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Most people use an accountant because they need to. A smaller number use them because they want to. If you want to grow your practice and your income, you will need to be in the "want to" category. Clients will want to use you when you become their trusted advisor and they think of calling you before they do anything that might impact their business, financial security or growth. Here are some ways to make this happen.
- They want us to be available. This means you need to be proactive in reaching out to your clients with suggestions for their business's growth, tax or reporting changes that might affect their business, or industry trends. It also means responding promptly to their concerns not only when they contact you, but when you anticipate those concerns and reach out to them. Make the first call. You will get an "A" for service by responding quickly to every call to you, but you'll get an "A+" and attain the trusted advisor level when you make the first calls.
- Clients want to avoid problems that are avoidable. Make this an agenda item when you speak with them. Try to anticipate problems that might arise and discuss what might have to be done now to avoid them. The worst thing you could hear from a client is: "I trusted you to keep these problems from arising."
- Clients want their problems solved, not the details of how they occurred, and especially not when it was their fault. Do your job and get the problems solved.
- Clients want their business's controls to not just be adequate or suitable, but to be great. If you're not already, then become thoroughly familiar with your clients' accounting systems and internal controls. Use an audit checklist as a guide but do not check the boxes perfunctorily. Read each step carefully and relate it to what the client is actually doing and then offer suggestions to tighten the controls. If the client does not respond to your suggestions, it doesn't mean he or she is not interested, it more likely means they do not know how to get started. Present them with a proposal with a fixed fee to perform a study with recommendations. This can be followed up with a proposal to assist in the implementation.
- A client might not value the compliance services foisted upon them, but when deliverables and forms always arrive at the last minute, or the accounting firm has high staff turnover, causes disruptions to the client's routines, an annoyance is created, and that lessens the feelings of the value of the accountant. Then the must-haves override any of the extras done for the client. The types of services might be bifurcated on your end, but the client views everything you do as one piece of the package. Be aware that while the trusted advisor status is an imperceptible feeling, it is a strong recognition of a need you satisfy. Make everything you do a great experience for the client.
- They want us to handle questions in a routine manner regardless of the difficulty and without appearing that it is a big deal, and as part of our service relationship without a separate invoice for every minute spent. When the questions go beyond a normal level of expertise, clients would expect to pay for it but want to know the cost before any work starts. This will put them in charge and give them a feeling of empowerment. I also think clients prefer an annual bundled fixed price package with extras when the agreed upon parameters are exceeded.
- Clients want to trust us and feel they will get knowledgeable, unvarnished truth from their accountant in every business and financial activity we're engaged in, including managing their business and personal assets. This includes helping them establish goals and then showing a path to implementing it, with us being the catalyst for actions.
When everything above, and much more, coalesces into the full trust clients need and crave, a Big Bang moment will occur, and we become their trusted advisors and a must-have to have.
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