Being Pro-active

There is a lot of pressure on professional accountants to be pro-active these days. we discussed this at one of our Friday staff meetings at Davenports recently.

That is because the world is turning faster and clients have higher expectations of mere professionals.

They pay our fees and because the world is more complex they fear that they are ignorant in more areas. Thats where they expect us to extend ourselves.

Its not rocket-science being pro-active----its just demanding and time-consuming!

When you finish the task at hand you have to stop and ask the further question-----"what more might this client need?".

You then need to ruminate for a few minutes with the client in mind checking through your brain cells and comparing the clients situation and affairs with the mental checklist that you have accumulated thus far in life.

If you are older you have a longer checklist. It takes more of your valuable time. More is at risk!
That is because your client might not welcome your suggestion. You have then sacrificed your efforts for nought. Well so you might think!

That is because my experience has been that the client, whether they accept your suggestion or not, is usually impressed with the notion that you have thought constructively about their affairs. this may simply translate into a more amenable relationship or perhaps even a greater likelihood of accepting a future suggestion.

Pro-activity is energy spent and one of the natural laws of the universe applies. This energy will return to you in some shape or form.

So we can but try to build the relationship with the client by being pro-active.

It is certainly much better than being on the back foot!And that's where most accountants find themselves.