Archive for the ‘Productivity’ Category

I had lunch yesterday with an old friend, Clare Murray. I say old friend as that’s how she described me afterwards in a tweet:

Terrific lunch today at 1 Lombard with old friend @bookmarklee

It did seem as if we were old friends and yet we met originally in 2001 in a professional capacity and have simply said hello a few times at meetings of the APP over the years. I think this was actually our first substantive conversation lasting more than 5 minutes since 2001.

I mention it on this blog because Clare displayed so many positive attributes of a good networker – that I think it’s worth using the lunch as a textbook example of ‘how to do it’.  We’ve all had occasions where a business lunch has been a struggle. This one wasn’t – not for me, nor I think for her.

Let me tell you a little about Clare first. She’s the managing partner of a niche law practice based in Canary Wharf – CM Murray LLP. Earlier this year she had her first baby and took about 4 months off work. She lives close to the office, with her husband and evidently loves her work.  Prior to setting up her practice Clare qualified at a leading national law firm and was subsequently a partner in a City law firm particularly recognised for its employment and partnership law expertise.

So what did Clare do that so wowed me yesterday?

• Encouraged me to talk about me before I could get her to talk about her. Ok, I made it easy for her! But she seemed genuinely interested in the story of my career since we last talked properly in 2001. She asked open questions, expressed concern and interest and evidenced her legal skill; friendly, professionally and easily.

• Responded openly when I asked about how she’d come to set up the practice a few years ago.  She avoided the trap we sometimes fall into – she gave me no sales spiel.  This was casual chat between ‘old friends’ who were catching up.

• Even though Clare had invited ME to lunch (actually her PA had emailed me to find a good date), when we moved to business issues her first question was about what she could do for me. She didn’t start by asking me how I could help her.

• When I asked Clare about her practice she told me about it in a really positive, enthusiastic and engaging way.  I learned about her lateral hires, the team spirit, the extra talent and spark she looks for in potential recruits and the types of clients they act for.  All very matter of fact. I was genuinely interested as it sounded different to many other employment lawyers I’ve spoken with. Let’s see what I can remember 6 hours later (when I’m typing this):
  • A focus on high level executives in the city banks based in and around Canary Wharf. CM Murray were the first niche practice in the area (it’s why they located there);
  • Expertise and a focus on advising the UK subsidiaries of US corporations on employment related matters; and
  • Specialist knowledge and expertise in partnerships and LLPs

• Of course CM Murray has expertise in more areas than this but Clare seemed to know, instinctively I think, that there is little point in talking about everything you can do over lunch. The same is true at networking events. How much can one person remember – especially about someone they’ve just met?  So far as i can recall,  Clare focused on just 3 key memorable niches and added that the firm also does a lot of work with SMEs too.  As I explained though – everyone works with SMEs. That acronym describes 99.9% of all businesses in the UK.

• When I asked what I could do to help her, Clare picked up on something I’d said earlier in the conversation (so she had been listening) and asked if I could think of any niche accountancy firms based in or near to Canary Wharf, City or central London who also have a focus on the same sort of clients as her – especially the UK subsidiaries of US corporations. Maybe they could collaborate and travel to the US to promote their practices together. We also joked about finding a way for her to expand her practice into her home town of Newcastle where her parents still live. But that’s more of a long term dream.

• We also talked about social media for professional advisers, my paid for talks on the subject, twitter (see @BookMarkLee @CMMurrayLLP and @ClareMary), blogging and holidays in Italy. Oh, and she inspired an amusing thought which will shortly appear on the Accountant jokes and fun blog.

Our lunch lasted almost two hours. The time flew by. It did feel as if we were old friends. I have a couple of things I promised to do by way of follow up. This blog post was NOT one of them. But as the day wore on I was reflecting on how enjoyable our lunch had been. I decided to share my positive feelings and, hopefully, in so doing, help others who may struggle with business lunches.  I don’t think I’ve ever felt inspired to do this before. And I doubt I’ll do it again.

By the way I’ve now checked back to CM Murray’s website.  My recollection wasn’t bad. In fact I now realise that during our conversation Clare spoke about the firm’s experience in dealing with the following as well as partnership issues and business immigration law:

• Board room disputes
• Executive bonus and departure issues
• Senior executive appointments and service agreements
• Expatriate and international secondment arrangements and disputes
• Large scale redundancy programmes

There’s another lesson. It’s unwise to expect the people with whom we network to remember all we say to them at meetings or over lunch. Despite my best intentions I still could not recall accurately the specialisations that Clare mentioned over lunch – or maybe I did and her descriptions were more focused than the wording on the website. Reading it now I do recall Clare mentioned them all. But I think she wisely summed them up into pretty much what I sumnmarised earlier.

