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Client retention starts with quality care

July 5, 2022

By Neena Shukla, CPA CFE, CGMA, FCPA 

You will often hear from leaders in professional service firms that a key challenge for them is business development and bringing in new business. Success is driven by the competency in mastering these skills and building a firm culture where everyone participates in business development. But what happens after you have brought in that new client? Is there an equal focus on client retention? If not, there should be. 

The general presumption is that the cost to acquire a new client is between four and 10 times more than keeping an existing one. According to a survey conducted by The Sleeter Group, 72 percent of small business owners changed their CPA or accounting firms because the firm “did not give proactive advice, only reactive service.” If you ask CPAs why they think their clients left, they will mostly respond with, “because of the fees.” There is clearly a disconnect with understanding what clients want and why they are leaving. Understanding why clients leave and the ways to retain them are crucial to the success of professional service firms. By providing clients quality care, you keep them happy and make them stay. 

Below are reasons a client may switch accounting firms and what firms can potentially do to retain them by providing client quality care. 

Client Contact 

A common saying heard from prospective clients when trying to win new business is, “I only hear from my CPA once a year.” The reason we often bring in new clients is the primary reason we are losing them — a lack of constant contact. CPAs often only reach out to clients when they need to prepare the tax return, prepare year-end financial statements or respond to a client question. But the most important question is: Why did the client have to reach out to the CPA and why did the CPA not take the initiative to check in with the client to see how things are going? Clients perceive a lack of contact or initiative from their CPA as them not being important enough for the CPA to take an interest. A 15-minute monthly conversation with clients could help you build a rapport and learn what keeps them up at night, which goes a long way to building trust and providing exceptional client service.  

There are many ways to regularly communicate with clients other than just picking up the phone, such as blogs, mailings, LinkedIn, Facebook content and live webinars. The more regular and informative the communication, the more effective it becomes. The client gets valuable information whilst building their perception of their CPA’s expertise. Regular communication provides confirmation to clients that we are thinking about them and genuinely care. 

Personnel Changes 

Clients often develop a loyalty to the staff and partners that they deal with, especially when they are providing them with great service. When scheduling engagements, we should be cognizant of these relationships and try to assign the same people. This provides efficiencies because staff is familiar with the client’s business, but also ensures the client’s trust and loyalty continue to grow. Some clients switch firms because the person they dealt with left the firm and they no longer feel they are getting the same attention. While turnover is expected and inevitable in public accounting, being aware of the client’s relationship with staff will help the transition to other equally qualified staff. Reassure the client they will be taken care of. Tell them they are important and that you are making it a priority to continue to provide them exceptional client service. 

 Inaccessibility 

We are all busy and, especially during busy season, our mindsets can be about just getting through the day. We have all been there — working on something critical when a client’s call comes through, and we decide to put them through to voicemail. Or not answering client questions via email in a timely manner, or not meeting deadlines and having the client repeatedly reach out to ask about the status. The CPA sees it as managing their time to keep all their clients’ workloads on track. What we fail to realize is the message we are sending the client is that we are not available, we are indifferent — and the client is not our priority. Inaccessibility makes the client feel unappreciated and unhappy, making them more prone to take their business elsewhere. 

Communicating effectively with your clients can overcome this perception. Build a firm culture where everyone strives to respond to emails in a timely manner — or, better still, pick up the phone and answer questions directly to avoid confusion and keep clients aware of their status on a routine basis so they don’t have to be the ones reaching out. Sure, there are going to be times you are juggling many tasks and cannot pick up the phone immediately, but sending out a quick note saying that you recognized they called and telling them when you will follow up can be enough to let the client know you are aware they called and are thinking about them. Clients want to know what is going on. Making it a priority to touch base and take clients out to lunch or networking at a sporting event shows them that you are available. By talking to clients on a personal level, they get to know more about you and they see you as more than just a CPA. This helps them connect to the CPA on different levels and will go a long way in helping them see you as a strategic advisor whom they can talk to freely about their business concerns. 

Value of Services 

A lot of clients may leave if they feel fees are high. But the majority of the time it’s not really the fees that is the concern, but instead the perceived value of the services the CPA provides. If a client does not understand what the CPA firm does, then they make assumptions about the value of the service. As a professional service firm, we provide clients with an intangible service that often they cannot see or feel. 

