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Happy clients are loyal clients–and they’re also referring clients. By understanding your client base and their needs, and focusing on the client experience, you can both nurture your existing client relationships and build new client pipelines.
We surveyed 1,377 SMBs who work with accounting firms to learn why they continue to work with their accounting firms. 87% of these respondents reported that their relationship with their firm has been an important factor in their company’s success—and 89% of them consider their firm a trusted advisor for their business.
So how do you ensure that your firm is fulfilling that trusted advisor role for your clients? Here are 4 ways that you can meet your clients needs.
1 Expanded services
Because of the trust that SMBs have in their accounting firms, they are eager to add new services. Over 50% of survey respondents said they were interested in more services from their firm. These are the types of services they want to prioritize:
- Outsourced accounting
- Spend and expense management
- Financial planning
- Digital AP and AR
- Client advisory services
Not only will adding new services build loyalty with your existing clients, but it can also attract new clients to your firm. Plus, some of these services can overlap with each other—for example, spend and expense management and accounts payable services are good entry point services for client advisory services. CAS is one of the fastest growing practices for firms, according to a recent report from CPA.com and AICPA.
Adding new services also provides an opportunity to update or add pricing structures. SMBs prefer fee consistency when paying for their accounting services, so firms who bill on an hourly basis may want to price their new services (and/or update pricing on existing services) based on different models, such as value pricing or set-fee pricing.
2 Technology Expertise
It is important to SMBs that their accounting firm stays up-to-date on the latest accounting technology. This is important not only because SMBs are looking for firms who use technology to streamline processes, but also because they are looking for helping setting up or troubleshooting accounting technologies within their business. 79% of surveyed SMBs said that they would fire or stop referring their firm if it didn’t stay updated on the latest tech.
Technology provides an added opportunity to build relationships with clients. SMBs may not have the bandwidth or expertise to explore and vet accounting technology, so their accounting firm can advise them on which solution to adopt and how to use it. This also allows the firm to standardize tech stacks across clients and showcase more expertise.
“We lead the conversation on technology. We tell clients that they’re going to use the tech we’re using. It’s also important to focus on technology certifications and other educational opportunities. Have a technology champion in your firm who stays up to date and democratizes that information to everyone.” Caleb L Jenkins, Business & Accounting Leader, RLJ Financial Services
3 Consistent and Proactive Communication
Communication plays a very important role in the client experience and building trust with your client. Your firm’s communication style can make or break a client’s decision to continue employing or referring your firm.
Most of all, SMBs appreciate firms who follow up consistently. The most common reasons that SMBs cited for firing their accounting firms are having to reach out to their firm more than once to get answers, or the firm not following up when they promised. SMBs are dependent on proactive communication from their accounting firms to help them make informed, often quick decisions.
Similarly, while taking longer than a day to respond is not a reason for SMBs to fire their firm, many firms see it as a reason to stop referring their firm to others. Having to chase down information delays those decisions and can affect their business.
Jing Cheng, Managing Director of Technology at Accounting Advisory & Outsourcing, BDO, recommends three strategies that firms can implement to ensure proactive client communication:
- Schedule follow up meetings as soon as the work is completed, in order to answer clients’ questions in a timely manner
- Implementing a 24-hour response time policy across the firm—whether or not the staff member has an answer for the client. If they need more time, they should communicate that with the client.
- Assigning designated staff members to each client. Not only can this help improve response times, but it can also be beneficial for relationship building.
4 Fine-tuned performance
Above all, SMBs want to be able to trust the data, insights, and advice that their firms share with them.Firms who consistently make errors or who miss deadlines have a much higher risk of clients firing them.
SMBs are not only highly likely to fire firms who seem inefficient or disorganized, they are also much more likely to stop referring these firms. The impression of your firm is just as important as the insights and data you provide to your clients.
Technology can help in this area. A solution that securely holds all of your clients’ information, automates manual accounting tasks, and stays on top of outstanding projects for each client helps your staff manage workloads and maintain acceptable levels of communication. It can also help eliminate data errors, allowing your staff and clients to focus on advisory and building relationships, rather than fixing errors that erode your clients’ trust.
Using these tips and the trends in the Accounting Firm Hireability Index, you can help your staff anticipate and exceed your clients’ expectations, leading to happy clients who bring you new business and stay with your firm for years to come.
This content is presented “as is,” and is not intended to provide tax, legal or financial advice. Please consult your advisor with any questions.
