The Top 4 Things Your Accounting Clients Wish You Knew

As B2B service professionals, we always want to put our best foot forward when interacting with clients and prospects. This is especially true in accounting, where many people believe in outdated stereotypes of stoic, awkward communicators who feel most comfortable around numbers and data.

In reality, our prospects and clients are people, just like you and all the members of your team. Most people have an innate desire to build relationships with the people around them. It’s how we’re wired as humans, dating back to a time when being kicked out of the tribe meant a struggle to survive.

One of the key elements of building a relationship is learning about the other party. But it’s not always easy for accounting clients to be forthcoming, especially if they’re new to working with your firm. Using our many years of professional experience working with these kinds of organizations, we’ve come up with some of the most common things your clients want you to know – even if they don’t say it openly.

“I’m open to learning new things if presented the right way”

The smartest and most successful people in every field of business tend to get that way by learning as much as they can. Billionaire investor Warren Buffet famously claims to spend as much as 80% of his work day reading everything from newspapers to biographies. He suggests those who want to be successful in their field aim to read 500 pages per day.

These goals might not be realistic to many professionals, but almost anyone you ask would say that more learning is a good idea. Similarly, your clients are likely open to learning new things from you – as long as the information is provided in the right manner. That means allowing them to learn from your business and its operations in a way that isn’t condescending or belittling to them. Even if you don’t intend to behave this way, you may end up accidentally coming across like it. During parts of the project when you educate clients on your services and how they work, take extra care to ensure you’re using the right tone and delivery.

“If I sound worried, I’m predicting an issue with the service”

Unless you’re really unlucky, most of your accounting clients will be relatively nice, understanding people. They want to believe that your firm is capable of doing what they contracted you to do. For some people, the desire to be nice and understanding prevents them from being open and upfront about reservations they may have about your firm and its work.

In client interactions, this tension often manifests itself as passive-aggressive questions, changes to a person’s tone or voice, or even physical tics that they may try to hide. If you’re noticing some or all of these behaviors in your clients, it’s usually best to address the concerns outright with an easygoing question.

It can be as easy as posing a simple question or observation during a conversation: “Is there something on your mind?” Or, “You seem preoccupied; is there anything you’d like to talk about?” Most clients who have concerns they haven’t voiced will appreciate the opportunity to say what’s really on their mind. Plus, this gives you an opportunity to connect with clients on a more personal level, which can make a big difference when they are deciding whether or not to continue working with your firm.

“I don’t want to micromanage you.”

The main reason businesses hire accounting service providers in the first place is so that they don’t have to deal with the nuances of day-to-day accounting tasks. So why would any normal client want to pay money to still deal with those tasks? Despite the contradiction, we still see lots of accounting clients giving too much input on the minutiae of their provider’s tasks. There are a number of reasons this happens: the firm didn’t set expectations properly with a comprehensive engagement letter, they didn’t take full ownership of the work they do, or they’re intimidated by the client and don’t know how to resolve the situation.

Even if they don’t seem to mind micromanaging, it will eventually wear on both your firm and the client. Your best bet is to nip this situation in the bud before it gets out of control and leads to resentment by both parties.

“I’m fine with using dedicated technology and tools, to a point.”

Clients who hire accounting firms accept that they’ll have to make some changes to their regular workflow. Most will be okay with adding one or two additional software tools or web accounts to help their service providers. But if you ask them to use too many different software tools or web applications, clients can start to feel overwhelmed.

That’s why our suggestion is to use a comprehensive accounting practice management software suite with the ability to take care of several different processes. With this type of platform, you can minimize the technical burden on your clients so that you can spend more time connecting with them to really understand their needs, fears, and goals, helping you cement your firm as a trusted service provider for many years to come.

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