7 Tips to Manage Difficult Workplace Conversation!

Very often the only thing that is more stressful than having a difficult conversation in the workplace is the anticipation of that conversation.

Whether it’s a performance appraisal or a sales meeting to close a deal, here are a few tips to help you to manage difficult conversations:

1. Be prepared 

Spend some time considering what you want to achieve by having the conversation. Write down the key points you want to raise and list any further points in order of importance. What would your ideal outcome be for each point? If you would like the other person’s input, or if you have a proposal for a solution of your own, write these down next to each point. Picture yourself confidently raising the issues on your list and explaining your ideas for possible solutions.

2. Put yourself in their shoes

How would you receive this information? Anticipating their response will help you to consider carefully how you communicate and your body language.  This will enable you to be more prepared for their response, including the possibility of an emotional response.

3. Time and place 

Choose a time and place when you will both feel comfortable, will not be pushed for time and should avoid being interrupted. If necessary, reassure the person you're talking to that the conversation is confidential.

4. Stay focused on solutions 

It is better to ask “how can we do better next time?” than “why did it go wrong?” We cannot change the past but we can explore and identify the best way to learn from mistakes and move forward.

5. Don't skirt around the issue 

Be polite but stick to the preparation you did in advance of the conversation. Stay in control. If you find your tonality changing, either speeding up and getting louder (getting frustrated) or slowing and getting quieter (losing confidence), adjust your posture. Whether you are sitting or standing, change your physiology to be more relaxed or more assertive and your tone of voice and choice of words will follow suit.

6. Have a time frame in mind before you start talking

If it becomes clear that the conversation is going to take longer, don't be tempted to rush things through or run over time. The last thing you both want is to feel exhausted by the conversation and to make a poor decision. Instead, agree to meet again to continue the conversation at a suitable time.

Contact us if you need business help:
PJ | ☎ 020 89310165 | ☏ 07900537459 | ✉ info@apjaccountancy.com

What Does Your Strategy Say To Your Customers?

Your business’s strategy says a lot about what you and your firm believe in and where you are going to invest your resources. But what does your strategy say about your firm from your customer’s perspective?

Your customers want to know that you and your business care about them. They want to feel important and that they are at the centre of your universe. Without your customers, your business wouldn’t exist. As such, it is important to build your firm’s strategy around your customers.

The very best businesses build every process and interaction around creating a great experience for their customers. Businesses such as Amazon and Netflix are well known for their customer centric business strategies, but you don’t need to be a global enterprise in order to create a strategy that puts customers first.

The next time you and your management team sit down to review your strategy, start with your customers. Think about who they are, the problems they face and what your business can do to help them. Maybe they are time poor so your strategy could be to save them time by offering the most efficient service in your market sector. Perhaps your customers want better value for money so maybe a strategy that focuses on delivering a low cost product or service would be more relevant to them.  

Regardless of the strategy that you choose to implement, make sure that it sends the right message to your target audience. That message should be bold and it should tell your customers (and target customers) that they are at the centre of everything your business does.

PJ☎ 020 89310165☏ 07900537459✉ pushkar.joshi@apjaccountancy.com

Key Account Management Strategy!

Anyone in business will tell you that it is easier and cheaper to sell more products and services to an existing client than it is to go out and find a new client.

Key Account Management or “KAM” is all about focusing on your key existing clients – your very best customers. In theory, this is the perfect way to increase your profits and develop better relationships with your most valuable clients. If we apply the 80:20 rule then, in an average business, 80% of profits tend to be generated by the top 20% of the clients. So, these key accounts are the most valued customers of a business.

KAM strategy

A KAM strategy is a marketing and business development approach which focuses on taking special care of these customers. Each key account should have a business plan, dedicated resources (such as an account manager or single point of contact in your firm) and should be identified throughout your business as being a strategically important relationship.

Choosing Key Client

The most important thing here is to select the right customers for investment. Many businesses tend to underestimate the importance of this step and often show a casual attitude when it comes to selecting the right clients to develop. Some firms simply select all their big clients. There is nothing wrong with that strategy; however, they often fail to consider the potential to grow those particular relationships. After all, just because a client is big doesn’t necessarily mean it is particularly profitable.

Key Client Relationship Plan

In creating a KAM strategy you should also consider resources. There is no point in creating a strategy to develop 60 key clients if you only have the resources to actively manage 10 key clients. These key client accounts will need to be managed in an active way and this will require time and effort. Ideally, you will want to create a specific business plan for each key client relationship and you will need to dedicate some financial and people resources in order to execute these business plans.

