Finding your advisory switch
Advisory is not a new invention, accountants have been trying to provide advisory services for years. The challenge is not finding the service but finding a way of consistently delivering structured advice to enough clients who then happily pay you its true value.
We can hide behind the belief that clients don’t want an advisory-based relationship but, as an accountant and accountants’ coach of many years standing, I know that there are two genuine barriers that exist.
You see, whilst the majority of owner-managed business clients traditionally have been reluctant to spend money on advisory services, I simply don’t accept that most of them don’t want to improve their businesses and the lives of their own family, friends, employees, and customers. No, the reasons why relationships with the accountant have stayed compliance-based, I believe, are twofold:
- The accountant has lacked the confidence and belief to deliver the advice with the drive and commitment needed to change the client’s mindset.
- The presentation and delivery of the advisory services have not been systemised, it has been ad-hoc and dependent upon time and people for its continuation.
I’m not laying blame at anyone’s feet here, it’s very hard to change the behaviour of clients and to have the time to invest in systematic change within your firm. It’s also very hard to sell a service with belief when you’re not confident in the ability of your firm to deliver.
Most of your clients want a better business because they want a better life, they just haven’t seen enough from your firm yet to understand that you are the people to help make that change happen. To change their thinking, you must change your own first.
But we’re in luck….ironically because of digital innovation, the very thing that is forcing accountants to re-think their compliance reliance.
Historically, to move a client along a more advisory-based route has required a high degree of client commitment and faith at the outset. Getting to a point where there is meaningful information or tangible benefits has taken the time and used up the client’s money. Assessing the impact of tax planning, creating effective financial management reports, putting effective systems into the client’s business has taken significant time and that tests budgets and patience.
The accountant has to work harder and over a longer period to keep the client engaged and deliver obvious results and that, of course, tests the accountant’s resources and belief in their firm. So, if the client is impatient for results and the accountant is struggling for capacity, it’s no surprise that confidence and belief are in short supply.
But, digital innovation now allows us to deliver that at the touch of a button. Assessing the opportunity and the impact, delivering the results, implementing the applications and systems is no longer cumbersome. The client’s money is now spent on analysis and progression, not data collection and manufacture.
And this is where the opportunity lies to overcome those two barriers I talked about above. Let’s use R & D tax credits as an example. This has become a huge growth area for the profession, but many accountants are reluctant to dive in due to the time and cost involved in assessing the likely success and value of a claim. Do we have the resources and knowledge? Will the client pay for it, especially if I can’t tell them at the outset what it is worth?
Along comes whisperclaims.co.uk as an example with their R & D Tax software and the accountant not only has a process to follow for the claim itself, but they have an easy assessment tool to run by the client. The barriers to the client meeting itself have been removed. We have a quick route to support the advice and a process for the presentation and delivery.
Across the full spectrum of advisory work, from strategic planning and financial management to specific tax planning and operational systems, as accountants, we have push-button solutions to deliver the process and the outcomes effectively in front of the client. No more doubt about our ability as a firm to deliver.
The firm still needs the commitment by its leaders to get behind the software, but client meetings are far more engaging when they are looking at real-time solutions and information.
So you see, change your way of thinking and the client will follow.
Article Summary:
Accountants are regularly messaged about the need for them to move to a more advisory-based client relationship but that’s more easily said than done. Most firms have been advising their clients for years, the challenge is sustaining it and getting paid for it. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a switch that you could flick in front of the client to change this? Well, in this digitally driven world there are, lots of them.
Author summary
Richard Brewin FCA has been an accountant at the sharp end for almost 40 years, the last 10 of which as a mentor and coach for accountants running their firms. Today, as joint Managing Director of ProgressBB, he is at the forefront of development in this area with the launch of their self-help online mentoring program for accountants, Progress Foundations.
