Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Hosted by Steve Phipps of Wayfind Marketing, The Growth-Minded Marketing Podcast simplifies marketing for B2B CEOs ready to grow with confidence. Each episode offers real-world strategies, step-by-step coaching, and inspiring CEO interviews—all designed to help you align your marketing with your business goals, stop wasting time and money, and scale without the stress. If you’re a growth-minded leader tired of vague advice and underperforming tactics, this is your next step.
Fancher: We've got to really
buckle down get a clear vision of
who we are and why we exist and.
Teach that and live that out
with our team every day so
that our clients understand it.
And , 2020 was a real catalyst to
just force those changes on us.
'cause we knew if we didn't, we were
gonna be obsolete and not survive it.
Steve: When Fancher said that, I
knew our listeners needed to hear
the rest of the story because every
CEO eventually hits that moment.
The moment where clarity is not
optional, where the way that you've
always done things isn't going
to carry you into the future.
Welcome to the Growth Minded Marketing
Podcast, where we help CEOs and marketing
leaders simplify marketing, lead with
confidence and grow with purpose.
And today's conversation with Fancher
Sergeant, the managing shareholder
at CRS CPAs in Jackson, Tennessee.
It's full of lessons every leader can use.
AnnieLaurie : What I love about
Fan's Journey is that it didn't
start with a big polished vision.
It started with an internship.
What a great story.
He walked into a small firm as
employee number five, and then
eventually helped lead a multi-office
50 person practice through mergers,
specialization, culture shifts and
some tough identity defining moments.
Steve: Yeah.
And what ultimately unlocked
their growth wasn't a new service
line or uh, a fancy strategy.
It was clarity.
They did the deep work of defining their
mission, their vision, their values.
They shifted away from being generalists.
They let go of limiting beliefs like
clients expect me to do everything.
And they embraced the idea that
saying no is sometimes the most
strategic move that you can make
AnnieLaurie : If you are leading
through change, feeling stuck,
or trying to get your team
aligned around what matters most.
This episode is going to give
you a lot to think about.
Steve: Let's jump into the
conversation with Fancher.
Well, hey everybody.
Welcome to.
This episode of the Growth Minded
Marketing Podcast, and I'm really
looking forward to today's episode.
Today I have joining me as my guest
Fancher Sergeant, who is with CRS.
It's a CPA firm base out of
Jackson, Tennessee, and Fancher
is the managing shareholder.
And Fancher, welcome to the podcast.
Fancher: Yeah, glad to be here.
Steve: Well, fan Chirk, you and I have
known each other going back to the mid
nineties, back when we were both at Union
University, and some great memories and
but a few years back, you and I had the
opportunity to start working together.
And we continue to work with CRS providing
a variety of different marketing services.
But Fancher, I love your story.
I love the firm's story.
So if you would just share with our
listeners a little bit about you, how
you came to CRS and CR S's story as well.
'cause it's a fascinating narrative
of how it even got started.
Fancher: Yeah.
Yeah.
I, yeah.
I love talking about how we got here.
So I actually started here as an intern
while I was in my senior year at Union.
And at the time it was a small,
I think I was the fifth employee.
Oh, wow.
Hired in number five.
Okay.
Yeah, number five.
And we stayed around there at
that stage for, I'd say probably
first 10 years of my career here.
And then just by, you know.
Faith's design.
We started talking to some other
firms that were in similar position.
And when I say similar positions that were
sole proprietors who had grown their firms
to a handful of employees, but they were
reaching their milestone where they want
to retire and have someone succeed them.
And so their plan was to, well, let's
merge together and create A larger
firm that can attract that talent.
And so they did that and I was of
course part of the firm at that time.
And so in 2001, I stepped
in a shareholder and.
I didn't become managing shareholder
until our founder, who was Clark
Coward decided to retire in 2016.
And at that time they elected me
into the managing shareholder role.
And that was, at that time, we
had grown to about 30 employees
among our five offices.
Steve: so you were you joined as an
intern, like you said, employee number
five hung out there for about 10 years,
and you said in 2001 is where you
guys were having these conversations.
So how many other firms, how many firms
in total joined together to create CRS?
Fancher: So four firms.
Joined together to
create the original CRS.
Okay.
And that was 2010.
And since then, we've actually
acquired a few other firms and have
grown our footprint up to six total
offices and 50 total and employees.
