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Disgracefully sensible and top notch advice. I’m afraid you’ll never win any Practice Excellence awards though with that attitude!
In fact, the inverse law applies to awards in general. In my client base, more or less all the award winners are loss-making or very thin gruel profits.
Whereas the guys making a killing from a start-up start are all way too busy making money to bother with awards, so only 1 of them has ever won one.
Don't know they have to differ, one can make money and gets bits of paper.
We won a Gazelle award as a fastest (one of them) growing company. We one year had a very profitable site sale (back when we bought sites, got planning and sold to builders) and a year or so later I received this award certificate through the post, I never asked for it or applied for it, it just arrived.
It was of course somewhat premature re our vaulting up the list of Scotland's most profitable companies, the next year our profits dropped back to their more normal level, still it is always a talking point.
It looks good on my notice board in front of my desk alongside my City & Guilds Cert qualifying me as a personal licence holder (needed for a pub we lease out in case tenancy ends and someone has to be the personal licence holder until we find another tenant- 3 hours of my life and a multiple choice quiz to get that one) and it used to also sit alongside the office TV licence until we binned the TV.
I beg to differ
I am doing ok and I won an award...
The longest drive... it was easy 330yds... I didn't half belt it, it was a huge hook too... bent like a banana hit the fairway going sideways and stopped 6 inches before the rough.
I have it on my shelf.
I agree that most clients are too busy for those “just touching base” conversations. I also hate being on the receiving end of them from salespeople. It’s not client service, it’s just disruptive.
Like you, our bookkeepers were in touch each month and had enough time to to chat naturally as well as being trained to spot opportunities to help clients. This relationship meant that clients would often contact our bookkeepers with a query that could be passed on to the accountant sitting next to them.
Some clients like to be bothered by their advisors, some don't . The key is in knowing your clients, and knowing when to step in and provide advice and when you shouldn't.
Choose your clients wisely, then deal with them appropriately.
If you are just starting out in practice, remember to set the tone with client relationships early then stick to it.
Extract above
'I do this not by submitting accounts and tax returns on time - that's the bare minimum, but by helping them achieve more. This can be business growth, business sale, succession or retirement planning, business improvement and most importantly personal goals. '
I hear so much of this, just how are Accountants, who work on historical data supposed to expand other peoples business (including giving advice which may turn sour), its hard enough to expand your own business.
My mate used to charge clients when they took him out to lunch.
His attitude was it's my time so the client can pay for it.
Horses for courses.
As an accountant in commerce I found professional auditors of little help and often more of an irritant.
They clearly displayed a profit-only motive, especially when my appointment resulted in their fees dropping by two thirds.
As to customer service, fee-earning opportunities all too blatant.
Another great article Mark, debunking a few myths that seem to land in my inbox 7/8 times per week from the "Accountant Gurus."
For me I have geared my service around delivering a result for clients. These are easily measured, deliver results for your clients and they will go away and spread the word. Delivering results to clients allows for full recovery of your fees as you have done what you have said you would do.
I am not one for all this cuddly stuff. I like to meet mid year with clients and discuss issues they have, and get into the nuts and bolts of the business that will make a difference, reducing debtors down, improving cashflow etc. This is what clients want.
I am not one for these client satisfaction scores as I imagine poor ones are ignored, and clients who are happy enough with your service to come back each year, probably cannot be bothered to even fill them in so the data collected is probably from a few pet clients so the result will maybe sound good but of actual no real measure as to if you do a good job or not.
Fancy CRM systems that manage client communications are looked at as must haves, but clients actually want is genuine contact personal to them, not automated standard responses that go out to everyone, although these have their place with issuing reminders etc, but a Zendesk style way of dealing with clients does not appeal to me, although I imagine quoting things like all client queries are dealt within 4 hours sounds good to some folk.
You just have to consider that HMRC has a 49% satisfaction score from accountants to know these are cobblers.
Clients who gush about how good their accountant is, do so as they probably get way more services than they actually pay for.
Ps I have been shortlisted in the service category for the AE awards, although not a massive financial success I am getting there.
Great article Mark and it matches my advice to start up firms of accountants and sole practitioners.
I didn't think I was going to agree when I read the title in isolation but you argue your case well.
Profit and Cash are also paramount to your long term , as well as short term, survival.
Fundamental stuff that people tend to forget.
That last sentence, you said what everyone feels, but out loud.
Well done.
I suspect you now maybe Firstabs hero.
Highly baited article but beautifully delivered to the point, That is the definition of giving high customer service delivering above and beyond as required when asked, which will in turn give profits (providing you're charging correctly)
Nice to see some common sense, a ray of light in a world of the lost, confused and cynics .
Bravo Sir, I'm curious if you specialise in offering your services to any industry in particular?