IMGCAP(1)]Client retention is an essential ingredient of a solid marketing plan.
Oftentimes, accounting firms get bogged down looking for new clients and miss important opportunities to serve their current client base. Further, firms leave their most precious client relationships open for competitors to target when they dont use effective client retention strategies.
According to The Wall Street Journal, 68 percent of clients change accounting firms based on individual treatment while only 15 percent leave because of poor technical quality. Further, only 7 percent consider price to be an important catalyst in their choice to switch accounting firms. The CPA Journal also conducted a study on key factors contributing to client loss. The research confirms the main reasons for change are that the incumbent accounting firm was not proactive in serving the account, was not responsive to client needs, or lacked new ideas for the client business.
Beyond protecting client relationships, client retention strategies often help firms harvest their lowest-hanging fruit by creating more expansive engagements with each of their important clients. When clients feel they are receiving proactive and responsive service, they tend to view their accountant as a trusted advisor. Accordingly, the newly established trust creates opportunities for further client projects, resulting in new revenue for the accounting firm and better, more comprehensive service for the client.
Based on this reasoning, one Midwestern firm launched an account review program aimed at client retention and new project development. This program, authored by the firms outsourced accounting team at The Growth Partnership, was rolled out in June 2009 and has already incorporated roughly eight clients. Each of the firms partners identified their focus clients with the expectation of performing a thorough account review for one client from each partners list on a semi-monthly basis.
The process for this initiative, called a Client Spotlight, occurs in four major phases: pre-assessment, spotlight meeting, client letter and meeting, and project rollout.
Pre-assessment
Once the partner selects a candidate to spotlight, members of the clients engagement team are asked to complete a simple worksheet to contribute field information to the account review process. The engagement team questionnaire explores issues that may have been raised or uncovered while firm personnel were working at the client site, including problems or opportunities facing the client, complaints or concerns that have been raised, and thoughts on how to improve client operations or profitability.
Once these worksheets are completed, they are returned to the engagement partner, who compiles the answers and completes a separate worksheet with more detailed information. The engagement partners questionnaire looks at client growth, firm realization on the account, the overall value of the service the firm provides to the client, and the true level of proactivity undertaken in the relationship.
While these forms are not necessarily collected and analyzed, they are useful tools for generating thoughts on how the account is currently handled and brainstorming on efforts to improve the engagement in the future. The pre-assessment process is complete once the engagement partner has collected all the team worksheets and completed the partner worksheet.
Spotlight Meeting
Once the pre-assessment has been completed, all members of the engagement team are included in a one-and-a-half-hour meeting to review or spotlight the client account. The spotlight meeting is best facilitated by a staff member in either marketing or administrative services who is not part of the engagement team. The discussion facilitator can help keep team members on track, take notes during the brainstorming sessions and generate conversation by interjecting comments at key moments.
During the spotlight meeting, the engagement team begins by discussing the history of the clients: how long they have been with the firm, what their business actually entails and how their management structure is designed. At this point, the team also may review the clients key objectives, current and projected revenue levels, and any recent changes that have taken place in the clients business.
Once the history of the client has been reviewed, the spotlight facilitator guides the team in a discussion of the current annual projects completed for the client. This section of the discussion focuses on highlighting the core engagement functions. Areas often addressed at this time include tax and assurance work, and financial or business advisory projects that are annuity or retainer based.
Following the annuity portion of the dialogue, the facilitator asks the group to identify any special project work completed in the past 12 to 18 months (or currently in process). In identifying areas where the client is receiving special project assistance, the team can begin to see opportunities for addressing additional client needs.
When the project list is complete, the spotlight facilitator makes a request for group members to change their mindset and start thinking as though they are the full-time CFO for the client under consideration. At this point, they are asked to identify any areas where the client may need assistance. The discussion leader guides this portion of the meeting using a spotlight meeting checklist, making sure that several key areas are considered in the brainstorming process.
The spotlight checklist first addresses financial reporting and control, including many of the core services such as audit, financial reporting, accounting services and fraud investigation. The business planning and organization development portion of the discussion centers on issues such as strategic planning, financing, ownership succession, and acquisition or sale facilitation. Profitability analysis, cash-flow analysis and planning, cost-segregation studies, human resources needs and inventory management are some of the issues included in the business operations section of the checklist.
