Marketing For Accountants In Practice

August 2003a- Each month this page will be updated with new tips and ideas and the previous content archived. As time goes by our archives will grow. These will always be accessible, and always without charge. Enjoy.

Welcome to the free tips page for August 2003

Whatchagonnadoaboutit?

Don't bother looking it up in the dictionary. You won't find it.

This month I want to take a look at procrastination and how it can kill any good marketing idea.

We 've all been there, haven't we? Be honest, you're among friends here. Nobody's perfect and we all, from time to time, put off doing that which we know we should - even if we know the results of doing it will be good for us.

Practice life is such that every day we have to make many many choices. Which project to start next, which calls to return first, which client to bill next, which invites to accept, which internal meetings to attend and so on.

It sometimes seems that there's just too much stuff to do to have any time to do anything meaningful.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

The first thing to do to release some free time is always to stop before doing something and say to yourself 'Should I really be doing this or can I delegate it down to someone?'

Then, once you've answered that honestly (and delegated it) look at all the other issues on your 'TO DO' list and think 'Which of these MUST I do, no matter how much I dislike them? Then, 'Which of these can I delegate?' Next, pass out the assignmnets/tasks/or whatever the issues might be that you can delegate, and decide which of the things that you have to do will have the biggest impact on your profitability - that's the thing you tackle next.

When the issue with the biggest positive impact is done start on the most difficult and least desirable task next.

The simple act of getting the dreaded items done first will make the rest of the tasks seem like a piece of cake, and the day will start to be more productive, enjoyable and profitable.

It's a case of doing the right things, rather than doing things right.

Yes, it's a part of our technical training to do things right, but as business people - and that's what we are - we need to focus FIRST on doing the right things, as doing the wrong things right will get us nowhere fast.

In my consulting work around the world I see CAs and CPAs who spend their entire life concentrating on doing things right - for example, finding that $1 difference in the suspence account (and taking an hour and a half to do it) before finalising a set of client's financial statements, at the cost of doing the right things (taking that 90 minutes extra to return a client phone call that was urgent and important to them).

That's a typical case of focusing on the wrong things - in other words, doing things right instead of doing the right things.

The cost of finding that $1 balance will be two-fold:

An hour and a half's lost revenue at $150 or more an hour?
Possibly an upset client because you took too long (by their expectations) to return their call.

So now you have a perfectly good client who is less than super-satisfied who might not make any referrals to you and might defect if service levels continue to decline, and you have a write-off or over-run on the account you were working on.

Less than ideal.

Now, for the purposes of illustrating my point, I am over-simplifying the issues, but I hope that you can see what I am driving at.

Sometimes we cannot see the forest for all those trees - and that's one area where we can help. We work with a growing number of practitioners as their coach - helping them to keep on track by either meeting with them every month or by telephone coaching for those doing 'distance coaching' with me.

We talk about a wide number of issues that have been concerning them, and act as a sounding board. We help direct them to answers that are right for them, and set goals and objectives for the following month. Next time we speak, we review the results of the previous month's activities, compare that to the original objectives and discuss any gaps - and we stop the deadly procrastination creeping in - as knowing that you are going to be accountable to a third party is often sufficient reason to deal with those issues.

If you'd like to know more about our coaching services for Partners and senior staff, call me at 905-569-2174 for an informal discussion.

Towards Awesome Client Service - Module Two. The Success Story Continues...

After the success of Module One, we look forward to continuing the journey towards awesome client service with our subscribers, old and new, with the launch of Module two. It's packed full with new ideas and approaches to develop closer working relationships with your clients, and a better yield on your investment in your staff and yourself. The price is held at the introductory rate of $249.95 per module (US funds) so join us now, and if you haven't yet signed up for Module One, you can still do so at the introductory rate.

Module Three is released in June this year, more details will come in next months free tips page.

Find out more at: www.awesomeclientservice.com/details.htm

For those interested in our "Towards Awesome Client Service" program, please click on the logo here:
For those who need a little help in marketing their firm, please feel free to call me direct at:	905-569-2174
If you're ready to get a web site for your firm, go to our web site services page by clicking on the screen shot here:
Or if you simply want to get some great ideas on how to cost effectively market your firm, then check out our eBooks below.

Check out our eBooks:

Our full range of e-books is now available for immediate download. All are now available as "PDF" files AND eBook files - the choice is yours, or download both versions (no extra cost) to see which format you prefer!

Including:


For more details, see our products page

So, that's all for now, if you need more, sign up for our free e-newsletter, LEDGER, on our newsletter sign-up page, or look at our best-selling manual LOW COST HIGH IMPACT WAYS TO WIN NEW CLIENTS.

Thanks for visiting.
Have a great month.
Until next time.

More free tips to come as we next update our site in September 2003.