7 Ways Accountants Can Better Support Their Clients
Building strong client relationships isn’t just nice to do. It’s smart business.
Want to be well-known for your proactive approach and your name mentioned across your new client’s circle of business owners?
Then you may want to step up your client support game! Not only will this bring you more business, but it will keep your clients with you for longer, meaning you will have better relationships with the people who you already know and understand, rather than wasting time and energy to find new clients all the time.
In a fast-turning world, long-term client relationships can be rare and therefore - very appreciated where they do form.
Fear not, because we have put together a very extensive list to help you better understand, communicate with and support your clients.
After all, we are working with humans, not numbers and we should definitely take on a different approach in how we support our customers if we want to stand out and make a difference.
Why you should support all your clients like your life depends on it - the stats
You know what they say - numbers don’t lie…
And if you are in the accounting or bookkeeping industry then our wild guess is you must have a pretty good relationship with numbers.
We already gave away the first reason why you’d want to provide excellent client support and build real relationships with your clients - it will increase your customer retention as they would love feeling appreciated and working with you, since you are not only providing such a great service, but you go the extra mile to show that you care.
So you want to ensure your clients are satisfied with your services, support and level of engagement as this will save you both time, energy and money. But don’t just take our word for it. Here are some figures to help you understand the importance of client satisfaction 👇
As little as a 5% increase in customer retention can increase your profits by 25%'. And let’s be honest - as much as you love what you are doing, you want to keep the expenses short and sweet or invest into things that truly matter… client acquisition not having to be one of them if you play your cards right. Furthermore, this saves you a lot of resources which you would otherwise spend on acquiring new clients.
Loyal customers make it easier for you to grow your accounting practice in these very competitive times - whether they’d share a testimonial, mention you on a LinkedIn post or use the good ol’ word-of-mouth marketing and promote you to their friends and family. Brand loyalty contributes to the probability of them spending money on your services by 300%'. In fact, 67% of customers are willing to pay more if they consider the service to be excellent'.
How you provide customer service will have a ripple effect on every aspect of your business, especially since 96% of customers say this matters when they are choosing whether to stay loyal to a brand or see what else is on the market'. Focusing on providing good customer support will not only improve on that, but will turn those clients into brand advocates, as it’s proven that 72% of customers share their positive experiences with a brand with at least six or more people (you can do the maths)'.
How can you support your clients better, then?
You probably know already that at the heart of your successful accounting practice is the success of your clients. If you treat your clients like numbers, better stop reading now. If you think that real human communication and support is the way forward, keep reading, because we are going for a ride to Excellent-Client-Support town.
1. For starters, get to know your clients’ goals.
You won’t be too much help if you are shooting in the dark - rather, get to know your clients inside out for a winning strategy! Start forming human relationships with them and keep them happy and satisfied by asking questions, helping you to find out what makes them tick, what drives them, how they want to meet their financial goals and taking in feedback about your services.
As much as you know very well how carefully you have set up your business, nobody else can provide better feedback than the people that it was made for. Have active listening skills and be open and appreciative of regular feedback - after all it’s not how you perceive your brand/business, it’s how your clients do, and ultimately it’s what will make a lot of clients feel heard, understood and an important part of your business, increasing their loyalty even further. When your brand or business is built around serving people, there is no better way to do your homework than to ask the people which it is designed for.
A common mistake is that accountants ask their clients about their goals once and tick it off - but bear in mind that just as your business changes all the time, so does the one they have. Dedicate a small chunk of time every few months to check if you are both on the same page - even though we are all very busy this could save you more effort in the long run. Add it to your calendar and this way you would never forget, or if your clients live locally - invite them out for coffee and cake and make it a more pleasant experience! If your clients feel your support, involvement and genuine interest it will benefit not only their business but bring more revenue to yours, too.
Pro tip: Have a questionnaire or an online survey you can send out to speed up the process if you are short on time, but don’t underestimate the power of a personal touch.
2. Keep things proactive.
Don’t expect that your clients will always keep you up-to-date or will be informed by the latest HMRC changes, because they have so many things to take care of and truth is - they count on you (pun intended). Keep them updated by sending regular industry news and information that they may find useful and relevant to their goals. Everyone loves an accountant that cares and a little useful knowledge can go a long way. This may sound easier said than done because accountants also have a lot on their plate - sometimes it’s helpful to allow your clients to ask questions that you may have missed out.
