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From the yearly archives:

2009

Curse of Being an Expert

Today’s Pre Budget Report provided an opportunity for me (and fellow tax professionals) to demonstrate our expertise.

Herein lies the danger…

Experts in their field find it difficult to talk in plain English.  Experts rarely remember what it is like to know the basics only.  Experts forget that they are immersed in their field all day every day. Experts often talk at high level.  Experts tend to only see the obscure rather than concentrate on the (seemingly) obvious.  Experts try to outscore fellow experts – intellectual sparring – and can lose their target customers and clients’ interest in the process.  Experts wonder if they’ve missed anything and concentrate on what might not be there rather than what is.

I was reminded of this today – but after the event when I had the luxury of reflecting.

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Bootstrapping a Professional Services Firm

As professionals / consultants, what are the essentials we need to be able to deliver a 1st class client service?

  1. A laptop
  2. An internet connection – most coffee houses have wifi these days
  3. A mobile phone – iphones now available in Tesco…
  4. Skype for free calls / videoconferencing over the web
  5. Some occassional (e.g. serviced) office space – although you should be aiming to spend the majority of your time with clients or working on the fly / out of coffee houses (see 2 above)
  6. A Flip camera for (those all important) testimonials and to capture training points and thoughts
  7. Google Documents and or Zoho for web services e.g. spreadsheets, word docs etc
  8. Basecamp for project management
  9. GoToMeeting for conducting meetings where you want to show what’s on your screen online
  10. A blog for PR and to demonstrate expertise e.g. wordpress, typepad etc

If we’re honest, what else do we really need?

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It’s NOT the Hours You Work…

7 December 2009

…it’s what you achieve in the (short?) time you are doing your work.
Monday Morning Focus:
Make every minute count.  Catch yourself shuffling paper or doing easy tasks that are of no real value to the firm or your clients.  Focus on the important stuff.  Focus, focus, focus (then leave early!)

Passionate Practice

4 December 2009

Re:thinking accountancy
Being passionate about client service
Embedding innovative thinking
Exploring creative thinking tools
Creating a WOW! experience for clients
Exploring new ways of working
Cross-pollinating ideas
Applying visual thinking
Making cool stuff (services)
Asking the BIG WHY?  Always
Presentation bullet-point dodging
Leadership skills – a brand called YOU?
Improv tools for a fast changing business world
‘Playing together nicely’ aka utilising collaboration tools
Re:thinking professional roles [...]

Strategy is a Series of Trade-Offs

3 December 2009

“Strategy is a series of trade-offs”
- Michael Porter
I was discussing strategy with a client of mine recently and she mentioned the above quote that she had heard at a Michael Porter seminar.  I think it sums up STRATEGY perfectly.
In my view great strategy demands:

laser-sharp focus
stubborness
persistence
unflappability
coolness
anti-herd mentality
bravery
self-belief
adaptibility
conversation (listening is implicit)
clear future vision (that’s well communicated and shared)
overall, [...]

Why Drawing IS Thinking in Business

2 December 2009

MILTON GLASER DRAWS & LECTURES from C. Coy on Vimeo.
“When children are prevented from drawing their brains stop developing properly”
Yikes !- so when did you last scribble with your crayons?
Drawing is:

thinking
seeing
understanding
identifying issues
solving problems
seeing connections
answering questions
paying attention
enhancing curiosity
seeing possibilities

Hat tip to Digital Roam

Becoming Entrepreneuri-ALL Business Advisors

1 December 2009

Most professional advisors prefer to work with ambitious entrepreneurial businesses yet it is important that as accountants and business advisors we also reflect this mindset and behaviour in our own dealings and actions.
We need to become more entrepreneurial.  But this shouldn’t be restricted to an ambitious handful of rainmakers.  Entrepreneurship should be reflected across the [...]

Just One Thing…

30 November 2009

Just think….. if you (+ your team) could do one thing to reach out to clients and targets every day.  Or even every week. What difference could this make to your Firm?
All it takes is: Just one thing.
A client touch. An interaction with a target. For example:

An email invite for coffee – “Hi + [...]

Applying Design Thinking to an Accountancy Firm

29 November 2009

Design Thinking brings about a new way of thinking about client interactions and experiences of working with your firm.
Applying design thinking to an accountancy firm might result in:

First impressions – the look and feel of the office reception. Any nice surprises? e.g. the offer of a lavishly made cup of coffee and freshly made cookies?
Meeting [...]

Future Face of Accountancy

28 November 2009

Here are 7 potential changes on the horizon for the accountancy profession driven by changing markets:

Speed to market becomes even more important.  Innovate; deliver cool services to clients then innovate some more.
Deepening specialisms.  Experts rule and become highly marketable.
Death of timesheets and time-based billing.  (Good riddance.)
Hub and spoke accountancy firms emerge.  Hub consisting of core senior team who win [...]

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