Automated fee quotes on a website

Do you think this could work or is it a road to ruin?

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Hi, I'm looking for your opinions, or any words of advice, on an idea I'm toying with at the minute.

I started my own practice a few months ago, and am slowly building up a client base.

I noticed that my quotes were way off the mark to begin with, as I was still in a larger firm mentality, and found myself quoting a lot higher than what the client was expecting (based on past experience / current accountant fees).

This drove me to review how I should charge for my work, with varying factors, so that my quoting was more structured and not so as extreme as they had been.

I created a pricing structure matrix that I use when assessing what to quote for potential new clients / work. This is based on a multiple of variations such as type of business, industry, services required, turnover, condition / type of records, volume of transactions, external reliance on work (i.e. banks etc.) and the client's accounting knowledge (bit of judgement there). I simply tick which box's apply for each quote and then I am given a fee proposal to put forward to the client based on their profile.

This has worked well for the few enquires I have used it with, but now I am thinking; would putting this quoting facility on my website be a good move in terms of attracting new clients?

Some may be put off by my prices, and I would lose the ability to sell my services, and justify the fee to them. However would a greater transparency be more encouraging to potential clients, knowing where they stand before picking up the phone?

Obviously clients tell porkies so there would have to be the natural "this is based on the information provided and could be subject to change if not a true reflection" or something similar.

Replies (25)

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By ireallyshouldknowthisbut
16th Feb 2018 14:08

Quoting is hard to get right, you don't really find out if you got it right until 2-3 years later once you get established with a client.

I don't see how an automated tool will help, other than for attracting tyre kickers.

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By andy.partridge
16th Feb 2018 15:52

I have a better idea for you. Get an ‘Instant Quote’ facility on your website. The prospect inputs the variables that determine the quote and provides contact details for an email or SMS reply. It’s simple for the genuinely interested and doesn’t give away any sensitive information to the outside world.

Edit. Upon rereading this may be what you had in mind anyway.

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By Mr_awol
16th Feb 2018 16:09

I'm not one for online quotes. Get them in for free, sit down with them and get a feel for whether they will be a PITA or not. Also, as you say, you get a chance to sell yourself and your firm rather than joining all the firms offering their gold/silver/bronze 'package' (used to be the domain of the sausage factories targeting the contractor market but growing in popularity amongst other firms these days). Edit: I have a matrix which gives a rough guide to try and keep similar clients in a similar fee bracket but it's always amended based upon the meeting - normally as a result of the records and/or gut feel having spoken to the client.

It's rare that someone comes into our office and doesn't sign up, even if they've come in with a lower quote obtained online. If someone cant be arsed to take an hour out to meet with a potential accountant then they probably aren't going to be a particularly good client.

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ALISK
By atleastisoundknowledgable...
16th Feb 2018 16:49

Agree - an online quote doesn’t allow for you to add the PITFA premium. Or the ‘rude’, ‘hate’ or ‘records worse than w4nk’ fixed fee adjustments.

Even then you still won’t know if it’s right until a few years down the line, at which time they’ll be shocked that fees aren’t fixed for live.

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Teignmouth
By Paul Scholes
16th Feb 2018 16:49

Nothing wrong with filling in your own internal matrix once you've gathered the info but I'm with Mr_awol on this one. When asking a prospect whether they are likely to be a PITA, it's rare for the PITA to be honest.

Similarly prospects can sometimes be way out when it comes to giving their views on what they need, what they can do themselves and the condition of their records, I have saved me and them a lot of wasted time just chatting on the phone and realising the relationship is a non-starter.

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paddle steamer
By DJKL
16th Feb 2018 16:50

My concern would be prospective clients who are somewhat economical with the truth, understating number of transactions etc. Whilst in theory this could be caught when billing (there were 500 sales not 300) it is possibly a later source of friction.

I have used transaction volume re one of my fees (justified increase on prior year which client accepted re a job where I write up the books) but not sure I would want to give them wriggle room/ counter arguments if say they were to suffer a downturn ;could they use your metric to argue a much lower fee in future.

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By andy.partridge
16th Feb 2018 22:19

I think people are missing the point. An ‘online quote’ won’t commit either party to anything. It is a marketing tool to encourage contact with you from people who might be genuinely interested and who are not scared of the likely financial investment.

