Make the most of the ‘clarity window’ before it closes, adviser warns

According to Szalay, it was incredibly important that accountants and advisers took advantage of this period to put their goals into motion to continue successfully growing their business and achievements every year.

In the episode, Szalay said the first point of action was to get in touch with clients and identify what needs to be done to help them and their business goals.

“You need to genuinely inquire about them. How are you checking in with them from a personal perspective? That’s all you need to do as an adviser – just come with genuine care and curiosity and ask, ‘What are you looking to do this year?’”

“If we lead with that, it's not a difficult discussion, and it becomes a human discussion. I think that breaks down all the worry about what can happen from a conversation in terms of leading them into a strategy session.”

Szalay said the “humanness” of being an adviser was the main priority that people often forgot, yet it was the most helpful tool and skill when working with clients in the clarity window.

From these discussions, it was recommended that the next step be turning responses into proactive engagement and strategy – something tangible.

The three “big hooks” clients usually responded well to were framed around money, time and passion, Szalay said.

“We're in the money game. It’s crucial to ask ‘Is financial stress causing you a problem or growth? What does that look like for you? What do you want to do differently from last year? Are you looking to grow your business and why?'"

“Time's always a big, big one because this is the most delicate resource you have. We need to ask people what they want to spend their time doing and what they need more time for. That leads us into the third area of asking people what they’re passionate about.”

“We need to push clients to do the things that they love and what lights them up, because at the end of the day, that’s what will bring them energy and motivation.”

Szalay noted people usually had inspiring and fun ideas that gave them purpose; however never acted on them based on calendar problems rather than productivity problems.

Calendars’ filling up without intentional time slots for goals and objectives is what landed most people back in the “too busy basket” and left them another year down with no changes made, and no goals achieved.

“When you're starting a business, you feel like you need to say yes to everything because you're really trying to build it and drive it. But there's a tipping point where you need to change gears.”

“Often, we don't know how to change gears, but that’s part of being strategic. Our role as advisers is to transform that and identify that we have got to work smarter, not harder. It's about knowing the gears and when to change them to achieve what you want to achieve.”