Knowledge Library

Over the years, accountants have expressed their fear of managers leaving the firm and taking clients with them.  A robust employee contract offers some protection but the enforcement of it is challenging, costly and stressful.

I have always recommended a firm wide approach to servicing clients as an additional protection. How does this work? Look at ALL the services and support that your firm is providing to your clients. Then identify who in your team is providing those services and support. If most of the client contact is limited to one person, the firm has a problem. Why?

1.     The person looking after the client is overwhelmed and stressed. Things will get missed and mistakes will be made.
2.     Client service will suffer because that person doesn’t have the time to look after the client properly.
3.     If that person is sick or on leave, the clients needs will not be met properly while they are away.
4.     The client relationship is at risk if a manager leaves the firm because the client has mainly dealt with that manager.

What does a firm wide approach look like? Everyone in the firm has responsibility for looking after the client in some way. The CSO team might call in the work and follow up with the client. Someone else might be responsible for all things ASIC. Another might be the go-to person for Xero.

You might already have something similar in place. However, the secret to this model succeeding, is for the client to be aware as well. They need to know that they don’t contact you (who then transfers them to the right person). Clients need to know who in the firm will help them with what they need.

The benefit of this model is that the client is unlikely to follow a manager when they leave because they aren’t confident that one manager can provide the service that they are receiving from the entire team in your firm. 
This model also creates additional capacity in your firm.