{"id":335,"date":"2016-01-15T15:57:53","date_gmt":"2016-01-15T21:57:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/?p=335"},"modified":"2017-10-19T17:27:28","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T22:27:28","slug":"7-steps-to-giving-bad-news-to-clients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accountants.intuit.com\/taxprocenter\/client-relationships\/7-steps-to-giving-bad-news-to-clients\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Steps to Giving Bad News to Clients"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight:400;\">You wouldn\u2019t think a bookkeeper would have to worry about giving bad news. After all, it\u2019s not like we\u2019re doctors saying, \u201cI\u2019m sorry sir, but you only have six months to live.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight:400;\">Unfortunately, we are frequently in the business of giving bad news. In the last six months, I\u2019ve had to give bad news on more than one occasion, with things like the following:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight:400;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight:400;\">I see evidence of employee fraud<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight:400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight:400;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight:400;\">You\u2019ve been levied fines and penalties for payroll or sales tax because it wasn\u2019t set up properly<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight:400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight:400;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight:400;\">Your checking account is overdrawn<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight:400;\">. (There\u2019s always a reason \u2013 they forgot to make the deposits, or they didn\u2019t tell you about a large expense they had coming out \u2013 but obviously, it\u2019s always bad news).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight:400;\">It is easy for clients to blame their bookkeeper for the bad news, too, and out we go. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight:400;\">That last bookkeeper let my account get overdrawn<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight:400;\">. You know that old adage \u2013 the messenger always gets shot. While I can\u2019t guarantee you won\u2019t get metaphorically shot, here\u2019s my approach to delivering clients bad news:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight:400;\"><b>Act fast. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight:400;\">Like Superman and his speeding train, get the information to them as quickly as possible. Dragging your feet only prolongs your agony, and can make the client suspicious that you are trying to hide something.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight:400;\"><b>The facts, ma\u2019am, only the facts.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight:400;\"> Tell it straight, with all the information available to you, but nothing more. Rambling on and on won\u2019t change anything<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight:400;\"><b>Communicate carefully.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight:400;\"> I try to do this via email in almost any situation. However, there are times that a call is necessary, if it\u2019s something sensitive and it\u2019s possible your client wouldn\u2019t want it in email. For fraud situations, I create a folder in Google Drive or Dropbox with all of the evidence uncovered, password protected and get on a call with the client so that we can review it together.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight:400;\"><b>Admit if it\u2019s your fault.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight:400;\"> I wrote an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.worketc.com\/blog\/growing-businesses\/3-saving-screw-client\/\" data-wa-link=\"body_worketc-screwUp\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight:400;\">entire article<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight:400;\"> about this awhile back. There are three steps to this: acknowledge the mistake, apologize for it and make amends. ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Have options to fix the problem planned out before you tell the client.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight:400;\"><b>Offer a referral.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight:400;\"> If the issue is over your head, be aware of this \u2013 tell the client and let the client know you\u2019ve done some research and have found two to three qualified people that can handle the problem.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight:400;\"><b>Stay on top of it.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight:400;\"> Make sure you keep in touch and follow through with your part of the solution.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight:400;\"><b>Be human.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight:400;\"> Acknowledge the impact of the problem on the client. Be compassionate. After all, you\u2019ve probably had bad news delivered to you a time or two.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight:400;\">Delivering bad news is never easy, but it is an opportunity for you to deepen the trust and rapport you have with your client. When handled properly, you\u2019ll not only keep the client, but you\u2019ll also deepen the trust and loyalty they have in you. Good luck!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You wouldn\u2019t think a bookkeeper would have to worry about giving bad news. After all, it\u2019s not like we\u2019re doctors saying, \u201cI\u2019m sorry sir, but you only have six months to live.\u201d Unfortunately, we are frequently in the business of giving bad news. In the last six months, I\u2019ve had to give bad news on<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107164775,"featured_media":10825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rkv_browse_by_id":0,"rkv_cta_id":0,"rkv_optimize_for_pagespeed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"useModifiedDate":false,"customPublishDate":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[561584],"tags":[],"intuit_collection":[],"intuit_series":[],"coauthors":[509474162],"class_list":["post-335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-client-relationships"],"header_image":"","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>7 Steps to Giving Bad News to Clients - Tax Pro Center | Intuit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/accountants.intuit.com\/taxprocenter\/client-relationships\/7-steps-to-giving-bad-news-to-clients\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"7 Steps to Giving Bad News to Clients - Tax Pro Center | Intuit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You wouldn\u2019t think a bookkeeper would have to worry about giving bad news. 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