In the days before email there were only 3 ways that clients could communicate with their accountants. In person, by phone and by letter. Now the list of options is much longer. Do you encourage, tolerate or refuse to accept communications by less conventional methods? How does this impact your client base? Email is perhaps
Let's be realistic. If you did some work for a client but they weren't happy because you made a big mess of it, would you insist on charging them extra to correct your mistake? I hope you wouldn't even consider trying to charge extra to resolve a mistake of your own making. To my mind this
Many accountants claim that they secure much of their new work through word of mouth referrals. This suggests that clients are making positive comments about their accountants. They may do that if they're particularly happy but in the same way any unhappy clients will be quick to complain about their accountants. I've heard a large
Are you one of those accountants in practice, who still charges fees by reference to the time you spend working on a client’s affairs? Even if you have moved to fixed pricing, menu pricing or value pricing you may still complete timesheets to show how much of your day has been devoted to each different
The question I was recently asked by an accountant was actually: “Is it better to have 500 small clients paying me £500 pa or 50 larger clients paying £5,000 pa?” A little background from the accountant concerned: “The reason behind this question is that I have been running my practise for many years looking after
The purpose of sharing what follows is the lessons that I hope become apparent. I have no desire to embarrass anyone so I am not identifying the client, the firm or the partner concerned. That's not the point. Background Last year I took over responsibility, on a voluntary basis, for the finances of a members'
This was the main topic for discussion at last month’s meeting of The Inner Circle for Accountants. Once again Members of The Inner Circle benefited from the willingness they all had to share their experiences and insights during our round table discussion. In accordance with one of our key membership principles everyone agreed to
During my annual networking ski trip I asked a number of my fellow entrepreneurs and business owners to talk to me about their accountants. I have since written 3 articles for AccountingWeb by reference to the notes of those conversations.The first article has been published and has already stimulated much online discussion. By way of
The new owners of our local garage prompted me to take the car in for an MOT recently. It passed – which was a relief. But then just two weeks later I received a note from the same garage reminding me that the car needed a service. Why didn’t they check when this was due
Last week many of London's black cab drivers staged a protest against the way that the authorities had treated a new competitor in the marketplace. This reminded me of the strident views that some qualified accountants express as regards the competition they face from unqualified people. Some of the reports of the cabbies' protest suggest that their
It can be frustrating when you give clients advice which they then either ignore or misunderstand. You want to get them to trust your advice and you want to be able to influence them to follow your advice. Here are ten ways to increase the likelihood that clients will listen to you: Ask more and
Some people assume that all of the important non-technical skills evidenced by successful accountants and partners can be developed merely by working alongside experienced colleagues or learning 'on the job' , through experience. Another common view is that some people are naturally ‘good’ at things as though their experiences, background and training were irrelevant.
An accountant approached me last week to ask whether any of the members of my Tax Advice Network would be willing to work with his practice on a regular basis? The answer was 'yes'. The background to this accountant's question was not uncommon. What I admired however was his desire to address the issue. And
Read this on a business networking forum and thought I should share it here: This morning I received a letter from my accountants telling me that I had been voted by their staff as one of their clients that it has been most enjoyable working with over the past year; and then thanking me for
Towards the end of my talk last night on How to Handle Difficult Clients, I summarised a seven step process that I have not previously shared on this blog: 1 Listen to the client They won’t listen to you until you have listened to them. When their mouths are open, their ears are closed. 2
In my next talk on how to deal with difficult clients I'll be addressing a number of issues that have yet to be mentioned on this blog. One of theses is what you can do and what you should avoid doing if a client gets angry with you. Here are a few tips: Do
Am presenting a talk next week on how to deal with difficult clients. One of the points I'll address and which I haven't previously written about on this blog is the importance of demonstrating good listening skills. Here's just a few of the ways you can do this, especially when a client (or indeed
I've often mentioned that clients like to think that their accountant is on their side. That their accountant is not simply entering figures into a computer programme and reporting on the outcome. That their accountant is taking active steps to reduce the tax payable. I've just found the sentence below which I had set
Telemarketing companies who focus on securing new clients for accountancy businesses tell me that they have never been busier. And there do seem to be a number of such specialist firms - in addition to the more general telemarketing companies that simply work for accountants as and when engaged to do so. Some telemarketers are
Accountancy Age has published a profile piece on Peter Hargreaves (Chartered Accountant and founder of Hargreaves Lansdown). In it he is quite scathing about certain elements of the profession. None more so than the smaller practitioner: "They’re not doing a good enough job for clients, hence they can’t charge much for the work. A
It's worth sharing stories I hear about dissatisfied clients of accountants as there are always lessons that can learned. Let me be clear this story refers to a friend of mine who has recently gone back to his old accountant. Why did 'Harold' change accountants last year? He told me: Believe it or not it
When you see a Consultant in Harley Street (or the equivalent in Hospitals up and down the country) they will often give you options. For example: You could try this new drug or you could have this operation. How do you decide? My wife's approach is to turn the conversation around and to ask the
Accountants are expected and trusted to be good business advisers. This puts them in a good position to advice clients during the current troubled financial times. I addressed this point recently in a post entitled: Accountants need to show they really are business advisers as we move into recession. I have now seen reports of another
This was another of the thoughts I had during the workshop that followed an E-business for accountants seminar that I attended. (I've already commented on the seminar here and here). One of the workshop leaders was suggesting that accountants should be more prepared to 'upskill' their clients as regards their e-business strategy. I asked whether he
Funny how some topics become topical. A couple of weeks ago I wrote a piece 'Outsourcing - doesn’t have to mean an overseas call centre'. Then last week I noted that a new debate has started on AccountingWeb: “We believe British Accountants can only benefit from growth in outsourcing." For those who don't visit
