I used to think I was really good at delivering high-quality, absurdly valuable monthly CFO calls. 

Great insights. Timely and accurate data. Carefully constructed strategies. World-class CFO calls are made of precisely this stuff!  

Yes, my CFO calls were the bees' knees - or so I thought.

But nothing delivers a warm slice of humble pie quite like 3 clients cancelling their services with you within 90 days. And that's precisely what was delivered to me early on in my career as a Fractional CFO.

Something wasn't working, and I would have to go back to the drawing board to figure out what I was doing wrong so I could course-correct if I wanted to stay in business.

(Spoiler alert: I made it.)

In today's edition, I'm going to share 5 mistakes I've made on monthly CFO calls so you can avoid humble pie à la mode, better known as churn.

Let's dive in.

Mistake #1: No Agenda

Probably the most common reason for client churn is that your CFO calls aren't delivering enough strategic insights.

And the most common reason for that is because your calls go off the rails and venture down rabbit holes.

Here's how it unfolds:

You get into your monthly CFO call. You start by reviewing the financial statements when BAM - the client hits you with something like this: "Hey, quick question - do you think we should be categorizing Sally as direct or indirect labor?"  

These questions are dangerous because you can easily get into a 30-minute conversation about your philosophy on how to split labor between COS and SG&A.

Value added for the client?

$0

The client gets absolutely no value out of that conversation, one way or the other.

The most effective way to prevent your calls from going off the rails like this is to set an agenda at the top of the call. When the distractions start to surface, refer back to the agenda to keep things on track.

"Great question, Amanda. Let me write that down and circle back to you next week. We've got some important things still to cover today, and I want to make sure we stay on track. Let's circle back to that."

Referencing back to the agenda is a very polite way to keep the call focused, so you can make sure to only talk about truly strategic matters.

Mistake #2: Spending too Much Time in the Past

I think we can all agree that our clients are paying us the big bucks because they want us to deliver high-value, forward-looking strategies and insights. Things that will help the business owner hit their goals and buy their kids Lambos for their Sweet 16. (Just kidding. Mostly.)

So when we get on our monthly CFO calls and spend 20, 30, or even 40+ minutes discussing the financial statements, it means we are NOT spending that time on forward-looking strategies.

In our industry, this is what's known as "a bad thing".

I've found that the sweet spot for rear-view mirror discussions (aka financial statements) is somewhere around 10-12 minutes. Anything longer than that and the clients will eventually become frustrated.

But what if the client asks a lot of questions about the financial statements you ask? 

See #1 above.

Mistake #3: Lack of Preparation

Games are not won or lost on game day.

Games are won or lost at practice in preparation for game day.

The same holds true for the monthly CFO call. When done correctly, your preparation for a CFO call should be the single most time-intensive activity each month. Depending on the client, their industry, what season they're in, and other factors, you could spend 3-5 hours on prep for just one CFO call. 

A great CFO call has to strike a necessary balance of depth (this is where you're going beyond reporting and add real value) and focus (this is how you keep the call at 60 minutes). One can only find this balance through sufficient, intentional preparation. 

This is how you win on game day. 

I cannot recommend strongly enough that you implement a process for preparing for CFO calls. It should include checklists, prompts, questions, and specific metrics you should evaluate. If you don't have a defined process, the preparation stage can easily take 10+ hours per client. That's why I included 18+ pages of checklists my firm uses inside The CFO Academy. (Shameless plug. Sorry, not sorry.)

Mistake 4: Not Clear About Why THIS CFO Call is Important

I've found that you should have a thesis statement for each CFO call. 

As you prepare for the call, you should ask yourself what core message or theme you want the client to take away. 

In other words, I want you to LITERALLY ask yourself: 

Why is THIS CFO call important? 

Write out the answer.

If you're unable to articulate why the call is important, your client certainly won't know either. 

If you're coming up with responses like "This call is important because we're going over goals," or "We will be looking at the financials," you'll need to go back to the drawing board. 

Here's an example of a winner: 

This month's CFO call is important because the client's gross profit margins are 10% lower than they need to be. I've identified 3 potential fixes to the gross profit margin problem, and I'm going to review them with the client to see if we can reach a consensus on which fix to implement over the next 90 days so they can hit their EOY goals.

Boom goes the dynamite. 

With a thesis in hand, avoiding distractions on the call becomes much easier because you know exactly where you're driving.

As a bonus, let the client know why THIS call is important (before the call) so they show up focused and prepared.

Mistake 5: Disconnect Between Your Strategies and Their Goals

Watch out for this because it's probably the most common (yet most frequently ignored) mistake you can make with your clients:

Your strategies are excellent. But your client doesn't understand how those strategies help them achieve their goals.

The reason this slips in so easily is simple. We assume that the client understands how renegotiating terms with their material supplier will boost GPM by 4%. This, in turn, will provide a $297,000 swing in net, giving them the money needed for their expansion and unlocking the EBITDA growth required for the big exit.

All they hear is "you need to have a difficult conversation with a key supplier." Those aren't fun, and so the client just doesn't do it.

Margins stay meh, and the client starts to think your strategies just don't work for them.

Sounds wild, but it happens.

ALL. THE. TIME.

You can't be TOO overt about connecting the dots between your strategies and their goals.

The CFO Call Is Where You Earn Your Keep

I used to naively think that the CFO call was as simple as reporting on the financials and going over some forecasts and projections.

That's the 101-level CFO call - and if you stay at the 101 level too long, your clients will churn.

Take a few of the mistakes I've shared with you today and see if you can incorporate them into your CFO call toolbox.