CFO Chronicles: The Secrets Behind Success

From Vision to Domination: Rusty Fulling’s Secrets for Leadership and Client Success

• James Donovan • Season 1 • Episode 12

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Discover the incredible journey of Rusty Fulling, founder of Fulling Management and Accounting, as he reveals the pivotal moments and strategies that have shaped his nearly 25-year career. We promise you'll gain insight into Rusty's transformative experience in Honduras that led him to see his business as a mission, sparking an era of growth through leadership development. Rusty's approach to future forecasting ensures that business owners aren't just swamped by daily tasks but actively pursuing their goals, providing clarity and peace of mind along the way.

Join us as we uncover the secrets behind Rusty's success in building meaningful client relationships and effective sales strategies. Learn how the GRACE acronym—Growth, Representing the client, Accountability, Champion attitude, and Eternal impact—has been a cornerstone of his business philosophy, leading to sustained growth and client retention. Rusty shares how defining an ideal client profile and integrating into clients' teams has been crucial for long-term success. Whether you're a new entrepreneur or a seasoned business owner, the insights and strategies revealed in this episode could transform your approach to business growth and client relationships.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to CFO Chronicles the secrets behind success, the go-to podcast for fractional CFOs and accounting firm owners who want to attract more high-paying clients and increase their revenue. Hosted by James Donovan from Nine Two Media, this podcast dives into marketing strategies specifically designed for lead generation and client acquisition. In each episode, you'll hear from industry leaders sharing their success stories and Thank you so much for joining today, rusty.

Speaker 2:

I'm really looking forward to diving in and hearing more about your firm. I know you work with a lot of business owners. You really simplify the boring spreadsheets, the complicated spreadsheets and help people get to the answers they need within their business. So, without further ado, I'd love for you to give a quick introduction about yourself and I'll stop talking.

Speaker 3:

Hey, there you go. Well, thanks, james. Man. Enjoyed visiting with you and listening to some of your previous episodes as well, and sounds like we may have a few travel things in common, so we'll have to circle back to that. But yeah, so, rusty Fulling, I launched Fulling Management and Accounting back in April of 2000.

Speaker 3:

So that may have been even before you were born we didn't talk about ages before this but almost 25 years ago, and it was funny. I just came across my original business plan, james, from 25 years ago, and I just came across my original business plan, james, from 25 years ago. And what's really cool is, even after all these years, a lot of those same things that we really set out to do all those years ago are still true today, and so I'm really excited that we've kind of stayed the course, kind of that long game approach, and so that's been a lot of fun. We're totally virtual work with companies primarily around the United States we do have a couple in Canada but we provide really that CFO, that fractional CFO work, and we do some accounting and bookkeeping along with that.

Speaker 2:

That's awesome, that's cool, and no, I was about seven, roughly seven, when you were starting the company.

Speaker 3:

Thanks for that clarification.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's awesome 25 years in business. Congratulations, because we just passed our fifth year anniversary, nice. So, seeing what that is like, you know 5X that's a huge accomplishment, Because I was like wow, five years already.

Speaker 3:

But to 5X, that's cool.

Speaker 2:

I was like, wow, five years already, but to five, that's cool. What would you say then if you can pinpoint like some of the key factors that have kept you going for 25 years? Cause I I can't imagine 25 years. It's always been up into the right and sunshine and rainbows.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, a lot, of, a lot of clouds in between, right, so we so I think it was about year 10, james, that I just was a little bit burnt out and that's probably common among a lot of, whether it's accounting or any type of business. But I've just been putting along in business and really not any major growth, just kind of that steady, slow pace. And I had gone to a mission trip in Honduras and man just came back really pumped about a lot of things we were able to accomplish down there. We did some teaching of skills, my daughter taught sewing and we did some medical brigades and just really amazing and just really felt called to man, how can we make a difference in people's lives on a missional standpoint. And we talked about even moving to Honduras and just giving up this whole accounting thing.

Speaker 3:

And I remember a friend challenging me during that time and saying, what if your mission is the business that you're already in? And I just thought, oh my goodness, I haven't been treating it like that and so what's really neat? That was one of those pivotal moments where I really began to cast vision for what the company could look like and began investing in leadership development for myself and our small little fledgling team at the time and if you're looking at a chart you could just see that was kind of the tipping point. So it took me 10 years to get off the ground. So hopefully you've done it a little bit quicker than I have.

