It has often been said that “You only get one chance to make your first impression.” What kind of impression do you give when you meet a prospective client? We all try to put our best foot forward when meeting new people, but if that first impression is to continue, we have to follow up.

Whenever a prospective client gives you his or her business card, write the following information on the back of the card when the meeting is over and you are alone:

• The date you received the card
• Where you met this person and when
• Any other details, such as personal information, that may be helpful the next time you see that person. Remembering things like the contact’s spouse or something about their hobbies or interests tells a person that you care about them beyond simply what they can do for you.

You can also use speedwriting/shorthand to specify whether the individual was pleasant or not. If someone else sees the back of the card, they would not know what you wrote.

Writing down what kind of mood the client was in is helpful next time you meet them. You may have to go out of your way to be extra kind to those who were in an unpleasant mood when you first met them. But reminding them of what you talked about during the last visit demonstrates that you either have a very good memory or are very efficient, and they tend to respond more favorably.

Other sections from this week’s newsletter:

• Purchase the Professional Bookkeeper Program and get the Financing a Small Business Course at No Additional Charge
• Keep Your Bookkeeping Service Flying High
• Client Secrets are Your Secrets

Make Your Client Presentation Stick

You’ve scheduled a meeting with a terrific prospective client. You’ve got one chance to reel this potential client in. Don’t leave your office without enough bait.

Strong visuals will boost the impact of your presentation. Audience retention jumps from 14 to 38 percent with the appropriate use of visuals. And there’s another plus: You can reduce the time required to present a concept by up to 40 percent.

For most prospective client presentations a 3-ring binder is the medium of choice. Include a sample chart of accounts for the industry the client represents. Include sample computer input and output reports to give the individual an idea of what you will provide.

This can be output from another client in the same industry which has been masked and doctored to protect the identity and confidentiality of the client. Or, you might make up a business and enter transactions into the computer from what you know of the client’s industry.

Here are some more techniques to make the visual aids even more effective:

* Keep yourself in the spotlight. Remember that you are the focus of the presentation, not the visuals.
* Don’t use visuals as a crutch. Know your subject matter cold.
* Stress the benefits of each financial report. If they don’t understand how to use it, they won’t understand the value you offer.
* Say more than you show.

Remember that when you speak, you should be the focus of the presentation. Use your visuals to complement your message and actively involve your audience. Visuals are effective if they reinforce what you say and make your message stick.

Module 4 of our Professional Bookkeeper program, entitled “Building a Successful Accounting Service” describes other marketing methods to make your Accounting or Bookkeeping service grow!
To see an overview of marketing concepts that the Professional Bookkeeper course will teach you Click HERE.

Because Most of Your Clients Won’t

You might be surprised to know that most small business owners don’t know as much about their business as they think they do. This provides a real opportunity for a qualified bookkeeper or acccountant because without a comprehensive understanding of the financial health of the business, the business owner is unable to make the informed decisions that are required to keep his business healthy and growing.

Successful business owners and department managers know what’s going on inside the business, but there are many businesses that don’t. Without a sense of the financial figures, their ability to make good decisons is crippled. Since many business owners don’t have a complete sense of the numbers, they either need to acquire that understanding or hire someone that they can trust to look at the numbers and interpret them in their behalf.

A Skilled Bookkeeper Can Provide This Expertise

Since you’re here, reading this newsletter, I think we can all agree that a qualified bookkeeper or accountant is the answer for many of these businesses. Of course, like anyone, the business owner may not be willing to admit that he doesn’t understand what all the numbers mean and what the implications of the numbers are. (And it doesn’t serve anyone to point a finger and say, “You don’t know what your business is doing.” So we aren’t going to do that. )

However, as you meet with your clients and potential clients, it’s important that you have a complete understanding of their understanding. Some help in what questions to ask are found in “In The Black”, a book by Allen Bostrom himself (here’s a link to the site) Develop a series of questions that are needing to be answered to know such as; What are the daily, weekly and monthly sales totals? The per unit cost of production of what the company offers? The overhead expenses? Etc.

