One of the strangest things I hear about from accountants are how many clients they have who Reject, Avoid and Shun Help. Do you have any like that? They still pay your fees but you’re not sure that you are doing your best for them.
Years ago I only seemed to hear about clients who were a pain to deal with, slow to respond, overly fee conscious and/or rude and unpleasant.
Now though increasing numbers of accountants are identifying RASH clients. That’s those who repeatedly Reject, Avoid and Shun Help.
I have long encouraged accountants to think of 4 categories for their clients:
A – These are your best (A grade) clients – whatever that means to you. Maybe they pay the highest fees, are a pleasure to deal with, value your advice and want more than basic compliance services. Perhaps they are also good referrers of valuable new clients too.
B – These clients have the potential and may BE ready to move up to A grade. It’s where I often recommend accountants focus their attention.
C – These Compliance only clients are the ones who are no trouble but who also have limited capacity to grow and to be willing to pay for your advice.
D – These Draining clients are the ones you would love to Dump or Drop. Every accountant has some of these. Often far too many in fact!
When you focus on the B clients you will still find that not all are willing or able to become A grade clients of yours:
- Some will be ‘Forever doubtful’ as to the value of your advice;
- Some will be ‘interested in theory but unsure’ if they can afford your advice; and
- Some will jump at the idea if you can satisfy them that your advice will pay off. These clients are ‘Ready AND COMMITTED’ to growing their business right now.
Below I have provided a little more detail on each of these 3 groups. You might also want to consider in which group you sit as regards your attitude to the development of your own practice.
Forever Doubtful Business Owners
You will recognise a number of your clients who fit this description. They may or may not have a solid business model, but they are always explaining why it isn’t as successful as it could be and that, of course, is through no fault of their own.
It is either the economy (whether a recession or buoyant economy, it is just the wrong one for their business), their competition, the market generally or their partner that explains why they are not successful.
It might be their website designer, their telephone answering service, their coffee machine or the weather. It is never anything to do with them, their attitudes or their approach. Yet, as you read this, you will know that it has EVERYTHING to do with them.
These people are forever doubtful. They are RASH (as they Reject Avoid and Shun Help). I have learned that it is rarely worthwhile trying to change their minds. Occasionally I have been contacted by accountants whose whole approach tells me they will be RASH so I make no effort to encourage them to become clients of mine.
Interested but unsure
This type of client or accountant does want their business or practice to evolve, but they are simply not ready yet to do anything about this ambition.
They aren’t in enough pain or haven’t established enough need to change.
Perhaps they are comfortable, getting by without flying high, but not really achieving their potential.
They may be looking for information about growing their business, but not doing anything with it. They might attend lots of courses and buy lots of books, but they don’t do anything the following day that is any different from what they did yesterday and the day before that and the day before that.
They are just not ready to commit to moving forwards.
There could be any number of reasons for this and I come across many accountants who match this profile.
They say the right things, they go through the motions, but there is no real desire or ambition – beyond a vague hope or dream.
They want things to be better, they just don’t really want to do anything very different and they definitely do not want to pay anyone to help them move forwards out of their rut.
If you encounter clients like this, do mention the famous quote from tennis legend Andre Agassi: “If you are not moving forwards, you are going backwards.”
Might you be in this position yourself?
Ready and committed to move forwards
This final category is my favourite type of accountant – and it’s probably your favourite type of client too. They are serious about moving forwards and either want to grow their business or, at least, to change things up a bit, and are fully committed to doing so.
They know that not everything they try will work perfectly first time but they will keep on going until they make it work absolutely as well as they can do.
Obstacles will not stand in their way. They have a clear goal of where they want to be and will do whatever it takes to get there.
I like ambitious accountants like this. They know that whilst they could try and work out how to get there the slow way and on their own, it will be much easier to get there if they work with someone who can tell them exactly what they need to do to move forwards. And who can help keep them focused so as to avoid being distracted by the latest shiny objects!
These people don’t want a wishy-washy coach that is going to throw the ‘Why?’ question at them seven times in a row in the hope that they work out their own answers; they want someone who has done this time and time again to tell them what they need to do.
Which category are you in at the moment?
Back to the opening question
What do you with RASH clients who don’t want to pay for your advice? Don’t invest any more time on them. Focus first on those who are Ready and then on those who are Interested but unsure.
And, what about you? Are YOU Ready? or Interested but unsure?
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