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The philosophy applies to all business entities, not just accountants.
We are a property group collecting just under £1million of rents a year, we set our rents keenly because when one adds up the lost rent re voids, the professional fees finding and documenting new tenants, the costs like rates and insurance lost during voids, a philosophy of keeping things more modest, not trying to max market rates, in the long term works- we secure a long term stable cashflow with few interruptions, with the added bonus that tenants stay loyal and when they need to increase space or reduce space they will think of us as their first port of call; some of our tenants have occupied a number of our properties during their evolution over twenty year periods, and this is units normally running on 3-5 year lease terms.
The other consideration is that the current crop are known knowns, with new tenants one does not really get a feel for them re paying on time, do they moan about trivia etc, until you have them as tenants.
Chasing existing business away with higher prices is foolish as you have no idea what you will get in their stead.
I agree with your philosophy completely and believe more business entities ought to spend far more time on what they have and less on chasing new business; one only needs to think of utility companies and their awful service levels, the need to constantly monitor your agreements with them, to appreciate that customers walk on both price and service but if a business treats them fairly they can be retained for a very long time.
I was speaking to a big car sales business... he said the secret isn't what you sell it for, its what you buy it for....
Think on that mes amies
I'm lucky in that I don't compete on price. A lot of my clients are also on fixed monthly fees, so they can call/email any time and not expect a big fat bill for their efforts- a major cause of other firms losing clients.
Clients don't like unpleasant surprises, so if something over runs this year don't send them a massive bill over and above what you quoted. Explain to the client that it took a lot longer than you planned for, but you won't be charging for it as you quoted and it's important that you stick to your quoted price. Tell them how much the over run was, so they can feel your pain. The client will be extremely pleased!
You can then raise the issues of what went wrong, and how the client can improve information supplied to reduce the amount of work it will take next year. Then set your fee at an appropriate level for next year- and more than likely the client will be happy to agree the higher fee. Include caveats regarding the changes you expect to see- if they don't happen, then the client knows how much extra it will cost them in advance, and they can decide whether that is worthwhile to them.
It's usually much better to wear one year's problems and retain a happy client than try and maximise 'yield' from every client and lose them.
All our clients are on fixed monthly fees. Our clients know exactly where they stand. Rather than spending time on time sheets and billing we spend our time working with our clients.
How do you do fixed monthly fees for work that can't be scoped in advance such as Enquiry case etc?
People buy people! Not services! You can try and analyse as much as you want why someone leaves. Invariably in most cases it is down to a breakdown of trust.
You should never be too expensive or too cheap and it is easy to check your fee levels in the market.
Clients most of the time DO NOT base their decision on price. Those that do I prefer to let go, which luckily hasn't happened that often.
A Google search re other firms to see which ones quote on their website is a starting point, not perfect but gives some sort of ballpark parameters on which to check one's own pricing.
You can also chat with friendly firms .
I had an outline conversation with someone I know at another local firm early this week (we act for different members of the same family) as I mentioned I was thinking (cannot make up my mind) if I should just pack up before VAT MTD arrives (have been sitting on my hands to get a clearer view of what will be needed ). I was not sure if the sorts of fees I charged would be too cheap for them if I passed them some of my clients, however we were not that far apart. (If I do pack up I want my clients to go to good homes, people in the profession I know and trust)
Over a working life you must get to know a fair few of the opposition, and be on friendly terms with some of them, albeit I do find it strange that most are now younger than I am.