With 15 partners and about $33 million in annual revenue, Seiler has become a seasoned star with no signs of losing its luster.

I first met Jim DeMartini when presenting to a managing partner group. Every time I asked the audience if they had implemented a best practice for growth, his hand went up. I said to myself, "I need to meet this guy!"

What are Seiler's secrets to achieving significant growth in challenging - and changing - times? A wide-ranging conversation with DeMartini revealed a number of strategies, including the following:

An unchanging vision of the firm as a high-value resource that is worth the investment;

A conviction that business development is a skill that can be learned;

A compensation system that encourages and rewards teamwork over individual accomplishment; and,

A focus on internal growth, rather than acquisition.

CONSISTENT VISION

Seiler had always served high-net-worth individuals and privately held companies, especially those in real estate-oriented, multi-generational family enterprises. But when the California real estate bubble started to burst in the late 1980s, Seiler refused to sit on the sidelines and let the market take its course.

Instead, the firm got proactive, using its favorable geographic location to go after Silicon Valley high-tech clients. Although its niche industry expanded beyond real estate into technology, Seiler continued to target high-value clients and to position its services accordingly. That consistency was key to succeeding in a new marketplace. And succeed it did, growing nearly two-and-one-half times its size between 1999 and 2010.

From the out- set, the firm's founder, Don Seiler, structured his company as an up-market firm with distinctive offerings and a price structure not intended for the masses. The firm has been as selective about its clients as it has been about those who service them, according to DeMartini.

That positioning is also evident in the firm's thoughtful approach to expansion. Business development is seen as a growth strategy that relies on carefully cultivated, solution-oriented relationships. DeMartini explained: "When you build business development skills, you can support, defend and maintain a high-value strategy." Seiler CPAs become expert trusted advisors, keenly aware of their clients' businesses and challenges, and intimate with the families and relationships in which they take place.

In the world according to Seiler, attracting and keeping business are two sides of the same coin. It's a view not shared by some firms that are focused on compliance to the detriment of relationship-building.

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