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By marks
16th Feb 2018 21:48

Personally I dont think a quoting tool online works.

At the end of the day we are in the people business and you really need to meet the prospective to get a feeling for what they are like, do you like them, do they seem like they are the kind of person you can work with,etc.

We use a quoting tool called GoProposal but only use either in face to face meeting or online using Zoom. It is important to go through everything you can do and identify what the prospect is looking for so you can maximise your service.

For instance had an online Zoom meeting with a prospect recently who is your standard contractor type client. New start up with turnover expected of £120k. Normally you would say ok they are just looking for year end accounts and you might charge maybe £1500 - £1800 per year.

But when explained everything we can do they eventually went for

Year end accounts and CT return
fee protection insurance
payroll
personal tax return
company secretarial
registered office provision
6 monthly summary management accounts
bookkeeping
quarterly VAT returns
pre year end tax review
incorporation of Ltd company, reg for VAT and payroll
retirement planning strategy review

Ended up agreeing monthly amount of £340 + VAT (or just over £4k + VAT per year)

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Replying to marks:
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By andy.partridge
16th Feb 2018 22:22

Why would you think an online quote would stop you meeting prospects? On the contrary, it acts as a filter so that any meeting has a better chance of success.

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Replying to andy.partridge:
Tom McClelland
By TomMcClelland
18th Feb 2018 13:22

andy.partridge wrote:

Why would you think an online quote would stop you meeting prospects? On the contrary, it acts as a filter so that any meeting has a better chance of success.

I agree, and I think this has to be looked at from the point of view of the buyer.

If I'm looking to buy a product or service amongst the first things I want to know is, "how much is it likely to cost". If I look at 5 websites and 4 give me no clue while the other one provides some kind of estimate *that* is the one that will get the first call from me, every time. If I like them then none of the other 4 will ever get contacted.

It really annoys me when I'm researching buying something and I can't get a hint about likely costs without picking the phone up. Some software companies don't give any price hints, and I think it really puts potential buyers off.

For accountancy work I think people would understand that in many cases you're supplying an estimate, and that a binding quote would be supplied after a (free) meeting.

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Replying to TomMcClelland:
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By Mr_awol
19th Feb 2018 15:25

TomMcClelland wrote:

andy.partridge wrote:

Why would you think an online quote would stop you meeting prospects? On the contrary, it acts as a filter so that any meeting has a better chance of success.

I agree, and I think this has to be looked at from the point of view of the buyer.

If I'm looking to buy a product or service amongst the first things I want to know is, "how much is it likely to cost". If I look at 5 websites and 4 give me no clue while the other one provides some kind of estimate *that* is the one that will get the first call from me, every time. If I like them then none of the other 4 will ever get contacted.

It really annoys me when I'm researching buying something and I can't get a hint about likely costs without picking the phone up. Some software companies don't give any price hints, and I think it really puts potential buyers off.

For accountancy work I think people would understand that in many cases you're supplying an estimate, and that a binding quote would be supplied after a (free) meeting.

I'd agree with you if we were looking at a hotel stay, or a gym membership, where every one should be paying pretty much the same (or a similar price for the same package).

Professional services such as accountancy don't really fit that model for me and bespoke pricing is more relevant. Plus, as already stated, it is rare that we get someone in and don't sign them up.

Maybe that's why I dislike the monthly package model offered by many on here.

Could I do the same in the free meeting if they'd already self-quoted using an online tool? Probably, but they have a price in mind already and any time I offer to tailor my service to them it will look like upselling.

Do I miss out on a few clients by not having fees on the website? Undoubtedly. Are they probably the ones who have gone to five different sites and picked the one that looked the lowest? More than likely. Do I regret missing out on them? Not at all.

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Replying to marks:
ALISK
By atleastisoundknowledgable...
16th Feb 2018 22:50

You charge £4K for that? I’m doing something wrong.

Contractors £125 incorp, £95pcm-£125pcm (vat, payroll, YE, CoSec), £5pcm Registered Office.

Where do others sit on the fee line for contractors?

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Replying to atleastisoundknowledgable...:
RedFive
By RedFive
17th Feb 2018 09:35

Agree, I need to put my fees up. And marks in Scotland too....

Same package as above I would be £100 ish per month.

Also to answer the OP I just have "Our typical fees range from £35 to £300 per month"

I'm going to need to up that higher figure........

