it’s the “little things” that count toward keeping clients happy.
by rick telberg
you already know what it means to be a professional. it starts with technical competence, personal integrity, a commitment to the public trust and putting the client’s interest above your own.
but being the perfect professional and succeeding financially as a practicing professional are two very different things.
there are many good cpas, and that’s good for the american public. but the practitioners and firms that profit and grow are an exclusive group. they seem to understand that good work is just the beginning. to really succeed in the tax and accounting business, they understand that the cpa’s real value lies in the eye of the beholder — the client.
exceptionally successful practitioners understand how to communicate to the client what’s important to the client. and what’s important to the client is not just the work-product, it’s an assuring sense that the cpa cares, that the cpa is anticipating their concerns and that the cpa respects them as an individual, not just a customer.
so what you deliver is more than a tax return, a compilation or a bank rec. what you deliver is a sense of caring, assurance, the gift of a good night’s sleep. but how do you convey that relatively intangible kind of deliverable?
the answer is: it’s in all the “little things” you do. but they aren’t “little things” to the client. those “little things” are your real deliverables. and to the client they are completely tangible, concrete and measurable. now you’ve made the leap from the “intangible” to the “tangible.” and it’s the “tangible” that sets your market value in the client’s eyes. you are what you deliver. and what you deliver translates directly into the bottom line.
take hereford, lynch, sellars & kirkham, for example. at the conroe, texas-based cpa firm, the husband-wife team of debra and mike seefeld are developing an eldercare/primeplus practice with an acute understanding of the unique needs of their mature clients. written reports, for instance, are printed in an extra-large font, so they are easier to read. the seefelds are available for house calls. “we remember birthdays, holidays and other occasions with handwritten notes,” debra seefeld says. she and her firm are delivering value that’s tangible and understood by their clientele.
or ask rob hoxton, a financial adviser in sheperdstown, w. va., how important his deliverables are. simply engaging a client may take four months. the prospective client may be at a crossroads, facing a death in the family or the dissolution of a business. hoxton painstakingly walks the client through an analytical process, supported at a key juncture with an informational package assessing risk tolerances and investment preferences. and even though his may be a small firm, he does everything he can, to project a high-quality prestige image, down to the look and feel of his business cards, the firm brochure and the printed report covers he uses. “our marketing materials show we’re in the same league with firms in larger cities,” hoxton says.
cpa phil liberatore in la mirada, calif., displays the same passion for attentive service and a stellar image at his firm. liberatore favors a “high touch” approach with all of his clients ? they receive two-day turnaround on their tax returns and a response to their phone calls within 24 hours. when clients enter his office, they are greeted by not one, but three receptionists, coffee and donuts, and he’s shopping for a fish tank. sure liberatore does taxes ? and he does a ton. but his firm’s impeccable service and high-class presentation may be his most distinctive deliverable. it’s an element in providing the kind of assurance and comfort his clients are looking for.
what makes these firms different?
the answer lies not in what they teach in accounting class, but what many learn the hard way in business. the answer is in everything you do — in your service, your image, how you link the two together and how you communicate the connection to clients at every turn.
since all professionals provide essentially the same services and products, the professional seeking to be distinctive, to be special, must provide something extra, deliver something more, nurture it in everything they do and in every contact with the client. that ranges from how you dress to how you dress your office; from how your receptionist answers the phone to how soon you respond to a client’s call; from what’s in the tax return to how the cover is personalized for the client.
all three firms have found ways to do more than just provide great service. they also know how to communicate — at every client touch-point, with every piece of paper that leaves the office — that they are, indeed, superior and distinctive. they are for real. they are, indeed, what they deliver. there’s no more powerful element in building trust — or building a business — than that.