Key account management, if executed well, can be a very effective marketing strategy in that it focuses your firm’s business development and marketing resources on the targets where you are likely to make the biggest impact.

Are you looking to develop your business but struggling to find the key client and manage them? 

To know how we can help you, please contact us at:
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First Impressions Count!

You only have one chance to make a good first impression.

Here are a few tips to help you to make a good first impression with new clients, contacts and during business meetings:

Focus 

Being known as a 'natural' at interpersonal communication is not just a gift that a select few enjoy. We can all enjoy the reputation of being a great communicator.
Focussing the conversation on the other person takes the pressure off you.
Avoid interrogating your new acquaintance, and even if you are nervous, make sure you always slow your speaking rate down.

Presentation is everything

Adjust your posture, stand up tall and adjust your voice and gestures to a positive setting.
Establish rapport with your new contact by mirroring their head nods and tilts.
Speak at their pace and volume level.
You'd be surprised by just how many different 'voices' a successful salesperson uses in a day - they spend a large amount of time mirroring the other person's gestures, voice, language, pace, intonation and volume.

It’s about them

Encourage your contact to talk about their business, their successes and their achievements.
Don’t make it about you - give them the opportunity to talk about themselves.
Do your research before you meet your new contact.

If their firm has been in the press for positive reasons then refer to it and compliment their business. Then step back and let them talk.

Ask questions and listen - you have two ears and one mouth so aim to use them in that ratio.

If you have any questions, please contact us at:
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Half My Advertising Is Wasted, I Just Don’t Know Which Half”

I read an interesting (and disturbing) statistic recently from Forbes. It stated that 45% of CEOs agree that ‘marketing efforts are wasting money’.

Yes, I’m an accountant (and proud of it) but I’m also a business owner. In many respects I’m in a unique position. I not only have to run and build our firm, I also get to advise dozens of other business owners (our clients) on growing their firms, making sure their financial management is as good as it can be, and ensuring they don’t pay a penny more in tax than they have to.

However, we are different to most accountants because we take an active role in helping our clients grow. That’s why we invested a considerable sum to give our clients access to one of the world’s leading sales and marketing systems (the BGSvault).

But when I read that statistic from Forbes, it reminded me of a famous quote from department store mogul John Wanamaker, who said: "Half my advertising is wasted, I just don't know which half".

It’s fair to say I have this discussion regularly with a number of our clients. They don’t measure the results of their marketing, so they have no way of knowing what’s working and what isn’t makes my team and me very ‘number conscious’. We do measure everything. That includes our marketing. I want to know if I spent X on a strategy, what return did I get?

Why is that important? Well, it means I know which strategies to invest more of our hard-earned money into and which strategies to ditch or try and improve. It’s not rocket science, but as small-business owners we have to watch the pennies and leverage as many things as we can.

I also smiled when I read that statistic from Forbes. I wonder how many CEOs actually know what their marketing results are and which strategies work. It is highly likely they are just like John Wanamaker—they haven’t got a clue.

This one simple act of measuring the results (or lack) of ALL your marketing is so simple, yet it will have a significant effect on the growth of your firm.  It’s your job to make   sure   you  put  in  place  a  mechanism that  gives  you this  data.  In   my   experience,  I can  tell you, it is TRANSFORMATIONAL!

How to keep your clients happy? 8 Simple Steps!

Keeping existing clients happy is a lot easier than acquiring new ones. But that’s easier said than done.

Think of yourself as a customer. When you walk into a shop, you expect to be treated in a certain way - a smile, a small greeting, “Hello, how are you?” and you want to feel like you matter.

You don’t want to be treated as just another customer. Excellent service makes a difference to how you perceived the experience and if you return to that store again.

Opposite our office we have a coffee shop called Rise. If I ever want a coffee, I go there and wouldn’t think about going anywhere else. This is all because of their excellent customer service.

Even before you are at the counter ready to order, you’re greeted with a friendly “Hello” and the staff make you feel valued and appreciated. Here are a few ways you can keep your clients happy so they are amazed by your service and never want to leave…

1. GIVE FREE ADVICE

If you come across as only wanting fees from your clients, they’ll run in the opposite direction. Giving free advice shows that you care about your clients’ success. It doesn’t mean you have to be on the phone with them every day answering a list of questions, but if they know you’re available to give advice when they need it, you’re more likely to be referred.