This is the fifth and final part of a short series of blog posts. All five parts, together with further valuable tips, will shortly be available as an ebook.

For now, here are three more ways accountants can benefit from using LinkedIn:

Be the Conductor – Your client wants to raise finance, perhaps through Venture Capital. Maybe you could do with better contacts in this area? LinkedIn can provide those contacts and introductions.  The same applies for buying and selling businesses, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures etc.  On the tax side of course there’s no need as you can simply use the Tax Advice Network to access relevant and vetted specialist tax advisers.

Practice mergers and expansion - There are a number of highly regarded service providers who can help ensure you get the best deal here. If however you want to go the DIY route, then LinkedIn can help you find suitable practices and practitioners. Your profile will also enable them to check you out – using the information you have chosen to share.

Accessing knowledge – A surprising number of people are willing to share their knowledge and advice on LinkedIn. They do so by answering questions in a public forum. You can pose your questions on any subject and benefit from this free sharing of information.

If you’d like to be notified when the ebook is available do make sure you’ve subscribed to my newsletter using the link on the right about half way down this page. I only send it out about once a month. There’ll be no charge for the ebook by the way.

If you’re in a hurry to learn more about LinkedIn, do signup for Phil Richard’s free Effective LinkedIn Starter Course.

This short series started with extracts from my talks on social media for accountants.

One reader and contributor is Phil Richards. We’ve been talking about jointly authoring an ebook on the subject of LinkedIn for accountants. In this vein Phil has some further ideas as to how accountants can benefit from LinkedIn. Rather than add them as comments on earlier posts, I’ve extended the blog series. So here are three more:

Central point – LinkedIn enables you to connect one to one with people on a mutual platform. When you connect to one person you become visible to the people they connect with. This works in all sorts of ways that happen without you having to do anything.

Research suppliers – Whilst it’s not yet ubiquitous, LinkedIn is increasingly popular. I’m now surprised and disappointed if someone who approaches me isn’t on LinkedIn. I’ve often found that I know someone who has already dealt with them and can then call or email for an objective view before agreeing to engage with them.

Recommendations – LinkedIn provides a facility for clients and colleagues, past and present, to post recommendations against your profile. These are only visible to others if you accept them. I’m rather proud and humbled by the large number attached to my profile. I’d like to think that such recommendations add to your credibility. And this can be helpful in giving the right impression when new contacts first check out your online profile.

(The fifth and final part of this series will follow on Friday – love the alliteration!)

Having used the last two posts on this blog to introduce LinkedIn, let me now summarise the benefits you can secure by ensuring you have a profile on LinkedIn. This will enable you to:

• put your generic CV ‘out there’ showing your career history and key skills;
• include reference to your current role as your current role;
• get to grips with the LinkedIn website and features before you NEED to use them;
• reconnect (online) and remain in contact with ex colleagues and other business contacts – ie: build and enhance your network;
• be found online by new contacts who you meet on a day to day basis; and
• build your reputation as a helpful person before you start needing help – Those who try to use any online network solely for what they can get out of it will be less successful than those who seek first to contribute to the network.

Although it would have been better to have done all this beforehand it is still worth doing so if you’re now seeking work.  In addition to the above benefits:

• This will make it easy for you to be found by the recruiters who use LinkedIn to source candidates to fill vacancies;
• You will have a business environment in which you can communicate without using an unprofessional ‘personal’ email address and as distinct from the Facebook ‘fun’ environment;
• New contacts can get in touch with you without having to rely on a scrap of paper containing your scribbled phone number and email address.

If you are on LinkedIn and feel there are other reasons for our fellow professionals to register a profile there, please add your comments below. Equally if you disagree, please provide a contrary view.

Yesterday I introduced LinkedIn and explained, in summary, why I suggest that accountants should register their profiles there.  If you’re not going to be active on LinkedIn it can still be worthwhile so that other people can find you.  They may be looking for you specifically or simply for someone like you.

I’m lucky, despite having a very common name, if you Google Mark Lee from the UK you will find me immediately. That’s not the case for most people, nor is it the case if you’re outside the UK ;-(   So unless you have a unique name, you will make it easier for others to find you, simply by registering on LinkedIn.

Maybe they used to work with you and want to get back in touch. Perhaps they want to refer some work to you? Or maybe they are an ex-client who worked with you when you were with a previous firm. Or are they simply looking for someone with specific experience? Perhaps someone has recommended you but didn’t know your website details? Maybe they’ve checked your website but want to see what other people have said about you on your LinkedIn profile?

There are many possible reasons.

Then there are the recruiters (in commerce, practice or in the recruitment business itself) who are looking for someone just like you.  However secure you may feel in your current role, nothing lasts for ever.  Far better to have built up your online profile BEFORE you need to rely on it. And in the current climate you may need to do so even if you think you have a strong offline network of business contacts.