Steve: So I just, I wanna point
this out for a minute because I
think this is really fascinating.
You came in employee number five,
and now you guys are now at 50 total.
Correct.
And I love the journey of, I mean, how
often do people land with a company, but
they only stay there for a couple of years
and move to the next, and then the next.
But you spent your career from
internship now to managing shareholder
which I think is really cool.
so talk a little bit about what you
guys have done even over the last
few years, because here you have
these multiple smaller practices
that, that have merged together.
And you mentioned something a minute
ago that I think was interesting.
You said part of the reason that
you guys wanted to form a larger
company was so that you could
attract the talent you needed.
So talk a little bit more about that and
what you saw as the benefit of getting
bigger and scaling through these mergers.
Fancher: Well, we knew the way our
industry was going, it specialization was
needing to occur within our own personal.
Realm of expertise, not just as
a firm, but as each professional.
It required such a depth of
technical knowledge in some of
the areas we were working in.
We knew we couldn't be a
generalist firm anymore.
For example, what I mean by that,
when I first started here, I did
bookkeeping for small businesses.
I did tax returns for
individuals, for corporations.
I worked on audits, which is a completely
different, real in, in the field.
I worked on reviewed financial statements.
Basically anything and everything
an accountant could do, I was doing.
But it's hard to do anything really well
when you're trying to do everything.
, In order to attract the talent and
to continue the legacy of what all
these our original founders and
their individual firms had created,
we knew we needed to join forces
and start creating those little.
Niches within our own firm, even though
our firm has a few niches overall within
our, within the organization itself.
We have different lines of services
that folks work in that help them
specialize and deliver better service
to those clients we're working with.
Steve: It's really kinda
fascinating just to see that
journey, these smaller offices.
Combine and then find areas of
specialization because to your point
it's the old adage course master or was
it a jack of all trades, master of none.
That's right.
And so you saw and felt like the
goal to sustained growth was to have
distinct areas of specialization.
Fancher: Yeah.
And so that journey really,
you know, it's easy to.
Talk about now, but it was really
hard to live out because during those
first few years of joining, there was
really a lot of challenge of giving up
old ways of doing things, or mm-hmm.
I've always done it this way the
limiting belief that the clients
expect me to be able to do it all.
Or the, I've always been in control.
I don't wanna have to give up control.
So really for about the first five or
six years, that was a large challenge.
And it was the catalyst of 2020 and the
COVID year that really forced our hand
and we had to decide, hey, we've got to
really buckle down get a clear vision
of who we are and why we exist and.
Teach that and live that out
with our team every day so
that our clients understand it.
And that was a yeah, like I
said, 2020 was a real catalyst to
just force those changes on us.
'cause we knew if we didn't, we were
gonna be obsolete and not survive it.
Steve: So there there's a lot
going on here and I'm thinking for
our listeners, CEOs and business
owners who are approaching growth
from different perspectives.
And there's several things, fan that
you've mentioned that I think are relevant
to a couple of different scenarios.
And so I wanna take a moment just
kind of unpack a couple of these.
So the first one is you mentioned.
It's, it was this shift of, Hey,
we've always done it this way.
Now there are lots of businesses
that aren't growing through
acquisition or mergers who are still
running into that kind of scenario.
You know, I think about just the
marketing world right now and just the
business world in general right now
is changing so quickly because of ai.
And so what wisdom do you have that you
would share with a business owner who's
dealing with that type of scenario?
Maybe they're trying to lead their team
and they're trying to shift some things,
whether it's related to marketing or
just running the business in general,
but they're running into this, Hey,
we've done it this way for years.
What advice would you share with them?
Fancher: I would say first and
foremost, you've got to get back.
And dig in your own soul of why
you're in this business that you're
in why you're doing what you're doing.
If you don't know why you're here
doing it to, for me, the how and
what we do will always be out of
alignment with your, with our values.
And and so for us, how
we handle that is we.
We looked internally, we had never
had a written vision or mission
statement or a set of core values.
And we didn't take a top down approach.
We, but we all had this sense that what
we've always hired, we worked with people
we know that shared a same, you know,
faith a similar set of values of family
first of, giving back to our communities.
We knew those values existed.
We said, all right, so something's there.
And so we just spent some time as a
group of leaders within the firm digging
into that to come up with our why and
said, you know, that's exactly right.
