{"id":26341,"date":"2022-09-02T08:00:25","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T13:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/?p=26341"},"modified":"2023-08-22T11:07:37","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T16:07:37","slug":"grow-your-practice-by-serving-fewer-clients-not-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accountants.intuit.com\/taxprocenter\/practice-management\/grow-your-practice-by-serving-fewer-clients-not-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Grow your practice by serving fewer clients (not more)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some tax professionals believe there is no \u201cbusy season;\u201d instead, busy season lasts all year long. It\u2019s great to be busy and feel as if you\u2019re always in demand, but if you\u2019re just working harder and not working smarter, are you really moving your practice and your life forward?<\/p>\n

Not likely.<\/p>\n

I know this probably isn\u2019t what you want to hear during these uncertain times, but you need to let a bunch of your clients go. Most CPAs and accountants I know have way too many clients\u2014and it\u2019s holding them back.<\/p>\n

As business strategist and CPA coach Geraldine Carter recently mentioned on my podcast<\/a>, when you start out, the way to grow is to say \u201cyes\u201d to everything. But then, especially if you\u2019re hourly billing, you hit a ceiling and you just cannot find more hours in the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat they end up doing is still wanting to make more money, so they add more clients and try to build a practice by volume,” she said, “But you can see what happens when you\u2019re stuck with hourly billing. You just end up kind of in this swirl where you\u2019re always behind, always backed up against a deadline, and never really doing what you know you could do for your best clients.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Carter, the best way off the hamster wheel is to get rid of the bottom 20% of your clients as quickly as you can. It may seem counterintuitive, but they\u2019re actually getting in the way of business growth. Because CPAs and accountants want to help everyone and are no strangers to working extremely hard, letting clients go is the hardest step of the process, \u201cBecause these are people with whom you\u2019ve developed relationships,\u201d said Carter.<\/p>\n

Disengaging can also very good for the clients you part with. It frees them up to another firm that might be a better fit for them at a better price point. Again, you must force yourself to let go of your bottom 20% of clients every year, so you can free up more time to focus on developing the services that are going to best serve our best clients.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just a matter of time management. According to Carter, if you take the time to do the analysis, you\u2019ll see that the price differential between serving your best clients vs. your least desirable clients is at least 3x\u20135x.<\/b><\/p>\n

Carter and others believes basic services such as monthly write-up or glorified bookkeeping should be removed from your offering.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is like spiking the ball in celebration after getting the ball to the 40-yard-line,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019re not in the end zone. The real value is way down the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where you can help your clients make better decisions about their cash, where they\u2019re going to invest their cash in order to grow their business, and whether they should buy the building or lease it. It\u2019s about helping them get the documentation pulled together they need to bring to the bank; having conversations with their financial planner, lawyer, and other advisors; and quarterbacking those relationships on the client\u2019s behalf. That\u2019s where the real value is.<\/p>\n

So shift your focus onto what is most valuable for your best clients. You\u2019ll earn higher fees and run a much simpler tax accounting practice. As I\u2019ve always believed, \u201cfees follow value.\u201d<\/p>\n

Warren Buffett likes to say, \u201cThe difference between successful people and really successful<\/i> people is that really successful people say NO to almost everything.\u201d As a CPA, learning to say no to all but the best opportunities and clients frees you up to focus on building out your services in a way that maximizes outcomes for your best clients.<\/p>\n

Tell me what you think by leaving a comment below.<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways<\/b><\/p>\n