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The Accountants’ Guide to Fishing

January is the month for holidays, for relaxing, for contemplation. For me that involves spending time at Port Stephens out on the water trying to skillfully convince a succulent fish to hop onto my line. As anyone knows such an exercise involves a great deal of patience. As I have sat in the sun replenishing…

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How to get started with marketing in your accounting firm.

Fairly regularly I come across firms who for one reason or another have engaged a marketing consultancy. For many, this is entirely the wrong move. Few marketing consultancies understand the nuances of professional service firms. Many focus on things which might have some merit like brand and website but miss the core matters to be…

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Strategies to Improve Client Follow-Up

two men and four women meeting in office

One of the pivotal issues that has arisen at recent firm reviews and strategic planning sessions is that our clients do not get their telephone and email issues addressed in a timely manner. Many practitioners have mentioned to me that they get frustrated when the client calls back, often agitated that they have not had…

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Your CRM and Business Advisory Success

Your Client Relationship Management (CRM) system in an integral part of your firm’s business advisory success. Wikipedia defines a CRM as an approach to managing a company’s interaction with current and potential future clients that tries to analyse data about clients’ history with a company and to improve business relationships with clients, specifically focusing on client retention…

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The Value-Added Proposition

Good profitability, strong cash flow, growing return and being client-focused go hand in hand. At practice level, most accountants believe this, but they have a hard time identifying specific actions and communicating the benefits to clients in a manner they can understand and more importantly value. Here are 10 specific things you can consider implementing…

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Time for a fireside chat?

For as long as I have been engaged in the accounting profession, almost every firm I have been involved with or spoken to has acknowledged that there are additional services that they could provide to fulfil unmet client needs. A number like 20% of additional fees could be generated is often cited. Yet many firms…

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The Keys to Exceptional Client Service

I was recently asked what were the key observations you have seen in successful accounting firms around the world when it comes to client service. I have summarised below my top 10 steps to better client service from observations in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Canada; You are in business to service client needs…

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Robotic Process Automation (RPA) – the next frontier

There has been a mountain of press, blogs and videos predicting that the accounting profession is going to be replaced by silent machines sitting in data centres. Artificial intelligence, big data, data analytics, machine learning etc are all going to play their part. I have read a ton of material and in doing so it…

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How to create ongoing client engagements

Getting started with your advisory services and maintaining service momentum is one of the great challenges in our profession. How do we offer ongoing advisory services through dynamic board of advice meetings systematically with clients? These board of advice meetings need structure. This structure should start with an agenda of what is to be covered followed by…

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Time for the accounting industry to take the lead

great leader concept

Remember the 1980s? Greed was good. Until Paul Keating killed it – it was the era of the long lunch. Technology’s relentless march gained momentum with computerised tax returns and other marvels changing the accounting industry forever. It was also the end of the 100% loanback superannuation fund. Money needed to be invested. Financial planning was emerging…

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