How to use every new channel to create a new touchpoint to serve a client or attract a prospect, hire the best people, find new markets. By Becky Livingston Social Media for Accountants In today’s world of CPA firms, marketing … Continued
Top nine client management solutions.
NEXT QUESTION: Lessons Learned.
Join the survey; get the results
By CPA Trendlines Research
The CPA Trendlines annual Busy Season Barometer is uncovering some frank and candid talk about clients. Yes, we love them. Couldn’t live without them. Most of the time. But, well, not always.
It’s not that they’re bad people. But let’s face it, they aren’t always sweating tax prep much in advance of April 1, they have no idea what new regulations are in effect this year and their advisories from their CPA are filed under “migraines that can wait.” Plus, they truly believe their CPA is exclusively dedicated to their company and doesn’t really have much else to do but wait around for their phone call.
“No matter how proactive you try to be at scheduling and planning ahead, clients still delay providing information for their taxes,” Bryan Lantz says. “Seems the IRS, Congress and the media are out to make our jobs even more compressed and stressful.” His solution: “Keep communicating with clients to ensure that we can do the best we can at equalizing workflow during busy season.”
From their remarks, CPA Trendlines draws at least nine lessons in smart client management.:
By Ed Mendlowitz
The CPA Trendlines Practice Doctor
QUESTION: Occasionally I get a new client in an area I am unfamiliar with. How do I find out what I do not know?
RESPONSE: This happens to everyone and probably more often than we expect. Thankfully we will continue to get new business and getting clients in areas we are unfamiliar with enables us to grow.
MORE PRACTICE DOCTOR Q&A: 10 Do’s and Don’ts for Making Small Business Clients Happy | Client’s Difficult Daughter Balks at Bill | 6 Simple Steps to Impress a Prospect | 10 (Nearly) Painless Ways to Keep Up to Date with Technology | When a Staffer Stops Listening | 10 Ways to Get New 1040 Clients | Making Meetings More Productive | Tax Return Reviewer Ticking and Tying
Here is what I suggest: READ MORE →
51% plan new hiring now and into next year. For 2015, 81 percent percent of small businesses forecast a revenue increase, with 21 percent expecting to grow more than 100 percent, according to a new Xero survey. The study also shows that … Continued
How to walk in with head start.
By Ed Mendlowitz
The CPA Trendlines Practice Doctor
QUESTION: How do you make a presentation to get a new client when you do not know everything you should about the client’s business?
RESPONSE: No one can know everything about everything. Smaller firms have a harder time but they can reach out to others in their firm, or even partners in similar firms who have the knowledge to assist in the proposal, or friends in larger firms.
Here are six simple steps to learn as much as you can about a prospect and their industry. READ MORE →
Don’t bother with #5 if you don’t do #1, #2, #3 and #4 first.
By Sandi Smith Leyva
The Accountant’s Accelerator
If getting new clients is a bit of a struggle for your business and you’re not reaching the revenue levels you desire due to too few clients, then the first step is to find out where the process is breaking down.
There are five main places: READ MORE →
Wishful thinking?
by Bruce W. Marcus
Professional Services Marketing 3.0
CPA Trendlines research has uncovered the startling fact of the wide disparity between how accounting firm management perceives their own performance and how their clients see their performance. (Join the survey; get the results.)
RELATED: Your Clients Love You? What If You’re Wrong? • The Three Degrees of Risk • Four Essential Habits for Building Client Trust • The Nine Hallmarks of a Marketing Culture • The Four Cornerstones to Building A Marketing Culture • Getting the Client is Only Half the Battle • Practice Development: It’s Not Rocket Science • Nine Fundamentals for a Healthy Marketing Culture in an Accounting Firm •
Another consideration of risk lies in a tendency to ignore or distort reality, which can lead to a vast expectations gap. READ MORE →
By Ed Mendlowitz
QUESTION: I have a client I really don’t like and want to drop, but I hesitate because of the long relationship I’ve had with her, and also I don’t want to lose the income. What should I do?
RESPONSE: I’ve addressed this before, but I am taking a different approach this time.
Dropping clients is never easy and I don’t think should be done lightly. However, there are some instances when it needs to be done. This particular client I was called about is extremely obnoxious. Not the normal grade of obnoxious, but far more so.
The four flavors of new clients.
By Hitendra Patil
Pransform Inc.
Tax season is over and you made it through the home stretch, significantly tired but scraped through! Now is the time to rethink your business model on the new learning from tax season and to restart looking for new clients. You don’t want to create more “C clients” that suck the energy, time and profits like a vortex.
Not sure how to estimate the value of your prospects? You may want to learn their shopping habits. READ MORE →