You’ve probably found that some of your clients have all sorts of big plans and dreams, but they never quite manage to follow through on them. Accountability is one of the biggest benefits you can offer to your clients. But in order to be able to be the one to keep your clients on track you’ll need to be able to keep a firm hold of your own schedule. Accounting outsourcing is here to help.
How to Ensure Client Accountability
When you actively support your client’s progress, you become a vital part of their development. Being essential in this way allows you to A) increase your fees and B) present them with additional services.
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To help your clients stay on track, you’ll require time—time for discussions, follow-up conversations, record-keeping, and more. By outsourcing accounting tasks, you can reclaim that time, moving away from labor-intensive compliance duties so that you can focus more on your clients’ needs.
Therefore, if the primary obstacle for your client is their own behavior or mindset, how do you formalise your role in holding them accountable (ensuring that you’re compensated for it)?
The initial step is to position your clients in a scenario where accountability plays a crucial role. This necessitates the establishment of clear goals. Schedule a meeting to review their performance metrics together, and during this session, have them commit to four specific objectives they aspire to achieve for their business.
Utilise the time gained through collaboration with your accounting outsourcing team to document these goals formally. Make it official. Next, assist your client in breaking down these objectives into achievable monthly milestones. This way, the outlined goals become tangible elements rather than fleeting thoughts; there are now tasks that need completion and responsibilities assigned among your client’s team members.
At this juncture, it’s essential for your client to have someone who will hold them accountable and ensure those tasks are accomplished. Fortunately, working alongside your accounting outsourcing team provides you with the opportunity to conduct monthly meetings where you can discuss these milestones with your client. In addition, you can illustrate how these milestones impact their business immediately while also projecting future outcomes once an overall goal is reached.
Reluctant Clients
Reluctant clients can be a challenge, especially when it comes to getting them interested in monthly meetings. However, there are ways to address this issue and encourage their active participation.
First, if cost is a concern for the client, you can pitch the meeting fees as an investment in their future profits. Emphasise that by achieving their milestones and goals, they can ultimately earn more money. This way, they won’t feel like they are losing money from their current budget, but rather investing in their own success. Additionally, highlight the fact that your firm’s success is directly tied to their business’ success, creating a win-win situation.
See: https://boz.com.au/listen-more-to-your-clients-to-grow-your-firm/
If this approach doesn’t work, it may be necessary to wait and be patient. Utilise the time your accounting outsourcing team provides to focus on acquiring more clients. After several months, reach out to the reluctant client and inquire about their progress towards meeting their goals. Most likely, they would have made little or no progress without the support and guidance of your monthly meetings. This is an opportunity to reintroduce the idea of monthly meetings, emphasising how it can help them make actual progress towards their goals rather than leaving them stagnant.
Your outsourced accounting team enhances your capability to support your clients
Ultimately, the key is to show your client the value of the monthly meetings and how it can empower them to achieve the business they have always dreamed of. By offering ongoing support and guidance, you can help them stay on track and make their milestones a reality.
