Empathy defines as ‘the ability to understand and share the feelings of another’.
The accounting profession is accused of many things by its clients and amongst them are these:
- “My accountant doesn’t know what my business does”.
- “My accountant doesn’t know what I’m trying to achieve”.
- “My accountant doesn’t know why I started this business”.
Now, if an accountant’s job is to keep a client compliant with law, then why should they care about the above?
We all know however, that regardless of what you thought you sold or what the client thought they bought, the relationship you have with them is a human one with potentially life changing consequences to be found for the client in both the success and failure of their business.
Is that your problem? No, but the client wants it to be, as demonstrated by the three examples above which are little more than cries for empathy.
So, what is a ‘good’ accountant to do about this?
- Nothing
- Offer help for free which creates resentment from the accountant
- Offer help on a paid for basis which I’m repeatedly told the client won’t pay for, even though I’ve been disproving that claim for 27 years so far.
Could the win/win be found in the demonstration of empathy? After all, what does a technical professional with a recurring fee business model for a service required by law know about having to go out and sell every month just to meet payroll and pay the mortgage? Not much.
In relationships with clients, especially the bigger ones with the bigger ambitions, there lies opportunity. Empathy identifies it, your questions qualify it; and your skillset provides a solution for it.
The client then needs to assess the cost, the return and the payback period of the support your offering, just like an accountant does before investing in their firm.
Here’s the Bullet: What return, and payback period do you offer, comparative to the cost of using you, to your client?
Demonstrate that and watch your practice grow organically.
To your success,
Martin Bissett
