Thriveal CPA Network | Jennifer Blumer

06/17/2013

Are You Changeable?

It’s conference season for CPAs. You have many opportunities to gather with groups of colleagues to learn and improve yourselves. There are a few reasons people go to these events; for the required CPE, to see friends, and to learn. If one of the reasons you are going to an event is to learn or to better yourself, then this post is for you.

I’m interested in what makes a person changeable. What makes you take what you hear at a conference and turn it into something you DO? What makes a person stop doing one thing and begin doing it another way? I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit lately as I try to change the way I care for myself. I’m in the process of changing several (bad) habits that have kept me from being as healthy as I could be. In thinking through what makes a person change, here are my observations. Read more

Category:: Other Thoughts, Personal Growth
Comments:: 1

04/14/2013

The Customer is Always Right, Unless You are Serving the Wrong Customer

Many of us are wrapping up a tough tax season and right now I bet you can name a handful of wonderful clients. And possibly some you would rather refer elsewhere.

Right now, while it’s fresh on your mind, think through these questions with specific customers in mind. I’ll be using two of our customers (names changed) as an example, Bob and Jane.

Did your customer fight your process?

Bob seemed to find our processes easy. He had no trouble paying online before the work was done. He was happy to know the price before the work was done. He did not struggle with reviewing his tax return online, using our online portals to deliver documents, or signing his agreement online. In fact, after I emailed him to let him know his returns had been accepted, he replied with a “You guys rock!” email. Read more

Category:: Innovation, Management and Operations, Taxes
Comments:: 13

01/21/2013

Overcoming Fear in Business

Running a business is a scary thing.

This was the topic of a recent thread in Thriveal’s private online community. A member was seeking the wisdom and input from others on whether or not that still, small voice should, in fact, be told to shut up or serve as a warning that something needed attention. I love the transparency in our community.

It turns out that fear is pretty common. We fear forgetting something really important that will impact our customers. We fear losing a big customer. We fear hiring the wrong person. We fear change. We fear trying something new and it being a big flop. We fear technology making our jobs obsolete. We fear being sued. We fear running out of new ideas. We fear sharing our ideas because someone else might steal it. We fear not knowing the answer. Read more