The questions that you develop should not try to be an all-inclusive list, but will give you a baseline to start from. As you go over the questions on the list, it should become apparent that this information is important enough to hire a professional to help collect and interpret the information on a monthly basis. Feel free to use this list you develop as you meet with your clients or as a thumbnail of the figures that you will need to put together for your clients each month.

For Your Clients to be Profitable, the Numbers Need to be the Right Numbers, Done the Right Way at the Right Time

As you do the bookkeeping and accounting each month you’ll have access to all the information that will help your customers make the kind of intelligent and informed decisions that make a business profitable.

It’s important that your clients communicate the results of this anyalyses to all of their employees to make sure that everyone in the business knows where it’s going and how well it’s progressing. When employees know what is being measured, it seems to improve.

The Tools to Make the Proper Financial Analyses are at Universal Accounting

Having a solid understanding of the Accounting and Bookkeeping methods and procedures is a great first step in learning the concepts behind Financial Business Analysis. You will learn to do books for small to mid-sized companies and how to analyze the books to prepare reports. You will learn to interpret reports so that you can advise your clients how to reduce costs and to better understand their financial standing and profitability. Your clients will look to you as an invaluable source of information about the financial health of their organization.

Get more acquainted with the right way, the Universal way of doing business as a Professional Bookkeeper

What type of signature represents the most simple but most effective form of publicity? ……..No more clues - it’s the humble e-mail signature.

Those few lines which you add to the bottom of every e-mail you send or post in a newsgroup can also be the least expensive publicity campaign in which you will ever participate.

Here are some points to consider regarding your email signature:

1. It should be limited to 4-5 lines with the most important lines at the beginning. You can then delete the last couple of lines if necessary.

2. Consider including the following:
Your business name
Address
Telephone number
Website, if you have one
Your SOB (Statement of Benefits)

3. Always make sure that your e-mail message includes a signature - it represents free advertising. It’s an excellent method to promote your website as it encourages the e-mail recipient to check out the website then and there.

4. If your e-mail system includes a multiple signature feature, create more than one signature and then use them for different circumstances. For example you may use a different e-mail signature for business rather than for family and friends. Or, for your existing clients you may remind them about your reward for referrals, whereas for prospective clients you’ll want to restate the benefits of working with you.

E-mail signatures have particular relevance when you are sending someone an e-mail for the first time as it enables them to record your address or phone numbers and, as previously mentioned, to have a look at your website as it is only a click away.

As e-mail messages can be forwarded to other parties without your knowledge, your signature details will also be available to people other than those to whom you are sending an e-mail and, of course, participants in discussion groups.

In short e-mail signatures are a must for simple, effective and inexpensive promotional activity.

Module 4 of our Professional Bookkeeper program, entitled “Building a Successful Accounting Service” describes other marketing methods to make your Accounting or Bookkeeping service grow!
To see an overview of marketing concepts that the Professional Bookkeeper course will teach you Click HERE.

Other sections from this week’s newsletter:

• Purchase the Professional Bookkeeper Program at Regular Price and Get the Audio Version of the Course Free
• Some Clients May Be Just a Few Feet Away
• Give Great Service All Day Long

Small Business Owners

How to Be the Jack of All Trades

At the onset of their venture, small business owners generally can’t afford to hire support staff. This requires they wear many hats in order to manage all the necessary business functions. It’s important that you beware of all these functions so you avoid neglecting key business tasks that enable your practice to run more efficiently. While there are some services you should outsource to trusted professionals (for example, lawyers), other functions you’ll have to manage yourself. So until you can hire help, here are 5 priority tasks you should become proficient at:

Marketing Specialist

We continually stress the importance of marketing. While it’s nice to imagine otherwise, clients are not magnetically drawn to your office. They need to hear about your services before they can request them. That’s why your marketing efforts can make or break your business. From the promotions you publicize on your website to your yellow page listing, all of it speaks of the value of your services. Your marketing efforts will build a stronger accounting practice. If you’re interested in learning more about proven-marketing strategies, visit our Universal Practice Builder site.