Offering your clients live chat is a great way to be proactive. Timworks offers live chat which can help you achieve that on a dedicated app. Once you add your clients to Timworks, a Support channel will be automatically created so they can ask any burning questions and you can have a peace of mind knowing that they are invited to seek support, which can result in better performance in the long-run as you will demonstrate how much you really care from day 1. This will also allow you to provide regular updates to all your clients without needing to individually message each one of them (and yes - they can’t see or text each other for added convenience and privacy).
Seemingly, this may sound a bit overwhelming as you could be expecting for them to constantly require your time and attention but in reality it results in less emails being exchanged back and forward for a simple query that only needs a few minutes and can be easily resolved in real time thanks to our chat.
Furthermore, an available and responsive accountant is going to definitely create a great impression - even if you are not able to answer a query immediately, try stating that you have seen their text and you will aim to reply within a certain time window. Nobody likes to be ghosted! Similarly, having set clear boundaries from the start about your working hours and availability also makes the whole communication stress-free. Which is our next point.
3. Setting boundaries.
Setting clear communication guidelines benefits both employees and clients. Clients won’t feel bad messaging at 7:30pm on a Monday if you have clearly stated that you work until 8pm that day and you won’t feel bad taking time off when you should and ignoring work texts outside of your work hours (which can quickly make you feel overwhelmed).
Similarly, setting boundaries means that your employees will have time to rest and restore themselves so they can provide excellent client support when they are on duty. The good news is that you can also keep your clients, your employees and your family/friends separate now that you have one dedicated app for client support and communication - no more work-related WhatsApp texts on the weekend spoiling your ‘me-time’!
4. Modernise your workflow.
“I don’t want to save time, I like it complicated.” Said no one ever.
It is no surprise that progressive accounting and bookkeeping firms are jumping on the cloud-based software bandwagon. It’s secure, efficient, affordable and conveniently accessible from anywhere in the world. Furthermore, it helps you implement the power of automation which minimises human error and therefore keeps your clients happy.
When you modernise your workflow, you rely on intelligent software that does all the mundane tasks and time-consuming calculations for you, ensuring that your numbers always match and which frees up a big chunk of your time and headspace. This not only results in greater client satisfaction because it allows a smoother and effective work process resulting in higher revenue, but you are also up-to-date on what is present and can quickly provide accurate answers to your clients’ enquiries.
In a modern, fast-turning world automation is a must-have for smart accountants, and you don’t want to waste time doing manual work. Timworks saves time by being integrated with Xero, meaning that each time your client sends you an invoice you can redirect that PDF straight onto the Xero platform, allowing ease, speed and efficiency and minimum effort on your end. Long gone are the days where you’d have to download the attachment and then manually upload it - it gets to be easier than this, as we all know how precious our time is.
There is also the added convenience of being able to use software from anywhere, at any time. Keep having your meticulously organised Xero account while sharing the information you need by integrating it with Timworks - like pulling bills directly into chats so you can easily query transactions or request missing receipts. Rest assured that your information stays protected on Timworks secure cloud-based servers. One less thing to worry about.
The bottom line of the benefits of automation is that it allows you to do things faster and more accurately, which is more than appreciated by your clients and results in trust and credibility. It also gives you extra headspace and time, so you can focus on things that move the needle forward for your business or your clients, giving you the opportunity to shine.
5. Regular humanised reports.
It's accountancy we’re talking about, so you probably predicted the word report was coming. The question is, how regular are they? If you offer more regular reports, you are not only allowing your clients the time and opportunity to revisit their finances, but it enables you to spot any potential issues straight away so that action can be taken promptly.
Pro tip: When providing reports send them in a way that is easily digestible for the particular client that is on the receiving end. Complex charts and long-winded reports aren’t helpful for business owners that aren’t used to digesting numerical data or who are short on time. Have a template ready but make sure you go the extra mile of personalising it to your clients, because small details like this create a good impression.
6. Keep your data handy.
Having client’s data at hand is also really helpful for both you and them, as it saves time going through email threads and getting lost in your google docs… Thought we wouldn’t consider this?
The last thing you need is wasting precious time looking for a VAT number again - you can now store your company information on the Timworks app, so you always know where to find it. Your clients can also access this information, which makes their lives easier for further loyalty boost (removing you from this equation so you can spend your time doing something more productive).
7. Personalised customer experience.
Speaking of personalisation, did you know that your conversion rate can improve by roughly 8% when you include personalised consumer experience²? Personalization is a fundamental aspect of your brand and it makes you stand out in a very competitive market.
What is more, research shows that 80% of consumers are more likely to prefer a brand that offers a personalised experience. Knowing that, we designed Timworks to help you stand out more, by offering you a while-label experience. That’s right - a personalised landing page with your logo and branding, and your firm’s name on the app. We have done the hard work for you, so you can just shine 😉
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