7 tips for more efficient client communications

Establishing consistent communications and effectively managing client expectations is an important aspect of tax and accounting. However, periodic reminders, check-ins, and administrative work that comes with liaising with clients can be time-consuming. The takeaway? It’s the kind of work that can be optimized to better serve your firm.

Much like low-value tasks, simple client communications can be streamlined, automated, and in some cases, outsourced. Wondering how to decrease time and effort while maintaining valuable client relationships? Here are some effective ways to make your communications with clients more efficient and impactful.

1. Work from templates—then personalize

Many of the messages you send to clients echo the same ideas, words, phrases, and even instructions. From quarterly tax due date notifications to onboarding guidelines, you and your team are likely firing off numerous similar emails each day. Saving time on typing these routine notes would allow you to work on more complex client needs.

To do that, prepare a series of email templates to have at the ready for a variety of common topics, especially recurring ones, including deadline reminders. Many email programs let you save templates, while text replacement software such as TextExpander, PhraseExpress, and Text Blaze can autofill templated text with the use of a keyboard shortcut. With templates to work from, you can also offload the sending of client communications to more junior-level staffers or outsourced workers.

While it’s important not to have these templates sound stiff or robotic, it’s worth it to add elements of personalization to each email. Depending on your relationship and the nature of the message, you could mention an account-specific detail or something a bit more personal. For example, if you and your client discussed the Red Sox game the last time you spoke, a nod to a recent game could be a way to deepen client rapport and trust.

Here’s an example of an email template you might use to send to a new client:

Sample accountant email template

Hi [CONTACT NAME],

Welcome to [YOUR FIRM’S NAME]! It’s great to have you with us. We’re looking forward to helping you streamline your finances and achieve your business goals.

Before we get started, there are a few things we need from you in order to onboard you into our system. The sooner we receive this information, the sooner we’ll be able to begin working together.

Please upload the following documents using this secure link by [DATE]. It shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to complete.

• [ITEM 1]
• [ITEM 2]
• [ITEM 3, etc.]

Once we’ve received all of the above, [CLIENT MANAGER NAME] will give you a quick call to schedule your kickoff meeting.

If you have any questions in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

We look forward to speaking soon,

[YOUR NAME]

2. Provide proactive educational content

If you’re an accountant who mainly communicates with clients ahead of, and during, tax season, you’ve probably sent messages expressing appreciation for their business during slower months. Providing educational content to clients before they need it is an excellent way to keep in touch and have them feel they are getting added value from your firm and working relationship. Use the off-season to build out content you can schedule to send throughout the year. Examples include topics on deductions or credits, links to helpful webinars, or distilling tax guidances and important deadlines from the IRS into an easy-to-read format.

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3. Avoid jargon

Educational content only builds client trust if your clients can easily understand what is being sent. Make sure to avoid jargon in your emails, videos, and other areas. As the Journal of Accountancy notes, accountants have their own vocational language. When it’s used with people who are unfamiliar with it, you run the risk of alienating them. Instead, prioritize the use of terms that are clear and easy to understand for a general audience.

4. Incorporate data into your communications

Similarly, it can be helpful to explain more complicated financial topics with charts and data. Whether that’s internal data on client satisfaction or tax statistics, incorporating data into your communications can help a client feel in the know.

5. Use a secure portal, not an inbox

If your firm decides to enlist junior members to work on client communications, that member might be sending emails to a long list of clients. When it becomes your turn to interface with a client, you likely won’t have an idea of what’s already been said unless you ask them to forward existing email chains.

In other words, sending out individual emails means communications are only immediately visible to the sender in their inbox. To combat this, you can resolve to only communicate with clients through a secure portal. If you’ve successfully set up a portal for your clients to onboard them, then it’s easy to continue using the portal for communications. This allows you to see what concerns clients have expressed previously, what questions they’ve had, and how you can build off their most recent interactions—ultimately saving time while keeping the client relationship strong.

6. Keep communication consistent

Sporadic emails, no matter how informative or customized, can be jarring to your client. By setting up regular automated messages and pre-scheduled notes, you can stay on top of the most important communications without having to dedicate copious time to planning and writing them.

7. Know when to write it yourself and when to outsource it

Analysis of proposals and changes to tax law are the domain of experienced tax professionals—these are the kind of high-value communications that require expertise and experience to write. The end-of-year holiday greeting for clients? That can be outsourced. Be rigorous in determining which communications only you can write and which ones can go to a virtual assistant, marketing firm, or intern.