Ambitious accountants

“Added value” – what do you mean?

bookmarklee — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:00:18 +0000

Many accountants and other service providers talk about providing “added value” to their clients. A friend of mine, Marcus Cauchi (who is a seller who trains selling not a trainer who teaches sales) makes the point that: “Added value” is only added value if the prospect acknowledges a real (or perceived) need for the particular aspect of the [...]

“I doubt I’ll sell my practice when I retire”

bookmarklee — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:13:19 +0000

A smaller practitioner shared this view with me recently. He is 60 and his current turnover is around £120k. He said to assume his net profits are around £80k pa. My friend had noted that were he to sell his practice he would be lucky to secure a capital sum of much more than £120k (being [...]

Is it worth the time it takes to learn how to use social media?

bookmarklee — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:54:57 +0000

A lot of people choose not to explore social media as they don’t have the time. In effect they want to know if they will be able to identify a ROI for the time spent learning about and engaging with other people through online social media? In the same way as you might ask the question [...]

‘Social’ vs anti-social networking

bookmarklee — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:55:27 +0000

Whenever I am asked to speak about ’social’ networking to audiences of professional advisers I insist on the quote marks. In my experience most advisers aren’t excited by the the idea of social activities when they’re working. And if anyone wants to encourage accountants (and, I would expect, most other professional advisers) to get involved [...]

Does ’social’ networking force you to REDUCE your fees?

bookmarklee — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 07:49:17 +0000

It seems there is a tricky balance to be made here. I’ve written previously about how networking, whether online or offline, can be an effective way to secure new clients of the type you want – just as long as those with whom you network know enough about you, like you, trust you and know [...]

Twenty top tips for accountants on twitter

bookmarklee — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:32:24 +0000

This is a follow up to my earlier post “Getting started on twitter” in which I explained some basic introductory points concerning twitter. When it comes to using twitter there are no absolute rules or universally agreed twitterquette(!) but there is a heck of a lot that we can all learn from the experience of those [...]

Getting started on twitter

bookmarklee — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:05:32 +0000

Regular readers may be surprised to see this post here – remembering my first post about twitter: Twitter is not for accountants. In effect that suggested that accountants can get by quite happily without using twitter. It’s also true to say that accountants do not need to try telemarketing or direct mail. But many do [...]

Common sense required – you can’t blame your ‘SatNav’

bookmarklee — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:35:48 +0000

A driver who drove his car to the edge of a 100ft drop after he “slavishly” followed its SatNav instructions has become one of the first motorists to be convicted for placing too much trust in his SatNav. When I noted this news story today I was reminded of a [...]

What does Networking have in common with inheritance tax planning?

bookmarklee — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:25:17 +0000

This is a first. It’s the first time I’ve had something to blog where I can see how it could fit on any or even all 3 of my blogs! It sounds like a riddle or joke – so would fit well on: Accountant jokes and fun It includes reference to tax planning – so would seem [...]

How loyal will your clients be?

bookmarklee — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:53:32 +0000

Telemarketing companies who focus on securing new clients for accountancy businesses tell me that they have never been busier. And there do seem to be a number of such specialist firms – in addition to the more general telemarketing companies that simply work for accountants as and when engaged to do so. Some telemarketers are more [...]