Client Listening: A Primer

I always divide my working year into two parts – each with a very different M.O.

From mid-February until the first week in May, our clients (at least ones in the smaller firms) are hidden deeper than someone in the witness protection program – buried in 1040s and treating a phone call from me with all the warmth of a speeding ticket. It’s during this time we go to work on the managing partners of much larger firms since their filing season workload is often significantly less than their respective staffs.

The second half of the year is divided between attending a number of conferences and in-person client visits - as their post-season demeanor becomes far more approachable. Now that any delays, snafus and software glitches are relegated to a footnote, we can sit down and rationally speak out succession and transition issues.

But there are other forms of transition other than a lack of an internal succession plan. Like client transition.

If and when I’m privileged to be asked to present at one of the profession’s marquee events – there’s one point in my sessions that no matter how many times I’ve addressed it, never loses its “wow” factor – that being a survey that showed more than one-third of current clients are either actively looking or at least thinking about switching accounting firms.

And the No. 1 reason for that potential exodus?

Not enough personal attention from their CPA.

Now there are some very real reasons behind this feeling of indifference – whether real or perceived - not the least of which are the advances in technology which despite its incalculable advantages, has severely curtailed the frequency and necessity of in-office visits.

But how about the little things that matter?

Case in point: George has been my insurance agent for over 20 years. I’ve met him in person perhaps four times over that period. But why do I remain with him? Like I said it’s the little things. Like clockwork George sends birthday greetings to members of my family along with personalized notes (and of course his annual calendar). In fact, he recently dashed off a high school graduation card for my youngest and wished her well in the next chapter of her life. That’s a value-add you cannot put a price on.

But George-like gestures should be a given for most firms in molding relationships with their clientele. And with social media, it’s far easier. In fact, one of the new trends via social media is what’s being called “social listening.” If your client is on Facebook or Twitter, it’s easy to follow their tweets and posts and find out what’s on their mind, what are their top concerns  and who or what is celebrating a special event – birthdays, anniversaries etc. Then send out a personal greeting or congratulations.

And it may also be sort of a good strategy to do the same with CPA firms in your space to monitor what they’re doing. A little intelligence gathering on the competition never hurts.

But I would hold off on sending the calendars. You can just use so many.