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

E-mail allows you to correspond with your clients simply, inexpensively, and effectively. You can quickly fire off comments, questions, or feedback while you are thinking about it, and then move on to something else. It’s particularly advantageous for those hard to reach clients that are out in the field during the day, but check their email when they get back to the office.

Netiquette consists of a few rules that will ensure you aren’t abusing online communications. To keep e-mail running smoothly, restrict superfluous information, and promote positive relations with your clients certain common courtesies are expected. Here are eight tips to remember:

* Never forward e-mail without the original sender’s knowledge and permission.
* Never send e-mail when you are angry.
* Avoid sarcasm. The recipient cannot hear your voice or see your facial expressions, so the written message could be misinterpreted.
* Don’t type your message in all capital letters. It’s the online equivalent of shouting.
* Don’t forget to check all e-mail messages you send for grammar and spelling.
* Don’t forget to check the “send to” line to be sure the message will be delivered to the right person.
* Don’t be flippant. Ask yourself, “Would I say this out loud in a crowded elevator?”
* Never use e-mail to send confidential information, medical records, proprietary information, job references, performance evaluations, offers of condolence, or formal thank-you notes.
* When in doubt as to whether an e-mail is the appropriate form of communication, taking pen to paper might be the more courteous or judicious route.

To learn more accounting and bookkeeping tips, click HERE.

View Other features from this week’s Newsletter:

Can You Be a Shameless Self-Promoter?

Learn From Other Successful Accountants and Bookkeepers

Give Clients Something to Talk About

One day, years ago, a friend of English writer G. K. Chesterton found him packing his bags. Curious about the unannounced trip, he asked where Chesterton was going.

“To see Chamberwell,” was the reply.

“Aren’t you getting a little absent-minded?” asked the surprised friend. “You are in Chamberwell now. This is where you live.”

“Yes,” said Chesterton, “and that’s why I’m going away. I’m too close to Chamberwell to see it properly. Things have become too familiar for me to notice them.”

Like Chessterton, in the story above, owners of small businesses often times are too close to the business to see new and better ways to run their business. In fact, after a while they’re not much different than the employees, and the business is running them.

This is where you as the accountant can be so helpful to them. Your perspective is different, and often you will have ideas that can make the business run more smoothly and even more profitably. To get fresh ideas, break the business down into pieces. Examine each account in the general ledger with an eye for improvement. Study each account from different angles; what could the business do to make each account even more beneficial?

Here’s just a sample of questions you might start with in examining these accounts:

• Is the business collecting accounts receivable effectively?
• Are all the businesses assets being put to use?
• Could we improve the terms with the client’s vendors?
• Are there new ways to make revenues?
• Are there expenses that are too high and could be shaved?
• Is all the advertising accomplishing it’s purposes?
• Could any jobs be done faster, simpler, cheaper–without sacrificing quality or safety?

Take a trip to through your client’s business–in other words, step back and look at it as if you’ve never been there before. That way, you can help your client see a fresh perspective. You’ll become as enthusiastic as a tourist in pursuing new ways to help your client grow, and your client will become a fan.

Click HERE to Learn Other Ways to Take Care of Your Clients

Other sections from this week’s newsletter:

• Success Begets Success
• What is Your Network Worth?
• Start a Part-Time Bookkeeping Service

Getting Paid without Going to Court: 7 Ways to Help Your Clients Avoid “Deadbeat” Status

Sometimes the biggest headache in working for yourself is in getting your clients to pay you. Many of your clients may be resuscitating their small businesses back to life (with your help) and have countless creditors vying for their attention, and most importantly, their money. While you’re an incredible asset to their business, you’re probably the least squeaky of all their wheels. And chances are you don’t have the energy or the resources to threaten legal action.

There are things you can do to help your clients pay your bill in a timely manner. Here are 7 tips to enabling them to stay on top of your account so they can retain your services.

1. Have clear contractual terms
You can’t expect your client to abide by your terms if they’re unclear or nonexistent. Be sure to have clear contractual terms that are explained upfront so that you don’t have to initiate a by-the-way conversation later. Put in the time in creating and printing a general customer contract that can be altered by you to match each client. A great way to make sure your client is clear on the contract terms is to give them their own copy at the time of signing. A great way to do that is with NCR printing, an automatic carbon copy (white, pink or yellow sheet of paper). Just talk with your friendly neighborhood printer and they can walk you through it.

