focus on the client experience.
by blake oliver
with david leary
my mom is in her 70s and still gets the taxes organized for her household. she’s been using the same 10-partner firm for the past 30 years. like many small firms, hers had no succession plan, so it recently merged with a big firm – top 25. as you may imagine, her recent tax season experience was disappointing. she submitted all her documents on time and then didn’t hear anything from her new accountant for weeks. finally, she received a return to review and was shocked to see herself marked down as blind. my mom is not blind. there were other errors in her return, including a missing real estate transaction. clearly, it had not gone through a proper review process.
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my mind exploded, wondering how such a large, well-known firm didn’t have a better quality control process in place. i’m guessing they didn’t even have a workflow management solution. after sharing this story with several cpas at other large firms, i learned that my mom’s situation was not all that unusual.
many large firms are still trying to manage work in spreadsheets. it’s hard to believe we still have partners in tax departments managing thousands of returns in excel. apparently, using workflow software and implementing standardized processes is an idea that hasn’t reached them yet.
but things better change soon. your clients are also customers of amazon, doordash, uber, lyft and domino’s pizza, etc. these companies use technology that creates a delightful customer experience. and your clients now expect the same from you. according to the quickbooks accountant technology survey, four in five businesses (78%) would consider switching accounting firms if those firms used the latest technology emphasizing ease of use, speed and convenience. the survey also found that three in four (73%) clients say their experience with a provider is an important factor in the purchase decision. and one in three clients will walk away from a company or firm after having a single bad experience.
you can do almost anything on your phone these days. you can shop, order food, hail a taxi, book a ticket or even find a mate. but when you have to get documents to your accountant – most of the time – you can’t. you have to wait until you’re back at home or at the office to open your computer, and maybe fire up the printer and scanner, too. imagine how that makes clients feel at the end of a tiring day when you make it harder to do something they don’t already want to do – deal with their taxes …
unfortunately, as a profession, we often give the impression that we’re too busy to talk to our clients, much less hold their hands to make their lives easier during busy season. but if we want to be more competitive, we must find ways to be available to our clients even when we’re buried with work. that’s where technology and better processes come in. more on that in a minute.
think concierge
for time-pressed business owners, the desire for all-inclusive service has never been greater. “i’m busy running my business,” they think. “my accounting firm is already doing my taxes and maybe the bookkeeping. but i also need to deal with corporate registrations, court filings, meeting notes, and all the other things that i have to do for my business. why do i have to go out and find eight or 10 other specialists?”
instead, suppose you could tell your clients: “oh, you don’t have your entity set up yet? don’t worry. we have someone ready to take care of it for you. when it’s ready, we’ll forward it to you for your approval. just say, ‘yes,’ and consider it done!” how much more would they be willing to pay for this sort of convenience? a lot!
not surprisingly, the aforementioned quickbooks survey found that 86 percent of clients were willing to pay more if it guaranteed them a great experience.
when onboarding new clients, instead of dumping a massive document request list on them, suppose you handed them a tablet with everything they need to work with you already installed – including your client portal, expense tracking software, camera to take pictures of documents, and reporting app or dashboard app tracking kpis. when you give them a “wow!” experience like that, you can be sure they’ll tell their friends and colleagues.
at the same time, we need to start acknowledging the amazon-type experience that our clients increasingly expect from everyone they spend money with. as an amazon customer, i always know the status of my order. i know when it’s been packed, when it’s been shipped, where it is en route and a precise window when it’s going to arrive on my doorstep, as it does 99 percent of the time. i can even see how many stops remain before my house.
now think about a tax return. when the client finally gets all their documents to their tax preparer, it seems the job goes into a black hole. what status updates do they get? typically, not many. is anything missing? we’ll find out, eventually. most of the time, it’s a black box for the client. they have to sit around and wait until they’re told their return is ready. then they hope it’s a good outcome. there’s very little interaction with the client. there often isn’t a heads-up about issues. they have no idea where they stand until the return finally arrives.
instead, suppose you could automate the notification process so that clients are alerted as follows: “your return is now being worked on. we expect it will be ready for you on such and such a date.” it’s like the domino’s pizza tracker or the uber or lyft apps. they each tell you how far away your pizza/car is and when it’s expected to arrive. even if there are delays, you don’t mind as much because you’re in the loop and getting push notifications.
contrary to popular belief, most clients don’t like bugging their cpas for status updates on their taxes. but the longer it takes to get their return back, the more worried they become about the outcome. so, keep them appraised of the status.
here are some other simple steps you can take to make the client experience better:
- electronic signature is a game changer, especially when it’s built into the client portal. think how much more efficient e-signatures are than having clients print out a document, sign it, and then have to scan it before emailing it to you. today, clients can review documents on their phones. they can turn their phone sideways, sign them with their finger, and instantly return it to you. this technology is also a big-time saver for your admin team, who has to collect all the signatures.
- tax organizers. traditionally, new clients receive a huge pdf or spreadsheet with hundreds of items, and most of those items don’t apply. digital tax organizers are like a survey that changes based on the answers. as a result, clients spend much less time wading through irrelevant or confusing questions. if clients have a question, they can ask right there in the app. that’s the experience many clients are accustomed to in other areas of their lives, so cpas should offer the same convenience.
- payments. when i left public accounting less than 10 years ago, we still made it difficult for our clients to pay us electronically. sadly, it remains the case today at many firms where paper checks are the default payment method. or if they provide an ach option, there is no button or link on the pdf invoice from which to pay. clients expect instant payment options on their invoices. when they get your bill, they expect to click a link in the email that takes them to a web page where they can enter their credit card or ach information to make a payment. the last thing you want to do is make it harder for clients to pay you for your services when you’ve just hit them with a big tax prep bill.
- billing. suppose you bill clients in october for the return you will be doing the following year. collect at least 50 percent up front. it’s less painful for your client to pay in installments, and it’s better for your cash flow. consider moving to subscription billing or fixed-fee pricing, which allows you to charge clients all year round for all the important decisions you’re helping them make, not just during tax season. isn’t that better than spending the rest of your career on the billable hour treadmill?
companies like apple, amazon, disney and others are relentless in solving for the customer experience. but most accounting firms are still focused on internal processes or internal efficiencies with zero regard for the customer experience. when firms provide amazing customer experiences, their clients are happier, their staff is happier, and they make more money. small cloud-based firms are providing great experiences for their clients and doubling or tripling their growth every year.
how’s your firm doing?