Should we try harder to smash the wall?

Richard Brewin • October 26, 2018

Trying to get some clients to act on your advice can be like talking to a brick wall.

Do these sound familiar?

“I’m too busy”.
“I can’t afford it right now”.
“I don’t have the staff available”.
“Can we do it later?”. “
“We’re not big enough”

Your advice just keeps bouncing back to you. Too often, what the client is really saying is “this isn’t important enough for me right now”.

Do we leave it there? After all, we’ve done our job, we’ve passed on our advice.

I hear accountants complain about the quality of their client base, about not being able to sell value added services because they don’t have profitable clients, but do we have a chicken versus egg situation here?

What comes first: the client having a profitable, cash-rich business or the client taking your advice?

If you believe that your advice is important enough then I would argue that you have a professional responsibility to try everything in your power to get your client to act upon it. If you can’t demonstrate its value and importance over the client’s objections then why should they divert attention or resources?

Cloud accounting is a case in point. Quite simply, this is how businesses manage their finances in 2018. It’s effective, efficient, MTD compliant and a fundamental strategy for improving profits and cash-flow. It frees up their time, provides valuable management information and opens advice and support channels with the accountant. And it’s very cost effective.

So, if you don’t currently have all your clients using cloud accounting, properly trained and supported, or at least a plan for doing so, why not? It’s a no-brainer!

When we can see how to improve a client’s business, and therefore their life, we must be prepared to fight harder for our view. After all, if poor clients are the excuse for poor returns in our own firms then profitable clients is the answer. Are you telling me you don’t know how to make your clients more profitable?

Fight to get your point across. Be persistent. Be strong.

The Art of Saying No Without Losing Clients

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Let’s be honest, most business owners have a perception of an accountant that probably falls far short of our ambitions. They want someone who helps them make sense of the chaos, plan for growth, and sleep better at night knowing someone’s got their back, but their accountant doesn’t usually spring to mind as this person. What they dream of is a coach, not an accountant, but, weirdly, they often don’t trust coaches but do trust their accountant. Their accountant can be both, so the client gets the trust and the coaching

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