2. Charge interest
This is another detail you should include in your contract and explain to your client upfront. Many freelancers don’t charge interest, and as a result, are viewed as the least penalizing of a client’s payees. Financial consequences of nonpayment are often a good incentive for any client.

3. Send out bills promptly
If you’re sending out your invoices after the 25^th of each month and your clients try to pay their bills before that date, you’ll be waiting an extra month for your payment. Send out your invoices promptly and include a due date. If you delay your billing of them, they will delay the paying of you.

4. Require partial payment upfront
Sometimes it helps if you require intermittent payments, some upfront. If working on a larger project you could agree to a quarter payment upfront, another quarter payment mid-project and the remaining balance after the project’s completion. This takes the edge off larger bills and makes it easier for clients to remain current. It also gives you the additional commitment from your client, and they in turn remember the importance of paying you promptly.

5. Offer a 5% discount when full payment is made on time
Everyone likes a discount. You’ll have fewer delinquent accounts if you offer clients 5% off if they keep their account current and pay bills on time.

6. Discontinue your services until payment is made in full
Chances are your clients recognize just how valuable your services are. They are less likely to get behind in their payments if they realize that your services will stop until their accounts are current. If it comes to that point where you need to cut them off, do it without going back and forth. Communicate that with a prompt payment comes prompt service.

7. Screen potential clients
One way to avoid delinquent accounts is to avoid delinquent clients. A simple credit check is all it takes to screen out those individuals who are already in a financial pickle. Keeping those people off your roster is a good way to avoid the headache of trying to collect payments from them later.

Most clients want to pay you, and giving them a little help is often all it takes to avoid past-due accounts. There will always be a few that fall behind and maybe even one or two that never send a payment at all. That’s when you can decide whether or not taking legal action is worthwhile. But these 7 tips will help most of your clients avoid delinquent status, and keep you in the black.

To find out more information on how Universal can help you grow your business.

What can you do for your clients that the competition doesn’t do?

As a bookkeepper/accountant you may want to take a tip from a Michigan pharmacist: Supply them with information they need to operate more efficiently. Carrie Zollner of Detroit Medical Arts in Highland Park lets local doctors know which specialized medications her store carries–before they or their patients need to search for the products.

Zollner says she started the early-warning service after overhearing consumer complaints of running all over town to fill certain prescriptions. Most pharmacies didn’t handle them, she explains, because the medications were new, or the stores just didn’t want to deal with them.

Her own feelings are different, and she lets her clients know it with fax alerts. It’s a simple job, Zollner says. “I look at who’s writing the prescriptions, and then I fax those doctors, letting them know I’m willing to stock this item.” She uses the fax on the grounds that “everyone looks at them because they might be important.” People are more likely to overlook letters, she thinks.

The results? Business for some of her store’s specialized products is up, and she has the satisfaction of knowing she’s improved her client service.

Your clients will similarly appreciate your effort in keeping them up to date. Keep up on changes in technology and software that may impact the way your client does business. Watch for industry trends that may be helpful to your client. Keep up on changes in the tax law and broadcast the information to those that will most likely be affected. Your best sources of information are trade journals and newsletters. Subscribe to magazines and newsletters that will keep you up on tax, accounting and your client’s industry.

You’ll be most efficient if you notify them either by fax or e-mail. Just write a short note summarizing the information and invite them to call you if there are any questions. Attach the article only if it’s impossible to shorten it. Your clients will appreciate the brevity.

Other Features From Today’s Newsletter:

• We Want You To Teach Us How to Improve
• First Impressions Do Count
• Retirement Savings Motivation
• Show Me How to Make $80,000/year With My Own Accounting Service

Your company’s public image often develops through word-of-mouth. When clients talk about your accounting and bookkeeping service, they likely are talking about you. You are the one out in the field meeting with clients on a regular basis. In the eyes of your clients, you are the company.

Do you put your best foot forward? Do you give your clients the timely information they need?

Not only are the answers to these questions critical to your marketing success, they also are a key factor in the image that clients develop of your company. Follow these tips to keep the lines of communication open and deliver the level of service that your clients expect:

* Stay updated on accounting and industry issues, and make sure that you understand them completely so that you can explain them to clients. For instance, subscribe to and peruse trade journals from your client’s industries.
* Know the answers to frequently asked questions.
* Be prepared to thoroughly explain changes that directly impact your clients, such as tax and financial practices. Particularly those that will enhance your client’s profits.

