wanna know what clients say about you?

if they can’t communicate your value, referrals will be tough.

by russ alan prince

accounting services are commodities, but that does not mean that accountants are inherently fungible. without question, some accountants are better than others.

that said, a large majority of accountants are unable to differentiate themselves from their competitors. many times even when they are more capable, they blend in with the morass of mediocre accountants.

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the reason is simple. very few accountants are proficient at communicating their value to their clients. think of your situation. what value are you providing your various clients? now, if those clients were asked what value they were receiving from you, how much alignment would there be?

if your services are basic such as filing taxes, there tends to be a lot of alignment. on the other hand, if you are providing more expertise, such as sophisticated tax planning, the degree of alignment diminishes considerably. while your clients may recognize you are doing more for them, they tend not to understand how much more. 

when clients fail to understand the value you provide, it can be severely detrimental to your practice in several ways, including:

• clients only focus on the cost of your services. when cost is the primary deciding factor, there is a strong likelihood you will lose clients when a competitor undercuts your fees.
• clients do not appropriately compensate you for the value you deliver. this can take the form of not getting engagements to lower realization rates.
• clients do not take your advice. because they fail to see the value in your recommendations, sometimes clients will look to other professionals who – while they might not be as knowledgable – are nevertheless seen as experts.
• clients are wary and usually unable to recommend you effectively to others. if they cannot explain your value, they are unlikely to want to attempt to introduce you to their peers.

by smartly communicating the value you can deliver, you are mitigating these problems and helping your clients make better use of your expertise. the key to communicating value is conveying the outcomes of your service and how those results match your clients’ interests. for example, when you focus on the advantages your clients will attain following your advice, they will be more inclined to take action.

you incur several considerable benefits when you are adept at communicating the value you can deliver to your clients, including:

• you can better help your clients address their needs, wants and concerns.
• you increase the continuity of your relationships with your clients.
• you have more robust opportunities to maximize these client relationships.
• you dramatically increase the likelihood of getting referrals from your clients.

adeptly communicating value is also instrumental in creating a steady stream of new clients from other professionals, such as bankers and lawyers. moreover, by educating these other professionals on how they can communicate your value, you will likely end up with more preferred clients.

by definition: communicating value is a function of connecting your expertise and that of your firm with the interests of particular clients.

communicating value can take several forms. a lot of this is a function of your personality and style. still, there are some requirements to communicate value effectively:

• you have to develop a deep understanding of the interests of each of your clients. a deep understanding, as opposed to a surface understanding, is crucial. developing this understanding is much easier than most accountants imagine. one way to create a deep understanding is to use the everyone wins process.
• you have to be able to describe your relevant expertise – the value you can deliver – based on the sophistication and interests of the clients. often, many accountants rely on a set way of describing what they do as opposed to making the descriptions resonate with their clients. a superior approach is to customize how you talk about the value you can deliver.
• you have to regularly solicit feedback from your clients, concerting your explanations. because you think you are communicating value, that does not mean you are doing so. your clients must recognize the value you are describing. ensure everyone is on the same page by being empathetic and actively soliciting feedback.

very likely, there are times you are doing a spectacular job of communicating your value. however, if you are like most accountants, you are not being very systematic about communicating your value. you are busy delivering value, and occasionally you neglect to communicate the value you are providing. you can correct this problem by becoming more disciplined at communicating your value.

the benefits of communicating your value to clients are considerable. therefore, it is worth every effort to ensure all your clients can also explain the value you deliver. 

posted on september 22, 2022