This is why we exist, who we are now, how
do we translate that into, the services we
offer how we deliver those services how we
communicate those services, which that's
when we reached out to you and your team.
Because as good as we are at delivering
'em, being able to communicate that
message is something, you know, we
as accountants weren't trained in.
So don't be afraid to step out
and ask for help from others.
Steve: And I remember when you reached
out it, I think you guys were going
through the process of implementing EOS
or at least had, I think we're using
that as a framework for building out
your mission, vision, values, et cetera.
I think sometimes CEOs and owners, we
feel like we have to figure it out and.
That a lot of times that can be
a big waste of energy and time.
Whereas if you ask for help, if you
look for tools, these frameworks,
coaches, guides, et cetera,
it can really accelerate that.
So you and your team get aligned.
You get that mission, that vision.
You see Simon Sinek talks about
the the why, how, and the what.
So you, you get alignment there.
And what did you see as a result of that?
Fancher: I saw our folks really
becoming more excited about showing
up even with our own owners here.
Kind of reigniting that passion of
why we all, you know, we first had our
first day on the job here and we saw
our turnover, reduce I'd love to say it
was down to zero, but we know that's not
a reality in today's world, but it did
reduce just more engagement from our team.
And really it drove profitability.
Steve: Mm-hmm
Fancher: Because now because we had
that common language and understanding
of this is why we exist, pricing
conversations had always been a challenge.
With us and our client base.
But getting clarity a around everything
allowed us to just go into those
conversations with more confidence,
understanding the value we are bringing.
Steve: I love that.
Your point, your focus on getting that
clarity that when you get that alignment,
because I think sometimes if somebody,
there are gonna be some people who
just immediately push back because your
response to, well, how do you address
the, these inconsistencies and trying
to get everybody on the same page.
You went deep.
I mean, you go to the heart of here,
why do we exist as an organization?
And I think some people are looking
for that quick win but really it, it's.
You've gotta go deep.
But when you, once you get that
alignment, then you start to see the
payoffs, you start to see the ROI.
So it's not just that everybody's
getting along better, but like
you said your turnover goes down.
So that's cost savings right there,
when you keep the right people longer.
And then ultimately, I mean, that, that's
affecting the pricing conversations.
So I think that's.
Getting that clarity really is priceless
because it's hard to have external
clarity talking to your customers
when you don't have it internally.
Fancher: Yeah.
And I'll share this one.
One of the big lessons I learned out
of doing that, that I'm still learning
today is you constantly have to tend
that soil and keeping that clarity
because one of the missteps I made is
we spent about a year getting that.
Done.
All right, now we've got it done.
And I dove right back into doing,
client work and focusing outwardly on
the clients that I personally worked
with and let that go by the wayside.
And then I saw things start
to kind of splinter again.
And so really over the past couple
years has reinforced that with
me, that part of my job is built.
A leader is to constantly, like
I said, tend that soul mm-hmm.
Of reminding people, communicating
it, why we exist, what we're doing.
And so then every decision we
make, we hold up to that light.
Steve: Yeah.
Well I think that's a valuable reminder
because it's easy to get lost in the
day to day and, we can forget that, that
some of that it's a little bit squishier.
It's the softer it's, it feels
intangible sometimes, but it has
very tangible results and is, I've
heard multiple people say over time,
vision leaks, our team forgets.
Fancher: Yeah.
Steve: And they do, they
need those reminders.
So I, I think that's a great.
Piece of advice is for our CEOs and
owners, it's your job to make sure that
vision is being communicated, but not only
the vision the culture, the values, and
that is maintained and stays top of mind.
'cause otherwise, if you
don't, nobody else is going to.
So Fancher, one other thing I wanna
go back to for just a minute, 'cause
I think it's really important is you
mentioned that as you guys were going
through this process that, that you
mentioned eliminating, limiting belief
of I guess having to work through
this idea of as you focus in on
specializations of I can't do it all.
I can't be everything to everybody and.
That's a wall that some
people never get past.
So just walk through briefly what
was that journey like of narrowing
your focus and recognizing?
'cause what that ultimately means is
there are people you're saying no to.
No, I'm sorry.
I can't serve you.
I'm not the best fit for what you need.
And, yeah.
So walk through that a little bit.
Fancher: Oh yes.
