4 Effective Ways to Improve Client Experience in the Accounting Industry
Building strong relationships, earns trust!
Is your practice providing an integrated, personalised client experience?
Or are you receiving the expected client experience?
4 Effective Ways to Improve Client Experiences in the Accounting Industry
As with most industries, the accounting industry is highly competitive. The past 20 years have changed the way in which the customer thinks and acts. As the emergence of search engines and social media have become the focal point of the internet, the power now lies with the customer. If they don’t like the service they receive, they will change supplier.
Clients within the accounting industry now treat firms as substitutable service providers. However, if a customer recognises premium value for money and quality in the services they receive, then an accountancy firm will be treated as a valued ally. An associate with which a long-term relationship will be established.
With all that said, the question remains: how can your accounting firm improve client experience?
1. Understand Your Client’s Journey.
Going the extra mile to understand the environment in which your client is operating is paramount in attending to their needs and wants as your customer. Completing research and gathering as much information about the company will contribute to you being able to resolve issues much faster, and in turn, earn their loyalty and customer satisfaction – making YOU less replaceable.
2. Communicate and Listen to Your Client.
To know what the customer expects from the relationship and transaction, you must listen and allow them to have a dialogue with you consistently. Without this insight, any work you do to improve the customer’s experience is based solely on presumptions and guesswork, which can lead to customer needs remaining unfulfilled.
Furthermore, good communication from your side creates a mutual feeling of trust. The client knows you’re doing the utmost to do right by them and then you know that they have belief in the service – it’s a win, win scenario
Nothing can be more damaging than not keeping the client in the know. For example, an unexpected error or a change in plan without an update can have negative impacts on the customer, and thus ends the trust within the relationship.
3. Offer a Proactive Service.
Having the capacity to deliver solutions to problems before they even arise to the client shows a genuine duty of care for them. Customers will expect their accountants to constantly be on the ball, ready to advise them about updates on issues such as tax, compliance and further developments within the industry.
Additionally, going the extra mile to educate them about how they can improve the automation of their company and its finances can be a great way of helping them be more efficient, which only further improves the client experience. They will thank you later.
4. Focus on Creating a Customer-Focused Culture Within Your Ranks.
Customer service shouldn’t be something you view as a department, it should be an entire company focus. From top to bottom, everyone should have the customer at the core of their work. When this is apparent, each customer will feel they are receiving a unique experience individual to them. They will feel valued and you will earn their continued support. This will contribute to increasing customer retention levels.
For industries like ours, it’s always important to remember that retaining a customer is always cheaper and easier than obtaining a new one. We’re not selling a tin of beans or a loaf of bread, we’re selling a service that requires open dialogue, commitment and understanding.
For more blogs that can help your business grow and improve, make sure you take a look – you won’t regret it.