Equally you may be able to source a new senior recruit through your LinkedIn contacts. You could also find out more about newer clients and about key contacts at target clients before you approach them. Maybe someone you know, already knows them and could effect an introduction?  The facility to do this in a professional way is one of LinkedIn’s key distinguishing factors.

Many people use LinkedIn as a directory and to find the profiles of other senior business people. Many of those who have their profile on LinkedIn are happy passive users. Yes, there’s a lot more you can get from LinkedIn but for many people it’s enough to simply ensure that they can be found if someone’s looking for them.

LinkedIn also has the potential to be a more intimate way of networking than simply exchanging business cards with a stranger when attending networking event, conferences or exhibitions.  In this connection I recently attended a social party, met an interim FD and remembered his name. The next day I looked him up on Linkedin and connected with him. This sort of facility allows us to maintain a wider network of contacts that has ever been possible in the past.

(third  part of this short series tomorrow. Concludes next week)

LinkedIn is a ‘Business’ networking website. I’m always amused when commentators describe it in the same breath as ‘social’ networks. I think this confuses people who are unfamiliar with them and assume that LinkedIn is a variation on facebook and twitter for example. A more accurate collective noun is ‘online networks’.

LinkedIn is probably the only online network where it can be worthwhile establishing a profile even if you’re not planning to be ‘active’ on the site afterwards.  Generally, online networking can only work if you are active and netWORK.  This is also true of Linkedin but, unlike the other sites it is the ONE that some people use as a directory. Where users may look (or ’search’) for you or someone like you.

Of course my profile is on LinkedIn and I’ve become increasingly active there. I now have over 1,000 direct contacts there.  By all means seek me out and let me know why you want to connect. I’ll be happy to do so if you’re a reader of this blog.

(part two tomorrow)

A sole practitioner accountant recently asked how could he attract the ‘bigger fish’?
In effect he wanted to know how he could start to attract and win clients who would be prepared to pay bigger fees. He said he wants to more than double his average fee – moving from around £600 upto £2,000.

Here’s my initial reply:

What services do the ‘bigger fish’ look for and that you can provide? Are you looking to attract prospects with more complex affairs or those with more messy records?

What services would anyone want and be prepared to pay £2k for that you have the interest and ability to provide.

When you are networking are your stories and examples about small clients or big clients?

Do the messages on your website and marketing material represent the right sort of bait for the work you want to attract?

Last week I interviewed Daniel Priestley on a webinar during which we discussed ways in which accountants in practice can become more entrepreneurial.

One of the issues we touched on was the benefits of identifying a niche, or preferably a micro-niche.  Daniel made the point that this makes you more referable as it distinguishes you from all the other accountants. And this is a point with which I certainly agree. I’m always amused when I see a list of “areas in which we specialise” on accountants’ websites. In fact such lists are more often simply a list of all those areas in which the firm’s clients operate. As such they provide less evidence of specialist expertise than is ideal.

The same point arises when accountants try to describe all the things they can do when they announce themselves at a networking event. All this does is to make you sound just like every other accountant. And that means you’re BORING and not memorable. So the low rate of referrals and new work introductions that follows from such activities shouldn’t be a surprise.

Claiming a micro-niche involves focusing on something like: “Divorced women over the age of 50 who are worried about their finances.” That’s a clear memorable and distinct focus. It’s a micro-niche.  You probably are already finding yourself thinking of people who fit that demographic. If so you’re putting yourself in the position of someone who could refer work to an accountant who focuses on that micro-niche. And that’s why it can be so valuable to have such a focus. Clearly you should pick one that relates to your own experience. But PLEASE make it different to all the other accountants who (claim to) focus on SME businesses…. (yawn),

Daniel suggested that micro-niches might include reference to gender, age, level of wealth, location, income, beliefs, values or any other such distinguishing personal or business feature. Focusing on micro-niches also makes it easier for search engines to find you. This is relevant for when your target audience is looking for an accountant. Your micro niche makes you more referable, more memorable and more obviously a specialist from the media’s perspective too.

I had one further thought after the webinar had finished. And anyone who has ever worked for or met someone from a larger firm of accountants will be able to relate to this. Often their business cards will define the niche or area in which they work. They are not simply a partner or a manager. Often they are not simply a tax partner or audit manager. Their business cards typically identify an area such as ‘property’, ‘retail’ or ‘international’.  These are akin to niches. But I know dozens of property tax specialists in large firms and I have difficulty in distinguishing them in my memory.

The accountants (in any size of firm) who stand out are those who emphasise their own unique micro-niches.They make these clear on their websites, on their marketing material, when networking and seeking referrals and when obtaining media coverage.