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Replying to atleastisoundknowledgable...:
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By Manchester_man
17th Feb 2018 10:10

atleastisoundknowledgable... wrote:

You charge £4K for that? I’m doing something wrong.

Contractors £125 incorp, £95pcm-£125pcm (vat, payroll, YE, CoSec), £5pcm Registered Office.

Where do others sit on the fee line for contractors?

I agree, although well done if you can pull it off.
I know this isn't a thread about fee levels, but I'm intrigued by the apparent ability to charge more using the GoProposal tool. I understand that the idea is that you don't charge more, but you do charge for absolutely everything. Is that not going back to the days of "that accountant charges me for every little thing, even charges me for phone calls".

I'm trialing it at present. Lovely piece of kit, but the pre-set pricing structure apparently used by My Accountancy Place brings some £200 per month clients out at £640 per month. Makes me feel like I'm charging way to little, however my fees are in line with competitors.

I can't decide whether it is worth as try, or whether prospects will laugh at me.

The pricing for submitting the annual confirmation statement is even £60 per year if I remember correctly (£5 per month). My clients know this costs £13. They most I've ever charged for this is £30. A 100% increase in my usual fees is what most go proposal fee quotes are coming out at.

I know I can adjust it downwards, but it does make you think wow, my fees are way out, even though I never thought this before. We have never been a cheap firm.

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Replying to Manchester_man:
RedFive
By RedFive
17th Feb 2018 10:21

I’m sitting drinking my Saturday morning coffee after being up at 6am to do some client work thinking exactly the same thing.

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By Manchester_man
17th Feb 2018 10:55

Funny you should say that, I'm also sat drinking my morning cup of coffee, feeling similarly tired.

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Replying to Manchester_man:
ALISK
By atleastisoundknowledgable...
17th Feb 2018 22:36

And to think, for a while I wondered whether you actually were Paul Barnes. (MAP founder) (clang)

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Replying to marks:
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By Matrix
17th Feb 2018 09:30

Sounds good. If the client had not taken you up on the pre-tax year end review then do they get it for free or do you just not contact them before 5 April meaning, for example, they could end up not declaring any dividends for that tax year?

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Replying to Matrix:
ALISK
By atleastisoundknowledgable...
17th Feb 2018 21:22

Good question.

I just think of that as doing my job as their accountant, not a chargeable extra.

I trialed GP and decided that it wasn’t for me. I know that it means I lose out, but I don’t want to be seen at that guy who charges eg per transaction for bookkeeping.

Ran a simple tax return (employment, dividends, gift aid) on their pricing matrix -£600 against my £100. Don’t understand how people can charge that.

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Replying to atleastisoundknowledgable...:
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By andy.partridge
17th Feb 2018 21:34

It works. But it relies on the client being ignorant of market rates and assumes other accountants would likely charge the same. It’s called ‘taking advantage’.

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Replying to andy.partridge:
ALISK
By atleastisoundknowledgable...
17th Feb 2018 22:34

Not an avid fan of GP then

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Replying to atleastisoundknowledgable...:
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By andy.partridge
18th Feb 2018 08:45

It’s the users that I’m suspicious of. It is going to appeal to people who regard money as the only important factor in their working existence.

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Replying to marks:
Glenn Martin
By Glenn Martin
18th Feb 2018 15:10

I am surprised you managed to convince him that all that was value added extras, as for a contractor all are fairly standard and would be included in any contractors package apart from maybe the registered office address, company formation the retirement planning which would be extras.

The thing is with contractors they all talk with other contractors, and if your guy finds out others are getting the same job done for half the price or less it maybe a short appointment.

Nice work when it lasts though £4k for a contractor.

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By WhichTyler
18th Feb 2018 10:42

Is it possible to do some A/B testing? Set up two versions of the website and direct users randomly to one or the other. Then see how many contact you with/without the quoting tool (and if those that do contact you are better quality or worse)?

I'd call them estimates not quotes too

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By ossyref
27th Feb 2018 15:32

For me displaying your price on your website only works if you are looking to compete on price.

If you are looking to compete on services, and the quality of them, then getting the client in, producing a proposal and explaining how your services will add genuine value to them is the best option.

I can also recommend GoProposal as a great piece of software for helping to generate a great proposal in minutes.

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