Speaker 2:

That's really cool. It's so interesting because I think so many people get caught up in the day to day and you basically just buy yourself a job when you go out on your own, or you buy yourself two jobs or three jobs and you forget where do I want this to go and what steps am I taking so that I'm actually going to get there and I'm not just going through the motions each day? Yeah, and that is why I love working with fractional CFOs, because that's what you do for other businesses. You go in and you say, hey, all of the like the bookkeeping, the payroll that's great, there's a time and place for it, but that stuff's all happened in the past. Let's future forecast. So what are some things that get you excited about new clients and seeing where they can go, and then you know when they eventually hit that goal?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, I think it was around that year 10, even year 12, when we began developing our mission statement and we kind of had some kind of stumbled along some statements over the years and really our statement was helping business owners get clarity, grow profits and gain peace of mind and just keeping it real simple. And so what gets me up in the morning is actually those three statements Get clarity. Watching somebody the light bulb come on for a business owner, it's just amazing. When they get clarity around man, what, what do I, what am I doing? Or how do I even find a break even point in my business? Or how do I know I'm going to be profitable? And then you know it is that next step, as far as you know, grow profits. Let's show them how they can have better outcomes from the work they're doing.

Speaker 3:

And I love the third piece that really gain peace of mind. And that's one of our early business owners said you've helped me sleep at night. And, man, when you're putting people to sleep, that should have been our slogan. When you're putting people to sleep, that's great, because you know they're at peace in what their work, you know they're accomplishing at work and what they're doing. So those are the things that really get me and now our team, you know inspired in the things we get to do each day.

Speaker 2:

Nice. There's definitely a joke in there already about going to sleep with a campaign. That's right. That's right, that's cool. How did you get started with all of this, rusty? So? Or going out on your own 25 years ago?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, back when you were seven, I know, back when you were seven.

Speaker 3:

So I had worked for a traditional CPA firm and you know, like so many in this industry, just working way too many hours and you know, to the point where it was really taking a toll just on my personal health. And so I started out with three little clients, you know, all those years ago. And what's neat is one of those little clients are one of our biggest clients today and so just growing along beside them. But part of that was just finding, you know, part of my intention was how can somebody be in this industry and have a good work-life balance and only work 40 hours a week on a regular basis? And really it's neat, you can do it, you just need to be intentional about it. And so, yeah, looking back over the years, I would say there's very few seasons that we've typically exceeded 40 hours and that's just been intentional about what we wanted to accomplish and just make sure we're putting family and faith and some of those kind of things first and you can serve people well with that model.

Speaker 2:

That's incredible being intentional. So how do you, how are you putting those things into place? So you are being intentional, because I think sometimes that does get thrown around loosely and it's like, oh, just you know, just be intentional, that's the key, but then no one does it Right. So how how are you actually making sure you're intentional so that, yeah, you are capped at 40 hours a week and you are hitting all the other things that you want to to do in the run of a week or in the run of a month.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, I think that you're exactly right. That can just be a nice mantra, but hey, behind the scenes let's make sure we're working lots of hours. I think one thing that was helpful for us was establishing some core values. And again, those can easily be put up on the shelf and look pretty, but we actually use a core value acronym called GRACE, G-R-A-C-E, and we talk about growth, we talk about representing the client, accountability, champion attitude and eternal impact. And if you think about just a couple of those like accountability, if I tell my team we're only going to work 40 hours a week or less, you know they're looking at me, okay, what are you working? And if you're working at, you know, 60, 70 hours, you're not being accountable. And so I think some of those kinds of things our last one, eternal impact what we say there is how can we have a bigger impact than just the numbers? And that's not just for our clients but for our team members as well, so they have healthy families, healthy relationships in and out of business.

Speaker 2:

That's great. I love the acronym. Let's flip the script a little bit to the marketing side of things and sales, because, being in business 25 years, I'm guessing all of the money didn't come in year one and you're coasting off of it. So what were you doing 25 years ago to get clients? And then I'll ask what you're doing now.

