How To Stand Up To Your Clients

If you are anything like me you probably hate

awkward situations

If you only take one thing away from today’s session,

remember this: Just because a client is paying

you, does not mean you are making money

3 Common Situations •  Getting paid on time •  Pricing changes •  Firing clients

Sticky situation 1: Getting paid on time

As an entire global industry, accountants pander to their

clients when it comes to getting paid. Why?

Why is this bad? •  Your time and resources; •  Your relationship with your

client; •  Your cashflow and your profit.

How much does this cost your business?

How do we fix this?

•  Simplify billing •  Get paid upfront •  Don’t be afraid of the stick

Simplify Billing Billing in this industry is a mess!

There’s a much simpler way…

Get paid UPFRONT!

The stick If you don’t get paid,

DON’T DO THE WORK!

Sticky situation 2: Raising your prices

Why do we find it so difficult to ask for more money?

Why do price changes happen?

How do we approach the price rise?

Explain it to your client

Dear  [client], Since  our  firm  was  started  in  [year]  we  haven’t  increased  prices.  Through  annual  infla@on,  market  crashes  and  rate  rises  we’ve  kept  our  prices  compe@@ve  and  affordable.   Whilst  being  fair  to  you  through  this  @me,  we  trust  that  you  have  appreciated  this  and  can  now  understand  that  like  you,  we  are  also  a  business  and  need  to  align  our  prices  with  the  value  we  are  offering  you.   Moving  forward  you  will  receive  a  new  engagement  leGer  which  will  detail  what  our  annual  percentage  increase  will  be.  As  a  courtesy  to  you  we  also  think  you  deserve  to  know  in  advance  how  much  the  job  will  cost  and  what  it  entails.  As  a  modern  &  progressive  firm  we  have  decided  to  change  this  ‘old’  business  prac@ce  as  of  [date]. What  that  means  is  before  every  job  starts  we  will  let  you  know  how  much  it  will  cost  you.  There  will  be  a  method  of  wriGen  communica@on  that  you  will  need  to  sign  off  on.  If  you  are  unhappy  with  the  outline  of  the  project  (or  the  price)  you  will  have  the  opportunity  to  discuss  that  with  us  at  the  outset.   We  appreciate  your  business  very  much  and  we  are  confident  that  this  new  method  of  pricing  will  enable  us  to  give  you  far  beGer  customer  service. All  the  best,

Update your agreement, make sure it’s clear and

get it signed

But they might leave! Remember the first point, just because they are paying you

does not mean you are making money

Sticky situation 3: Firing clients

Just like staff who don’t perform well and add value to your

business, so too clients can be fired if they don’t add value to

your business.

Why should I fire a client?

How to fire a client

How to prevent having to fire a client!

Supercharge these steps!

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With Practice Ignition you can Create and send your Engagement Letter in minutes, not hours.

Really? how has PI helped other accountants?

Practice Ignition eliminates the burdensome task of creating engagement letters and obtaining client signatures - Adam Puckett, Delap LLP, Portland OR.

I'm not even finished my trial of PI yet and I've had two major proposals accepted. They were cohesive, formal and professional and I know PI made all the difference. - Elaine Orr Morgan, balancesheets.ca, Canada.

My first proposal was accepted before I had a chance to click back to Outlook! I need an "easy button” - Rachel Barnett, Primarily Bookkeeping, Seattle WA.

Saves oodles and allows you to focus on developing a client relationship and achieving the desired outcome, rather than administrative tasks - Alycia Edgar, Business Performance HQ, Australia.

Our key takeaways •  Simplify your billing to get paid on time •  Communicate your price changes, but

be firm •  If your client doesn’t add value, fire

them! •  Stand up to your Clients!

Work on the beach is not a figure of speech

Start saving time now

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