Why are clients scared to talk?
A common situation I find on forums, and shamed to admit – with my own clients (sometimes!), is that they are scared to ask questions as and when they come up.
Possible reasons that I’ve come up with:
1/ An accountants’ cost may be too much considering the onset of an idea or a possibility of a particular event
2/ Fear of appearing silly or asking a stupid or curly question
3/ Not knowing what to ask or how to put it into words
4/ Not the end of the financial year or not BAS time so need to wait
Surely, your accountant would prefer you to be getting into deals, arrangements and ventures knowing what your getting into and when you want to get into them!
And let me ask you this – what is the true cost of not seeking your accountants advice? Will it result in you buying an investment within an incorrect structure? And would changing it to the correct structure cost 5 times more than 1 hour of specific professional advice? Or what about starting a business? Is there any point for you to do what Johny down the street is doing, or get the most appropriate structure for you and your family?
Personally, I constantly promote an open door policy time and time again, to the point that I think my clients can give my squeal for me! I invite my clients to email or call with a question. I never bill if it’s something general and at the top of my head. If a more detailed technical response is required – then I do warn an advisory cost will apply, as I need to recover my research costs (as surprise surprise – I don’t know everything under the tax sun!).
So are you a client that’s scared to talk? – You should be!
But not of your accountant!
What’s your view? Do you contact your accountant as the need arises, or worse – when the transaction/event has already happened and nothing can be done?!
Great subject for a post! From my own contact with business owners, my hunch is the ‘headline’ reason people put off talking to their accountant (or lawyer) is financial but underneath is the fear factor (points 2 and 3).
But what can we do to help business people feel comfortable to talk to their adviser ahead of making a decision? Simply saying ‘we don’t bite’ or reassuring people that it’s better to seek advice first, or we aren’t judging them as people is just words.
Here are a couple of thoughts that came to my mind as I pondered this…
Perhaps one way is to call clients to say “hello”? I’ve found that a business owner with a problem can be reluctant (or too busy) to pick up the phone to chat (=ask for advice) but will gladly share if the adviser calls to see how things are going. Over time, they get more used to sharing and asking.
The other thing is to make our language straightforward and enable clients to feel at ease when they share their business concerns with us. It’s so easy to end up proving our expertise (big words, complex explanations that can end up making smart people feel stupid), rather than communicating so can use our knowledge and experience in the service of our clients and their business. I guess I’m thinking here about ‘bedside manner’ (approachability index?).
Thanks for raising this. I’ve found myself chatting with a lot of people on this topic recently and I’m certainly going to reflect more on it to see how the expert fear factor impacts in my world…and to look for ways to reduce it.
Kate (@kategroom)
Thanks for your comment Kate. There are plenty of ways to reduce the fear factor – with approachability being one of the main ones as you mentioned. If you promote an open door policy – there should be no reason for fear! As I mentioned on the post – you should only have fear when you don’t seek proactive and preemptive advice.