Speaker 3:

Yeah Well, this would be one of those deficits. I think and hopefully you don't have any marketing people listening to this but our goal as a company for the first 10 years was literally to add one new client a year. That's it one. So I know that's pretty exciting and honestly, that was just knocking on doors and kissing babies and the networking events and it was slow go and pretty painful, I'd say over the last 10 to 15 years, a lot of the things that you see I hear a lot of other CFO folks doing this but the business advisory groups, the roundtable groups, anywhere that you can provide value first and you know I think that's it's always about giving first and then, and then, a lot of times, boy, you know, I think that's it's always about giving first and then, and then, a lot of times, boy, you get something uh, uh on the backside of that.

Speaker 3:

But, um, it's not a one size fits all. I think too many times people will say, oh well, this person's. So you know, uh, doing so well in this industry, I better copy their, their, uh, their model. I it's always find inspiration from others, but not imitation. And so you know, just because this is the way we've grown through roundtable relationships and just those mentoring opportunities and those kinds of things. Boy, you might dive into that a little bit, but you might find something that really fits your personality, your model, even better. But I'd say the relationship piece has always been best for us.

Speaker 2:

Okay, interesting. So, on like a monthly basis right now, quarterly, do you have the consistency where you know, all right, we're going to have so many opportunities per month? We can sell more than one person a year now.

Speaker 3:

So many opportunities per month. We can sell more than one person a year now. Yeah, yeah, we've definitely amped that up a little bit. So, yeah, in fact, part of that vision that I talked about earlier, we actually, once a year, get together with our team and we cast vision, for here's the number of clients we're going to have it this year, or a year from now, two years from now and even three years from now. So you know, that's where it starts.

Speaker 3:

I would say, is vision. Make sure you're casting, because if you just say we're going to grow, well, if you add one, then yeah, you've accomplished your growth. But make sure you're specific in that, and so that's been really helpful. So we have a measurement that we're going after, and what's really fun with that is boy. I mean, we all know what it is, and so you can ask any of our team members, hey, what are we shooting for in 2025? And they'll be able to say, hey, here's our metrics that we're going after. So, yes, I'd say we're a lot more intentional. We're still not looking to add 1,000 clients next year, but we're very strategic in the type of businesses. We've identified our ideal client and we want to make sure we're very strategic in the type of businesses. We've identified our ideal client and we want to make sure we're targeting those.

Speaker 2:

Make sure they're a good fit both ways before we bring them on board. Yeah, cool, and how? How are you guys targeting them now? Is it? Are you doing more than than just the, like the round tables that you're that you were involved in? Are you doing some other stuff?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Yeah, we do a lot of traditional things like the newsletters and those kinds of things. We've really focused a lot more on social media, just from, I'd say, linkedin, facebook, even some Instagram, you know. Some of that is just more I would almost call it drip marketing a little bit of that. Just you know, people know your name, kind of thing. One thing that we found really helpful is finding forums online where you can again give guidance and just participate as just another member of that community, and again that can just build that credibility and again you're serving, before you know, selling a model.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I like that. That's cool. Lead with value and you're going to get a lot of that back in return. Yeah, do you have team members who that's their specific job, to jump on and do the outreach on forums, because that could be probably a bit problematic when it comes to scaling that specific strategy, right?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, and coming up with content that can be really challenging. I should clarify that content that's relevant, that people will actually read, that can be challenging. So one of the things we've done over the last probably year and a half or so is we've actually hired some outside assistants in those areas. So I think that's where you know, if we're fractional in our role, there's no reason we shouldn't be engaging in other fractional services from other people. And so, yeah, we've hired some fractional marketing or content creators. We've hired, you know, fractional IT, some different things like that. So, yeah, definitely, you know, love engaging in the fractional model.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, oh, I mean it's. It's also representing exactly what your business is, right.

Speaker 3:

So that's right. That makes a lot of sense.

Speaker 2:

Talk to me a little bit about your sales process, because a lot of the clients we work with, a lot of prospects we speak to, come to our our, our own ads, our own outreach conversations, everywhere.