Copywriter

Related to marketing, copywriting is the process of writing the text associated with all marketing efforts. This includes the text on your website, in your brochures, on your fliers, and even the newsletters you distribute. While you can hire a copywriter to do this for you, until you have enough money to do that, you’re the best person for the job. And who better knows just how valuable your services are?

Collections Manager

Billing your clients is important, but collecting is even more important. While you should do all you can to ensure your clients have good credit before you add them to your roster, there’s always the chance they’ll delay payment, jeopardizing the vitality of your business. So until you can outsource this task you must do it yourself. Devise a system whereby you can track payments and notify clients when their accounts are outstanding. And once they are you should discontinue your services until they become current.

Administrative Assistant

Okay, so you aren’t flush enough to hire your own secretary. That’s okay-doing this job will help you better connect with your clients. This function may require you to have a routine To Do list which you follow in order to ensure you accomplish everything that must be done. From filing invoices to scheduling appointments to ordering supplies, you must have a system of managing all these tasks so that nothing crucial is forgotten.

Technology Expert

Now when your business only has one computer this generally isn’t a problem. But consider those clients you work with. If their accounting software fails or they encounter a problem tracking financial information, you must know enough to either help them solve the problem or refer them to someone who can. This may require you to do a little research and keep up on significant software trends. If you’re interested in learning how to master QuickBooks, the leading accounting software used by small business owners, visit our QuickBooks training site.

You probably anticipated working overtime for your business the first few years. You may not have anticipated working countless jobs in the process. But until you can afford to hire help you’ll have to do much of this yourself. The good news is you’ll become even more knowledgeable about your business in the process; in fact, you’ll become your own Profit Expert which will enable you to be even more valuable to your own clients.

What does it mean to be a first-time resolver? It means that you successfully handle clients’ requests or complaints on the first call. By solving a client’s problems on the first call, you build an image of authority for yourself. To make yourself absolutely indespensible to your clients, build confidence that when they come to you, you will either know the answer or will at least know in what direction to point them for answers. When they approach you with a problem, give them the confidence that you will follow through on the issue. You want your clients to feel dependent upon you and your experience.

One Contact = One Solved Problem

Studies have shown that first-time resolution is extremely important to clients. Their time is short. When they call, they want their needs to be fulfilled as quickly as possible. In addition, it’s annoying to clients when they have to phone you repeatedly on a matter. You have other paying clients to service, so getting issues resolved the first time will make your day more productive and your business more profitable.

Become a First-Time Resolver

Here’s how you can prepare yourself to be a first-time resolver:

• Stay current on all accounting and tax information so that you can provide speedy answers.
• Keep their financial information handy at all times. That way, you won’t have to go look something up and call clients back.
• Make the most of training. Read training materials carefully so that you’re up to date on all the latest practices and policies.

Finally, know to whom you should contact or refer your client to. Clients expect you to handle their situation. However, studies have shown that clients’ satisfaction is not diminished when you refer them immediately to people who have the information they’re seeking. You simply don’t have to be the expert on everything. Your clients do not have that expectation either, so don’t feel bad if you need to refer them to someone better suited to the issue at hand.

Above all, though, don’t abandon their issue when you don’t feel that it is your area of expertise. When your clients feel that you and your questions are important to them, they will stick with you and recommend their friends to you. Referrals are the easiest way to find new clients and they will only happen when your current clients have confidence in your ability as a solution provider.

Show that You Know

As demonstrated above, the clients that you service must have confidence that you know Accounting and Bookkeeping for them to refer others to your service. Especially when you are first starting your Accounting and Bookkeeping service, knowing how to market yourself to potential clients and to instill in them peace that you can solve their problems can be key.

When you enroll as a student in the Professional Bookkeeper program, you have an unfair advantage over your competition that will really make you shine in your clients’ eyes. Even after completing the Professional Bookkeeper program, you have ready access to coaches, accountants, and CPA’s at the Universal Accounting Center. Just call or email to get answers to even the toughest Accounting and Bookkeeping problems. The combined experience of many Accounting professionals comes as just one unique feature of the Professional Bookkeeper program. Even if you never need the support (and most of our graduates never need it after completing the PB program), you will grow in confidence in dealing with your clients, knowing that answers are just a phone call or email away.