Don’t think about trying to sell them other services - treat it as a form of developing the relationship with your clients.

2. UNDER-PROMISE AND OVER-DELIVER

We say this a lot to our clients, but it’s true! If you promise someone too much, you’re putting pressure on yourself just to impress.

If you can see them for one hour a week, but you tell them they’re entitled to 30 minutes of your time every single week—they’ll be blown away when you over-deliver.
 

That’s a lot better than making promises you can’t keep (even though your intentions are never to break them).

3. COMMUNICATE CLEARLY WITH CLIENTS

If there is anything clients like - it’s to be kept informed, even if you have some bad news to tell them. Don’t let months go by without speaking to them. And this goes for your team too. Make it part of your team ethos to regularly keep in contact with clients about their workload. No matter how small the situation may seem, if a client’s work changes, they should be informed. 

It will go a long way in creating excellent customer service. 

Feedback emails are a great way to check in with clients to make sure they’re happy with the service provided. Ask your team to send an email to clients every few months making sure that everything is running smoothly. (This is a great way to keep your firm moving forward.)

4. BE AVAILABLE

Similar to point 3, communication is key to developing a strong relationship and making sure everything runs smoothly. 

You can’t be available every hour of every day, but there’s nothing worse for a client than not being able to get in touch with their accountant. Set aside a few hours a day when you are free to chat to clients if they ever need you and let them know that you’re unavailable any time outside of these hours.
 

People don’t like to be left in the dark about things, and if they haven’t received a response back from you within a few days, then they will lose confidence that you care.

5. DELIVER WORLD-CLASS WORK

This goes without saying really, but if clients aren’t satisfied with the service provided, they will cancel.
The primary reason clients came to you is because of the service you provided, and not how great your customer service is. Keep track of any work your team might do for clients, so you are always aware of the status of their work.
 

If your service isn’t up to scratch and they don’t see results - you can expect a cancellation.

6. ASK YOUR CLIENTS QUESTIONS

The only way to know what your clients want is to ask them. Feedback emails (as mentioned earlier) are an excellent way to over-deliver. And it goes a long way that you made the effort to ask.
 

Ask questions about their company too - find out the best times to communicate with them, what excellent customer service means to them, what their goals are and more. Establish what their expectations are and exceed them. Treat this as an opportunity to get to know your clients too.

7. MAKE EVERYTHING PERSONAL

People like personalisation and not being treated as just another client (think back to what I said about Rise earlier). This means every moment of truth with the client should be personal - from their name on letters to a personal touch to emails.
 

Make all of your clients feel appreciated. If you’re holding an event - invite them along. Invest time in building a relationship with each and every one of them.

8. UNDERSTAND THEIR POINT OF VIEW

Your clients are busy people and you won’t always get a response from them as quickly as you’d like. If you know that you need something from them, then asking the day before isn’t sensible. You have to put them first. 

Put yourself in their shoes. If they’re upset with how a member of the team has spoken with them, empathise and do everything you can to turn the situation around. Get the facts from your team and see the situation from the client’s side. (This doesn’t mean they’re always right, but look at things from their side)

PJ

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7 Strategies To Capitalise On Your Acres Of Diamonds!

When you’re constantly looking to acquire more clients, it’s easy to forget about your most prized asset - your EXISTING clients. This is a mistake I see often.

In many ways, it’s easy to understand why existing clients are neglected, but it’s no excuse.

Growing your firm is challenging (I don’t need to tell you that). But having strategies to retain existing clients and to maximise profits from them are without doubt the quickest, easiest and most cost-effective ways to grow your accounting firm AND give you the income and earnings you desire.

So let’s take a look at the different strategies you can use right now to capitalise on the relationship you already have with your existing clients… 

STRATEGY #1: INCREASE YOUR FEES ANNUALLY

The best and easiest way to maximise profits is to increase your fees. This is a no-brainer.
Systematically increase your fees by at least 15% EVERY year.
You’ll be surprised how few clients you lose as a result and the ones that do leave are the ones you don’t want anyway (price-conscious).

The reason why price increases are so successful is because YOU’RE NOT CHARGING ENOUGH RIGHT NOW ANYWAY. There’s a significant element of added value which you can capitalise on - and increasing your prices is the easiest way to do this.