So that is probably our single
most limiting belief or challenge
that we still have today.
Just quite frankly we're not,
we're still not perfect at it.
And in our profession and being in
rural west Tennessee it's easy to.
Fall into that mindset that, well,
I'm one of only maybe two providers
in town that can do this work.
So of course I have to say yes So I'm
constantly having to keep that forefront,
that thought forefront in our minds that
yes, I can, doesn't mean yes I should.
Steve: Mm-hmm.
Fancher: And so that having to really
it's just mine and say, look, every
yes, you tell a client you have to
defend by a hundred nos to other
potential clients because you're one
of the struggles we had was tax season.
When I started working here, 70 hour
week, tax seasons were the norm.
Now, 45 hours are the norm.
Steve: That's significant.
Fancher: But yeah, because we've all
understood that one of our core values
is family time, you know, church on
Sundays worshiping with a body of
believers that if we're gonna say those
are our values, every decision we make
in our business also has to be able.
To support that that value.
And so between that and just attracting
the next generation who don't have
that value of, you know, my work is
who defines what I am is is just part
of who we are now, but it's still a
challenge 'cause we all have that value.
We want to help people.
So when somebody's sitting
across from the table.
So bad, you know, wanna say
yes because you know you can.
But before I go into that meeting, I
have to constantly thinking, alright,
should I, before I say yes, what am
I saying no to if I say yes here?
Steve: So what's some of the criteria
that you use to help determine,
because like you said, there's that's
an important distinction between.
I can, but doesn't necessarily
mean that I should.
So what's some of the criteria, an
example of criteria that you would use
to determine whether or not this would
be the right opportunity to say yes to?
And you mentioned core values, so I
think that's you looking at your values.
What other criteria you also
using in that type of decision?
Fancher: Oh, good question.
I say one of the values we look
for, whether it's a client or a
new hire, is are they teachable?
Are they, proactive themselves?
You know, we want, you know, we
look for the easiest way for me
to put a concrete example of a.
Prospect client I'm sitting
with, you know, I sit down one,
one just in a conversation.
I like to get a sense, you
know, do they share some of the
same values we share as a firm?
Do I get a sense that, they'll
show up on time when requested?
Will they be teachable?
Will they take my advice when I give it
to 'em, or are they gonna be the kind
that, you know, always runs in here last
second saying this deadline's tomorrow.
I forgot to bring this to you.
Steve: Yeah, because I think those are
all really important considerations
and I would even add to that.
It's this goes back to clarity and of
course, coming at this from a marketing
and A-A-C-M-O perspective it's.
Having that clarity also around who is
your best customer and I really like
that you're bringing up some of the
things that sometimes people overlook.
You know, it's, yes, you want to have your
definition of and of course for CRSI mean,
you guys do a lot of work with farmers.
You do a lot of work with nonprofits,
you do a lot of work with service-based
companies, and so it's having
definition of what types of businesses,
however you're determining that.
The types of businesses where you
have a certain level of expertise.
And what you're bringing up is a deeper
layer that I think gets overlooked.
And that's some of those behavioral
types of things that you won't
necessarily be able to pick up
on until you have a conversation.
Is this person teachable?
Are they going to receive our advice?
I know one of the things
that's really important for
y'all is guiding your clients.
It's giving them strategic guidance.
It's not just yes you'll, you know,
keep their books up to date and do their
taxes, but I know it's important for y'all
as well is giving that, that guidance.
But if they're not gonna receive
it, if they're not teachable.
They're not gonna be a good fit, and
there's just gonna be that tension.
And so what have you found?
What tends to be the result when you
guys do have when all those boxes are
checked, you know, they're the right
industry they're, it aligns value wise.
What ends up being the result of
that, both for you and for the client?
Fancher: Well, just much
more enjoyable work.
The easy answer.
But.
We also create what we feel are true
partnerships and not just a compliance
checklist for the client that, oh, I got
my taxes done, I got that off my list.
And it creates more margin just, you
know, in profits and in time because
we know we're delivering more value.
We don't have to deliver a
little value to a lot of folks.
Yeah.
We can deliver deeper value.
And so that, that protects,
like I said, it protects my
margin of time for my family.
You know, for, things I like
to do outside the office.
And that's, still a challenge, every day.
'cause every once in a while, a non
FITT client still gets through the gate.
