Putting a value on good client systems

03 October 2011 | By Sophie Hall, Director of business development, IntelliFlo

I was talking to a broker last week who is coming up to retirement and has enjoyed over 30 years in the industry.

Despite having traded through more than one recession he has been successful and was hoping to enjoy the fruits of his labour well into retirement.

But he has a problem. He has never had a decent client management system and is finding it difficult to assess the value of his business with supporting evidence. He has no system detailing the volume of his clients, or their issued or potential future business.

The permutations of multiplications of renewals do not do justice to the business he has been running for three decades or to the other income streams that sit alongside these.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing of course, but he’s now looking to use a client management system to get a value on his business that is higher than the derisory figure he’s being quoted.

Whenever I talk to businesses about having a decent practice management system, they often talk about the here and now, about driving down costs and driving up revenue opportunities exactly what a good system should provide.

However, the more information you can provide on your business to a potential purchaser when the time comes to sell, the more reasons you can give to support the price you’re asking.

The days of referring a purchaser to a filing cabinet are over. Getting a decent system which shows you believe your business is worth investing in will demonstrate its value to others.

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