During the webinar Daniel answered a couple of related questions:

a)  Can you have more than one micro-niche? Yes you can but it’s rarely necessary and will confuse people if you mention them both in the same conversation;

b) What about the work and opportunities you miss through focusing on a micro-niche? In real life you gain far more than you lose.

What do you think? Do you have micro-niche you’re prepared to share?

Every now and then I hear about general practice firms of accountants which have determined that they want to provide a higher level of tax service to their existing clients. This is often the case in more forward thinking practices where the partners recognise that they are limited in their own abilities and that they need someone else to check out their files for tax planning opportunities, to put tax advice in writing and to attend meetings with clients to provide a more tax focused service.

Provide tax schemes?
Boosting the firm’s tax capability can be a worthy objective although sometimes it’s a euphemism for offering tax schemes and products. I addressed this issue in a recent blog post: Selling tax schemes is NOT a route to riches.  If the partners do not understand this they WILL be disappointed.

Tax manager
Some firms recruit a tax ‘manager’ in the hope that he or she will fill the gap. And if the firm is lucky this may well happen. I always wonder however in such cases – How do the partners know that the tax specialist’s advice is correct? If there is no one else in the firm with the requisite expertise, this is a big risk, especially with a relatively inexperienced tax ‘manager’. Often they may feel under pressure to impress their new partners – especially if the carrot of ‘partnership’ depends on the partners’ perception of their performance. Again I addressed this in a recent post: Confidence is good – but not if it’s naive or deceitful.

If the new recruit causes a problem – which will often only become apparent down the line – either the partners will have to bear the loss or their PI policy will suffer a claim.

New recruits are also an expensive option. Over and above the recruitment costs and induction time it can be a while before they start to pay their way.

Merge with or takeover a tax only practice
I was asked my views about this possibility recently. I suspect it’s a dream that will rarely be realised. Tax only practices are generally set up specifically to avoid the distractions of providing accounting and auditing type services. Why would a successful tax practice want to merge with a general practice firm of accountants?

If such a merger or takeover occurs the tax specialists are likely to want to reduce the risks to the practice of general practice partners providing tax advice without it first being ‘checked’. This will often give rise to conflicts as the general practice partners are not used to having their advice double checked or to being constrained as to what they can advise on.

Merge or takeover a one-man band tax specialist
This idea suffers from much the same downsides as have already been mentioned. It can be worse however as there is the added risk of the individual retiring, dying, going sick or leaving shortly afterwards. Although such risks may be considered small the prospect of one of these may have been the prime motivation for the tax specialist agreeing to the deal.

The partnership will want to limit the upfront costs of recruiting a tax partner by requiring that the new person has a following. However very few tax specialists with a following would feel comfortable taking their clients into an environment that has not previously provided clients with specialist tax advice.

If the tax specialist or partner does join the firm their focus will be on their existing clients. What will motivate the specialist to make time to explore opportunities to provide tax advice to the firm’s existing clients?

Tax contractor support
In my view this is the best solution – at least as a first step towards building in-house tax expertise.

It will often be easy to identify someone who has the requisite expertise and is available to help out on a part-time basis. They remain self employed and provide their services to the firm on a contract basis, perhaps one day a week for a few months.  This option is also more cost effective for the general practice firm as they bear no employment related costs. In the event that any problems arise the relationship can be terminated quite quickly and any claims made will be against the contractors’ PI policy.

It may be that more then one such specialist can be identified – perhaps one to focus on IHT issues, one on VAT and one on corporate tax matters. (There are many other such topics too of course).

Multiple adviser tax support
Whichever route a firm follows they should appreciate that, these days, hardly any tax adviser can cover off and advise on all tax matters. If you have just one or two in-house  senior tax specialists, you should expect them to want to seek confirmation or support from a third-party ever now and then.

Tax Advice Network
This supportive network provides over 2,500 accountants with access to dozens of  vetted independent specialist tax advisers across the UK.  These tax advisers are categorised by their areas of expertise and location.

You can contact any of them for specific,  general or tax contractor support as described above.  And yes, as implied above, much of the time these independent tax advisers are providing second opinions and support to the tax specialist managers and partners in firms, as well as to general practice partners.

The increased use of accounting and tax software has had an unexpected impact on at least one accountancy firm. And I suspect there are others in the same position.

The firm had assumed that they would reduce staff costs through increased use of junior staff.  The partners anticipated that using more sophisticated tax software would allow them to reduce salary costs as it would require less able and qualified staff than previously. In practice the firm has less need of unskilled staff. The software itself takes the drudgery out of the work and enables staff to focus more on value added and advisory services for clients.

Staff numbers are down – as one might expect. But staff costs are up as the firm is able to make better use of more qualified staff.

What’s been your experience?