellow members achieve amazing results.

The program is also about sharing, learning and being accountable. The more you share, the more you will learn and the more you have to be accountable for. And of course, the more you implement the better your business will become.

click here to complete the coaching club expression of interest form and fax to 1300 732 070.

MEET YOUR COACHES

Rob Nixon

Since 1993 Rob has been exclusively focussed on helping Accountants improve their financial position. He...

• Has done extensive research on how the profession works (or does not) - dating back to 1964.
• Has interviewed 1,033 clients of behalf of 129 Accounting firms on what they want from their Accountant.
• Has delivered speeches, workshops and seminars more than 1,100 Accounting industry events in 7 countries.
• Has written countless articles on how high performing accounting firms operate.
• Has benchmarked more than 1,000 firms against each other and authored or co-authored 4 leading benchmarking reports.
• Has developed products, methodologies and leading training programs in 4 separate businesses that still operate successfully today.
• Currently coaches 76 accounting businesses to success.

Rob is the leading worldwide Accounting industry expert. He knows why they work, why they do not and what needs to happen for them to work more efficiently and profitably. 

Colin Dunn

Colin Dunn has recently joined the Rob Nixon team as a qualified Coach for the Coaching Clubs.  Colin is a Chartered Accountant with 20 years' experience in helping Accountants develop and implement strategies to build better businesses. 

He...

• Spent 10 years in one of the fastest growing accounting businesses in the UK.
• Led a project in that business to set up and launch a business consulting division.
• Trained directors and team members in that business to raise awareness of the new division and develop skills.
• Led consulting assignments with business clients, working on business growth and marketing engagements.
• Spent the last 10 years training, coaching and consulting accounting firms, both in the UK and, since 2002, in Australia.
• Has delivered speeches, workshops and seminars in the Accounting industries in Australia, New Zealand, UK, US and Ireland.
• Has developed content, products and systems for Accountants, including the industry leading, web based marketing and client development solution, TRUST.
• Most recently, has acted as a coach to a range of Accounting businesses right around Australia.

Colin is passionate about helping turn Accounting practices into Accounting businesses'.  He is relentless in pursuit of improving the performance of every firm he coaches.

Here's what some of our member firms have to say about the proactive coaching club experience:

'Thank you for being part of the VBD management team.  I'm excited as I am sure you are about the next year will bring.  The work and effort that you and your team continue to provide, keep VBD at the forefront of the profession.  You have allowed us to recognize the value we bring to the table in our day to day dealings with clients at the same time, facilitate an open discussion with our peers.  I truly believe without you, our firm would possibly take another five years to be where it is today.  The accountability from Coaching Club has kept us on a continual course of business improvement. Troy Wink, VBD Charetered Accountants

‘Just one idea implemented from our involvement in the robnixon coaching club has returned our investment in full; and will continue to do so year after year. Rob Nixon keeps our business at the cutting edge of the profession whilst other firms continue to “practice”. It has even bought our team closer together as we strive towards a common goal. We also use our involvement in the coaching club in our recruitment process to display that we are will continue to be proactive.’
Troy Wink, VBD Chartered Accountants

‘The benefits from being a member of a coaching club are that you are constantly challenged and accountable for the targets that you set for yourself. The benchmark for what is possible is questioned and lifted if possible. The value lies partly in what Rob himself brings to the table, but also from sharing experiences and “war stories” with the other members of your group. I would recommend the experience to those considering this option.’
Scott Patterson, Power Tynan

