Mark's Magic of Success 16 Feb 21

Here's this week's set of practical ideas and insights to think about while you wait for your vaccine....

3 practical tips I shared recently in 1-2-1 sessions

1. Two lists are better than one - When making plans or decisions take stock of the facts and the assumptions you're making by writing two lists. One can contain the facts you know; the second list is for the assumptions you are making. You can often distinguish facts and assumptions by asking yourself 'How do I know?'
2. Keep your top client in mind - Your own firm is your most important client. If it fails, you have no business and you have no way to support and help your other clients. If your firm was a client, what advice would you give the owners, to help them remain sustainable, profitable and growing?
3. Just ask - Don't assume you know what clients, suppliers or colleagues want. Just ask. ASK could stand for an instruction to Always Seek Knowledge. If you don't ask, the answer is always 'No'. Be gentle and enquiring. Show a genuine interest and avoid inquisitions. Just ask!

What are you talking about Mark? -> How to be seen as more than just another accountant

Looking forward to presenting this talk online for a special group of accountants next week.

The key to achieving greater success as an accountant often requires you to be more influential and to better evidence your credibility. At the same time you need to make it easy for people to Remember you, to Refer you and to Recommend you (3Rs), more so than your competitors. This is equally true for your face to face interactions and for those you have online too. [More here>>>]

Please get in touch if you want to consider such a session for your office/team.

What do you do with RASH clients who don't want to pay for your advice?

One thing that most accountants will agree on is that, regardless of the impact of the pandemic, some clients are beyond help.

Previously we might have thought this was all about those clients who are a pain to deal with, slow to respond, overly fee conscious and/or rude and unpleasant.

Now though you may have a new category of clients. The RASH ones. That’s those who repeatedly Reject, Avoid and Shun Help.

In today's blog post I have set out a number of ways to help you decide where to focus your energy. There are also some lessons that may be relevant to your own personal and practice development too.

You can read the full blog post and my advice here >>>

How self-confident are you?

Maybe you would value my insights and encouragement to boost your self-confidence and help you to:

• Stop wasting time and manage your time more productively
• Stop worrying about marketing and promotional activities
• Get the leads you really want from the time you spend on Linkedin
• Get more value from networking and business development activities
• Spend more time working ON your business rather than IN your practice
• Plan more effectively for the future
• Take the actions necessary to achieve your goals

How might you want to get my support?

Strategic support calls: You can book a 2 hour zoom strategy call as a one-off, or as a series in blocks of 6. All such calls include related follow up within reason.

One-off calls: There's no charge for the shortest of calls. You can also book a longer focused call for a fixed fee. You share your background, where you are, what you’re worried about and what you want to achieve in the short and long term. We discuss what actions you could be taking in the immediate future. You clear your head. I help you prioritise and get motivated.

One month programme of weekly goal focused calls: What is it you want to achieve, be or do differently? Whilst I cannot wave a magic wand to make it happen for you, I can ‘hold your feet to the fire’ encourage, support and guide you to achieve your short-term goals.

Flexi-Mentoring programme – with ‘P’ calls: This programme gives you up to 12 calls where we focus on you making Progress as we resolve your Problems, establish your Priorities and your Possibilities. Our conversations will be focused, flexible and fun. There are 3 options as regards this programme. The middle one is the most popular.

Further details, charges and payment terms are all set out here >>>>

Fun time: Ten things only financial controllers will understand

1. People never understand what your job really involves
2. The colour scheme on your spreadsheet is actually important
3. It's infuriating when a balance sheet doesn't balance
4. You're wasting our time when you promote stuff to us (as we have no buying authority)
5. Having the auditors on site is a pain in the neck
6. No one wants to know when your cash flow shows no flow
7. Everyone thinks you can help them pay less tax
8. Friends only call when they want financial advice
9. New versions of Excel are really exciting
10. Everything in life can be reduced to debits and credits

---

* When something funny happens to you or you see something that might be suitable for the Accounting and tax fun blog, please let me know.

Think on this...

What do you do that you would prefer to remove from your skill/behaviour set?

Ask clients to think on this too.

Final thoughts

I hope February is proving to be less stressful, more enjoyable and more profitable than January!

Going forwards I hope that you can stay positive, test negative while remaining safe, smiling and well sanitised.

-----------

You would be very welcome to receive my weekly Magic of Success email and can subscribe via the link below. There's no charge and you can unsubscribe any time.

Mark Lee's Magic of Success email - sign up for free

-----------

Mark Lee FCA provides strategic advice, talks and mentoring to accountants and tax advisers who want to improve their reach, referrals and results. He is also Chairman of the Tax Advice Network, the UK’s largest network of independent tax advisers.

Mark has long been a popular speaker for UK accountants both on stage and online. Informed, entertaining and commercial he also debunks hype and misconceptions. Earlier in his career he was a partner in two top firms. He has a number of voluntary roles including being Treasurer of The Magic Circle.

In addition to his frequent posts on Linkedin, Mark writes a weekly blog and a popular weekly 'Magic of Success' email. His website is: BookMarkLee.co.uk