The digital era has tremendously improved our ability to communicate with people in different places. With a few clicks or taps, you can be face-to-face with a friend or colleague across the world. And though digital tools make it easier than ever before to connect with others, there are some well-documented negatives of digital communication.
Most of them relate to how these methods aren’t great at capturing nonverbal communication: tone of voice, facial expressions, and other subtle cues that humans have been using for centuries. Some research indicates that as much as 90% of communication between people happens without words.
As bookkeeping firms, we can’t get away from digital communication. But we can implement a few important guidelines that will help make sure that all of our interactions—whether with clients, teammates, or supervisors—get across the intended message.
For communication to be clear and effective between any two parties, each one needs to understand where the other is coming from.
In the case of an accounting firm employee speaking to a client, it’s particularly important the team member knows where things are with regard to the client’s account and what their expectations are for the next steps in the project.
This simply isn’t possible without an efficient, clear method of keeping your team members on track.
When your internal systems are set up with tools like reporting and analytics dashboards and streamlined workflow management protocols, it becomes much easier for your firm’s representatives to stay on track and communicate more concisely with clients.
Any uncertainty in your team will eventually bleed into their interactions with clients, which could cause major issues.
As modern bookkeepers, it’s almost impossible to get away from using email. Most professionals view email as something of a necessary evil, a chore they have to get through so that they can get to the more focus-intensive parts of their work.
Email is actually a lot less difficult to wrangle when you and your organization follow a few basic guidelines:
There are many different methods of digital communication today. Broadly, we can break them down into three categories: email, async messaging and live meetings.
While everybody has their own specific communication preferences, most of the people you encounter will express a desire to use one of these categories. For example, sending text messages or using chat programs falls under the async messaging category.
Instead of trying to meet the unique communication request of each new client, we recommend offering one option in each of these subcategories. This way, your firm can still maintain flexibility in the way you engage with clients, but you don’t have to completely change your communication protocol every time you sign a new account.
You can also keep your internal communications separate, using a method that works best for your own needs.
Some chat or virtual meeting programs are standalone communication tools, while others are built into larger platforms. However you decide to handle digital communication at your bookkeeping firm, it’s helpful to have the fewest possible separate tools to communicate with clients and teammates.
One excellent option is the use of accounting practice management software. The top practice management software solutions offer features like project tagging, email notifications and integrations with other top industry applications.
Practice management software can make your bookkeeping firm communication streamlined and efficient, ensuring stay on a steady path towards the kind of growth you’ve always envisioned for your firm.
Sponsored Content: This article is generously brought to you by one of our valued sponsors. Their support enables us to continue delivering expert insights and the latest industry trends to our dedicated community of accounting professionals.