I do have to admit I continue to be amazed by the amount of inquiries I receive from potential new clients, immediately after tax season.
The number one reason is the fact that their prior CPA ignored them during tax season. They call repeatedly because they have major issues affecting their business and are told that the person they are paying does not have time to talk to them. Me, I personally get pissed when I am on hold for 5 minutes waiting for customer service to answer their phone.
Last year I picked up a client for whom I was just doing some QuickBooks training for their new bookkeeper. That in and of itself was a major clue that they were not happy with their CPA. One day right after I finished the training with them, I got a call from the owner. We scheduled a time to meet, when I arrived, the owner met me in the foyer and asked if I would continue to work with them quarterly basis and prepare their tax returns. Of course I agreed, I enjoyed the time I had spent with them.
This year I received an e-mail requesting a meeting. We met and within two hours I was hired. Apparently their CPA was not responding to inquiries and when the client could not wait any longer and made the changes without their approval; they yelled at the client. Who does that? I have not been pleased by some actions of my clients, but never to the point of yelling at them.
But, my peers and their lack of ability to communicate has garnered me a number clients. For which I am very thankful.
In my office we have a much different philosophy for client communications. When I am not at my desk I have my direct line forwarded to my cell phone. If I am not working with a client I answer the phone. If I am with a client I let it go to voicemail and return the call after my meeting. I try to answer e-mails within the same day, assuming I am in front of my computer.
I also recognize that businesses keep moving forward regardless of tax season. The world does not stand still for this minor event. But we also work with our clients through out the year with an eye on taxes and their impact for the client. With this philosophy we were able to meet the March 15th deadline for all of the corporate clients that we work with regularly and just about all of the clients we work with sporadically through the year, assuming of course that they gave us the information in time. March 16th is not on time… those we put on extension.