It’s been heartening to hear, through my networking, the increased numbers of accountants and accounting firms embracing digital disruption. You are the next generation of accounting firms, or firms of the future, charged with shaping and leading the industry.
Even if you have already moved to the cloud, adopted value billing and harnessed the power of social and digital to grow your practice, here are some ways to enhance your skills and practice offering. In doing so you’ll also help create the next generation of accounting leaders.
Embrace mobile
The widespread adoption of mobile is changing the face of business, allowing for more efficiency and flexibility. In addition, you may be surprised to know that our small business customers say our mobile app enables them to get paid faster.
Becoming more mobile-friendly will also help develop empathy for your customers and how they work. Australians are among the most prolific smartphone users, with a recent study from Intuit revealing that 71 per cent of small business owners use their smartphone for business.
Build thought leadership
Accountants and bookkeepers need to be ahead of the curve in order to build thought leadership. Many accountants and bookkeepers tell me they find it a challenge to stay up to date on emerging trends and industry news, given busy workloads, and I can relate to that!
However, at the heart of building thought leadership is taking a bold idea and advising your customers how it will impact them.
This is just one way to build your industry credibility and you may wish to try it when, for example, advising customers who are reluctant or unsure about moving to the cloud. Explain that the future is the cloud, the future is now, and those small businesses who have not yet made the transition will miss out.
Of course that’s a simple explanation, but you get the approach. After all, thought leadership is becoming increasingly important in the age of digital disruption as accounting firms seek to differentiate themselves from competitors.
Embrace social listening
Engage in social listening to form a deeper relationship with your client. Take the time to build empathy for your customers, which is an important springboard to forming trust.
One way to build empathy is to explore your customers’ social media platforms, blogs and personal social accounts to find out more about who they are as individuals. Many of our Pro Advisors tell me that strong business relationships go beyond ‘doing the books’.
In my experience, once you have a more rounded perspective of your customers, it enhances your ability to provide business counsel and also helps position you as a trusted business advisor; ingredients that will help you build thought leadership.
By Nicolette Maury, Managing Director, Intuit Australia