How to Get Fired By Your Client

Source: AICPA CPA Insider

Excerpts from this article by Tracy Crevar Warren are reprinted with permission from the AICPA.

Here are five reasons your clients could be saying "you're fired" to you once tax season is over:

1. Not making time for your clients, even when you are busy. Are you making time for your clients this busy season? Are you reviewing reports and findings with them or are you leaving them at the front desk with a note that says "call me with questions?" It might be just another report to you, but not to them. It, along with your advice and insight, are what they pay you for.
2. Providing a marginal client experience. In the new economy, providing just "the basics" is not good enough. Unfortunately, only 11 percent of organizations are reported to provide an "excellent" client experience to their customers these days. Marginal client experiences fail to demonstrate value and build trust, causing the client to question the relationship.
3. Failing to identify opportunities for improvement. The new standards that clients value involve identifying opportunities for improvement. Are you sharing new insights that you discovered this busy season when presenting client reports or are you sticking to the contents of your reports?
4. Not saying 'thank you' and meaning it. Do your clients know how much you appreciate them? When clients sense they are not important to you or they feel less important than they once were, it casts doubt in their minds.
5. Not asking "what else can I help you with?" If you are not asking this question, you may be missing opportunities to help bring new focus to each client's situation.

For the complete article, click here and read "Five Reasons Why Your Clients May Tell You 'You're Fired' in 2010" in the March 8, 2010, issue.

From AICPA CPA Insider, March 8, 2010, www.CPA2biz.com.