In the movie, City Slickers, the wise old cowboy Curly (played by Jack Palance) challenges Billy Crystal to find his one thing.
We have some advice to help you find your one thing that will help with the number one issue facing CPA firms — client retention (and the number 3 thing as well). Read on.
We covered the PCPS national survey on the top issues facing CPA firms in our July post titled, Client retention tops list of issues for CPA firms. Here is the list again.
- Client retention
- Marketing / practice growth
- Tax law cjanges / complexity
- New regulations and standards
- Work / life balance
So what can you do about it? What is one thing you can do that will make the most difference?
I found this older post from last October that I thought was worth dusting off and bringing back. The answer it seems comes from thinking about “we.”
Here is an excerpt from that post that deals with client retention:
Guest blogger Steve Yastrow, with his post The Downturn is a Rounding Error, emphasizes the 'we' and importance of focusing on relationships in a difficult economy. He challenges us to think with two questions:
- What percentage of customers are giving you all of the business they possible can?
- What percentage of your referral sources are giving you all the referrals they reasonably can?
He went on to say, “Chances are the untapped profit in our existing customer relationships is much bigger than any economic downturn …”
Point made. Treating our customers (members) like they are in a “we” relationship will give you more share of wallet and more loyalty (versus “us and them”).
Is your team trained properly to look for the opportunities in your existing client base?
Do they understand all of the services your firm offers to look for thecross-selling opportunities?
Have they been trained in consultative selling and problem solving to work with your clients in a “we” relationship?
Come out to our fall town hall / professional issues updates to hear more about the top trends facing CPA firms and members in business, industry, government and NFP.
More resources:
- Upcoming CPA seminar, Sept. 1, 2009 in Columbia, Md.: Selling for CPAs: Using Your Problem-Solving Skills to Promote Pro-Business Growth
- PCPS National Top Issues Survey, 2009
- AICPA Economic Resource Center: Mark Koziel writes about the Top Issues Survey
- More about the power of “we,” including a link to our podcast with Steve Yastrow