I was in another accounting firm's lobby the other day waiting for my meeting to start. Going through my notes, I couldn't help cringing as I overheard the firm's disgruntled receptionist answer the phone. She handled about a dozen calls in the five minutes I was there and her attitude was terrible every single time. In the five minutes I sat in the lobby, I heard her bad attitude repeated a dozen times. I'm sure callers — many of whom were likely clients — couldn't wait to get off the phone with her. Even worse, think about how many bad impressions of the firm she probably left over the course of a day and a week?
When I mentioned the receptionist's attitude to the firm's leadership that day, they had no idea what I was talking about. They assumed the receptionist's job entailed nothing more than routing calls. They viewed it as a low-level administrative role that should cost them as little as possible. Maybe that's why the receptionist was so unpleasant. I tried to explain that when you have a highly unmotivated person on your front line, it will eventually take a heavy toll on your business. I'm not sure the message sunk in.
Krulak's Law
Charles Krulak is a highly decorated general in the U.S. Marine Corps. His philosophy is that leaders are ultimately judged by the quality of leadership reflected in their subordinates. Adapting Krulak's Law to the business world, futurist
So, who is on the frontlines at your firm? I'll bet it's your client service associates. CSAs are the ones on the phone handling calls and requests from clients and building relationships with them. They have a very important responsibility, if you come to think about it. But I can't tell you how many firms try to automate and outsource the client service function just to save a few bucks.
That's exactly the wrong approach to be taking because CSAs are interacting with your clients all the time. They're your Navy Seals — an elite corps of highly trained specialists — and you owe them your respect. They're the highest leverage people at your firm. If anything, you should be thinking about how you can overpay your CSAs, not underpay them. If you don't, another organization likely will.
Touchpoints
Think about how many client phone calls and emails your CSAs handle every day. Every one of those communications is a reflection of your brand. CSAs have more client touchpoints per dollar than anyone else at your firm. But very few firms are asking themselves: "How can we make sure our CSAs are doing the very best job they can?"
The CEO or managing partner rarely talks to clients and customers. It's the people on the ground, your frontline CSAs, who have the biggest impact on your brand. They're like the highly skilled nurses and physician assistants in a doctor's office who build relationships with patients. So, wouldn't it make sense to make sure the CSAs are well-trained, well-compensated and highly motivated to help your clients?
Basic tax prep — putting numbers in boxes — can be outsourced and automated. It's a commodity service that's required of all firms. It's hard to show that your firm's ability to put numbers into boxes is better than another firm's ability to put numbers into boxes. It's not creating value for your clients. But if your CSAs are always cheerful, and always say "please" and "thank you," always make it as easy for clients to send and receive documents, and solve problems without complaining, then clients will notice and they'll gladly tell their friends and colleagues about their experience with your firm.
Here are some questions to ponder:
- How would having the best CSA change our client experience?
- When did we last train our CSAs on best practices?
- Are we providing them with the resources they need to excel?
Your CSAs are one of your firm's biggest assets. Make sure your compensation and training are commensurate with the service you want delivered. We get so focused on recruiting and retaining tax talent that we overlook the other side of the talent equation — the client service soldiers.
In addition to having well-trained CSAs, is your firm's website as helpful and up to date as it could be? Are clients finding it easy to access and read your client newsletter? These aspects of your "frontline infantry" are all areas with a very high number of client touchpoints.
In today's always-connected electronic age, bad news travels incredibly fast. You want high-quality, well-trained people on your frontline who feel like their contribution to the firm matters. Their efforts go a long way toward ensuring a great client experience and a favorable impression of your brand. Likewise, having someone on the frontline who is undertrained and underpaid can cause incredible damage to your brand. Isn't it worth treating your frontline soldiers like the heroes they are?
I'd
