Every Monday morning, Bill Hagaman, our firm’s managing partner/CEO, sends an email to the over 850 people at our firm. His email a few weeks ago hit the mark on providing value as the distinguishing factor in getting new business.

Many times I have provided services that I believed had significant value to the client, but the client complained about the fee. His value centered on how little he would have to pay for it. This is always upsetting, but this poignantly came into focus a few weeks ago.

When I started writing these columns three years ago, I felt I could do about 25 or 30 short articles with autobiographical reminiscences colleagues might benefit from. I also wanted to give insights to students and people entering the profession about what accountants in public practice do and how they interact with clients. This column completes three full years: 156 weekly columns. And the ideas keep flowing, so I really feel good about what I am doing, and I hope they help you.

My car had a recall notice and I had to bring it in. What started out as an annoyance became a positive experience because of the way it was presented to me.