Speaker 2:

They're really good at what they do but they have a really difficult time getting that value communicated to their prospects to the point where the average business owner of an hvac company or a plumbing company, whatever industry it is medical company, they just they don't know what, they don't know what they don't know and they don't know where an actual CFO comes in and what they do, it's like, oh, I have a bookkeeper, I'm good.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, I was just on with a service business right before our chat here, and yeah, that was his exact words. I don't know, I don't know what a CFO does, but I think I need one. And so, honestly, what we typically do is just start out with an education call and walk them through the process. We'll gather information from them, things like their QuickBooks data if they're using QuickBooks, last year's tax return, any other relevant information. We also gather their DISC or some type of communication style assessment, and then what we'll do is we'll go through, identify some of the things that concerns or needs that they may have communicated or have, and then come through and talk about hey, here's some benefits of a CFO, of an accountant, of even a bookkeeper, what that looks like and even putting some pricing models together. So we really approach it more as an education versus you got to sign today or you don't get this deal, and we just found that so helpful.

Speaker 3:

And sometimes people are like, hey, I'm ready to sign today. Others are like, hey, can we talk next year? And so a lot of it again approaching it from a let's get, let's get you up to that speed. You know, and sometimes, james, you know this, I mean, sometimes you, you get into that and they're expecting $50 a month. You're like 5,000 a month and you know you've missed the, you missed the communication somewhere. So we've actually done a uh, uh, no, but at least one video we've we put out there for prospective clients and we go over the top six questions that business owners ask and one of them is how much does this cost? And so we talk about pricing models for CFO work and so it kind of sets that benchmark and we've had some watch the video and say, oh, we're not going to be a good fit. So that's a, that's a nice easy out so you don't go through the exercise.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, a hundred percent, we have. I need to update ours on our website. It's a little dated now from from what we're offering. But I've had a handful of people reach out and they're like hey, I've saw your video. I came through the ad. We're not a fit. Hey, no problem, not everyone is. And if you're, if you think you can sell to everyone, you're selling to no one. So that's right and too many business owners like oh no, I serve everyone, I can work with anyone.

Speaker 3:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

You can't. So who's your ideal client then you? Guys are you're speaking at round tables. You're you're doing targeting on LinkedIn, other avenues who's the ideal client for you guys?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, several years ago we brought on a client that more than doubled our business overnight. It was just this big, massive company for us and we were so excited. And, james, within six months we lost that client. We had never lost a client and we lost this massive client like, oh my goodness, the world's ending. And what had happened was it was way out of our league. It wasn't, you know, if we had an ideal client. It was not.

Speaker 3:

And it really prompted us during that season to begin identifying what are the attributes of that ideal client. And what was interesting, as we back then had an old whiteboard and started writing all these attributes, we really lean towards the leader attributes of those companies not necessarily the industry, and we're looking at things like high integrity, well-respected, you know, sees value in outsourcing. You know those type of attributes. And then, on the other side of the ledger, you might say we looked at things like they're a one to 50 employee company, they're a one to 20 million in revenue, you know they may be using traditional software like QuickBooks and so. But we really focused again on the leader attributes and that's why, when I mentioned the disk profile, it really helps us know are we going to be a good communication style for that client and so that's been extremely helpful and really kind of. We share that on our website so people can actually see oh, do I fit this model.

Speaker 2:

That's cool. It's so important to nail down who your ideal client is. Yeah, or retention and it sounds like you guys have, and I'm sure your attention is a direct reflection of that and in turn, even bringing on the one or two clients a year. If you're never losing anybody, you're going to keep it Sure, yeah, yeah. What have you noticed to be some of the keys to success? Retention wise for your business, because you could be the greatest sales rep in the world and sell, sell, sell. But if you're constantly losing clients, it's going to make for a really tough grind business because you're constantly on a hamster wheel. So I'd love to hear what's working for you as far as retention goes.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah. I think of some of those clients that we've had, for, you know, 10 and even 20, 25 years now, that part of that is just integrating with their team. So, instead of you know, if you're at a meeting with them, they're not introducing you as, oh, here's our outside vendor, they're just like, you know, here's our CFO, here's our CMO, here's, you know, and you're just part of their team, and so I think that's a big piece. The other thing is knowing, really getting to know people, and so you know if somebody's had a loss in the family, we know it. You know we're sending flowers, we're doing something proactively. If their kid wins the state championship football game, we're going to know it, we're going to celebrate, we're going to send them, you know, something fun. So that can be part of it is just again, integrating, is just part of the team. And so again, when we're looking at that ideal client, we're looking for those relationships, and if it's just transactional, we'll say upfront you know we're not going to be a good fit, but it's really neat.