STRATEGY #2: WOW YOUR CLIENTS WITH MOMENTS OF TRUTH

One of the best ways to add value, build strong relationships and retain clients is to use Moments Of Truth (MOT). We discuss MOT often in these pages, but if you’re new to AFG, MOT are the steps you take at each interaction with your clients to ensure their experience with you is exceptional.

If you focus on every interaction you have with a client and make this the BEST it can be each time, you will create a world-class service.

You’ll retain far more clients and strengthen the bond you have with them - making them less susceptible to the advances of your competition.

STRATEGY #3: TELL THEM WHAT YOU SELL

I know this sounds almost ridiculous, but guess what? Your clients don’t know what you sell.

How many times have you spoken to a client and they’ve turned to you and said something like, “We’ve just gone to ABC company for XYZ,” only for you to turn round to them and say, “Didn’t you know we do that?”

This is more common than you think. Plus, it also brings into focus that if they don’t know what you offer, they won’t even think to buy it. So making them aware of what you sell will prevent many clients from sourcing this service from other suppliers and also increase the likelihood of them buying the service from you.

There are more, but here are 2 easy ways to do this…

1. Include a list of services with short descriptions in your newsletter (see next strategy). This can either be within the newsletter itself or as an insert.
2. Send a letter 4 times a year making clients aware of the services you sell. A good way to do this is to use a tick-box approach whereby you ask them to tick the services they would like more information on. You then follow up with those who want more information. This strategy alone will yield significant income opportunities for you.

STRATEGY #4: SEND A MONTHLY PRINTED NEWSLETTER

This is still one of the least-used strategies, but sending a printed monthly newsletter to clients is one of the best things you can do. Done right, it can achieve all of the following for you…

• Help to retain clients
• Get clients to buy new services from you
• Motivate clients to buy more existing services from you
• Keep clients engaged with you, strengthening your relationship with them
• Differentiate you from the competition
• And much, much more

To begin with, keep it simple. 4 pages is ample, but your goal should be to increase to 8 pages.

STRATEGY #5: SEGMENT YOUR CLIENT LIST

Segmenting their client list is something that very few firms ever do. Instead, they treat every client in the same way. But, clients are not created equally. Pareto’s ‘80/20 Rule’ is applicable to your client base. 80% of your profit will come from 20% of your clients. 80% of your headaches come from 20% of your clients, and so on. It is vital that you identify who your best clients are, so you can focus on giving them the attention they deserve. Reference our execution plan on ‘A-D Client Segmentation’ for more details.

STRATEGY #6: PHONE YOUR BEST CLIENTS

Now you’ve segmented your client list, you can start to communicate more with your best clients (’A’ and ‘B+’).

Simply picking up the phone once or twice a year and having a general discussion on how things are going will ultimately lead to more opportunities and, therefore, more business for you.

STRATEGY #7: CLIENT APPRECIATION EVENT

Once a year, you should organise a ‘Client Appreciation Event’ either at your office or a local hotel/restaurant and treat your best clients. Once again, you’ll be surprised by how much extra business this generates for you.

There are, of course, many more strategies you can use to generate more and more business from your clients. These 7 strategies are a good place to start.



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How to Stop Customer Attrition & Win them back?

How to focus on your customers, clients or patients. More importantly, why we need to make them feel ‘LOVED’!

On average, and for a variety of reasons, most businesses will lose between 10% and 20% of their existing customers each and every year. Customers come and go. It’s simply a fact of life.  

Some of the reasons for customer attrition are unavoidable but others are in the complete control of the business.

 Interestingly, according to a recent survey by the Sales and Marketing Executives International, customers stop buying for the following reasons:

·  1% die

·  3% move away

·  5% develop other friendships

·  9% leave for competitive reasons

·  14% are dissatisfied with the product or service

·  68% leave because they were treated with indifference, disrespect, apathy or neglectful behaviour on the part of employees of that business organisation with whom they interacted

But what is good news is that 82% of a business’s customers leaving because they are unhappy is not good news in anyone’s book.

Because   68%   of    people leave through indifference, with a bit of ‘handholding’ many of these customers wouldn’t leave in the first place, and those that do can be ‘won’ back. 

As a business, we work very hard to keep our clients happy. We’re not perfect by any means but we focus on every interaction we have with them and make sure at the very least they are happy with the outcome. We also regularly tell them we appreciate their business, and when they refer people to us, we say ’thanks’ and send them a gift.  

