May 2002a- Each month this page will be updated with new tips and ideas and the previous content archived. As time goes by our archives will grow. These will always be accessible, and always without charge. Enjoy.

Welcome to the free tips page for May 2002

This month I am going to talk a little about how to get that "wow" factor from your clients. Why? Well, over my 22 years in practice, either as a practitioner myself, or as a consultant to accounting firms, the truth is that the best way to generate new business - and still the cheapest way - is by doing a fabulous job for your existing clients.

This has a double benefit to your firm:

1. They are easier to up-sell or cross-sell additional services, and
2. They are the best source of referrals.

If you concentrate on client service and use some of the marketing techniques explained in any of my five published books, then you will soon find yourself winning more new business than you ever thought possible.

Research has shown time and again that it is FIVE TIMES CHEAPER to sell to an existing customer than it is to find a new customer. The same applies to clients of accounting firms.

It doesn't matter where you are in the world, people still have the same reaction. If they know you, if they trust you, if they believe in your capabilities and have had a good experience with you before, they are many times more likely to buy other services from you.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to dazzle your existing clients with awesome service, and then tell them what else you could do for them, AND that you welcome referrals. Yet another benefit we see from this approach, is that if your team members, or staff, truly believe in the firm's service and it's approach to client service, then they are more likely to refer family and friends to the firm as clients, and even step up their own practice development effort.

So, that's the background. That's why I want to talk a little further about it this month, and that's why I am developing "Towards Awesome Client Service" as a separate program for accounting firms around the world.

So how can you dazzle your clients? How much time do you have?

Let's start with a few simple, easy to do, and free ideas.

It's not rocket science, but it's so easy to overlook or just be too busy to do.

Return phone calls promptly. People hate waiting. It makes them feel unimportant. They LOVE getting calls returned quickly, it makes them feel important. Which would you sooner have your clients experience?

Don't keep people waiting beyond their appointment time. I know we all run late from time to time, but as a general rule, always try to start client meetings on time.

Give clients regular updates on the progress of their matter. Too many clients deliver their accounting records, and wait...and wait...and wait. It gets them frustrated. Make sure that you deal with clients records as soon as they come into your office. Call them every week to tell them what progress has been made. Keep them in the loop and give them a reasonable estimate as to when they will have some financial statements to review. They will feel very loyal to you, for doing so, I promise.

Always under promise and over deliver. If a client has a project that HAS to be done by a week on Friday, if you tell them that you'll do your best to have it by noon on that Friday, but call them on Wednesday morning to tell them it's ready, then you appear to have pulled out all the stops and performed like a superstar.

This is just a taste of what is coming in our "TACS" program. More details next month.

Important Update

The full set of our range of e-books is now available for immediate download.

Including:

For more details, see our products page

So, that's all for now, if you need more, sign up for our free e-newsletter, LEDGER, on our newsletter sign-up page, or look at our best-selling manual LOW COST HIGH IMPACT WAYS TO WIN NEW CLIENTS.

Thanks for visiting.
Have a great month.
Until next time.

More free tips to come as we next update our site in June 2002.