if you can see a crisis coming, why not say so?
by rob nixon
i know that many (not all) of your clients want more help then you currently give them. i have asked them directly what they want – and so have many others.
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there have been two significant and personal surveys done to prove that your clients want more.
- i personally interviewed 1,077 business clients on behalf of 129 accounting firms in a “client advisory board” format. there were around eight business clients at a time in a meeting room and i asked them what they wanted from their accounting firm. they all said basically the same thing: “we want them (you) to be more proactive with us. we know they know more than we get. we want to them to tell us in advance what we need to do.”
- my business partner in my coaching business (nixonadvantage.com), colin dunn, surveyed 1,500 small to medium businesses over the web. the main question was what else do you want from your accountant that you are not getting now? the primary answers: cash flow, profit and management accounting help.
the evidence stacks up. clients want more help. are you in a position to offer it? if you do not offer it then someone else will – and you may lose the client.
mostly you do not react until the client calls you (sometimes late on a friday afternoon) and says, “help, the bank has just called, we have hit our overdraft limit, they are going to start bouncing checks and credit cards. they want us to have a budget, cash flow and refinance plan by tuesday – help, help, help!”
you say (or think), “why didn’t you call me sooner? ”
did the client know they were trading insolvent? did they know they had a cash flow issue? too many businesses think cash flow management is internet banking.
if you are the expert in finance, cash flow management and structuring then why didn’t you build strong relationships, keep in touch with them and inform them of the pending issue?
all good in theory, you say. the biggest objection i get is that you think there is no money to pay for these much needed additional services. let me tell you – there is always money available. the client is paying the rent / mortgage / school fees / car lease / salaries / overhead. it’s not a case of not having any money – it’s the prioritization of the money.
before i switched accounting firms a few years ago, i was your typical $4,000 to $5,000 per year compliance client. with the new firm (one of our coaching club members) i have so far paid them $249,600 (plus gst) and i am deliriously happy. by the way, you do not want me as a client – i know too much about what goes on!
i am intrigued by the word “practice.” you call it an accounting practice. are you a practitioner practicing your craft, constantly practicing before getting it right?
i think it’s time to stop practicing; you should be good at it by now. you’ve got a business to run! let’s change the model and get a vastly different result.