5 Quick Ways For Accountants To Lose Clients

These days the fight for clients has never been harder. Firms are falling over each other to stand out from the crowd and promise the earth. In the scramble to attract new clients firms are laser focused on their growth programmes, totally understandable given the monthly outlay and their concern about losing momentum.

However, many small firms forget that one of the easiest ways to grow fee income is to look after existing clients better or in a different way. All too often the relentless pursuit of new clients means that existing ones are overlooked at best or at worst suffer from neglect.

Practitioners fail to comprehend is that it’s their behaviour that creates client attrition. Here are 5 common ways to alienate your clients fast.

Promise to attend to a matter and let it slip

There’s probably no better way to subtly convey the message that “you’re not actually important enough to worry about” – think about being too busy to remember your mother’s birthday

Fail to explain things to them in a way they understand

You’re the expert so you understand what you’re talking about. They are the novices and they are paying you for your expertise. It’s no good dispensing advice and sending the client on their way if they haven’t grasped what you’ve told them .

Position yourself as a compliance clerk
A lot of the tasks you are performing for clients are routine and often easily actioned with software that the client can use themselves. If so, they will soon ask themselves what exactly you are charging them for and if there’s no “value added” element you’re in trouble .

Only contact them when you want money

They say that “money makes the world go round” and I doubt that you would argue with that. However, clients are looking for somebody who cares about their business not yours. Change your mindset and keep in touch throughout the year, it’ll be so much easier when you do need to ask for money

Delegating all contact to junior staff

Junior staff have their uses, I was a junior in the late eighties. One thing is for sure and that is that juniors don’t build lasting client relationships. That’s your job. I remember working in a firm shortly after qualifying and the clients thought I was the partner because he was never there and only called them to collect outstanding fees.