Most people struggle with strategy and more importantly the execution of it. It’s not something that only accountants struggle with, it’s universal.  We’ve surveyed and spoken to hundreds of accountants and firms to find out what their major blocks are to growing their businesses and adjusting to the future.

There are some common beliefs and misconceptions that could be blocking your success as an Advisor as well as repelling clients. These are beliefs I’ve seen many of my clients deal with and what I experienced earlier in my journey.

When I was starting my journey to becoming a proactive advisor, I realised that I needed to take charge of the client relationship and to deliberately change the conversation. To be the one to instigate and open the dialogue well before my client does. At this stage, there were a couple of things that I struggled with.

We are seeing some positive signs in the Australian accounting industry. If you haven’t already, check out the latest The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Report which provides annual benchmarking figures on the Australian accounting profession and a snapshot of a typical firm.

There are some guidelines to launching new products, that you really should consider. These apply to any type of business, not just to professional services. Sam Dean talks about the three things you must know…

Finding out and understanding what our clients want at all levels, is at the core of effective client engagement. How do we find out what our clients want, unless we straight out ask them? Also, if we can ask them in a systemised and driven way that collects and prioritises their responses as well as establishes their gaps, then this is more powerful.

Technology only makes you more efficient at what you are already doing and if you’re not already doing it or have a structured approach to starting to do “it”, there’s no use paying for technology.