4 essential habits for building client trust.
by bruce w. marcus
in the firm with a strong marketing culture, getting the client is only half the battle. the other half is keeping the client. it’s done with more than just doing good work. in fact, most clients, surveys tell us, don’t really know how good or how bad your work is. why should they? it’s not the business they’re in. they have to trust the accountant.
more professional services marketing 3.0: • the four cornerstones to building a marketing culture • the nine hallmarks of a marketing culture • getting the client is only half the battle • practice development: it’s not rocket science • nine fundamentals for a healthy marketing culture in an accounting firm • what accounting firms need to understand to grapple with radical change • six reasonable goals for cpa firm marketing •
independent studies also show that a large percentage of accounting firm clients are dissatisfied with the levels of service from their accountants. clients are given no foundation for understanding what’s being done for them, nor are reasonable expectations defined. what basis do clients have, then, for being satisfied?
the reality is that this new world is competitive in ways that it’s never been before. ask your clients how many times they’ve been approached by your competitors, and pursued aggressively. and then ask yourself if you can continue to be sanguine about keeping your clients happy, on a day-by-day basis.
there are, of course, some things that are clearly necessary in client retention. getting the right client in the first place is important. doing good work, obviously. being responsive, obviously. being timely in delivering promised reports and material. being polite to clients.
but these are things that are inherent in the meaning of professional. it’s what the client is paying for. you get no credit for doing them, but you lose clients for not doing them.
sophisticated marketers, as well as the firm’s professionals, have a strong handle on who the client company is, what the company does, what its needs are and how to address those needs in marketing approaches. which means that if you don’t have that same knowledge, and the kind of relationship that means total involvement in the client’s concerns, then you’re in imminent danger of losing the client. staying in touch with clients is not – and cannot be – a casual matter. today’s business is too dynamic, and things change constantly. at the same time, your competitors aren’t resting from pursuing your clients, so you may not rest.
client retention, then, requires more than the obvious factors of doing good work and delivering it on time. and in fact, in a dynamic business world, it’s often more than a personal relationship.
it’s at least:
- being immersed in a client’s business and industry. knowing enough about a client’s business to anticipate problems in your professional area, and seeking new ways in which other of your services can help the client is invaluable.
- visible quality control systems. you may have your internal quality control systems, but if the client doesn’t know that, then the client has no reason to believe they exist. more importantly, the quality control systems should relate to the client’s business, not yours. this is increasingly pertinent, following the accounting and corporate scandals of the first years of the last and current centuries, and in many respects, is mandated by such laws as sarbanes-oxley. transparency is important.
- frequent contact points, beyond the engagement. you do, of course, what you’ve been hired to do. but you help both the client and yourself when you send a brochure on a subject of mutual interest. or a copy of a clipping in which you’ve been quoted on a subject the client might care about. or a simple newsletter, either your own or one of the excellent packaged ones, covering information of interest or concern to the client. the social media – the blog, twitter, linkedin – are particularly useful for this. the client should know you exist between contacts, between matters, between consultations.
- maintaining personal relationships. not just drinking and dining to keep the client happy, but establishing and reinforcing a sense of mutual understanding and trust. the degree to which the client calls on you for business advice is as much a matter of personal trust as it is professional trust.
the client-driven rather than the practice-driven firm is the only safe way to compete in today’s market. the price of ignoring this concept? a major professional firm took a highly conservative position on a matter pertaining to a client’s matter. the problem was not the position, but that the position was taken for the firm’s protection, and not the client’s — and the client became aware of this. there went the client.
keeping in touch with your client is crucial because needs change. your services change. by constantly reviewing the client’s needs, you not only assure that you’re giving the client the best service and that you’re maximizing the relationship, but you’re also telling the client that you’re concerned. and the best part is that you can identify new client concerns that require your services.
regular client surveys also help, particularly if they are professionally done. new york’s former mayor koch used to walk the streets of the city, asking people, “how’m i doing?” he didn’t always like what he heard, but he always knew. anybody who doesn’t take active steps to keep aware of client attitudes toward the firm is somebody who likes unpleasant surprises. thoughtful surveys are helpful. frequent personal conversations between the client and the managing partner are even better.
successful professionals are those who’ve learned the difference between client relations and client service. both are important, but one is not a substitute for the other. in client retention, you have to have both.
it’s the peculiar nature of professional services that quality plays little or no role in getting new business, except perhaps in terms of reputation. it plays a crucial role in client retention, on the other hand, if you define quality as giving the client what the client needs, wants and expects. most frequently, in order to know what the client needs, wants and expects, you have to be immersed in the relationship. and you have to ask. here, quality is not an abstraction or a hollow boast — it’s a reality.
those who are most successful at client retention are those who actively work at it. they have programs and checklists. even small firms that are aware of the need for it have programs that focus on paying attention. they listen. they contact. they understand the economics, and know what kind of return they’re getting on their investment in it.
and they know, at first hand, why it’s true that keeping a client is still cheaper than getting a new one.