There’s more we do, but I can tell you from my own experience that once you get a customer it’s your job (and the job of your team) to make sure you hold on to them. It’s not difficult to ‘love’ our customers, as long as we don’t forget . After all, even a loved one needs telling how much you care every so often!

How to improve employee productivity using Virtual Offices?

What is a Virtual Office Space?

Many businesses consider the office environment to be the conventional way of functioning. With the increasing costs of office space, more and more businesses are looking out for other ways of working to cut down office space costs and the concept of remote/flexible working is getting popular. This can be facilitated through technology but requires more progressive management strategies. Virtual offices let their staffs work remotely from their home or any other location they choose with internet connection.

Why Choose Virtual Office?

The important reason for choosing a virtual office is the costs involved in the office space. Virtual offices are cheaper than renting a space in the heart of the city. This is often the driving factor for start-ups and SMEs opting for virtual space. This option is considered a lifestyle choice for the modern organisations. This works well with employees especially when they relocate or have children. It is also a good idea to set up virtual work office initially, and then changing to a physical space when profits are better. Employees can also benefit from virtual working to reduce travel costs.

Some businesses may be geographically spread across many countries. In such cases, a permanent office space does not make sense and a virtual office setup is a perfect solution.

Employee Satisfaction and Work Productivity

 

Every business strives to make its employees happy.  Allowing employees to work virtually means they get to spend more time with their family. This flexibility makes an employee happier and more productive. They no longer arrive at work after a stressful, train or bus journey. Instead they can simply work while feeling relaxed and happy. A virtual working style is ideal for people who wish to work as consultants or in desk-based roles, or for people who do not wish to relocate. This is a win-win situation for employers and employees. A physical office may be a geographical constraint for a prospective employee but when allowed to work virtually, this allows the business to hire better talent without having to force them to relocate.

Working virtually is also an advantage for people with disabilities who can work from home with all necessary help and support.

Ultimately IT is key to running a virtual office effectively. Employees need good broadband connections, secure computers provided by their employer and a proper desk, and chair. The culture of the firm is also important - a strong work ethic and adoption of practices such as video conferencing is necessary to have a productive virtual office.

Share you thoughts/experience as comments below. If you need any help, feel free to contact us.

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How to Build Long-Term Business Relationships? 6 Important Tips!

Building up healthy business relationships will help you to meet more people with new, innovative ideas, create a reputation for your business and ultimately boost your sales. Whatever kind of business you are in, developing better business relationships with customers, suppliers, vendors, clients, contacts and more takes time.

Here are 6 useful tips for building better relationships.

Image Source: freeimages.com

1. List out Objectives:

Plan your objective on what you want to achieve from a particular business relationship. Do you want to meet up with a likely client, vendor, supplier, referral or candidate? Setting objectives will help you to better determine which relationships are worthwhile spending time and resources in.

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2. Be Ready to Present yourself:

Be broad-minded and have a professional approach. Though it is common, just a reiteration: have your business cards handy. Be prepared to briefly explain what your business is about using a short “elevator pitch” to attract support for your product or project. Follow business meetings ethics.

3. Be Part of Local Business Associations:

Join relevant organisations/associations. There might a handful, if not plenty, of Organisations, Associations and Chambers available to help/network businesses around. Join hands with local charities which can help you to start making contacts. Start your Networking by attending meetings. Share your Business Card & don't forget to get their cards as well. Best way to follow up is through LinkedIn or other professional networking platforms.

4. Make use of the Technology

As said above, use the technology to get in touch and extend your relationship online and long-term. CRM systems, social media and other technological methods will help you in keeping track of and in touch with your business contacts. Share your business information with them directly from time to time to their email address or through their social media profiles.

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5. Connect Offline

Though you build an online relationship, it is as important to connect with them personally. That way you can build proper business relationships. For this and all the methods, you need to put in some time and effort in meeting face to face. Schedule casual meetings like a dinner or an official one at their premises. 

6. Win-Win Situation

It is important to have mutual benefits when it comes to business relationships, especially if it has to last long. Give as much or more than what you get from the relationship. Try to extend your helping hands whenever possible that will create a good will.

Try these methods and set a target for yourself, say 10-15 new contacts every month on top of getting in touch with existing contacts, and try to achieve it. 

Let us know how it worked! If you need any help, feel free to contact us.

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