Businesses recognize the Professional Bookkeeper (PB) designation as validation that you have mastered the concepts of small business Accounting and Bookkeeping. Even if you already have an Accounting degree, additional certification in the specifics of preparing books for a small business will give you an edge over those without the PB designation. The Professional Bookkeeper designation gives you confidence in your abilities and demonstrates to your clients what you already know, that “you can do this!”

Learn How Becoming a Professional Bookkeeper (PB) Sets You Apart

To wish you were someone else is to waste the person you are. - Anonymous

Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage, and confidence in the doing. - Anonymous

Without self-confidence it can be difficult to get up in the morning, let alone run a successful business. If you find yourself questioning yourself and your abilities, it’s time to get an injection of confidence, and quick! Last week we talked about the following 5 confidence-boosting tips:

1. Practice positive self-talk
2. Excel
3. Don’t waste time
4. Do something that scares you
5. Note your accomplishments

To conclude our series on increasing confidence we’ll discuss the following 5 tips:

6. Do something difficult
Peter McIntyre once said, “Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.” Often we’re afraid to try something we perceive to be difficult because we’re afraid of failing. Unfortunately, that’s how an insecure individual perceives difficulty. A confident individual recognizes that the reward is in doing something difficult, not in whether or not they ultimately succeed. There’s learning in the doing and that experience is invaluable. And often, regardless of the outcome, the act of performing something difficult is hugely rewarding and will go a long way to increase your confidence.

7. Stop procrastinating
Putting off important tasks never helps you feel better about yourself. In fact, the opposite is true; generally we feel worse about ourselves when we procrastinate. So make a list of all those tasks you’re avoiding, and tackle one everyday. Even if you’re unable to complete the task you’ll immediately begin to feel better about yourself.

8. Get in shape
Your physical condition makes a considerable contribution to your confidence level. We’re not trying to encourage small business owners to become obsessed with superficial appearances; we are, however, encouraging you to be healthy. Eating the right foods, exercising and getting enough sleep are key in how you feel about yourself. And you’d be amazed at how loosing those extra 10 pounds will help you stand a little taller and speak a little louder.

9. Take care of yourself
In light of number eight, we want to emphasize the importance of taking care of yourself by adding that you should avoid the abuse of drugs and alcohol. Even if you’ve unwittingly extended the use of a potentially harmful prescription drug, you’re sending yourself the signal that you and your body aren’t worth topnotch treatment.

10. Expect great things to happen
Walt Disney once said, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” There’s something to be said about being able to imagine your own success. Because if you can’t, who else will?

Confidence radiates from you like heat. Clients will feel that confidence and become even more convinced of your expertise. And the more you nurture that confidence, the more self-assured you will be, and soon you’ll find that your business is a reflection of your new sense of self-worth.

Look to Universal Accounting Center for an Infusion of Confidence

When you receive the right training you can feel more confident and secure about the services you’re offering. If you haven’t yet been able to achieve that confidence with any other training, we’re certain you can find it with UAC. Here’s what just a few of our graduates have said:

My confidence and enjoyment in Accounting has increased ten-fold. - Tyson Soffe

The presentation was informative and challenging. Yet, the help given was free from intimidation- always building confidence in accounting and my ability. - Merrill Lotthouse

I was very pleased with Universal Accounting. Their program help me to establish a good solid business and gave me the confidence I needed so badly at that time. I would recommend this program to anyone and I have sent at least 2 people in at my recommendation. Thank You. - Nadine Gibby

The Professional Bookkeeper Program
What’s all that fuss about? UAC’s Professional Bookkeeper Program! Designed to teach small business accounting, it helps individuals like you achieve the success you’re looking for. Over 85% of the opportunities in the accounting field are within small businesses; when you have small business accounting expertise you can focus on this niche market and have confidence that you offer business owners unique and beneficial services.