This will get your clients talking about you, and it will all be positive.

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.

View Other features from this week’s Newsletter:

Can You Be a Shameless Self-Promoter?

Learn From Other Successful Accountants and Bookkeepers

How’s Your Client Netiquette?

You may work on the side as an accountant or bookkeeper. Perhaps you work in a full-time job performing accounting functions. Ifyou’ve ever thought about either starting your own business as a financial provider, or if you’re already in business for yourself but wonder how to increase the value of your services, then you’ve come to the right place.

Universal Accounting Center deals directly with this on a daily basis. We are in the business of seeing that accountants, bookkeepers, and tax preparers succeed. And we have to admit, we’re pretty good at what we do. Someone like yourself may find your most successful when you provide to all your clients what they need in their companies’ financial lives (except the bank loans and bottom line sales of course, they have to do that on their own) By being able to offer services, of keeping track of their bank loans and sales figures for example, you can be their “One-Stop Shop”. This is accomplished by earning two valuable designations: The Professional Bookkeeper (PB) designation and the Professional Tax Preparer (PTP) designation.

The Value of the Professional Bookkeeper Designation

Over 85% of the opportunities in the accounting field are within small businesses. Universities prepare their students for the corporate accounting processes which leaves a huge gap to fill and a great opportunity for those who have the practical knowledge that addresses the needs of small businesses. For those who recognize this and gain the training to take advantage of this fantastic opportunity have come to realize the training pay-off themselves. More than 50% of small businesses fail, and much of that failure can be attributed to lack of accounting expertise. Small business owners are busy with the dozens of other hats to keep the business growing, often it is the tracking of their financial health that gets neglected. Imagine contributing to the success of small business, which will build your own community while providing you with job satisfaction and security. Imagine doing this for 3 or 4, perhaps 13 or 14 small businesses?

At Universal Accounting, we understand the needs of the small business like nobody else. UAC has designed a curriculum specific to the needs of small businesses, and Universal Accounting offers the most complete small business accounting course anywhere. The Professional Bookkeeper Designation assures clients that you have the skills necessary to fulfill their small business accounting needs. For you, the training designation assures you have had the applicable experience it takes to provide the quality service that they need for their company.

The Value of the Professional Tax Preparer Designation

Perhaps your accounting and bookkeeping practice is thriving. Maybe you are losing one ot two clients to those who are offering the Full-Service Financial package. But whether or not you could use more clients, adding tax services to your menu of provided services could increase your income. How? tax professionals charge $100+ per hour preparing individual and business tax returns. Many tax preparers make more money in the months leading up to the April 15 tax deadline than many make all year long! Since all individuals and businesses, small or large, are required to file taxes, tax preparation is a respected skill that will always be in demand. And many of your current clients would probably by happy to have you file their taxes as well as perform the standard accounting services you currently provide.

Also consider who your clients will trust to file their taxes. Countless individuals are scammed each year by people who claim to know what they’re doing. More and more are becoming leery of alleged tax preparers who lack credentials. The Professional Tax Preparer Designation will put many of those individuals at ease, assuring them that you have been properly trained in tax preparation.

Become a Full Financial Service Provider

By combining the Professional Bookkeeper designation with the Professional Tax Preparer designation, you will earn a terrific income all year long. It is easy to cross-sell from one service to the other, making it easier to find clients, raise your billable hours, and give you a raise to boot! The benefits you can offer to those clients you are currently servicing on a yearly basis with the tax preparation services you will be able to develop the account to the maximum potential profit, but more importantly you will be able to build the trust with the quality businesses you serve.

Special Bundle Pricing for Tax Preparation and Accounting/ Bookkeeping Training

Here’s a rundown on what’s all included:

Add Up the Value! Save $$$ Today!

Gear up to being able to offer the full services you can by gaining the Professional Bookkeeper Designation as well as the Professional Tax Preparers Designation. Don’t wait another day to enhance your business and change your life. Be the Full Service Financial Provider.

Four C’s for Taking Good Care of Your Clients

How can you keep your existing clients and win back ones you’ve lost? Become a client caretaker. Here are the four C’s of excellent client care:

Concern. Sincerely care about your clients’ complete satisfaction, and convey that caring in all your interactions with clients. Not only is this doing the right thing, it’s also doing the smart thing: After all, clients’ satisfaction and continued business can definitely impact your job security.

