Just before Thanksgiving, I reminded everyone to take some time off. I hope you are taking time this Christmas season as well. If you take Christmas eve through the day after New Year’s, that is ten full days away from the office. You can really unwind with that kind of time off.
This year, my wife and I are headed to a resort holiday to unwind and celebrate thirty years of marriage! I am taking the week between new years and Christmas off and so is much of my team.
We are coming up with a game plan to inform clients and staff and will determine an emergency contact for deal movement and any critical office needs.
I’ve shared several chapters of The Unplugged Vacation before and I encourage you to download our free pdf. (Let me know if you would like a free copy mailed to you.) Much of this is geared around taking time off when your client work may be heavier and staff isn’t also taking vacation, but a lot of what we share is helpful year-round and is certainly applicable to a holiday break.
What I wanted to share today is an example email from chapter five:
This is an actual email that I used to send to my clients prior to a vacation. The subject heading was “Upcoming Vacation.”
Hi, I take an annual extended vacation during this time of year. This year, I’m taking my two sons, Hayden and Spencer, skiing. They will both be on spring break. When we get back, my wife, Carol, and I are heading to Costa Rica. This note is just to give you a heads up about my time away. I’ll be away from March 19th until April 6th. Then I give the name, Stephanie Smith will look after your account while I’m away. You can contact Stephanie through… {insert Stephanie’s email and contact info}
Some of the emails were further personalized. This was something that I specifically inserted in the email above to certain clients where we had open items:
As long as we can get {insert potential road-block} before I leave, we can handle that prior to vacation.
This last line helps accelerate certain work that might be coming in. When you give people a boundary like a vacation, they respond well and usually stop stalling. That’s one of the side effects. It also really goes a long way in the realm of customer service when you are taking the time to reassure your client that there are no surprises here. There’s nothing more horrifying than needing to talk to your accountant and getting a response of, “I’m not at my desk for a month,” without knowing that was about to happen. Aside from the fact that it accelerates work, it might even generate work and conversations about projects that you didn’t know existed. Who knows? Maybe the extra work will end up paying for your vacation!
Note: That email was sent at the four-week mark before vacation.
[About a week out] you get your team together. You go over what you need them to focus on while you’re away. You need to give everybody enough detail, enough instruction to do what you want them to do.
As you take your own vacation, you’ll see specific benefits that you can never predict; you’ll connect with family, you’ll gather great stories, build relationships with strangers, ignite new passions, reinvigorate your business and inspire your staff to do the same. An unplugged vacation is truly one of the most profitable implementations into your life/business that we’ve come across in our years of working with accountants. Let it grow your firm, and bring joy to your life. Let your team vacation this way as well.
PS – Whenever you’re ready, here are 4 other ways we can help:
- Seller FAQ: Answers to the questions sellers are asking. From practice value, to timing, we’ve got you covered.
- Strategic Guide to Selling your CPA Practice Video: The how-to of selling a CPA firm.
- Accounting Practice Academy: If you’re looking for benchmarks, our 8-week workshop has a community of established firm owners that will help you get perspective, reduce your owner hours, and raise your bottom line. email ibrennan@poegroupadvisors.com with “APA” and we will fill you in on the details.
- If you want to chat about your exit strategy, email bball@poegroupadvisors.com with “strategy call” or request a call here.
