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How phone addiction affects client care

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6th Jun 2018
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Smartphone addiction is everywhere. Even accountancy firms haven't escaped this epidemic. For Philip Fisher, the little burst of smartphone light during a West End show was the final straw. He's had enough. 

Recently, a very distinguished theatre critic from a national newspaper and I were exchanging notes during an interval at a West End opening night. He regaled me with the tale of a neighbour who had been texting during performance until my friend tapped him on the shoulder and got a typically indignant response. During the same hour of darkness, I had been irritated by an unidentified theatregoer whose phone bleeped intermittently, presumably every time a text or e-mail arrived.

The conversation expanded out to other theatrical experiences including the time when I stopped an audience member from texting and was later thanked by a member of the cast. The conversation then moved on to our mutually cantankerous irritation when respectable businessmen (it is always respectable businessmen) spend long periods of train journeys in quiet coaches making what must be important telephone calls. Again, we seem to be the only people in the world who step in, almost always thanked by a more timid fellow traveller.

Remarkably, in a response that was completely unprecedented and unexpected, my friend reported back the following night that after the interval the person whom he had (very politely) attacked had been profusely apologetic before the lights went down for the second act. I harbour a suspicion that the miscreant had been informed by a companion that the person tapping him on the shoulder was one of Britain’s leading theatre critics, although there has to be a chance in a thousand that he genuinely felt guilty and remorseful.

What has any of this got to do with running an accounting practice? The link is common courtesy. Unless my experience is unique, I frequently sit through meetings with clients where it is clear that one or more of my colleagues is much more interested in answering emails or dashing out of the room to conduct telephone calls that then seem to last for ages than paying attention to the person who is paying for their time.

Likewise, I would strongly suggest that any reader who works in industry and employs accountants might like to demand a fee reduction for time during which your highly paid advisers involve themselves in other business, even if it is just arranging to have the kids picked up from school by the au pair.

I have made it a basic business principle to turn off my phone during any client meeting, often visibly doing so in order that the person on the other side of the table can see that they will get my full attention. This goes way beyond courtesy, since if someone is willing to pay a vast amount of money for what I hope is valuable advice then the least that I can do is give them my full attention in every meeting.

Perhaps it is time for a serious backlash against mobile phone addiction. On my recent trip to Paris, it was noticeable that people in the street were walking around and looking where they were going, rarely playing on phones, while on the Metro the only people who appeared to be suffering from this pernicious addiction were the tourists. By comparison, in London 80% of passengers in the rush hour seem to be playing games, watching movies or, much more rarely, reading books or doing work on electronic devices.

I would not be surprised if some high-powered scientist comes up with a survey in the near future suggesting that this kind of behaviour is blighting our lives and, like smoking and obesity, doing great harm to children. If that happens, remember that you heard it here first.

Replies (7)

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Lone Wolf
By Lone_Wolf
06th Jun 2018 13:00

So brave crusader. You feel the impulse to interrupt people minding their own business on the train or at the theatre, and yet you make no mention of chastising your colleagues, who are actually being paid to give client's their attention, for answering emails and leaving for phone calls during meetings.

There's a Walter Mitty esque vibe coming from your tales of triumph and the apparent adulation of your fellow travelers/theatre goers.

Thanks (2)
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By Ken Howard
06th Jun 2018 16:28

Not a problem in our office. Due to very thick stone walls (converted ancient barn) and located in a dip, no mobile signals penetrate into our meeting room!

My main annoyance is clients who "read" my emails on their tiny phone screen, and either immediately forget and don't reply or do what I request, or don't read the full email and reply with a half baked answer. They're fine for quick fire short messages, i.e. text messages or twitter comments, but totally unsuitable for reading/replying lengthy technical emails.

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By The Innkeeper
08th Jun 2018 10:26

I never take my mobile into our meeting room for a client meeting. Only occasionally if I am expecting an urgent call and I will then always ask client for his or her permission to take the call

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By The Innkeeper
08th Jun 2018 10:26

I never take my mobile into our meeting room for a client meeting. Only occasionally if I am expecting an urgent call and I will then always ask client for his or her permission to take the call

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By The Innkeeper
08th Jun 2018 10:26

I never take my mobile into our meeting room for a client meeting. Only occasionally if I am expecting an urgent call and I will then always ask client for his or her permission to take the call

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coach
By coachsam
17th Aug 2018 20:51

Ahhh this is a topic near and dear to my heart. I think most of us on this site are old enough to remember the world without cell phones so we have something to compare this madness to. It's just common courtesy and not rocket science...give your undivided attention to what you are doing in the moment. It's not that hard.

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coach
By coachsam
17th Aug 2018 20:51

Ahhh this is a topic near and dear to my heart. I think most of us on this site are old enough to remember the world without cell phones so we have something to compare this madness to. It's just common courtesy and not rocket science...give your undivided attention to what you are doing in the moment. It's not that hard.

Thanks (0)