Consideration. In today’s bustling business environment, clients relish good, old-fashioned courtesy and genuine kindness. Even when you’re tired or stressed, act as though you were feeling energetic and cheerful. Your clients will appreciate your efforts.

Conscientiousness. Always do what you promised in a timely manner. This is essential to earning clients’ trust, and that trust is the key to gaining repeat business.

Cooperation. If one of your co-workers needs a hand in order to provide excellent service, roll up your sleeves and help out–even if you know your co-worker may get all the credit afterward. It doesn’t matter who gets the glory; what does matter is whether or not the clients’ needs are met completely.

Expand Your Business by Becoming a Full-Service Financial Provider

You can always amend a big plan, but you can never expand a little one. I don’t believe in little plans. I believe in plans big enough to meet a situation which we can’t possibly foresee now. —Harry S. Truman

To educate the intelligence is to expand the horizon of its wants and desires. —James Russell Lowell

You may work on the side as an accountant or bookkeeper. Perhaps you work in a full-time job performing accounting functions. If you’ve ever thought about either starting your own business as a financial provider, or if you’re already in business for yourself but wonder how to expand your services, then you’ve come to the right place.

Universal Accounting Center (UAC) is in the business of seeing that accountants, bookkeepers and tax preparers succeed. And we have to admit, you’ll probably find the most success if you become a full-service financial provider, the one-stop shop for your clients’ financial needs. You can do that by earning two valuable designations and mastering one software program: the Professional Bookkeeper (PB) designation, the Professional Tax Preparer (PTP) designation, and the Professional Bookkeepers Guide to QuickBooks.

The Value of the Professional Bookkeeper Designation

Over 85% of the opportunities in the accounting field are within small businesses. Universities prepare their students for corporate accounting which doesn’t address small business needs. More than 50% of small businesses fail, and much of that failure can be attributed to lack of accounting expertise. Imagine contributing to the success of small business, which will build your own community while providing you with job satisfaction and security.

At Universal Accounting, we understand the needs of the small business like nobody else. UAC has designed a curriculum specific to the needs of small businesses, and Universal Accounting offers the most complete small business accounting course anywhere. The Professional Bookkeeper Designation assures clients that you have been properly trained in small business accounting and will help you know what those clients need most from you.

The Value of the Professional Tax Preparer Designation

Perhaps your accounting and bookkeeping practice is thriving. But whether or not you could use more clients, adding tax services to your menu could increase your income. How? Tax professionals charge $100+ per hour preparing individual and business tax returns. Many tax preparers make more money in the months leading up to the tax deadline than other professionals make all year long! Since all individuals and businesses, small or large, are required to file taxes, tax preparation is a respected skill that will always be in demand. And many of your current clients would probably be happy to have you file their taxes as well as perform the standard accounting services you currently provide.

Also consider who your clients will trust to file their taxes. Countless individuals are scammed each year by people who claim to know what they’re doing. More and more are becoming leery of tax preparers without credentials. The Professional Tax Preparer Designation will put many of those individuals at ease, assuring them that you have been properly trained in tax preparation.

The Professional Bookkeepers Guide to Quickbooks

Nearly 80% of small businesses use Intuit’s Quickbooks software. While other programs may be useful, QuickBooks has definitely captured the small business market. Learning QuickBooks will not only help you keep more efficient records, but it enables you to teach your clients how to use the software so that you can get the information you need, making your job much easier. Add to that your ability to introduce QuickBooks services to your menu (QuickBooks consultation and set-up services) and you’ve got a well-rounded business with loads of earning potential.

UAC’s Professional Bookkeepers Guide to Quickbooks Pro will teach you teach you how to do the basic transactions, how to reconcile accounts, what the program does with its data, and a basic understanding of fundamental accounting principles. We have also included about 18 hours of bookkeeping instruction and a complete detailed presentation of QuickBooks fundamentals.

Become a Full Financial Service Provider

In combining the PB designation, the PTP designation, and your mastery of QuickBooks software, you will earn a remarkable income all year long. It is easy to cross-sell from one service to another, making it easier to find clients, since you often will service the same client for multiple tasks.

Special Bundle Pricing for Tax Preparation, Accounting/Bookkeeping, and QuickBooks Training

When you purchase these three programs together, Universal Accounting Center will give you a significant discount. For the next two weeks Universal is offering this powerful package for one low price! Imagine, getting everything you need to start or expand your own business in weeks. Don’t delay your future. Order now!