Diamond Mining and The Business of Service

What makes diamonds so valuable?

At a meeting recently one of the presenters quizzed the audience about this sparkling topic. He then went on to explain how the largest diamond company in the word, De Beers, controls the diamond mines and in effect the quantity of diamonds placed into the market. This drives the diamonds price and makes them very valuable as De Beers holds back production to create scarcity and inflate prices.

Unlike minerals, oil, and other rare objects, when it comes to knowledge and information, this scarcity strategy does not work. Quite the opposite. In our knowledge focused economy, which is the primarily driver of price in the business of service, the greater the knowledge base and access to information, the more value for whoever or whatever holds that knowledge and information. Take Google, for example, now the fourth most valuable company in the world. Google’s vast fortune is based almost exclusively on the fact that it is a primary controller of the world’s access to knowledge and information. They have patented the best way on earth to help people find information. That type of access has a tremendous price.

As opposed to a diamond miner, when business advisors hold onto information and knowledge, it becomes basically worthless. However, sharing it with clients, staff, referral sources, and the market in general makes what you do precious and valuable, especially when you factor into the equation that many firms are too busy in production to take the time to share their expertise. When your firm is able to build, capture, and share knowledge and information, it creates differentiation among competing firms that clients want access to, need, and will pay for.

My brother in law runs a few businesses in New Zealand and he is constantly amazed that his accounting firm regularly uncovers new ideas that seem to fit his business and he is grateful they do. Differentiation of this sort is not easy however it can be as straightforward as setting up a system whereby the ideas and information contained in your firm are regularly distributed outside your four walls. It may be in the form of writing articles, blogging, presenting, or hosting quarterly workshops for your network of contacts. Whatever the distribution outlets, it is critical that they are identified and used. This is a powerful approach for a team of advisors to take, yet too many businesses complain that their accountant never seems to talk with them unless its tax season.

Strategies for uncovering valuable gems in your business:

Take an inventory of your clients and services to identify where your true expertise lies.

Tap into your expertise, deepen it, and create even more powerful information and services that clients want and need.

Brainstorm how to give your knowledge and expertise to the market in a format or platform that it wants and needs.

Repeat steps 1, 2, and 3 regularly.


Patrick Pruett, The Rainmaker Companies

Patrick helps accounting firms around the world by facilitating connections among members, providing consultative support and delivering high quality resources that enable firms to better compete and improve the management of their practices. As the leader of The Rainmaker Alliances, he presents at national and international conferences and delivers Rainmaker training programs. Patrick specializes in working with firms that have a strategic niche they want to grow and develop. He will be part of the DCPA15 line up this year!

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