Business Accountants back-to-school assignment: Start with your clients

During my preparation for a recent client engagement, I was reviewing client satisfaction statistics of Business Accountants, collected from a variety of surveys taken over the past several years. I think it is safe to make a blanket statement that Business Accountants rate themselves higher than our clients do. Whether it pertains to not understanding why clients select us in the first place, what we do that aggravates them the most, and why clients leave, we don’t have the best grasp on client satisfaction. It is possible that a Business Accountants heightened sense of performance is a result of relatively low client turnover (because it is very hard to unravel a Business Accountants firm relationship), but I believe that it creates a false sense of security.

Because it is so much easier to keep your current clients happy than it is to find new ones, your first assignment of the school year pertains to your current clients.

Business Accountants have an assignment with three components:

1)    Engage in a proactive meeting with one client once per month until year-end. (Clients regularly state that they wish their Business Accountants were more proactive with ideas that can help their business.)

Sit down with four top clients by 12/31. Ask them about their business goals for the coming year, what their key challenges are, and what most concerns them. Use this information to build an action plan to assist them in achieving their goals—and bring proactive and valuable information to them on a monthly basis that helps them to achieve these goals.

2)    Develop/build a personal relationship with one client per month by year-end. (A strong personal relationship boosts communication and loyalty, as well as insulates you against mistakes in client service.)

Some of the strongest, most productive (and valuable) client relationships become that way as a personal relationship builds over time. A great relationship boosts your position to serve as a trusted advisor and bring great ideas to your client. It also does wonders for the referral engine.

Finally, it helps to solidify long-term loyalty because few like to “quit” on their friends.

3)    Ask for a referral from one client per month until year-end. (Of clients who said they would refer, most didn’t simply because they weren’t directly asked.)

Why Business Accountants don’t do a better job of this is beyond me. Your highly satisfied clients want to refer you! They want others to experience the same great service, not to mention they want to help you out. Create the opportunity to ask for a referral after the successful delivery of a project or engagement that was of great value to your client—and remember to be specific about the type of referral you seek.

As you can see, these “assignments” aren’t really that bad (I am a Business Accountant, but fair educator). They deal with people you already know, could easily know better, and are proven to strengthen your client retention. So, as America’s children (or perhaps your kids) come home from school this week with their first assignments of the year, don’t let them give you any grief about not wanting to do their homework. For you, too, have an assignment. Best of luck and contact me anytime you need help with it.