“Our Accountancy Business has been a member of Rob Nixon’s Coaching Club for 10 months and have found the coaching club invaluable in terms of the accountability for your actions. The group is dynamic and really looks forward to the time when we look at how each business member goes with their current projects, set quarterly by the members, to see how the outcomes are affecting our businesses. Also the brainstorming of ideas from other Firms is great - we always look at how others are doing things differently to ourselves to try and move towards best practice. Rob is hard on us if we don’t try to meet the goals we set each meeting – if we get too busy or drop the ball - but that is the real benefit of the coaching club, accountability to the Group, Yourself and Rob for your actions.You already know how to run an accounting business, however putting it all together the way Rob does and working towards set goals with the accountability, really makes a difference. We have increased our dollar recovered per hour by $40. Our write offs have turned to write ons through a change of attitude and our Producer Productivity has increased. We have changed our structure internally at Rob’s suggestion and have created capacity by doing so. We are now in serious growth phase after already growing Gross Fees at over 20% in the 2007 financial year. The increase in profit more than pays for the participation in the coaching club but be aware, this concept is not for the faint hearted, you have to make some tough decisions and have the courage to follow them through.”
Damien Moffrey, Director, Baker & Affleck, Chartered Accountants

“The benefits we have received from Rob's coaching club relate primarily to the fact that he is he constantly challenging us to think about how blue the sky can be. Since joining Rob's club we have critically reviewed our firm to determine where we want to take our business and how we can get there. As you can imagine, this is a thought-provoking process and there has been much value in listening to other members in our group to understand the ways they have approached certain projects and the pitfalls they have had to overcome to achieve their goals. We have no doubt that being a part of the Rob Nixon coaching group has, and always will be, a positive experience”.
Steve Lutz, Principal, Lutz & Associates

"The benefits of being in coaching club are being able to focus on the most important matters to grow the business i.e average hourly rate and to let go as a partner to get out and do the important stuff. The specific outcomes we've achieved are continued improved figures, growth in myself & team and numerous improvements in business systems & processes. Of most value was just talking one on one with other accountants without fear nor favor regarding nitty gritty matters, bouncing ideas, asking questions and learning, listening, soaking up knowledge.”
Grant Keating, Keating & Associates

“The main benefit we have received from the coaching club is focus. We have been encouraged to focus on the KPIs that are most relevant to an Accounting Practice. We are effectively implementing changes on a timely basis due to the fact we have to be accountable to the group. We also benefit from sharing ideas with other proactive group members. We have improved our average hourly rate from $155 when we joined to $209 for the September 2007 quarter. We have moved from -2% write offs to +11% write-ons in the September 2007 quarter. The value of being part of the coaching club is gaining access to the tools (eg Proactive Success System), the networking and the advice to take your business to an entirely different level. Meeting every quarter ensures you refocus on the techniques required to improve your business. It is very similar to an elite athlete who needs his or her technique monitored on a regular basis. If it isn’t checked you can easily slip back into old habits.”
Greg Brennan, Partner, Brennan Sloan Leahy

“The coaching club has assisted us to implement “best practice” systems and procedures, create capacity we never knew existed, and identify and implement growth strategies that have greatly improved the profitability of our practice. Our average hourly rate from $125 to $275 per hour, we've gone from 6% write offs to 7% write on’s, increased net profit before partners salaries by 85% in 12 months and decreased productivity of partner from 75% to 35% (yes, that is an achievement!). We value being accountable to Rob and the group, drawing on experiences, ideas, knowledge and material from other firms and assisting other firms gives me a great sense of satisfaction.” Sean Loader, Business Manager, PfA Alice Springs

“The benefits of coahcing club is regular accountability to results, by partners and business. I've got to know more accountants. The open forum for discussing our business and others businesses in a confidential and meaningful way”
Matt Schlyder, Partner, Elliotts

'Being a member of the coaching club has helped us grow our business through being more pro-active, improved marketing by establishing a menu of services and reassessing our billing process through value adding. It has provided the team with the ability to monitor their own KPI's, have a better sense of ownership and cohesiveness. Our profitability as well as all our other KPI's have continued to improve since joining.'
Colin, Simone, David and the team at Wilson Porter

A new Proactive Coaching Club is started when there are 7-8 businesses willing to commit. We have currently opened up a new group for membership.

If you are interested please download the coaching club information or call Quentin 1300 762 690 for a FREE consultation today.