The experience of running a business in 2020 and 2021 has many people reevaluating how they do things. I'm no exception. About nine months ago, I desperately wanted to return to some kind of predictability. This meant taking a hard look at what I couldn't control in my world and what I could.
I realized that how I do business is in the Top 3 on the “What Moves the Needle Most” list. At least, in terms of day-to-day impact on my life. I didn't want to know what was "new," "fresh," "innovative" or "popular.""
Instead, I asked myself what could make things less complicated and more effective day-to-day.
It was in this spirit that I decided to give Liscio a try.
I want to share the changes I've seen in my practice and my approach to work as I've become more and more comfortable with Liscio. I'm doing this not just because I think it's a great app or because it is run by some fabulous people who have asked me to get the word out—even though both of those are true.
I'm sharing my story because sometimes, when an app's approach is so fundamental, and the change it brings is so discreet yet essential, it can be hard to express just how game-changing it is. I hope by sharing my experience, my fellow bookkeepers and accountants will be able to see what moving to this platform can do for their practice and their attitude toward their work in general.
So. First Up.
Hands down the best thing that has happened so far after moving my practice to Liscio: Communication got simple.
Frankly, I had never realized I was interacting with clients in so many places: text, email, social media, email, file-shares, phone, email. Oh, and did I mention email?
Obviously, I'm being a bit sarcastic here. But, on the other hand, it does feel entirely legitimate to list email three (or four) times.
After all, email is such a catch-all. And it feels fundamentally like a different thing when you are waiting for a response from a client on a document you need versus getting that "quick question" on a very late Friday in late January about whether or not five marketing part-timers need 1099s.
It cannot be just me. I'd be willing to bet that it's no better for my clients either. They don't want to be scrolling through email to see if their customer payment has been deposited, only to be interrupted by the fourth reminder that they need to send over their bank statement at the end of the month.
I hope by sharing my experience, my fellow bookkeepers and accountants will be able to see what moving to this platform can do for their practice and their attitude toward their work in general.
In other words: Communication isn't just about being in the right place; it's also about being in the right headspace.
I quickly discovered that when I used Liscio—it gave clients an easy way to engage with me and made it more likely they would not only engage, but they would be in a good headspace when they did.
So, by making it easy for clients to respond on their terms, during their own workflows and at a convenient time, Liscio has made it more likely my clients will respond, which is great for me, not to mention my headspace.
How does Liscio do this? By making way for “as you wish” involvement—asynchronously:
- Anyone can respond at any time from any place they happen to be, and the effect for the sender and the receiver isn't compromised based on those factors.
- That's a fancy way to say—Liscio is an actual app that works. It is not just the forgotten vacation home of a platform whose "real" home is on the desktop screen. It is easy for clients to set up and easy to navigate.
- Which is a creative way to say—the platform isn't something that relies on time. Responses aren't “graded” by when they came in or went out. They are just there, directly connected to the requests themselves, without unrelated messy stuff—unlike an email feed.
I don't know about you, but many of my clients are very busy people. As a result, they are less and less likely to have time to sit down in front of a computer, let alone to methodically go through all my emails and gather responses to all my requests.
What I've experienced with my clients:
- They actually answer in Liscio. And I don't think it's just because it's easier for them to do it in general. I think it's also because I have made it easier for them to do it. This means they don’t worry if what they are doing is a 'hassle' to me. I am no longer accidentally devaluing how they can best participate.
- In short, everyone's time is valued: The Liscio platform sends a message to clients that everyone's input is desired and respected. It does this by having an infrastructure that invites input that varies by time, type and place.
By making it easy for clients to respond on their terms, during their own workflows and at a convenient time, Liscio has made it more likely my clients will respond, which is great for me, not to mention my headspace.
And what I would never have guessed:
- I feel more focused when looking at client work and responses to my questions because I am also no longer playing the hide and seek game of wondering whether or not they've answered.
- I love how my real work is separate from the distractions, "emergencies," spam and general chaos that my inbox has unfortunately become to a large extent. I am much more likely to stick with what I was working on because I'm not "discovering" something else that needs doing as I work. This has done wonders for my focus.
- I feel less self-conscious about responding on my own time and in my way. No more wondering if a late-night email might send the wrong impression about my availability or even my ability to do the work well. I honestly didn't realize that I was experiencing the same weirdness around when and how I responded that my clients must have felt.
At least, not until the weirdness ceased to be a factor.
So, if the measuring stick on the Liscio project's success with Totally Booked is:
- Less Complicated?
- More Effective?
Liscio has scored high marks in both areas with me regarding communication. It has made quite the difference. Give it a try, but remember—the change for me didn't happen overnight. It didn't occur straight away and it didn't happen with a lot of fanfare. It kind of snuck up on me. Which honestly might be the best result of all. It is because it didn't disrupt a whole lot, that both me and my clients were able to take it at our own pace.
These days, I not only work in Liscio, but I also work with Liscio. I am much more productive because communication is less complicated and more effective. And so are my clients. We don't all spend a lot of time chasing each other around anymore. It feels like I have actually found an app that finally gives me the kind of help I need.
Mix a creative mind with a number-cruncher, then throw in a dash of New York City attitude and what do you get? Kelly Gonsalves—a true entrepreneur that is all in, all the time. Her first endeavor began in 2015 when she founded Totally Booked™. The purpose: to assist every small business in becoming more profitable by utilizing efficient accounting processes. Kelly is a QuickBooks Advanced Certified ProAdvisor™, a member of the Intuit Trainer Writer Network, a HubDoc Top 50 Cloud Accountant, on Avalara's Social Media Top 100, an Insightful Accountant "Top 10 ProAdvisor," as well as the host of Insightful Accountant's QB Talks: App Neighborhood Watch.
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