Retaining clients--What Does It Really Take?

• Author: Wilson, Jennifer

According to the 2009 AICPA Private Companies Practice Section CPA Firm Top Issues survey (http://tinyurl.com/ydx8alr), the most significant concern facing CPA firms today is client retention. This is a significant change from previous years when survey respondents indicated that finding and retaining talent were the top issues in the profession. Clearly, this shift can be attributed to the recession, increasing competition, and clients focusing on value more than ever before.

So, What Does it Really Take to Retain Clients?

At ConvergenceCoaching, LLC, we have had the privilege of surveying clients on behalf of our CPA firm clients. Based on what we've learned in these surveys and have observed in our own experiences, the following ideas will help you focus on what matters most to your clients.

You have to care about clients and your caring has to be evident. Time and time again, clients have said in surveys, "I wish my CPA would call me out of cycle--for no reason--to check in on me or my business."

* Consider calling the top 20% of your clients for no reason except to check in and show that you care.

* Ask them how you can be of service or serve them better in their current engagements.

* Send clients links to articles and other information that may be of interest or about things they've told you they care about both personally and professionally.

* Send handwritten thank you notes to your top clients and send them in time for the holidays.

You can also show that you care when you

* know your clients. Find ways to get to know them and their businesses and then illustrate that you understand them and their needs with appropriate follow up, such as the following:

-- Ask clients questions about their careers, personal interests, and goals, thereby taking your relationship to a deeper level. Do research into their Facebook and LinkedIn pages or firm biography to find areas of common interest that might help you to become more closely related to them.

-- Learn about their business and other businesses like theirs by contacting colleagues and referral sources, reading their Web sites, attending their industry trade association meetings and conferences, reading industry publications, and simply asking them questions. You will build relatedness and credibility when you know your clients' industries; unique challenges, cycles, or seasonality that may affect their business; and anything else that might have an impact on their success.

-- Seek to...