Finding clients is tough but losing them is easy, says Joe Reevy
I was recently asked for some examples of poor service by the law firms used by the companies I am involved with: compiling the list got me thinking about one of the big differences between legal and accounting practice.
Accountants’ professional ethics require the new firm to write to the old firm what is called a “clearance letter” when a client moves.
Unlike a law firm, an accountant always knows when a client has moved to another firm. This is a very important piece of information.
Not knowing when you have lost a client is a really big problem, because if you don’t know you’ve lost the client, you don’t know why you have lost the client and the answer to that question can help you run a better and more profitable practice. This is especially so because clients are expensive things to find. Many firms lose chargeable time of £30,000 or more per annum per partner to “marketing”. If this time is accounted for as a separate cost, marketing is one
