and dozens of possible solutions from staffers…
at a recent staff workshop, there was a brainstorming session to answer some key questions about what constitutes excellence in client service. four questions were placed on the table:
1. how can we make it easier for our clients to do business with us?
if it’s so simple, why are clients so surprised when it happens?
editor’s note: in the weekly research update (join here), we report initial results from a new nationwide survey of client attitudes. and it’s not necessarily a pretty picture. clients are clearly becoming more demanding, with higher expectations for service and value. and yet, too many cpa firms have yet to respond to the challenge. but then, that’s good for those that do. what’s your best client satisfaction tip? tell us here; we may quote you. — rick telberg
meanwhile, here are a few of the best client stories we’ve heard so far…
top trends in client service, satisfaction and retention. read more →
fight for the client, and win!
enrolled agent thomas blair has built a thriving practice and solid reputation as a taxpayer’s advocate in irs cases.
here are a few of blair’s stories, in his own words:
more firms see the problem. but fewer are doing anything about it.
by rick telberg
just at a time when accounting firms are struggling to gain new clients and hold on to the ones they already have, client satisfaction ratings appear to be dropping.
the 14 strategies to build better business relationships.
it’s been said that when you look for the good in others, you discover the best in yourself.
it’s nowhere so true as in the accounting business. contrary to the cliche, accounting is a people business — most accountants spend a lot of time working directly with staffers, colleagues, superiors, clients and maybe-clients.
getting new clients may be many firms’ chief concern these days.
but for most firms, there’s un-mined gold in their current clients.
the accounting business may not be the same in five years. today’s standard products and services are evolving quickly. how long, for instance, will simple 1040 tax prep last with the speed of data aggregation?
but if you still have the same clients, you will still have cash flows.
the bottom line:
from the accounting office management & administration report via texas society of cpas.
attracting and retaining clients has taken on new importance for cpas whose firms have taken a hit in the last few years.
“in this recession, cpas have had some whoop-ass put on them, mostly because the number of clients is dissolving,” says rick telberg, president and chief executive of east hampton, n.y.-based bay street group llc, advisers in marketing, management, and strategy for the tax, accounting, and finance industries.
the biggest way to land new clients is through referrals, telberg says, and these days it’s happening online. “what we’ve found is that the firms that are doing something—anything—are making progress,” he says.