Reciprocal Arrangements

I had a client who wanted me to advertise in her magazine, then stopped using me when I refused. Can't say I missed her at all.

Doesn't this just show the pitfalls of ducking issues!

Your colleague's "could" would probably have meant "maybe"; the client heard it as "almost certainly".

I'm not advocating contracts the size of War and Peace before anyone can so much as breathe, but as this point was raised during the Engagement Conversation it should not have then been brushed under the carpet.

Before you ever get to making any proposal, you need to ensure you could work together if the opportunity arose.  If you can't establish that much, there's no point in wasting either party's time exploring opportunities, so discuss all the ramifications openly.  The great thing about doing this is that far from hoping things don't get brought up, or hoping they'll go away if they are, by being the first to 'name the elephant in the room' you ensure the potential client is the one who has to handle any objections they may have.

The possibility of being held to ransom in the future thus evaporates!

David Winch

Make Sales Without Selling and Get Paid What You're Worth

I agree entirely - I have recently lost a client to another accountant who advertised at apparently great cost in their magazine - it was no great loss

I would imagine that particularly specialist accountants would have a real problem with that - imagine an accountant who specialised in the licensed victuallers trade and had to drink at a every pub for whom he did the tax returns -

JohnB  

The language of this post is very interesting.  Talking about being held to ransom etc.  Can I just examine this from another side please.

My attitude to buying anything is always to help those who can help me first.  So for example, if I need any product or service I will always use an existing customer first.  Even if I pay slightly more I am helping someone who buys from me and strengthening our relationship.  This also helps if anything goes wrong because they will be far more inclined to help you out than somebody you don't already work with.

If I can't find a customer to provide the product or service I will then use a regular networker because that is what networking is all about.  Again, it makes life easier if anything goes wrong. You know the person to deal with.

I really cannot understand why you would not want to favour a supplier who is also your client, even it it costs you slightly more.  Yes there would be problems if you have several clients in that sector but that is fairly easily dealt with.  For example my accountant uses me for some of her print and another client of hers for other bits.

Where I think you could be right is if somebody tries to do reciprocal arrangements where you both supply services to each other and in payment of each other.  Apart from the potential tax pit falls, these things almost always end in disappointment.  One person does more than the other and nobody can quite remember what the deal was.

So, my advice is try to use as many of your clients to provide services to you as possible.  It shows support and care and strengthens the relationship.  Change your mind set and stop thinking of it as being held to ransom.  Good luck

If there is not much difference in the service/price, I would go with the client, and I think most people would, but that is not always the case. 

..the right supplier.  However, at least if you have given them the chance and told them where they fall short they effectively make the decision for you.  Mind you have you ever considered that some of your own clients may not be getting exactly what they want and may compromise in order to work with you?

I find talking to people helps resolve most things.

I lost a book-keeping client last year who had spent the previous 3 years continually changing her accountant. She couldn't explain what was wrong with these accountants. I then discovered she expected them to recommend clients to her for her own business and considered that all part of the deal, including squeezing down the accountancy fees. A year after I started working with her she moved on from me and her then accountant as she had been quoted an all in one fee along with the promise of business referrals by yet another accountant.

She was fine about paying my bill, but could not see that a good accountant has nothing to do with referrals of business. I found this attitude rather immature.

From our telemarketing experiences we are certainly hearing more of this and more openly.

It does come back to the perception of all accountants are the same in some cases where the opportunity of client referrals becomes more important than before.

We also come across businesses where they know they are paying over the odds for accountancy fees and receiving sub standard levels of care yet stay with those accountants regardless because their accountants are their customer and/or refer business. So in those cases it's the clients held to ransom :)

I would think that in most businesses tying a customer in is usually a fairly good strategy