With all the annual fuss about new year's resolutions, why does no one suggest checking backwards? It's all very well making promises about what you want to do differently, but how strong is your resolve? I've never been one for doing the same as everyone else, so I've rarely made new year
I have long advised audiences and clients that claiming to have a Unique Sales Proposition (USP) is typically a mistake - as the word 'unique' means 'unlike any other'. Rarely do I ever encounter accountants with genuinely 'unique' offerings for clients. And it will be counter-productive to assert that something about your
Instead of a final post of the year, I offer you instead a reminder of ten of my most popular blog posts (out of the 50 posted, one each Tuesday) in 2019. I;ve included the links in case you missed them originally or want to take another look. In January I explained
There is a popular old adage: If you carry on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll carry on getting what you’ve always got. Its origin is unknown and it is typically attributed to either Henry Ford, Tony Robbins, Susan Jeffers or Jessie Potter. Typically the statement is used to discourage people from
The first mobile phone I had was the size of a brick. That was in the mid 1990s. Within a few years I had a Nokia 5110. It was much smaller and compact. It was the first phone I owned that could send and receive text messages but it only had a
If your firm has yet to invest much in new tech I hope the following list will help you overcome your reluctance. And if you have been investing then maybe you can just reminisce as to what life was like beforehand. Or perhaps things have stalled and you'll recognise why when you
When I consider what the future holds for accountants I find it helpful to look back at predictions made in the recent past. Many other commentators seem to be unaware of the difference between genuinely new innovations and those that are variations on a theme. This is one of the reasons why
For a change, instead of creating a fresh blog post, I thought you'd appreciate a summary of my most popular posts on how to get more referrals to your ideal new clients. 5 ways to get more referrals Are you undermining your credibility by being too modest? Being Known, Liked and Trusted
A recent conversation with cybersecurity expert Francis West prompted me to interview him about the risks of cybercrime affecting accountants in practice. Francis has been involved in the technology sector for over thirty years, for the last 10 years running Westtek Solutions, providing IT support to a range of sectors including finance,
Everyone tells us about the pace of change and how fast it is. But when we step back for a moment, there are three separate issues to consider and the real rate of change for your practice may well be slower than others would have us believe. Too many people seem to
In recent years a number of commentators have suggested that we need to adopt a new mindset. Instead of distinguishing our marketing and sales activities dependent on whether our focus is 'B to B', or 'B to C', they want us to recognise that, today, everything is 'H to H'. The idea
Not all accountants believe all of these fallacies. And some have been part of our psyche for so long we think they must be true. Others are repeated by salespeople and consultants who want you to believe stuff so that you'll buy what they're selling. But a salesman's assertions are not proof.
You're not alone if you're fed up of hearing commentators, software vendors and app developers tell you about your existing clients. I'm not in practice any more and I'm certainly fed up of it - as what they are saying makes no sense. Whatever new developments, new opportunities and changes come about
Most accountants are justly proud of their technical skills. It is also common to find that some accountants undervalue the importance of ensuring that they have all the business skills they require to be profitable in the short-term and successful in the longer-term. What’s your position? Are you one of those accountants who
When I am invited to speak at a firm’s away day the organisers often want me to influence the older partners whom the management team consider to be complacent. They tell me that some of these partners, with their well established client portfolios, are resistant to change and to doing things differently.
If you’re like most established accountants you probably believe that most of your new clients come from word of mouth and client referrals. Whether or not that’s really the case for you I doubt you have thought about how you could make it easier for your contacts to make good referrals to
An increasing number of journalists and podcasters want to interview me about my views of the future for accountants. On reflection though I suspect I am sometimes a disappointing interviewee. This is not due to excess modesty as regards my conversational skills or my ability to explain and justify my predictions. On
My conversations with sole practitioner accountants over the years suggest that many are happy enough once their practice is generating sufficient income for them. They have reached the stage where they feel comfortable, some might say, complacent. To the outsider the practice, the business, has plateaued. 'Happy enough' is hardly an enthusiastic
Some accountants I know are proud of how efficiently they look after their own business affairs. Others though are embarrassed at their inefficiencies. And there are some who do not appear to give any thought as to how they are perceived. We all know the old adage that you never get a
You have probably heard the old networking idea that it's important to help people get to know, like and trust you. Only then will they buy from you. Only then will they even consider becoming your client. This idea originated in the book ‘Endless Referrals', written by Bob Burg, who said: “All things
Have you ever thought about the similarities between accountants and doctors? And what we can learn from this? Let's leave aside the fact that many accountants have historically been described as general practitioners (GPs) - which is a direct take from the medical world. When we go to the doctor we expect
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Increased knowledge can be worrying and a lot of knowledge is empowering. This is something it took me years to learn when I was in practice. Think about your own knowledge of how a specific tax rule works. One you don't have cause to think
Throughout my career it was the case that trainee accountants studied a wide range of technical topics. We were tested on what we had learned and on how we would apply our accumulated knowledge in practice. Then, typically after qualifying, we found out from our managers and partners that we needed to
Most of the accountants I meet claim that most of their best new clients come through referrals. When I dig deeper I find this is typically for one of the following reasons: They remember that their most recent new clients were initially generated by referrals; They don't get many new clients and also
For 75 years, from 1911 until 1986, miners carried caged canaries while at work. If there was any methane or carbon monoxide in the mine, the canary would die before the concentration of gas reached levels that are hazardous to humans. This is the origin of the metaphor 'a canary in a
