PNC Bank Professional Services

Financial success is a marathon, not a sprint. Do you save enough money now, early in your career, to keep your lifestyle in your retirement years? And what’s enough exactly? Experts find most professionals need to save a whole lot more than most of them realize. In this podcast, we detail the ways professionals can help avoid financial mishaps over the long haul of life. Debt management and saving are key, as is having a documented plan with a certified financial planner who can help devise a sound tax strategy.

Thought leadership is a term that has garnered a lot of attention over the past several years — especially in light of the rise of social media and personal branding. The one-to-many model is powerful; use it to your competitive benefit. The ease with which a person can soft sell his or her knowledge and expertise to a large online audience through Twitter, LinkedIn and many other professional platforms is tangible and effective. This podcast gives guidance on what a thought leader is and how to harness that potential for helping professional services providers and private solo practitioners.

You may think you know the competitive landscape of your market, but there is higher probability that you know more about your own customers rather than your actual addressable market. Market data and research can go a very long way in helping companies of all sizes expand from their current position by identifying the competition in detail and uncovering new areas. Every company wants to grow. Here is some concrete methods for helping to identify untapped or under-the-radar opportunities. This podcast gives guidance on how to use market research—either by using free resources on your own or by hiring a professional firm.

The Internal Revenue Service wants companies to be on the lookout for emails purporting to be from the tax collecting government agency. Attempts at phishing happen every year during tax season, but the sophistication of a very specific fake email that has the subject line “Security Awareness for Tax Professionals” is intended to add more chaos and confusion to many professionals lives—especially accountants. The goal of fraudelent emails is for you or your employees to give up your clients private information which can be sold on the black market or used for identity theft. This podcast gives the IRS’ guidance on how to be extra vigilant this year.

With pay increases on the rise for staffers at professional firms, employees may come right out and ask you for a raise. While you may not be able to match salaries at major firms, a well-considered response could help you hang on to your most valued employees. This podcast gives you three ways to approach the situation.

With student debt, current living expenses and wariness of investment markets, millennials may resist retirement planning. To them, retirement feels like a far-off time of life, and planning for it may not top this generation’s to-do list. This podcast offers ideas for countering young adults’ current mindset by helping them see the wisdom in planning ahead.

Professionals and partners who manage their own legal or accounting firms may eventually cede day-to-day management responsibilities as they grow their practices. But will they know who on their staff handle the managerial responsibility? This podcast will help listeners evaluate leadership potential in their ranks with four insightful questions.

Learn smart ways to improve the team dynamics in your accounting or legal firm. Strategies explored in this podcast include giving teams clear objectives; creating the right team size for the task; defining roles and responsibilities; giving every team member a voice; and using rewards as incentives.

The more successful you are at targeting specific areas of expertise and types of clients, the better chance you have of attracting new ones. Here are four tips to help you define your target market.

No matter how skilled you are at developing clients in your area, you may get to a point when the local market simply isn’t big enough to accommodate further growth. Fortunately, the online economy enables smaller firms to reach out to new customers in ways once open only to major companies. Here are a few tips to develop a strategy for extending your reach.