Thankfully I like to think we recognize
those quicker and either rehabilitate
them or transition them somewhere else.
Steve: Well, I think we've all had that
experience of saying yes to a client and
even sometimes it's just a gut check.
There's just something
there you just know.
Okay.
Something here, but we say yes anyway.
Whether it's because it, hey, this
is gonna have an immediate impact
on cash flow or whatever that is.
Whatever the motivation is.
And in hindsight it ends up
sucking the energy out of us.
And which goes back to having
that alignment with core values.
You wanna protect that time for your
team and quality of life, et cetera.
Well, Fancher thi this has been fantastic.
Is there any final piece of
advice that you would give to CEOs
business owners, just based on your.
Experience and learnings in your
continued journey towards growth?
Fancher: Yes.
I would say once you get that why you
exist down, hire folks that fit that and
train the technical side of your business.
If you can, if you hire for that cultural
fit, it makes it a whole lot easier
to live out your mission and values.
Steve: I love that.
I love that.
Fancher, thank you so much for joining us.
Yeah, my pleasure.
Fancher, why don't you give it just
a quick, where can people find you?
And if you wanna give like a
32nd commercial, just share with
a little bit more about what CS
does, who you guys work with.
Fancher: Yeah, so you
can find us@crscpa.com.
That's the quickest and
easiest way to find us.
You can find us on LinkedIn.
Under C-R-S-C-P-A or
myself at Fancher Sergeant.
And what we do is we like to say, we
make the complicated simple so that
others are free to focus on what
they do to fulfill their purpose.
Steve: Fantastic.
And we'll put those
links in the show notes.
Again, Fancher, thank you so
much for joining us today.
Yeah, appreciate it.
Good to see you.
There's so much to this conversation
that I think most CEOs can relate to.
CRS didn't grow from five to
50 plus employees by accident.
They grew because they were willing
to merge practices, to specialize, to
confront their limiting beliefs, and
most importantly, get crystal clear
on who they are and why they exist.
AnnieLaurie : And I love that their
growth wasn't just about numbers.
It reshaped their culture, and when they
clarified their values, the turnover
dropped and engagement increased.
Pricing conversations became
easier, and people actually enjoyed
showing up because they understood
what they were working towards.
That's the kind of alignment that
most leaders would love to have.
Steve: And, and Venture said
something that I think every, leader
needs to remember, and that is that
clarity isn't a one-time event.
Vision leaks, alignment drifts, and if you
don't reinforce these things, they fade.
And leadership really
is ongoing stewardship.
It's keeping your mission visible.
And top of mind, and it's making
sure the decisions are lining
up with who you say you are.
AnnieLaurie : And the other big takeaway
is, I can, doesn't always mean I should.
That's a great lesson.
Saying yes to the wrong client or
the wrong opportunity or the wrong
partnership can cost us way more
than we may think at the time.
Okay.
When you know your values and your
focus and what your purpose and
your mission are, then saying no
becomes leadership, not guilt.
Steve: So if you're listening and
you feel stuck or your teams, your
marketing and sales teams in particular
feel misaligned, or you know it's
time to tighten your focus, then
let this conversation encourage you.
You don't have to figure it out alone.
Frameworks, coaches, guides.
They accelerate clarity.
AnnieLaurie : if you need help
getting clarity around your
marketing, your message, or your
next steps, that's exactly what we do
Steve: here at Wayfind Marketing.
We help growth-minded CEOs who are
trying to grow, but often feel stuck,
simplify their marketing, and we do that
by starting with a strategy and clarity.
And we help you figure out what's working,
what's not, where to focus as you grow.
And a great place to get
started for free is our.
Online marketing assessment, it gives you
an honest look at your marketing, helps
you see what's working, what's not, where
you're aligned, where you're misaligned.
And we also offer coaching for CEOs and
their marketing teams who are looking
for a trusted guide to help them scale
more effectively, more efficiently.
You can find the assessment
and learn more about what we
do and how we help businesses
like yours@wayfindmarketing.com.
And of course, Def Fancher.
Thank you again for joining
us, sharing your story.
And to all of you listening, we appreciate
you being a part of another episode of
the Growth Minded Marketing Podcast.
AnnieLaurie : If you found this
podcast helpful, please share it
with a friend or give us a quick
review that really goes a long way.
We'll see you next time.