Speaker 3:

We had a client years ago that had a product they were trying to get through. The FDA. Food and Drug Administration in the United States took 17 years to get this product through. I mean just painful. And what was really cool, james, is he didn't call his wife, he didn't call his partners, but he called us to say, hey, we just got that through. Now I'll tell you what. That was quite an honor. But it also spoke highly of our team and just how integrated we'd become with our company, because we all knew that was a big deal and so it can be things like that. So celebrations, integrations, you know whatever you can do to really become part of the team.

Speaker 2:

That's awesome, rusty. You mentioned near the start of the recording and I see behind you a couple books. You're talking about investing in leadership. Are there any books that you recommend around leadership that you'd recommend to other leaders or other entrepreneurs?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I think. One, oh, I think it was a couple of years ago I read, called Redeeming your Time by Jordan Rainer. Sometimes we get so wrapped, you know, especially those that get wrapped up in working way too many hours. Boy, that can just kind of reset your time and just gives you some new perspective on really what's important in life. Yeah, there's so many, so many good ones. I'm actually reading one right now Grab it here called Creating Superfans. And you know I love the uh, the, the super fans, the raving fan uh book, um, any of those that you know. Sometimes we get wrapped up again in that transactional piece but, boy, it's, it's the above the transactions. That that's where I think we can learn so much in leadership, uh, and, and so I definitely encourage our industry to spend more time in those types of books versus the, the newest tax in those type books versus the newest tax provision that just came out.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for sharing that. I'm going to have to check some of those books out. I'll listen back so that I can grab the name of it, you bet. Last question for you, rusty what would you say to anyone who's listening, who wants to break into the advisory work? What advice do you have for them? I know it's pretty open-ended, but yeah, yeah, I would.

Speaker 3:

I would go with Patrick Lencioni's book the Ideal Team Player and what I'm, and, and he talks about what you're looking for. This is on a hiring standpoint, but you're looking for people that are humble, hungry and smart. And so somebody breaking into the advisory role, you need to be humble. You don't know everything, Okay, so be humble, ask good questions. And so many times we're ready to give advice. Ask good questions.

Speaker 3:

Hungry, you want to work? Okay, people aren't going to pay you just because you carry a nice laptop or whatever. Yeah, you know you got to work. Okay, people aren't going to pay you just because you carry a nice laptop or whatever. You got a nice webcam man. Be prepared to do the work. So be hungry to do the work. And the last one smart, hungry, humble, smart, be people. Smart, read the room okay, and so if somebody is, we'll say, a high D on the disk, they want it now. Don't spend two hours going over a financial statement. Give them bullet points, financials. So be hungry, humble and smart would be my, at least initial guidance. And I think studying and maybe even finding a mentor who's doing it. That is so valuable and I've found so much value in that myself. So those would be a couple words of encouragement there.

Speaker 2:

Fantastic. That's awesome. I can't back enough what you're saying about finding a mentor. That has been the biggest growth hack for me in the last five years is just investing in people who've already been to where I want to go and done it faster. So thank you so much for sharing all of that. Rusty, I guess this will be the last question. How will people get in touch with you if they want to reach out to you?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I'd love to connect, and especially in this industry, if there's business owners that are looking to get into this industry Fuling, fulling, m, g, m, t, fulling managementcom, um, or they can go out to rusty fullingcom as well. And uh, I share a more leadership stories on the on the personal website there. That might be kind of fun for for some to to follow that as well. But uh, either one of those, yeah, love to connect. So perfect.

Speaker 2:

We'll get those links in the description of the episode and hopefully some people connect with you and you guys have a fruitful conversation. I appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Speaker 3:

Hey, thanks, james, good to see you.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for listening to CFO Chronicles the secrets behind success. We hope today's episode provided valuable strategies to help you attract more high paying clients. Be sure to subscribe, follow and share with fellow professionals. Connect with us on LinkedIn and leave a review or comment to join the conversation. Your feedback helps us bring you the best insights in finance and marketing. Until next time, keep striving for success and unlocking your business's potential.