Is it time to charge a consultation fee?

consultation fee

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Do any other accountants out there charge a consultation fee? I've introduced this recently as a way of weeding out people making general inquiries by charging £50 consultation fee credit the £50 against their final invoice. I was fielding queries and calls from potential clients (mostly startups) about difference between Ltd and sole trader, what expenses can I claim all of which is on a knowledge base, My time was being sapped by these type of calls and meetings many of which I may never hear from again and the ones that I do are generally for very low fees. 

Does anyone else do this, I know it anathema to the current unlimited access model? 

Replies (19)

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By mrme89
23rd Nov 2017 08:36

I wouldn't charge, even if it is credited back.

I would make it clear that the initial meeting is not advisory and that only fee paying receive specific advice.

The key to initial meetings is to give them just enough information to show that you know what you are doing without giving them detailed advice.

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Glenn Martin
By Glenn Martin
23rd Nov 2017 09:19

I offer free first meeting as I think if you put a charge on that you will deter more customers, (potentially good ones) than time you will waste.

Its a big learning curve as I have wasted a lot of time like you with tyre kickers. I now try and filter them at the initial contact. Then only see people if the first appointment is at my office.

For company V sole trader questions I have a generic A4 sheet with the main points on it and if they want it amending to suit them, then say I would have to go away and do it which is then outside the initial free meeting.

This year I have set out to sign up about 60/70 new clients. I filter about a third at the initial contact issue proposals or estimate of fees to the other 2/3 and probably get about half of the proposals issued as clients.

So to get 60 clients I have probably had contact with 200 prospects this year. So thats a lot of frogs to kiss and you cannot avoid wasting some time. But you learn quickly on it and do toughen up a lot.

Have you looked at some of the proposal software available as many allow you to present it at the meeting and you can get them to commit then and there, so you will see if they are keen or not.

At this time of year if you are very busy just tell clients you are not taking work on currently (Unless they sound decent).

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By I'msorryIhaven'taclue
23rd Nov 2017 09:34

I have a client about to appeal penalties who has contacted just about every tax specialist he can find, including a writer for a leading taxation publication, to wheedle suitable case history from. He has no intention of paying anybody - myself included - for performing that spadework or for having picked their brains.

It's easy to be sucked in by such "prospects", and since so many people hustle for a living you can find yourself singing like a canary, chapter and verse. Often the prospect knows more than you about the particular matter that's bothering him, having just spent the past 48 hours googling every little detail that's ever been written on the topic. I'm not certain whether PII covers advice to prospects either, but in any event I'm with mrme89 - just listen, then tell them what you can do for them if they become a client. But don't try to solve their problem(s) while they're still prospects. Even a taster can be fatal, because you're nibbling at the bait and will end up being hooked!

Solicitors are so much better than us at drawing the line. Whilst sat at our solicitor's desk exchanging contracts on a house sale, we ran our concerns past him regarding the loosely associated matter of our out of date wills, which predated our marriage - should we revoke or update them, we wondered? Or could we simply tear them up now that we were hitched? Our solicitor listened patiently, before replying "Yes, I think we can help you with that. Would you like to book an appointment so that we can discuss the matter in detail?" And into his appointment diary we went. Ker-ching!

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Replying to I'msorryIhaven'taclue:
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By Tickers
23rd Nov 2017 09:51

But doesn't the consultation fee weed out those "prospects" who have no intention of paying anyone?

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By I'msorryIhaven'taclue
23rd Nov 2017 10:43

I think paying a peppercorn fee could encourage some of them feel entitled to bucket-loads of advice.

Dentists often charge appointment fees in advance; although, unlike ours, theirs isn't a crowded profession.

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Replying to I'msorryIhaven'taclue:
paddle steamer
By DJKL
23rd Nov 2017 10:37

Yes, solicitors do have that, " je ne se quoi", they must either have it taught to them in training or maybe those of a soliciting bent are born with the trait; that slow delivery, the steeple made by the fingers under the chin and the blessed gift of the ability to never give a straight answer to anything!

I should be able to do a small experiment as to whether it is nature or nurture, one of my nieces , who up to now has been a charming girl with cheerful conversation, qualified late 2016, so now a year as a solicitor; if we see her at Christmas and she has become a clam ,with that studied performance as she peers at one over her glasses, then there is some evidence it is nurture; unless of course it was always there beneath the surface and legal studies etc merely bring it to the surface.

DJKL,an expert at being peered at over glasses by his father, who had the ability to instill into conversations the longest silences in the world such that a confession of ones transgressions was elicited without being actually asked.