It is our responsibility to talk to our clients and let them know what we are doing for them. While we may spend hours in the background working on their information, if the client does not know what we are doing then they do not know how to value those services and they will make their own assumptions. Sitting down with the client and explaining in detail what the process is, what the approach is and what is involved will help them understand and increase their perceived value of our services. Communicating with clients regularly and constantly providing them with valuable information throughout the year increases the perceived value of your services — more than just calling them once a year for tax preparation.  

By communicating with clients, understanding their concerns and helping them identify their business issues, we may be able to find areas to provide them additional services. If they understand what we will be doing and why they need those services, they will be more than happy to pay for them. 

Innovation 

Clients’ businesses are rapidly changing through technology and innovation and, as CPAs who want to be seen as strategic advisors to our clients, we need to understand the way they do business. Successful CPA firms are leveraging technology to provide more efficient services in a timely manner. Firms need to evaluate their service offerings to include value-added services that their clients need in a timely manner — before clients go elsewhere. This may involve merging with another firm or hiring staff with non-traditional expertise to service existing clients as they grow. 

Constantly talking to our clients allows us to know what they need and how we need to respond by adapting to their changing needs. A CPA firm may be capable of offering these additional services but may not be communicating this to the client. If a client thinks that their CPA firm only offers audit and tax services and there is no avenue for regular conversations, then they will go elsewhere to find solutions to their needs. At every opportunity, CPAs need to inform their clients of their service offerings and innovate their processes and services to meet their clients’ changing needs. 

Expertise and Quality 

Many clients leave if they are unhappy with the work product, especially if they perceive that the CPA is constantly making mistakes. This can involve a lack of communication, constant staff turnover or just not listening to our clients. The client may have provided information that was somehow misplaced or misinterpreted and had the CPA communicated to the client ahead of time, the issues could have been timely resolved. Are we asking the right questions and getting to the right solution? Clients may seem demanding, but they do not expect you to be perfect — they just expect honesty. If something goes wrong, CPAs need to let the client know quickly and explain what happened and take responsibility. This is a situation where an email will not be the best method and either a phone call or a face-to-face meeting is needed so the client is reassured and can ask questions. 

Developing a firm culture where technical excellence and quality service are always expected results in a better work product, more perceived value for services provided and more satisfied clients. A firm has to invest in keeping its professional staff current on industry developments and learning specialized skill sets in order to provide clients with advisory services and delve deeper into the services provided. The quality of the service you provide is what helps differentiate yourself from others. If your focus is to go above and beyond, clients will become enthusiastic referral sources and lifelong clients. 

Appreciation 

When‘s the last time you thanked your clients? A simple “Thank you!” shows your clients that you care about them and that they are appreciated. However, it is important to be genuine. There are many ways to express appreciation, from an email or handwritten note to a client appreciation event or even just showing up with a box of donuts. Building lasting client relationships is important to client retention. Letting clients know that you appreciate them builds trust and loyalty. Business is about people and people want to work with people they like. A CPA who takes the extra effort to show their appreciation for their clients is strengthening that relationship. 

Communication and trust are the two main ingredients for a successful business relationship. There are many reasons why clients may leave, and at the heart of each of them is ineffective communication. To retain clients, CPAs must focus on providing clients quality care and must effectively communicate. Keeping in regular contact with clients is key; being proactive and taking the time to meet face-to-face to learn about their business shows them they are a top priority. Explaining to clients in detail what services we provide and letting them know what we do increases the perceived value of our services. Taking an innovative approach to our service offerings and use of technology allows us to provide value-added advisory services, quickly and efficiently, thereby adapting to our clients’ changing needs. Developing a firm culture of excellent quality and investing in staff technical and industry expertise shows clients we will go above and beyond to deliver more than what they expect. Appreciating clients builds and strengthens important client relationships. This is what makes clients stay when they know they have a strong and competent team who wants them to genuinely succeed. 

Remember, if you don’t take care of your clients, someone else will.  

 

Neena Shukla, CPA, CFE, CGMA, FCPA, is senior assurance manager and government contracting niche leader at PBMares, LLP, in Fairfax. She is also the leader of the firm’s technical and emerging issues group.