What Accountants Need to Truly Serve Clients with Bobby Lane (Highlights)

Episode 60. On today's show, Rob Brown of the Accountants Influencers Podcast interviews Bobby Lane on what's inside a business owner's head and how accountants can best serve them. Bobby Lane is a SAGE Global Business Influencer and was voted No 1 in the Top 50 most influential sources of finance news and information on social media by Economia. A chartered accountant with over 25 years’ experience in professional practice, he built the first multi award-winning outsourcing team at SSH before their sale to top UK accounting firm Blick Rothenberg in 2017. As Chief Executive Officer at multi-disciplinary outsourcing practice Factotum, he is an experienced keynote speaker, panellist and expert on all issues facing growing businesses. Bobby regular contributes to many trade and national media titles including The Mirror, The Times and Economia and previously BBC Radio London’s Business Agony Uncle. A former member of The Accountancy Age Advisory Panel, Bobby has a large international network and was formerly a member of the Global Advisory Board of Abacus Worldwide. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a registered ICAEW Business and Finance Professional Key takeaways from the full uncut interview include: ➯ What has changed most dramatically in the accounting profession over recent years ➯ How accountants can really support their business clients beyond supplying compliance services ➯ How clients are driving greater value, skills and advice for the accounting fees they are paying ➯ What value truly looks like for accountants who serve their clients in the best possible ways ➯ Why technology and automation are just enablers for accountants to help them perform better ➯ What questions business owners ask of their accounting advisors that need good answers ➯ When it's okay and when it isn't for accountants to claim 'trusted advisor' status ➯ Why accounting firms must identify the best people for specific roles vz expecting everyone to be good at everything ➯ The different ways accounting professionals can generate new business for their firm ➯ How accountants have developed their personal brands on social media in recent years ➯ How coachable accountants really are and what appetite they have to develop their skills ➯ The biggest mistake accounting firm leaders make in developing their people ➯ What some accounting firms have got wrong over the last couple of years ➯ Solving the dilemma of having too little time to win new work and do business development ➯ A recruitment tip way for accounting firms to acquire more entrepreneurially minded accountants ➯ Advice for attracting and developing Gen Z staff for your accounting firm ➯ How younger accounting professionals differ and even outshine their older counterparts ➯ Why most business set ups are extremely inefficient in sourcing professional services ➯ What makes many accountants fail in signposting good contacts for their business clients ➯ How a reluctance to change holds many accounting professional back in their career ➯ Where covid has actually been good for some business owners ➯ The ONE THING the accounting profession needs to do to be successful in the next few years. Connect with Bobby on LinkedIn Bobby's website: https://www.wearefactotum.com NOTE TO LISTENERS: This is a condensed highlights version of the full interview (usually 20-30 mins long), which you can catch as a bonus UNCUT episode at the weekend. Martin and Rob love to hear from the show's 7000+ listeners in 144 countries around the world. If you like the show, leave a review wherever you listen, and please recommend the show to your friends and colleagues.