6 Easy and Actionable Tips for Effective Client Management

Effective client management is one of the most important strengths to hone at your accounting firm. Client management refers to the way you work with your clients to provide the highest quality of service and support. Client management skills show up in the way you communicate with your clients, how you deliver your services, and whether or not you exceed their expectations.

While effective client management should always be a priority, it’s an even more important skill to hone when you consider how much of a factor it plays in client retention. In fact, 80% of consumers believe that speed, convenience, knowledgeable help, and friendly customer service are the top reasons that contribute to a positive customer experience — which builds their loyalty to a company over time. 

Below, let’s go over a few benefits of effective client management as well as tips for improving this skill at your accounting firm.

3 Benefits of Effective Client Management

High client retention

As we mentioned above, when done right, effective client management leads to higher client retention. Positive client retention not only leads to steady client relationships but can directly impact your firm’s bottom line. Research shows that it costs up to seven times more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain a current customer. But in order to retain clients, you have to prioritize effective client management. 

Think about it this way: If a client constantly has difficulty getting a response from your team or always gets asked for last-minute document requests, they’ll be wary of sticking with your firm for another tax year. 

When you’re on top of everything that needs to be done and communicated with each of your clients, your clients will be satisfied and more likely to work with you in the long term. One of the best ways to retain clients is by using accounting CRM software. A good CRM will provide a comprehensive overview of everything you need to get done for a client, the latest communication between you and your client, and helps you stay on top of important data and notes about your relationship. 

Organic client referrals

Providing high-quality services and exceeding expectations results in happy clients — and happy clients are more likely to refer you to people they know who could also benefit from your services. 

When clients make referrals, it makes your job much easier. A referral means less time and resources you have to put into marketing and generating leads. Plus, organic referrals are one of the best ways to convert leads into clients. Word-of-mouth referrals have a 32% conversion rate when it comes to sales made from referrals.

To increase your chances of generating organic client referrals, focus on nailing down a solid client management system. Going above and beyond for your current clients helps build loyalty and trust, and loyal customers will sing your praises to other potential clients. 

Increased revenue

Effective client management can also drive increased revenue. When you have seamless systems in place and communicate effectively with your clients, customer retention will organically be higher — and retention is where your firm can see the most profitability.

According to research from the Wharton School of Business, the probability of selling to an existing customer can be 14 times higher than the likelihood of selling to a new customer. Additionally, a 5% increase in retention can lead to improved profitability of 25% or more.

Six Tips for Effective Client Management (Easy and Actionable)

If you’re ready to retain more clients, generate organic referrals, and increase your accounting firm’s revenue, here are some ways to improve client management, with a few tips from Brandon Hall, Managing Partner at Hall CPA PLLC. Hall has built a seven-figure firm through advisory services, so he knows a thing or two about customer service and building strong, trusting client relationships.

1. Be proactive when responding to client needs
2. Streamline client communication
3. Communicate clearly and transparently
4. Use client relationship management software
5. Schedule regular client feedback surveys
6. Focus on working with only ideal clients

One of the best ways to improve client management is to be proactive when responding to your client’s questions, concerns, and feedback. Hall suggests that ultimately, a successful firm prioritizes customer service because clients want answers to their questions fast. 

“A great advisor gets back to clients extremely quickly — I’m talking within an hour or two,” says Hall. He continues, “If you have a continuous “out-of-office” [message] up and are responding to emails after a week, you will lose [clients] in the long run.” 

One way to improve your communication and be more proactive when responding to clients is to set up a customer response team at your firm. One survey found that 75% of customers believe fast response times are the most important aspect of customer experience.

Streamlining and automating frequent tasks is one of the most efficient ways to save time while improving client management. And something accountants spend a lot of time doing each day is communicating with clients. 

If you don’t have the resources to set up a dedicated customer service team, you can speed up these tasks by leveraging tools like AI to generate email templates. AI is integrated into Financial Cents’ workflow so you can easily create and save professional emails for future use to improve your response time.

For instance, if you’re using Financial Cents’ AI integration to generate responses, you can save your most-used email templates to respond to future client inquiries within seconds.

As you’re focused on improving your firm’s response time, it’s important not to let professionalism fall by the wayside. You may be sending emails faster, but your messages should still be clear, professional, and personalized. Always review your email before you hit send to check for any typos or errors. It’s also a good idea to occasionally review your saved email templates and refresh or adjust as necessary.

As an accounting firm owner, good communication is key to everything you do. Whether you’re assigning tasks to another team member or requesting documents from a client, clear communication saves time and energy for everyone involved.

Communicate with your clients and teammates clearly and exercise transparency. Being as clear and thorough as possible with your requests or instructions helps reduce the back-and-forth that tends to happen when people are unsure. 

If you’re clear from the start, your entire workflow will ultimately become more efficient.

72% of accountants say that the effectiveness of the workflow automation at their firm is dependent on systems and processes that work smoothly. If you’re like most accountants, then the best way to build efficient systems at your firm is by using an accounting CRM. 

The best accounting CRM software not only enables you to do your job faster and complete tasks seamlessly, but it also helps you keep track of everything client-related.

With Financial Cents, you can get a detailed overview of all client information that can help you better manage your relationship — from a client activity dashboard to client email communications which can be converted into tasks and assigned to your staff.

In an ideal world, your clients will let you know the second that something in your process isn’t working for them. But this isn’t always the case. Sometimes problems go unaddressed for too long simply because you weren’t even aware there was an issue — and the next thing you know, your client is ending their contract. 

The only way to improve your systems and processes is to be aware of any inefficiencies or issues in your workflow. This means asking your clients directly for their feedback. 

To clarify everything and make sure things are running smoothly for both you and your client, collect feedback on a regular basis. You could do this by sending out surveys to all of your clients or scheduling regular meetings for face-to-face feedback. 

Directly asking for feedback is the only way to hear your client’s thoughts and address any inefficiencies. This is one major change you can make to improve efficiency and streamline your accounting firm. 

Easy clients make your job even easier. When you don’t have to spend time constantly requesting documents or following up on an important email, client management becomes seamless for everyone involved. 

But in order to work with these “easy” clients, you have to filter out clients that aren’t a good fit for your firm. Your ideal client should check the boxes of the qualities you look for in a client or fall under the niche you work in. 

For example, Hall CPA PLLC.  works exclusively with real estate clients — so much so that the firm is known as “the CPAs in the real estate space.” Hall explains, “Niching is one of the core reasons we see continued success,” he says. “It helps us win clients, retain clients, and win employees.”

When positioning yourself as the best firm for clients within your niche, focus on speaking their language to prove why you’re a good fit for each other. When you can speak the language of your niche, you’re communicating to clients and prospective clients that you “get them.” As a result, they’ll be more likely to work with you over other providers in the market.

Use Financial Cents Accounting CRM Software to Effectively Manage Clients

If you want to improve client management at your accounting firm, use Financial Cents’ accounting CRM software. 

With Financial Cents, you can stay on top of tasks, hit your deadlines, and seamlessly communicate with clients and staff — all in one convenient dashboard.