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Point two- websites
Extraty above
Even those prospective clients who come to you via referrals probably check out your website first. Does it convert them or deter them from getting in touch?
This got me thinking unless you can guide a potential client to your website (through advertising or recommendation), are websites any good, bearing in mind if everyone has one, surly we are all back on an even keel.
Important
Extraty above
Even those prospective clients who come to you via referrals probably check out your website first. Does it convert them or deter them from getting in touch?
This got me thinking unless you can guide a potential client to your website (through advertising or recommendation), are websites any good, bearing in mind if everyone has one, surly we are all back on an even keel.
Websites are massively important. As a client, I would avoid companies with an out of date or bear website, even if I got good recommendations. I think it really shows your attitude to your practice. If you leave your website to look like something out of the 90's, or even a really out of date blog, then what does that say for your attitude to CPD and the likes? I'm not saying everyone values the same thing but a website is the new shop front. If you were going to get legal advice you would go to somewhere with a professional looking office rather than a dusty market stall.
Biggest lesson learnt - not to take advice from the ICAEW
Firstly ICAEW invited an unqualified firm to speak about growing a business and doing business well. This firm - Wow Company has a large banner on their home page which reads "Make more profit, pay less tax and have more fun". This is not only misleading and dangerous marketing, something we should not condone considering the fact we have a responsibility to the public as a whole, it also gives an unfair advantage to the unqualified market. Is this really the stance the association should take? How does this protect the members and the value of our qualification?
Another interesting fact I took away was the lack of commercial knowledge and reality by the ICAEW itself. One of them stood and told a room full of individuals that older firms look at passing over non favourable clients to newer firms setting up. Tell me, in a market which is further saturated and most accountants are losing clients and need more work, that this would occur? Also add in the fact that brokers sell block of fees where the buyer pays 5% so there is no cost of selling to the seller? There were quite a few pointers as ridiculous as this and it concerns me this is the level of advice offered to members in practice, or considering it.
The greatest tip I took was the association is no longer to be relied upon and it protects the interests of a select few. Mainly the big boys. The fact the event was sponsored by a few large providers of accountants and there was no due diligence over the speakers, it made me think it was a money maker venture and a poor one at that.
This is probably the BEST comment I have ever read on this site.
Char, we are facing an unprecedented number of people peddling "the emperor's new clothes" to our profession.
Those firms who "ridicule" compliance work fascinate me. HMRC's failure to maintain a reasonable level of investigations has allowed firms to ignore the basics. Clients haven't been affected (yet).
I'm just glad I didn't go to the conference " not due to an almost masochistic desire to hear what they could and should be doing differently but would probably never get around to doing" but because I was too busy.
How old fashioned!
compliance/sa investigations/standards
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Those firms who "ridicule" compliance work fascinate me. HMRC's failure to maintain a reasonable level of investigations has allowed firms to ignore the basics. Clients haven't been affected (yet).
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You only have to read an ICEAW member's "approved" letter of engagement to grasp the endemic cultural cynicism with which the so called qualified professionals conduct themselves and also read some of their comments on this forum...
Commenting as an unqualified accountant of over thirty five years standing and now, thankfully, semi-retired for over five years, my thriving practice is very much as a result of the bad service, bad attitude and bad faith of such professionals... as they say, you can fool some of the people some of the time... indeed my experience suggests you could learn much from non-ICEAW members, amen.
ps
even the most meek of clients eventually objects to being served bad beer!
wow
Did the ICAEW really have non members there telling members how to operate....
Wonder how much they got paid for speaking?
I notice none of their staff have any qualifications or they didnt put their ACA or ACCAs after their names so we will never know