At Universal Accounting, we understand the needs of the small business like nobody else. We’ve helped people like you advance their career in small business accounting for over 25 years. The Professional Bookkeeper Program is designed specifically to address the needs of small businesses, and Universal Accounting Center’s small business accounting course is the most complete of anything else offered today. And depending on your schedule and situation, it will only take you 60 hours to complete. Imagine earning a professional designation in less than one month!

UAC Can Also Help You Get Clients
UAC has developed a turn-key marketing solution which will enable you to grow your business with our proven system. You could work for years on a marketing plan, hitting and missing, only to find your business growing at a snail’s pace. Imagine learning which marketing strategies work in just 48 hours!

The Universal Practice Builder Program
Universal has recently turned their amazing Universal Practice Builder Workshop into an 8-DVD course. No longer do you have to attend a local, 2-day workshop to learn the marketing expertise necessary to promote your business. Top your Professional Bookkeeper Designation off with this guaranteed program where you’ll walk away with over 12 marketing strategies that you can implement immediately. You’ll also be able to increase your annual billings by $30,000 in just 12 months!

If you enroll today, you can purchase both programs for one low price. In a matter of months you could grow your business in ways you’ve only imagined. Don’t wait. Order now!

7 Tips That Will Boost Your Professional Exchanges

Accountants are stereotyped as introverted bean counters who don’t feel comfortable interacting with others. Thankfully that image is changing for the better. But some of us still struggle in social situations primed for profitable networking. Your business depends on your ability to put current and potential clients at ease, to communicate in a way that builds stronger professional relationships while getting you the information you need to secure new customers and do the best work you can for current costumers.

If your people skills are lacking, here are 7 quick tips that will improve your interactions:

1. Smile
No one needs a smile as much as a person who fails to give one. -Unknown

When all else fails there’s one thing you can do: smile. Regardless of what the other person does, a smile won’t damage your image or spoil a networking opportunity. This is especially important to remember if you’re feeling a little nervous. Chances are you’ll get lots of smiles in return which will put you at ease and make it easier to connect with others.

2. Listen
I think the one lesson I have learned is that there is no substitute for paying attention. - Diane Sawyer

While listening you will discover how your services can best fulfill the needs of those you’re talking to. The more you can get them to share about their business the better prepared you’ll be to illustrate how your expertise will improve their profitability.

3. Remember names
When you remember names you’re communicating that the people they belong to are worth remembering. You should always strive to make the people you speak with feel important; remembering their names is an easy way to accomplish that.

4. Remember common talking points
At the bottom of things, most people want to be understood and appreciated. - The Buddha

Sometimes it’s a matter of knowing what you can talk about when there’s a lull in the conversation or you need to break the ice. Fortunately there are certain topics nearly all individuals love talking about:

• The traffic
• The weather
• New movies
• Their business
• Their children
• Family pets

5. Acknowledge things you have in common
The more you have in common the more connected you will feel. Pointing out the similarities you share will help strengthen your bond and forge a solid professional relationship.

6. Avoid gossip
Gossip needn’t be false to be evil; there’s a lot of truth that shouldn’t be passed around. - Frank A. Clark

Avoid gossip like the plague. While it may be easy to talk about someone else it certainly puts your character in question and causes the individual(s) you’re talking with to consider what you might say about them when they’re not there.

7. Be positive
Attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching? - Dennis and Wendy Mannering

Negativity will repel more contacts than you can imagine. Whether or not people recognize it they are drawn to individuals who are positive and affirming. Regardless of the topic of conversation, stay positive; it will leave a good and memorable impression.

And above all, remember that it takes time to develop good people skills, especially if it doesn’t come naturally. Just make an effort to work on one thing at a time and soon you’ll recognize an improvement that will not only put you more at ease with others but positively impact your business.

Tips on How to Remember Names

Do You Have a Bad Memory For Names?

You meet your newest client’s wife and the next night, by chance, she attends the same concert you do. To your dismay, you cannot remember her name. You’re embarrassed, so you spend the evening dodging her.

