You know who they are. They pay on time. They aren’t a hassle. You don’t want to hide under the desk when they call. They pay you for your time and don’t squabble about the fee (most of the time). They are called “A” clients.Do you know who your “A” clients are? Are you providing them with superior service and adding that little “extra” that will keep them coming back to you (for computer services, consulting and every other product you sell)? If you aren’t throwing added-value services their direction, it may be because you spend too much time with marginal clients.

How many boring, unproductive meetings have you sat through lately? If you're like most of us, you can't even begin to count how many times you've walked out of a meeting thinking about how much time you wasted.Face-to-face meetings are still the preferred method of communications by 44 percent of those surveyed in a recent poll conducted by staffing service Office Team.

As a Gen Xer, I can say that I don’t like being lumped into a group of people that the media has widely reported is “self absorbed,” “unwilling to pay dues, “ and “woefully lacking loyalty and work ethics.” These stereotypes do little to motivate us.As a firm that is committed to growing in the future, you will be working with Generation X. The good news is that there are a lot of really good people out there that just happen to also be Gen Xers.

If you need to make several long distance calls when you get to your hotel, simply push the # key after each long distance call to disconnect. This keeps the hotel from charging you a connect fee for each long distance call.Have any $$$ Savers tips to share? Please send them to our editors and we will post them to the site. Thank you!!

If someone asked you what you sell, what would you say? Oil, chemicals, whatever product you sell, right? We really sell something so much bigger than the products and services our customers pay us for. In small dollar sales the customer is less conscious of value. With larger sales, the product and the resulting relationship with the buyer are harder to separate…so you are selling yourself.What makes up a relationship that adds value to your products? Our credibility, reliability, and anticipation of customer needs are the keys to a successful relationship.

Believe it or not, the banner ad you see on many popular Web sites is five years old ... but have the candles all blown out on this advertising medium, once touted as the newest way to reach mass audiences?Experts at the eretailing '99, a conference sponsored by shop.org, believe there are better ways to reach consumers and steer traffic to the Web.

Your business is growing and bursting at the seams: you've got employees stacked literally on top of each other and can't figure out what to do … ever thought about moving offices?The first step is to determine, of course, how much you can afford and how much space your really need. For example, you have to think beyond current boundaries and figure out how many offices, workstations, conference rooms and storerooms you'll need in a new arrangement.The bottom line, or cost, is probably the largest concern - as it should be.

According to a survey by the American Management Association International, two-thirds of businesses eavesdrop on their employees in some fashion -- whether through email tracking, Internet usage, by videotape or over the phone. And in just about every situation, they have a right to do so.Employers have the fiduciary responsibility to protect the business they are working in, and part of that responsibility is to ensure that employees are not abusing the rules and regulations of the business.Technology has allowed the ability to monitor employee activity very easily.

Does your firm have a policy for staff use of computers or the Internet? If not, you need to implement one sooner rather than later. Info Tech Partners North America, a leading technology consulting organization working with CPA firms, authored a sample policy that was used in the MAP handbook and has weathered the test of time. Please send your comments (or thanks) to Roman Kepczyk for making this sample policy available to the profession.