This document also guides the facilitator through brainstorming stimulator areas, including personal taxes, estate and gift planning, business taxes, litigation support and technology services. Any areas in which the firm offers significant expertise (for example, investment management, human resources or profitability consulting) should be highlighted during this brainstorming session.
As the facilitator leads the team through each of the areas of discussion, he or she is taking detailed notes on the suggestions brought to the table. In their critical CFO role, the engagement team may identify between five and 25 projects that the client needs to consider in the next 12 to 18 months.
Client Letter and Meeting
Following the completion of the spotlight meeting, the facilitator and the engagement partner at the firm draft a spotlight letter aimed at creating awareness for the client about the engagement review. Additionally, the letter serves as a proactive assessment of the clients account, highlighting possible important projects that should be considered. The letter is structured in order to inform the client about the review process, identify all current projects (annuity and special) to remind the client about service levels, and deliver important suggestions determined during the review for the clients consideration.
The letter closes by reminding clients that, whether they choose to undertake any of the projects listed, the goal of the process is to make sure their engagement team is keeping its eyes open for issues that could significantly impact the clients situation.
On the same day the letter is sent, the engagement partner makes a phone call to the client decision maker. The purpose of the call is to allow the engagement partner to explain the review process and let the client know that a letter containing a more detailed description of the process and its findings is in the mail. During this conversation, the engagement partner asks the decision maker if he or she can schedule a meeting to discuss the letter in a couple of weeks. The engagement partner often tries to secure an appointment by the end of this call.
When the appointment takes place, the engagement partner takes along a fresh copy of the letter. After a quick reminder of how the process took place, the partner walks the client through each of the recommendations included in the letter, asking the client to prioritize important initiatives with an A, back-burner issues with a B, and issues of no concern with a line-through. The purpose of this exercise is to get the client thinking about each of the identified areas for engagement expansion and how these projects can significantly impact their bottom line.
It is important that this discussion does not turn to price. For the purpose of the conversation, the partners handle pricing questions by reminding the client that suggestions are only proposed based on the belief that there is an associated substantial value to be realized by the client.
Once the letter has been prioritized, the partner makes a copy of the list, leaving one for the client and keeping one for the firm. Upon returning to the office, the partner can begin considering a pricing structure for the areas the client prioritized highly.
Project Rollout
Project Rollout should be undertaken with care. The engagement team must understand the scope of the work in detail, the clients expectations of value and the corresponding pricing structure. Of course, it is essential that expectations established in the clients mind by the spotlight process are met in full; otherwise, the process does more damage than it does good. Projects generated by the spotlight program are monitored carefully.
The client spotlight process accomplishes a number of extraordinary objectives with a minimal monthly time commitment. In less than six hours per month, this Midwestern firm has improved the responsiveness of its engagement teams, enhanced client trust and loyalty, and possibly generated lucrative special project work to expand key client relationships.
During the spotlight process, members of the engagement team, including new staff members, gain perspective on client interaction and learn to focus on listening to client needs. Involving staff in the client retention process can be a major step toward preserving key client relationships.
Additionally, the process prompts engagement partners to visit with clients outside of the regular annuity projects and offer objective, proactive advice for improving their business value and personal net worth. While it may generate no extra project work, this discussion lends to the clients perception that his or her engaged accounting firm is exceeding expectations and providing important forward-thinking business, management and financial advice.
The client learns to value the relationship and sees the partner as a trusted advisor and a key to the businesss inevitable success. Finally, the discussions generated by the spotlight process often lead to special project work sanctioned by the client. Whether it turns into annuity work, a long-term retainer-based special project, or a one-off several-hour-consulting engagement, the revenue generated is an added benefit of the process.
While partners wont generate revenue with every spotlight they complete, the firm has found the process to be a lucrative one, securing a couple of small projects during their year of implementation.
In a time when accounting marketing means competitors are often out soliciting ones best clients, firms cant afford to be lackadaisical in fortifying their key relationships. To build a fence around the firms top clients, a spotlight program can help protect and preserve them, and allow them to proliferate.
Amanda Garner leads the Outsourced Marketing Division of The Growth Partnership, and has worked with TGP since 2002. She specializes in creating marketing and communications programs for accounting firms in North America. For more information about this subject, attend her workshop at the
