Practical guidance for South African businesses looking to improve financial communication and build stronger client relationships. Real experiences, honest advice, no shortcuts.
After working with over forty businesses across KwaZulu-Natal, I've noticed something. The problem isn't usually the numbers. It's explaining those numbers to people who aren't accountants. Finance teams often know their stuff inside out, but translating complex financial data into language that helps clients make decisions? That's where things get tricky.
Read Full Article →What we've learned helping South African businesses communicate better with their clients
February 28, 2025
There's this assumption that if you present enough data, clients will understand. But I've watched deals fall apart because someone forgot to explain why the numbers matter. The third mistake on this list? Nobody talks about it, but it happens constantly.
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February 15, 2025
Clients don't need you to dazzle them with jargon. They need to feel confident you're being straight with them. When a Durban-based distributor changed how they presented their financial updates, client retention jumped significantly. Here's what they did differently.
Continue Reading →Most financial professionals I've worked with are genuinely good at what they do. They understand balance sheets, cash flow projections, tax implications. But there's this weird disconnect that happens when they sit down with business owners who just want to know if they can afford to hire two more people or expand into a new territory.
The business owner is thinking about growth and survival. The finance person is thinking about debt ratios and liquidity. Both are right, but they're speaking different languages. And honestly? That gap costs real opportunities.
I remember working with a manufacturing company in Pietermaritzburg where the finance director kept presenting these incredibly detailed reports. Beautiful spreadsheets. The owner would nod politely and then make decisions based on gut feeling because he couldn't extract what he actually needed from all that data. Once we simplified how they communicated financial information, decisions got better. Not perfect, but noticeably better.
Before showing any numbers, state what decision needs to be made. Then show only the data that informs that specific decision. Everything else is noise.
Saying revenue is R2.3 million means nothing without context. But saying it's up 18% from last quarter? Or that it's below the R2.8 million target? Now you're communicating.
If someone outside your finance team can't understand your report in under three minutes, it needs work. We often test explanations on admin staff before presenting to clients.
Make it clear when you're stating what the numbers show versus what you think should be done about it. Mixing the two creates confusion and makes clients doubt the data.