The 12 ways you can Keep In Touch with clients - Plus 3 quick practical tips
MARK LEE FCA
Biz dev (incl re LinkedIn) for Accountants | Pragmatic insights, support and advice | Mentor, Speaker, Debunker | Chair of Network of specialist tax advisers | Received Outstanding Contribution award at Accountex 2024
None of the recipients of the Magic of Success email commented on the varying times it has landed in their inbox in recent weeks. I'm not surprised. I suspect most people don't care. What matters to me is which approach enables more people to see and open the weekly email. As ever, I want these to be of maximum interest and value.
Last week was half-term so may not have been typical. The experiment continues ;-)
Below you'll find 3 more quick practical ideas to help you succeed, plus the 12 ways you can Keep In Touch with clients - and why they are all better than hoping that broadcast messages will do the trick.
Finally, this week's fun item reveals ten trivial new taxes we might have expected Rishi to announce in the Budget.
Enjoy!
Mark
3 practical tips I shared recently in 1-2-1 sessions
What questions do you think my clients asked that prompted me to reply along these lines?
1-2-1 strategic and practical advice for you and your practice
I admit to having no real interest in sport - beyond an awareness that top sportspeople all have coaches. This isn't limited to the world of sport of course.
The sole-practitioner accountants who ask me to mentor them, benefit in much the same way as anyone who engages a coach.
Typically my clients all seem to appreciate the years and breadth of my experience, my general credibility and my straightforward, direct and fun approach.
And they often end our calls by saying how valuable has been my advice, guidance, support and insights.
More specifically they typically find that by taking my advice they secure more of the referrals and business they want, they waste less time on pipe-dreams and they generate more fees.
Last week a newer client confirmed he wanted to move to a 12 month mentoring retainer programme. He said he was surprised to find that he got just as much value from our conversations whether or not we stuck to our agenda.
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I currently have space for just two new 1-2-1 mentoring clients.
If this sounds like something that that would be of benefit to you, do message me so that we can book a time for a phone or zoom exploratory meeting - without any obligation.
Expert tax support for your clients
Next time you need tax support - for a one-off situation or to find someone to refer your heavyweight tax issues on a regular basis, just go to FindATaxAdviser.online.
The advisers are all members of the Tax Advice Network, which I Chair.
There's never any charge for you to use the quick, easy and free online search facility to find the right tax adviser by expertise and location whatever your client's tax problem, question or challenge.
The 12 ways you can Keep In Touch with clients and why this is so important
You want your clients, certainly the better ones, to stay with you. By implication therefore you want them to appreciate that you care about them, that you are interested in them and that you want to help them as much as you can.
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Those are just some of the reasons for Keeping In Touch (KIT) with clients.
You want them to feel loyal and to let you know if something's not right or they aren't happy with your service.
And, of course you want them to seek your advice and to let you know what's happening in their lives so that you can identify that they need advice.
The more you speak to your clients, the more you’ll understand their business. These regular conversations will allow you to make intelligent interventions and seize appropriate opportunities when they come up.
It is often said that it is MUCH more expensive to generate additional business from strangers than from clients. (There doesn't seem to be any agreement as to the relative costs. Depending upon context and sector, you can find online references to it costing anything from 4 to 20 times more to get business from new clients than from current ones).
Whatever the truth of this, you can often save time, money and effort if you focus first on helping your current clients before you invest in campaigns to secure more new clients.
By the way, you will also find that too many people writing on this subject confuse broadcast marketing with KIT programmes.
It's fine to send out generic messages to all and sundry (or even just to all your clients). Blogging can be a good way to build awareness and understanding of your services. The same goes for posting on Linkedin and on social media. But do not think for one moment that any of this constitutes Keeping In Touch with clients.
It's simply a form of one-way marketing communication that may, at best, remind clients you are there and what you could do for them if THEY ask you. But even that presupposes that your clients will see those messages. Often this is simply wishful thinking.
You may HOPE that clients who see this will be prompted to contact you if they are inspired by something in your broadcast message. But that is very different to you evidencing interest in them specifically and personally.
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In this week's blog post you'll find 12 simple ways you can Keep In Touch with clients. Take a look and decide which way you want to go. Number 6 also debunks another related misconception.
Fun time - Trivial new taxes we nearly had for 2022
The Chancellor seemed to omit these new tax ideas in his Budget last week:
You'll find plenty more to make you laugh on the?Accounting Fun blog here >>>
Let's have a chat...
Let's have a chat if any of the above more serious topics resonated with you. I love supporting and encouraging accountants, tax advisers and solicitors who want to secure more referrals, reach and results.
You can take your chances here now: 07769 692890
or book a call at a time that suits us both:?www.calendly.com/bookmarklee
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Mark Lee FCA??provides strategic insights, advice, talks and mentoring to accountants, solicitors and tax advisers who want to improve their reach, referrals and results. He is also Chairman of the??Tax Advice Network, the UK’s largest network of independent tax advisers.
Mark has long been a popular speaker for UK accountants both on stage and online. Informed, entertaining and commercial he also debunks hype and misconceptions. Earlier in his career he was a partner in two top firms. He has a number of voluntary roles and is a long time member of The Magic Circle.