6. Tax savings
This is the best dollar any small business can save, because tax spend doesn’t help the business to make more money. Accountants need to understand their client’s appetite for how aggressive they want to be on tax. There are nearly always things you can do to legally minimise tax. Look for these and suggest to the client when suitable.
7. No surprises
Surprise bills are the number-one reason why clients leave their accountant. Always provide your clients with a quote for everything, and if you don’t know how much it will be, give an upper limit of where you will stop. No one likes not knowing how much they’re going to have to pay before they make the decision to buy.
8. Knowing the game plan
If you don’t know your client’s plans and aspirations, you need to find out. This is so simple and just requires you to ask. As an accountant, you are in the best position to help a small business owner with life goals. This could be another ‘wow’ moment for clients.
9. Treating them well, no matter how small
Be really careful with your communication and be sure that the right people in your client’s organisation are talking to the right people in your firm. Don’t let your junior accountant hassle the business owner for something that the bookkeeper could deal with. Acknowledge the importance of relationships, but at the correct levels. Every client likes to feel they’re important, which they are. So treat them as such.
10. Professional courtesy
Make sure your team is polite and treats the people in your client’s business with professional courtesy. As accountants, we deal with financial detail all the time and frequently make the similar requests to hundreds of clients every year. Clients speak to us less often, so don’t assume they understand the financial jargon. Be patient, and respect they are busy people too.
