The contents of this article should not be a surprise to any accountant. You already know the top three ways accountants can increase their fees. The question is, do you do them?
Top three ways to increase fees
The three tried and tested methods for accountants to attract new clients or increase their fees with existing clients:
- Talk to your existing clients.
- Act on referrals.
- Attend networking events.
So, no great shocks in that list. In most cases, the above activities are free, or very cheap to implement. But how proactive and effective are you at doing them?
Talking to your clients
Other than asking your clients for the necessary information to complete their tax returns or accounts, how often do you meet with them or pick up the phone and say, “how are things?”. Once you’ve asked that question, sit back and listen. By giving your clients the space to chat, without feeling they are getting charged for your time, they are more likely to open up about opportunities or issues they may be facing, which could indirectly lead to ways in which you could help them (and charge them a fee for doing so as well).
If you find that you always come away from a client meeting or a phone call forgetting to ask them how things are, add it to the agenda. This could be as a reminder just for you, or to give them time to think about any other matters they want to discuss during the meeting.
Act on client referrals
In my experience, accountants are very good at acting on referrals they receive. However, not every accountant is as proactive as they could be when it comes to asking for a referral in the first place. There are three sources to maximise referral opportunities from:
- Existing clients
- Staff
- Third-party introducers and business contacts.
Think about ways in which you could increase the number of referrals you get from these three sources, including verbal and email reminders throughout the year.
Referrals should work both ways, particularly with third-party introducers and business contacts. So keep a track of who you have referred to your business contacts and how many people they have referred back to you. It can be an excellent prompt to receive more referrals if you can show to a business associate that the flow of referrals has been a bit one-sided (in their favour).
Attend networking events
Like it or not, people buy from people and that is very much the case with accountancy. Attending local networking events not only gives you an opportunity to meet business people from a variety of sectors, but it also gives people an opportunity to meet and get to know you. It is also a great forum for you to highlight your practice and why you’re different from other local accountants. Use networking events to be helpful to local businesses, perhaps thought-provoking. It is a great way of giving people useful information, such as the latest tax updates, e.g. the recent changes to NIC and dividend taxes, MTD for ITSA etc. Rather than simply stating that you’re an accountant, quickly move on to offering free updates and tips on what businesses need to be aware of. In doing so you are more likely to have people coming to talk to you at the end of the session or across the table. And the aim of any networking is to start a conversation, so try to do just that.
Our blog ‘A no-pressure way to networking’ gives more suggestions on how to make your networking activities as productive as possible.
If you’re new to networking, check out the British Chambers of Commerce website to see if they have a branch near you.
These three ways to increase client fees shouldn’t be ‘new news’ but hopefully, they have acted as a reminder of what you need to do to keep bringing in new clients or cross-selling to existing ones.
