I have read that “In an organization, the language that people use when referring to customers, or when describing service quality programs, signals very clearly how they view their customer and how they see themselves as relating to them.”

Business Development Bank of Canada wrote an article entitled "The Five Do’s and Five Don’ts of Successful Businesses.” This article says, “Compared with their counterparts, the most successful businesses were far more likely to report that they had thought carefully about where they want to go, devised a plan, and actively monitored their progress.”

Business Development Bank of Canada wrote an article entitled "The Five Do’s and Five Don’ts of Successful Businesses.” This article says, “The most successful firms felt their biggest competitive edge came from offering a stimulating work environment and positive company culture.” The article also says, "Over 60% of the most successful firms are willing to take several months or longer to find and hire only very strong candidates for key roles and positions.”

“The most successful businesses were far more likely to offer the latest products and services, using the newest technology.”

I believe that as a professional advisor, it is a privilege to serve our clients with value.  As professional advisors and accountants, we clearly fit the definition of a knowledge-worker – we create wealth for our clients with our ideas and recommendations.

In today’s world, accountants and consultants are among the ultimate knowledge workers, generating wealth for their customers from the ideas they create.

Clients must receive a value greater than the cost of the services we provide.

The recipe for success in any economy is basic business fundamentals:

If you've done some homework, you’ve probably discovered that customer relationship management (CRM) software is a fantastic tool for sales and marketing professionals. But if you look a little deeper, you’ll realize that CRM software also offers tremendous benefit to your clients’ accounting staff as well. 

Clients don’t buy our time – they buy the results that our time generates. Clients don’t care how long things take – they care about a solution to their problems at a reasonable cost.

Therefore, why do we bother tracking time so carefully? Would we not be better off tracking the tasks and the due dates required to solve their problems? 

To successfully complete any project, we must deliver on time, on budget, and with a solution to the problem, no matter what the problem is. Therefore, we should be tracking what is most important to the customer – the delivery of a solution by a specific date at an agreed-upon cost.