Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.

My Week – Clarity of Vision

7th Nov 2015
Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.

One of my weakness is I lack clarity of vision. No, this is not it. I now know what I want, but I am not sure whether it would be a viable way forward. In other words, I do not have the confidence or clout to do what I want for some time now.

Over the week, I had a potential client meeting. I did not want that meeting. For me, they do NOT serve a useful purpose. They take up too much of my time. The clients we take have incredibly straightforward financial affairs. Please remember my vision of that highly efficient sausage machine assembly line practice. I want to pile them high but sell them at a price that I make a decent return. I do not wish to pretend it is more than what it is. I am more than happy for a telephone conversation and email exchanges with potential clients.

The nature of clients we take on and work involved is suited for this way of working. What I want to say and I am finding it difficult to say I want us to be an online practice only. Following the Crunch model. This is MY ideal way.

If I can go back to my potential client meeting. The meeting lasted a lot longer than a telephone call. The client in question would not go after we covered everything. He stayed on and asked questions that I or M could have easily responded to through an email using copy and paste function. I find myself repeating the same information again and again. It also annoys me that potential client wants low fees and a highly personal service.

Now that I have openly admitted to what I really want, why I am not doing it? That is simple – FEAR. I will lose clients who just want a first meeting and after that everything is online. I have no doubt your clients work in the same way as ours. At this stage, I do not have the confidence to become Crunch. It is tough as it is. My fear is will get more difficult.

On the other hand, more and more potential clients have a telephone conversation, exchange of emails and then sign up. I so love this. I need to understand that my indecision on this important issue (foot in both camps) is holding our practice back. The strategic decisions that I made and I will continue to make will not be in the direction I want. They will continue to be holding my foot in both camps strategic decisions. They lack clarity. I will continue to me no more than a mediocre practice.

I am glad I have got all this out now. I have been keeping it to myself since I was not sure what I was feeling and how I could articulate what I wanted. What now? I will give it some further serious thought. Shall I stay foot in both camps practice or follow Crunch’s model with much-limited resources? A lot of thinking to be done on my part folks.

On an entirely different note, I am pleased with my first week’s weight loss.

Tags:

You might also be interested in

Replies (7)

Please login or register to join the discussion.

avatar
By Sheepy306
07th Nov 2015 22:42

Focus
It's good that you're finally identifying and focusing on your goal.
One thing to remember though is that meeting a client for me is the thing that personalises your service and keeps the client retention high. By meeting with them even once at the beginning then they know that they're dealing with an individual, every single client that has come to me from the likes of SJD etc is because they were reated as a sausage with no personalisation. I think there's a market for a happy medium for you, very occasional meetings to cement the relationship but everything else online and email/phone. You have to train yourself though to keep the meetings short and to the point, tell the client that you have a meeting at xxx time so you have to go.
On the weight/fitness front, congratulations, sounds like a very promising start with plenty of miles covered. What walking boots are you using? Traditional heavy leather or more of a cross hiking shoe? There are some great lighter weight ones, like the Merrell Moab, they're Goretex, very durable and a pleasure to wear. I ended up spending nearly £150 but it's the best investment that you can make, I'm a great believer in getting the right equipment for the job, whether that's for business or leisure.
By the way, is 10st and a 32" waist a realistic target? I've no idea of your height, natural build or muscle structure but for me that would be a little too optimistic.

Thanks (0)
Locutus of Borg
By Locutus
08th Nov 2015 13:55

Many clients are prepared to pay a premium for personal service
I always try and meet a prospect at the earliest opportunity. If a prospect is prepared to invest time in a meeting then it is more likely that they will become a client, rather than just being a 'tyre kicker' shopping around a dozen accountants to get the lowest quote.

You are someone who wants to be the marketing person in your business. If you meet 100 prospects and secure 50 of them as clients then that would have been a very cost effective and time efficient use of your scarce resources. Meeting your prospects should perhaps be your number one marketing objective, but just make sure that the meetings are efficiently conducted and proceed no further if you feel the prospect is likely to be difficult.

There is nothing wrong with operating a 'sausage factory' approach and indeed the vast majority of my own work is fairly routine. However, there is also nothing wrong with demanding a higher price than say, SJD, if you are prepared to have a chat with clients on the phone or in person once in a while. I have taken on clients who felt there was a lack of personal service with their online accountant and on the other hand prospects have not wanted to proceed any further with me as I was not prepared to lower my fees to the level of SJD, etc. But I'm comfortable with that.