How to Remember Names Better

There are solutions that are more rewarding, and certainly less nerve-racking, than playing hide and seek. Consider adopting some of these simple techniques for improving your name retaining power:

Listen

Carefully listen to the name and its pronunciation when first being introduced. The number one reason that you “forget” a name is that you never really committed it to memory in the first place. Ignore distractions, including those in your own head. Often, when a name is given, we are thinking about how to sell to this client, trying to make a good first impression, and so on. The mind can only concentrate on one thing at a time. If you are engaged in internal dialog, that is where your focus will be, and you will be unlikely to remember names or other important facts at a later date.

Repetition

It has been said that repetition is the mother of learning. This is especially true when it comes to remembering names. When you first hear the name, repeat the name to yourself, and consciously incorporate it into your conversation.

Ask the Spelling of the Name

When you first hear the name, ask how it is spelled, especially if it is a name whose spelling is not obvious. This does two things for you. First, it gives you several seconds to repeat it in your mind. Secondly, you are telling the other person that their name is important to you, so important that you don’t want to misspell it. Dale Carenegie, in his book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” teaches that a person’s name is the most important words in the english language. It opens doors. Write the name down in your planner, if possible, and make sure that you review the person’s name before meeting with or calling them for a second contact.

Association Tricks

The mind remembers by associating like things. Associate the person’s name with someone you already know, or with a familiar object or place. A friend of mine is very tall and is named Mr. Heimbigner. He makes his name remembered by making a joke, calling himself Mr. “I’m bigger ‘n you”. While most people will not have last names that make them as easily associable as this one, we can find attributes about the person that help the name stick in our minds.

Connect the name with the person’s distinguishing features, and make the association something that you will remember. For example, if you meet a woman named Mrs Bird that has a large nose, picture in your mind a silly bird perched on her nose. Silly or funny things tend to stick in our memory easier than dull or common ones, which may explain why it is easier to remember a joke that a friend tells you than what you ate for dinner last Thursday.

Conclusion

These methods don’t assure that you’ll never be caught clueless on names again, but they will improve the odds in your favor. Again, most of us don’t “forget” a name; we simply didn’t take the time and effort to remember it. Some of the most successful people in business are ones that can remember in some cases thousands of names of people that they have met before. When you run into someone that was a passing acquantance and they know your name, you are impressed. In the same way, impress your clients by remembering their names and you will communicate to them that they are important to you.

Other Marketing Tips

Additional Marketing Tips are given in our Marketing and Selling Your Accounting Business section of this site. From how to get started marketing your company to how to get new clients each week with little effort on your part, this section teaches you the How’s of marketing your Accounting business.

Learn How to Market Your Business

Module 4 of the Professional Bookkeeper course teaches a step-by-step process for marketing your Accounting and Bookkeeping service.

See How the Professional Bookkeeper Course Teaches How to Make $80,000 Per Year as an Accountant

Is Write-Up Software For You?

In recent weeks there has been a lot of interest in the area of accounting software, particularly write-up systems. Readers and course graduates are asking about the value of a write-up system and which one is for them.

When starting a bookkeeping service, you can start inexpensively by buying a package such as QuickBooks or Peachtree off the shelf. In time, however, you may want to consider the use of a write-up accounting software package.

First of all, the major advantage write-up systems contain is they are designed more for after-the-fact applications than are in-house systems.

For example, let’s imagine your client prepares a payroll check including withholding taxes. You receive the pay-stub and must enter the check. Most in-house systems require you to enter the payroll as though you were creating the check from scratch. That’s fine if the calculations line up with those on the pay-stub. However, if the software calculates a different number, you’ve got a problem. In a write-up system you can easily override the processed number - in-house systems are less forgiving.

Another advantage of many write-up systems is the ability to import and export data. This permits you to export data directly into reports or government databases if necessary.

One more advantage is the availability of technical support. In most cases when you call the technical support lines of write-up systems you are speaking with an accountant or someone knowledgeable in accounting practices - not usually the case with the more popular in-house systems.

The primary downside of write-up systems is their availability (must be purchased from the vendor) and their higher prices ($500 to $3000 base price).

Click HERE to Learn More About Accounting and Bookkeeping Software