5 Minute Friday - Issue #4 - EXPECTATIONS
Welcome to the 4th issue of 5 Minute Friday from The Backpack CPA! Every Friday I'll share a short email with tips & resources to get you thinking about your
Professional & Personal Development, Storytelling/branding & most importantly Learning!
A few wise words from the late Queen Elizabeth II...
"It’s worth remembering that it is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change." ~ Queen Elizabeth II
💪 Professional & Personal Development
I hope everyone is surviving the rush to get through 9/15! I know I'm fighting to get through it 😆. All jokes aside, one thing that has really bugged me this past week is "CLIENT EXPECTATIONS." They all wait around until the last minute to send things & then all of a sudden they expect us to complete everything on time for them. These expectations can put unnecessary stress & pressure on us. Many times we'll intentionally ignore them in hopes of them forgetting or simply because we don't want to deal with them, and we have more important things to work on.
However, if we want to really grow professionally we have to often confront these types of expectations or they'll always keep bothering us.
Here are a few ways we can handle client expectations and even help avoid them in the future:
Provide clear timelines & emphasize them
Be transparent & honest
Follow up regularly (setup recurring automatic reminder emails/messages)
Openly discuss solutions
I think this pic sums up client expectations pretty well 😊:
🚀 Storytelling/Branding
I want to share with you this post I found about branding titled "7 sentences from Steve Jobs that'll teach you more about branding than a $4,995 course."
1 - "Marketing is about values." Our world is extremely noisy. As a result, consumers won't recall anything about your company. You must therefore be quite clear about what you want them to recall about you. The question, "What does my brand stand for?" must be asked.
2 - "Core values shouldn't change." The market/clients are always evolving. You are then forced to change your products/services, and it's okay. But what you stand for shouldn't change.
3 - "The market changes all the time." Client needs and demands are always changing, and there are always new products and competitors popping up. To stay ahead of the competition don't talk about your features or what you offer, talk about the benefits of using your services.
4 - "Honor the people who embrace your values." Apple celebrates those who "think in a different way." Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Einstein, and John Lennon are the people who transformed the world. Apple wants to be associated with these brands.
5 - "Start with the customer experience and work backward." You can't start with what you have to offer. You have to always:
Understand your customer's/client's needs
Figure out what benefits they want from your services
Turn those benefits into an experience
Deliver services that provide that experience
6 - "Microsoft has no taste." Apple is all about creativity, original ideas, and simplicity, and standing out. All your competitors provide the same services and they all know how debits & credits work, so try to be different and stand out in the crowd.
7 - “Don’t let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice.” In a world where we're always comparing ourselves to others, we risk looking just like the next firm. If we try to listen to everyone and please everyone, then we'll never achieve anything. Just listen to your inner voice!
📗💡 Learning/Tools
I recently heard about a study that found that 75% of people fear public speaking more than they fear death. Now, how accurate the study is, I don't know, but I do know that public speaking scares a lot of us!
Here are a few tools/resources I have found that we can use to help ease our fear of public speaking:
https://app.yoodli.ai/ - An AI-powered speech coach that Improves your communication skills with judgement-free feedback.
https://www.poised.com/ - An AI-powered communication coach that helps you speak with confidence and clarity. Private and secure, an essential tool for digital-first workplaces.
https://www.orai.com/ - Another AI-powered app for practicing your presentations and getting instant feedback on areas of improvement. I downloaded this one and have been using it on & off.
https://www.toastmasters.org/Resources/Public-Speaking-Tips - Tips from one of the world's largest public speaking and leadership skills clubs.
If you want to chat about anyting feel free to send me a message or even book a time to chat https://calendly.com/vbcpa/thebackpackcpa!
Stay inspired & keep growing🚀,
Vimal (or Vic)
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