Five Client Retention Tactics You Can’t Afford to Ignore

Believe it or not, as “basic” as some client service procedures are to some, they are very unique to others.

Cytron

That’s especially true with accountants who have been content for far too long to do business on the golf course or wait for the phone to ring with repeat or new business, according to Scott Cytron, who runs a marketing agency for accounting vendors.

Let’s face facts, he says: in today’s business environment, those who wait for the phone to ring aren’t going to survive for the long haul.

According to Scott, here are a few client retention strategies that should not be overlooked:

  1. Contact clients more than once a year. Most accountants are only in touch with their clients before tax season. Instead, find ways to “touch” the client more often to demonstrate how much you really care about their personal and professional lives.
  2. Pick up the phone and call the client. Most everyone wants to only communicate by e-mail. Skip the impersonal e-mail and pick up the phone. Your client will be really glad to hear from you and will almost certainly welcome the call.
  3. Discuss what’s changed and what’s new. Tell the client the clock isn’t running, and you want to discuss what’s changed for the client since you last talked, as well as what changes might be in his or her future.
  4. Meet for coffee, lunch or some other social event. Schedule a time to meet with the client in person, away from the office. This provides a common ground that is usually more relaxed and informal.
  5. Exchange referrals. This is perhaps the step most accountants forget; you want referrals for your practice, but you also should offer referrals to your clients. You are in a unique position to help virtually any client because of your own client base and the people you know. However, don’t jump in to the conversation like a smarmy insurance salesman; discuss your businesses and then develop referrals.

Six Reasons You Don’t Want to Be the Boss

Life changes when you move up the ranks.

Allred

After years of coaching partners and partners-in-waiting, Sam Allred of Upstream Academy knows a thing or two about what it takes to succeed as you climb the executive ladder at an accounting firm.

But rarely has he put it so succinctly. The skills you need in the new job are hardly like the skills that got you there. Executive-level leadership bears little resemblance to being a good partner or manager.

Allred offers Six Things Leaders Need to Do When You Become a Partner. Think twice about whether you really want the job.

  1. Give up The Right to Remain Silent – When you become a partner, you must speak up – not nod your head and then go door-to-door after the meeting talking to the other partners. Not speaking up, in the proper forum, creates artificial harmony.
  2. Keep an Open Mind – Learn how to listen and question before deciding and acting.
  3. You Give Up The Right to Make All Decisions – Sole-practitioners don’t need to worry. But when you join a partnership, you give up that right.
  4. Learn to Make the Proper Commitment – Saying or thinking, “I will stay out of the way” is not making commitment. It’s a case of “grudging compliance” vs. “spirited commitment.”
  5. Willingness to Get Outside Your Comfort Zone – You cannot stand still. Becoming partner doesn’t mean you “made it” and now you can coast. You must keep moving, maybe faster and bolder than ever.
  6. You Become a Leader for Change - They hired you to do things differently, or better. Change is the mandate. You must be in front of it.

via Rita Keller