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By WhichTyler
23rd Nov 2017 11:36

From speech to graduating class of [Harvard?] law school:

When you started here, if you had been asked a question about the law, you would have said "I don't know".
Now, thanks to your diligent study at the feet of the best lawyers in the world, and with the full weight of this august institution behind you, you will be able to say confidently and with authority "It depends..."

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By free-rider
23rd Nov 2017 10:09

As I am running a PT practice alongside my FT employment I cannot afford to spend much time on tyre kickers. Quick phone call with a prospect to listen and understand his situation? Ok. Any free advise during the call? Nope.

If they want advise tailored to their situation I always offer to arrange meeting on Skype or in person (rarely) and charge at a rate of £60 per hour. No time wasters usually agree to this, but the prospect who go for this 9 times out of 10 turn in to fee paying clients.

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By andy.partridge
23rd Nov 2017 10:32

I always tell prospects that our free consultation is a 'getting to know each other' exercise. Yet increasingly I find prospects coming in with a notebook of questions. Answering each one with, 'Yes, I think we can help you with that' sounds evasive and unhelpful so I do have sympathy with the OP.

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By I'msorryIhaven'taclue
23rd Nov 2017 10:58

My old economics lecturer used to answer everything with "That depends, .." which I find a useful rein when managing client (or prospect) expectations.

After all, it's not your knowledge of statute or tax law or legal principles that they're asking you to divulge; rather, they want you to apply such knowledge to their particular circumstances. I find the secret is to listen rather than speak - same as DJKL's father, except the glasses I peer over are likely to contain beer and a whisky chaser.

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Replying to I'msorryIhaven'taclue:
paddle steamer
By DJKL
23rd Nov 2017 11:12

My father's favourite response, stolen, I believe, from John Walter Jones, one of his university law tutors, was "You may be right"

What that apparently conveyed was that you were actually spouting the biggest load of b*llocks .

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By Ian Bee
23rd Nov 2017 11:06

While I might meet a potential client to explain what I can do, strictly I cannot give advice or technical explanations unless they have undergone money laundering checks etc., and agreed terms of engagement.

It's also a good excuse to avoid getting sucked into giving free advice.

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By andy.partridge
23rd Nov 2017 11:31

That's fine, so long as you are the only accountant the prospect is seeing or your completitors have the same line as you.

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By Manchester_man
24th Nov 2017 07:57

Exactly. I think it's unavoidable, to a certain extent. There is no shortage of firms willing to give the prospect free advice, which makes it difficult all round in a relatively crowded market.

Some people seem to only really value the type of work where we give them a completed tax return and/or set of accounts. Anything else is just 'actually, can I pick your brains while your here'.

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By CoastalAcc
24th Nov 2017 16:03

The initial meeting for me is more a meet and greet, and to get an idea about their background and needs. No advice is given.

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By pauljohnston
28th Nov 2017 10:09

Giving advice at the initial meeting may come back to bite you where it hurts particularly if you have only half the facts, but dont know it.

I always disccss with the client on the phone before the meeting. I tell them that the meeting is to get to know each other and to make sure that we work with each other. If he/she turns up with a load of questions that are not relevant to the meeting "I dont have enough information or I will need to check that out" are my responses.

Bear in mind that there is always some one who will undercut you on price so free advice at a meeting may not be a good idea.

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By N Reynolds
28th Nov 2017 10:32

I can't help but think that it may not be the tyres kickers that are the problem. If the conversion rate of potentials that you meet is low then maybe you need to reflect upon the "customer journey". Do potentials come to meetings knowing broadly your fees? and the quality of service they will get? Do they know you can't formally advise a person until they are a client? Does the website impart these messages? do those referring your firm mention these matters to the person they refer.

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Replying to N Reynolds:
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By andy.partridge
28th Nov 2017 11:28

N Reynolds wrote:

Does the website impart these messages?

People looking for free advice take no notice of website messages. AccountingWEB is a prime example.

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By Jack the Lad
28th Nov 2017 11:19

Unfortunately, you will often have these sort of calls. You have to learn who are the time wasting freeloaders, and brush them off politely. I used to say that I could not give specific advice without having detailed information on them, and state what an initial meeting would cost, hourly rate, etc, which soon sorted the wheat from the chaff.
Per other replies, if you had a pre-printed sheet on standard enquiries, this might help with marketing.
Incidentally, my first response was always "Do you have an accountant, and who are they? What do they say?" This often revealed those seeking a second opinion for nothing!

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