The Power of Appreciation

Happy Mother's Day for all the mum's around Australia! I hope you were made to feel special and surrounded by your family who love you. There is nothing quite like sitting up in bed, watching your children carefully bring breakfast into your room after having lovingly prepared toast and tea and then watching the excitement on their face as you show appreciation for all their efforts and their gifts. I've still got a fridge magnet made of cardboard with the word "mum" in pasta and spray painted in gold that was made in primary school!

In business, there is nothing more satisfying than when a client shows their appreciation for who you are and for everything you do for them. When we go above and beyond what the job requires, provide more than just impeccable books and offer additional services we become an integral part of their team which we need to be paid well for and to be shown appreciation from time to time.

But what if you aren't appreciated by your client?

• You have set up systems in their office to gather the information you need but they don't follow them
• They don't take time to answer questions so that you can give them reliable information
• They leave everything until the last minute until it suddenly becomes a priority for them
• They want you to be "creative" with dodgy purchases
• They won't make time to sit with you to educate them around their finances
• They tell you how to do your job, how long it will take, how much it will cost them and when they will pay you!

AND THEN THEY SACK YOU BECAUSE YOU WON'T COMPLY AND COMPLAIN TO EVERYONE THAT YOU WERE A BAD BOOKKEEPER!

It's hard to take. It hurts. You are a person of integrity. You can honestly say that you did everything possible to make this work. He has his point of view and he will justify why he failed by blaming you. The alternative is that he would have to admit that he was wrong (or at least contributed) and that's unlikely.

There are a few things that you can do:

• While you are licking your wounds surround yourself by family and friends who know your integrity and love you for who you are
• When you are in the right head space be honest with yourself and analyse your contribution to the failure and implement strategies to avoid that from happening again
• Throw yourself into those clients who do value your contribution to their business
• Continue with your marketing strategies
• Make sure you are not too busy to appreciate those who are helping you

So today, in the next five minutes, make sure you thank someone or acknowledge someone for a contribution they have made to you or your business. Because for them, nothing will be more satisfying than your appreciation.

And on that note I'd like to thank everyone who has written back to let me know that the Word from Deb has made a difference to them. It makes a huge difference to me ... and I appreciate it every time. Thanks.