5 Tools for Client Retention
As an accounting or tax firm, retaining clients is crucial to your success. It's much easier and more cost-effective to keep an existing client than to acquire a new one.
Without effective client retention strategies, accounting and tax firms are in danger of losing their clients to the competition. In today's highly competitive business environment, it's not enough to simply offer high-quality services; firms must also build and maintain strong relationships with their clients. This is where client retention tools come in handy. By using the right tools, accounting and tax firms can increase customer loyalty, improve client satisfaction, and ultimately, grow their businesses. In this article, we will highlight five client retention tools that accounting and tax firms should use to build and maintain strong relationships with their clients.
- Use video messaging
One great way to build trust and deliver value in a client relationship is through check-ins. However, it can be challenging to sound personal in a plain-text email. That's where video messaging tools come in. These apps allow you to record videos and send them to clients, either directly or based on automation rules.
While there’s always value to meeting your clients in person, video messages can deliver quick messages to clients in a clear, concise manner without you or your client sacrificing a significant amount of time. This way, your client can receive a personalized message without feeling as though they’re not a priority.
One popular video messaging platform is Bonjoro. Another great option is Dubb, which integrates with LinkedIn features and offers a range of pricing plans.
- Engage clients with questionnaires and surveys
If you're looking for a simple and cost-effective way to gather customer feedback, consider using survey providers like Survey Monkey or Zoomerang. These platforms are easy to learn, offer useful reporting features, and their membership fees are minimal. Plus, you can easily download or share reports in PDF, Excel, or .CSV format, making it convenient to upload data to your system or manipulate it as needed.
Conducting a well-planned survey can provide you with enough customer data to guide your decision-making for several years. In doing so, you are hearing directly from your clients what they like about your firm and where it could improve. That will go a long way in ensuring their satisfaction for years to come. Other benefits of engaging clients with surveys are:
- You can learn about their current status and future goals.
- Understand their decision-making timeline.
- Determine if they are using services from another provider that you could offer.
- Invest in developing service offerings that match your best customers' needs.
- Automate the delivery of personalized notes
Sending personalized notes can be a great way to become memorable in the minds of leads or stay top of mind for clients. However, it can be time-consuming to do this manually. Fortunately, there are many tools available to automate most, if not all, of these activities.
Handwrytten is one such tool that allows you to customize the font and stationary for your note, include a gift card, and bulk-import hundreds of contacts so you don't miss anyone. Snappy is another option, which allows you to reward clients with a gift on each anniversary with your firm or celebrate a milestone you achieved together.
- Use scheduling tools to remain accessible
Part of adopting a client-first focus in your firm is emphasizing communication and responsiveness. Scheduling tools, such as Calendly, allow you and your team to remain accessible without compromising your work schedule or being on call 24/7.
Using this tool allows clients to easily book appointments with you without either of you having to go back and forth between what works for your schedule. That way, you can focus more on the task at hand while your clients feel assured that you value their time.
- Use an email newsletter to keep clients informed
Email newsletters can be a great way to maintain trust with clients and deliver valuable information. Hubspot, Moosend, and Omnisend are tools that allow you to design and automate email campaigns.
Your firm can find success using an email newsletter. You can take advantage of the tool to reconnect with clients who have been inactive since their last visit or paid service. By doing so, you can provide valuable assistance to your clients, foster their loyalty, and even attract new or repeat business from your existing client base. You can even find success using a newsletter to keep clients informed about changes in tax laws and regulations. By providing this valuable information, you can increase client retention rates and build trust with your clients.
How Taxfyle can help
Retaining client satisfaction takes up much of your day-to-day time. And when the busy seasons come around, it’s easy for small things to get lost in the shuffle. If you want more time to prioritize your clients, we can help.
We connect firms like yours to our network of licensed CPAs and EAs who are able to augment your firm’s workflows without sacrificing overhead costs or dedicating time to train them. That way, you can make sure that your clients’ needs are taken care of.
Why let the busy season get busier? Let Taxfyle help.