I remember a while back that you obsessed over a prospect that got away. Your website, which I quite like, also quotes fees on the lower end of the scale, suggesting that you are afraid to quote a higher fee than, say, SJD in case they say no.

In your personal life some people will want to be your friends and some won't. In your business life some prospects will want to be your clients and some won't. It's OK to let some get away. I only take on about half the prospects that contact me. In some cases, they feel my fees are too high, but I'm comfortable that I can't be all things to all people.

Thanks (0)
Locutus of Borg
By Locutus
08th Nov 2015 14:40

Weight loss
I would share Sheepy's concerns that your weight loss target is too ambitious, particularly as your over-ambitious targets in the past seem to have failed (I seem to remember there was an intermittent fasting diet a couple of years ago that resulted in an online spat).

Keep things simple, but sustainable. Have a target of walking at least 10,000 steps every day. If you drink alcohol then limit it to once per week or even cut it out altogether. Cut out (or severely limit) highly processed foods such as chocolate, cakes, biscuits, sweets, cheese, etc. If you are hungry between meals then snack on fruit. Reduce high fat red meat and replace it with low fat white meat. Eat more high fibre foods, such as porridge, which slowly releases energy over the day.

These are relatively easy steps to follow, so are sustainable. You won't reach your target weight by June 2016, but then again it took you several years to get to the weight you are now, so it is likely to take you several years to get down to the weight you was in your 20s. So long as you are travelling in the right direction then that's the important thing.

Thanks (0)
FT
By FirstTab
08th Nov 2015 21:12

Way forward

Hello sheepy306 and Locutus, thanks for taking the time to comment. I think, your response is very good. 

As you say a balance between online practice and meeting clients would be a way forward. Though I need to think further. 

I agree with your point, I need to better in managing potential client meetings. I need to say at the outset meeting would be for 45 mins at the most is one way I can handle this aspect.  

Weight Loss- Thanks for your support. I will review my target when I reach the half way stage. I am vertically challenged. Leave out the tall in dark and handsome. 10 stones is within my healthy weight range. 

Being within the healthy weight range, as you know, means I will have a better quality of life. Just losing 4 lbs meant I found this weekend's domestic chores easier. 

sheepy306 - Like you, I need to invest in good quality hiking boots. I will be doing a lot more of it since I enjoy it. I will go back to  group hikes once I am lighter, so I can keep up with the group. The last trip was embarrassing for me. 

 

 

Thanks (0)
By petersaxton
09th Nov 2015 09:08

I agree with the comments of sheepy306 and Locutus

but I don't think you need to decide before the meeting how long it's going to last. You don't need to lie about having another meeting. Once you think the meeting has served it's purpose just say to the potential client that you have a lot of other work you need to get done.

Thanks (0)
Red Leader
By Red Leader
09th Nov 2015 11:29

online firm

Several years ago I came across a firm that had taken the online approach to quite an extreme level.

They had a contact phone number. This was only ever answered by an automated service. You left a message which somehow got automatically transcribed and then the reply would be by email with a transcript of your voice message.

I found it very weird. A bit like having a conversation with an AI robot or speaking on the phone with a delay on the line.

Thanks (0)
Glenn Martin
By Glenn Martin
10th Nov 2015 10:10

Why Choose you could do both.

For me and I have mentioned it on a few other posts, these days and going forward you almost need to develop a duel personality for your practice.

The first is the natural one of the high street accountant, which has been with us for years, you draw your clients from a small geographical area around where you are based, relying on word of mouth, client and professional referrals.

You then need to consider your web presence which can either replicate the above or target a larger broader audience which will be driven by marketing.

I have been working closely with a local temp agency who have been putting their workers with one of the big contractor accountants which they are unhappy with over ever increasing costs and I am on the cusp of getting a lot of contractor company clients. If I pull this off I may split things in 2 and develop the online stuff as a  fixed price contractor style accountant with its own branding away from my "local accountant" image that my current practice has.

I think if you try be all things to all men the message can be mixed and often lost off, so I would look at as 2 different projects.

I suppose this in a way is what KPMG & PWC are trying to do away from their core business with new their cloud based SME offering.

 

Thanks (0)