Self-help books are extremely popular. They’re a great friend of New Year resolutions, but with so much help around it’s a wonder that there is still so much help needed.
Turns out a lot of these publications and workshop handouts become what’s termed in the industry as ‘shelf help’ books. That’s because people buy them, collect them and then store them… never to look at them again. Read more
A guy goes to an airline counter and checks in for his flight. He asks if one of his bags can be sent to Melbourne and the other one to Perth. Definitely not, is the answer. “Why not,” he asks – “you did that for me last week”.
Okay, so maybe it’s a joke, but it was not much of a laughing matter for me recently when I flew to Sydney and my luggage didn’t follow.
While at dinner awaiting a call from the airline to see if they had located it, our waitress accidentally tipped an entire cabbage salad over me – soiling my only outfit. Read more
Thank you to William Shakespeare for the above title (sorry I just couldn’t help myself). In an earlier post on the The Pulse I banged on about the importance of asking questions when meeting and discussing issues with clients and pitching for new business. Now we visit the other side of the communication coin – listening.
Listening is perhaps the most important skill any accountant or professional adviser can bring to a discussion with a client, potential client, staff member, government department, supplier and so on. When you listen … really listen … to the other party some quite amazing things begin to happen. Here are just three to think about: Read more
While I might not be the country’s biggest rugby fan, I was saddened to learn about the decision of the Otago Rugby Football Union to go into liquidation. With 2.2 million in debt, declining ticket sales and mounting player and stadium costs, it’s probably not surprising the ORFU is in such a state. Still, rugby in Otago is such a huge part of the local community, and it’s heartbreaking to see such a beloved institution in such dire straights. In the professional era though, rugby is a business and looking at the history of the ORFU in the last few years, it’s clear to see where the business side of things went wrong. While debate about the exact cause of the ORFU’s misery will no doubt continue, it seems to me there are a few lessons that any businessperson can take away from this story. Read more
One of my favourite maxims is – “If you want a better answer … ask a better question.” I love it so much it appears in the header graphic of my own blog . If you don’t believe me, just look up whatdoclientsreallywant.com.
Clients are impressed by accountants and advisers that ask questions they weren’t expecting or that they haven’t been asked before. It shows preparedness on the part of the questioner that he/she has invested time and effort in understanding the clients business and circumstances.
One of the best questions one can ask is “why?” If asked in the right way, the question of “why” can uncover a treasure trove of insights. There is a school of thought that claims that asking “why” at least 3 times in the one meeting or conversation can uncover the root cause or motivation behind any aspect of business activity undertaken by people both internal and external to an organisation. Read more
I’m assuming, if you’re reading this article, that you’re an accountant or at least working in the industry in some capacity. Let me ask you a question … “As an accountant what is the most important thing you do for your clients?” Over the years I’ve been given any number of responses to this question.
Some say, “Keep my clients safe & compliant”.
Others say, “Make their lives easier”.
While many say, “Get them a big tax refund”.
However, the most common response I receive to this fundamental question is, “to add value”. Read more
Call them what you like, web watchers, social stalkers or plain and simple voyeurs; they are all doing the same thing, watching you online.
That’s not meant to sound creepy, I refer to those people that are quite happy cruising around the web and watching what is being said and what others are up to in either a business sense or social sense, it really doesn’t matter. Read more
More more more!
How much are you squeezing into every day? How much more do you think is possible?
Never before have people pushed themselves as hard as they do now, and an unfortunate by-product of this is the dreaded ‘stupid mistake’.
A stupid mistake is something basic and fundamental that you do when you are cramming too much into your life for too long. Read more
Smart business resolutions for all SME’s.
There’s a New Zealand online business I came across the other day, which may as well have had a photo of me pinned to their mood board when they conceptualised it.
From the moment I spotted an ad for it on another blog, to the moment I followed them on their Facebook page. Read more
Smart business resolutions for all SME’s.
There’s a New Zealand online business I came across the other day, which may as well have had a photo of me pinned to their mood board when they conceptualised it.
From the moment I spotted an ad for it on another blog, to the moment I followed them on their Facebook page. Read more
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