CPA Practice Advisor - 20

THE MILLENNIAL ADVISOR

"Alexa, Call My Accountant":
Staying Relevant in an AI World
IN 2020, NO matter what generation you hail from, you are no doubt

Watson, do I
ask too many
questions?

familiar with asking questions of a digital assistant. What is today's
weather? When is that movie starting? Play my favorite song.
These voice assistants are powered
by artificial intelligence (AI). They're in
our cars, our homes, throughout the
workplace. The lure of AI is it answers
our questions in an instant. No emails,
no texting, no search engines.
We're at the end of the beginning
of the digital age, and we love the millennial mind. When it comes to trivial
topics, they just use AI rather than
wasting time, querying one another.
AI knows the answers, just ask your
phone. That's cool.
But, as accountants, do we flip
a switch and suddenly become less
cool with our clients? Despite what is
happening all around us in banking,
restaurants, ecommerce-are we
old school, making believe that our
profession's knowledge isn't flowing
into databases where AI will soon feed
it into Alexa?
Wouldn't it be a good idea if people
could ask questions of us as comfortably as they do of Alexa?
Don't we want
to remain relevant as advisors? Don't
we aspire to
be the first
source in our
client's lives when
it comes to their questions?
We are best positioned
right here, right now to
be the real-world AI
for our clients. And
if we do not capitalize on it, how
soon might
it be before
we get replaced

Alexa, what
is today's
weather?

20

FEBRUARY 2020 ■

by those who embrace AI-by Alexa,
Cortana, Siri, or Watson?

WHAT CAN'T WATSON DO?
Understand this: IBM's Watson can
query numbers, nouns, noses-all
at the same time. Watson is AI on
steroids. It learns as it goes along,
teaching itself how to read and
process data, documents, visuals,
and so on.
Someone could ask Watson, "How
do I record a vehicle trade and new
auto purchase?"
Watson will learn how to give
the client step-by-step instructions
tailored to their specific accounting
package. Before we work ourselves
into a tither about becoming the
next telegraph, we have time and
opportunity to become approachable.
Where we encourage our clients to
ask us questions, the more questions,
the better.

PUTTING PEOPLE AT EASE
When it comes to approachability,
you may be amazed to hear that
most people feel, "My accountant
is too busy to be bothered with
questions like this."
We need to overcome the negative
stereotypes that we're too busy or too
expensive. To stay on top-of-mind,
we must feel accessible. That means
showing we are accessible. We pick
up the phone, we respond to emails,
we don't abuse gatekeeping.
Does it mean we answer everyone
in an instant? Of course not. You
need to determine how you will set
the bar. It may be different for different clients. But make others feel

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heard, acknowledge the
question and establish a
timeframe for replies is
often all people want.
By making others feel like we are
approachable, they
get their questions
answered, and they
have no need to look
elsewhere. They value the
relationship and view you as relevant.
Focus on making others feel important
and valued. They sense genuineness,
and they'll keep coming back to you.
Particularly, you will find that millennials value authentic relationships.
They sniff out what is real, they want
that in the fabric of their personal and
professional lives.

THE ART OF QUESTIONS
When you become approachable, that
is Step One. Step Two is when things
get tricky.
Anyone can answer questions.
Answering them in ways that are succinct and asking intelligent follow up
questions is the goal. That is where we
can outshine a search engine, a voice
assistant, or your average competitor.
We focus our experience, knowledge
and skills to do more than just answer
the question. We hear the implied
problem and ask the right follow up
questions.
Through artful re-direction, we
can drive a conversation, clarify the
problem, identify gaps and ways to
add value. Anyone can ask twenty
random questions in reply. That may
just generate anxiety with your client.
We want to ask the right questions.

GARRETT WAGNER, CPA

CEO/Founder, C3 Evolution Group
garrett.wagner@cpapracticeadvisor.com

■■Is now a good time to ask you some
questions?
■■What is an issue that currently has
you at a crossroads?
■■What is unresolved right now?
■■And, what if we resolved it...
what would make the biggest
difference in your day, month, or
the year ahead?
Big, strong questions solicit
information, open hearts and minds,
and drive a conversation forward.
When it comes to asking the right
question, helping others come to new
self-realizations of what they need
to accomplish is the ultimate objective. Doling out advice is nice. But
guiding others to find answers that
uncover things they may be hesitant
to confront is the greatest gift you
can give. When someone helps us to
achieve some new self-actualization,
we remember that for a long time.
We remain indebted, and we use not
only the knowledge gained-but how
we came upon it-for years to come.
Leverage this trend, and we can
remain or become relevant advisors to our clients as their source
for the right answers to what seem
mundane, run-of-the mill questions.
They may not know those questions
are mundane, they may assume
so-wrongly. It is our job to ensure
that our clients understand there are
no stupid questions.
Don't wait for an AI-powered
kiosk to poorly answer your client's
questions. Be the one with the right
questions as answers to their questions. Both you and your client will
be glad you did. ■
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