{"id":440,"date":"2015-10-05T23:27:03","date_gmt":"2015-10-06T04:27:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/?p=440"},"modified":"2016-07-05T18:05:36","modified_gmt":"2016-07-05T23:05:36","slug":"no-thanks-how-to-turn-away-potential-clients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accountants.intuit.com\/taxprocenter\/client-relationships\/no-thanks-how-to-turn-away-potential-clients\/","title":{"rendered":"No Thanks: How to Turn Away Potential Clients"},"content":{"rendered":"

You didn\u2019t open a tax practice to show business the door, but you know from minute one that some potential clients won\u2019t work out. How to send these questionable folks away politely yet effectively?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you just get that feeling that this is not who you want to work with,\u201d said Kerry Freeman, EA, of Freeman Income Tax Service in Anthem, Ariz. \u201cI have just told some, \u2018You are not the client I want to work with.\u2019 Awkward, but needed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the hardest things I do \u2013 who wants to turn down revenue?\u201d said EA Jeffrey Schneider, of Port St. Lucie, Fla. \u201cI usually just tell them that we are not a good fit for their business and wish them well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI say that I don\u2019t feel able at this time to provide them with the level of service to which they are entitled because my staff is sufficiently occupied with our current clients,\u201d said EA Debra James, at Genesis Accounting & Management Services, in Lorain, Ohio.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSorry, can\u2019t help,\u201d said San Antonio EA James Berardi. \u201cMaybe the bozo down the street will \u2026.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Should you Refer?<\/b><\/p>\n

Your first instinct \u2013 inspired by helpfulness and you hope not misguided \u2013 is to send unwanted clients to other preparers. Redirecting potential business so that the move doesn\u2019t somehow backfire on you is \u201cnot as easy as you might think,\u201d said Eva Rosenberg, EA, founder of and blogger at TaxMama. \u201cI used to tell people that I wasn\u2019t skilled in the areas of expertise they needed and I referred them to someone better equipped to help them. Often, they were happy with my recommendation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But if you don\u2019t want the client for reasons beyond their not fitting your specialization or you simply lacking the time, do you really want to steer them to another preparer?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI tell them that I do not have the capacity to take them on as a client and usually refer them to a colleague, if the colleague is interested,\u201d said EA Stephen DeFilippis of DeFilippis Financial Group in Wheaton, Ill.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, when a client is uncooperative or I believe not forthcoming, I tell them exactly that,\u201d Schneider added. \u201cI do that as they sometimes ask for a recommendation. I would never recommend that type of client.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s Not Them, it\u2019s You<\/b><\/p>\n

One solid tactic: Tell the potential client that their needs exceed your skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf their situation is beyond our comfort level and we are unable to refer them to someone we know who can assist them, we politely tell the client we are unable to assist them because we don\u2019t have the special skills it takes to provide the assistance,\u201d said Delmar Gillette at Coastal Tax in Newport News, Va.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI usually tell them it\u2019s going to take a bigger time commitment than I have and that I don\u2019t feel I could take care of their needs,\u201d added Georgianna Adkins, an EA at Adkins Bookkeeping & Tax services in Van Wert, Ohio.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s one asking me to prepare their taxes improperly, it\u2019s simple: I politely tell them I can\u2019t do taxes that way and that they need to find another preparer,\u201d said Becky Neilson of Neilson Bookkeeping in Sheridan, Calif. \u201cIn other cases, I may just tell them I don\u2019t do their type of returns. For example, I used to do 990s, but I stopped because those clients often wanted a discount and rarely had their bookkeeping in order. I tell those potential clients that I don\u2019t do those returns anymore; I\u2019ve stopped purchasing the software for those returns and they were an unprofitable part of my business. That\u2019s a truthful response.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou can say that at the present moment you\u2019re too busy. Usually they get the idea and everyone saves face,\u201d said Stephen Anderson, an EA in Carlsbad, Calif. \u201cIf they\u2019re more pushy, I let them know that I appreciate them considering me but it wouldn\u2019t be a good fit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Anderson said that despite the different reasons for not wanting a new client, one is most common: price. \u201cThey often want to pay me much less than my existing clients with similar tax situations,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce they realize this isn\u2019t a hobby [of mine] and that I can\u2019t give everyone a deal, they may go to H&R Block or someplace similar \u2013 though often those places are more, with all their optional fees.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn my experience, many of the extremely price-sensitive clients don\u2019t make the best clients,\u201d Anderson added, \u201cthough there are always exceptions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A combination of approaches works, too. \u201cSometimes we just have to tell a person that they are not a fit for our firm,\u201d said Timothy Oatney, a CPA in Lancaster, Ohio. \u201cA suggested firm or person is then usually offered. Another way when this comment is ignored is to request a very high retainer, which usually works well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Other Tactics<\/b><\/p>\n

Some situations are tougher still. \u201cThis can be tricky if the unwanted client is an acquaintance,\u201d admitted Jim Loperfido of JGL Management Consulting in Auburn, N.Y. \u201cBut mostly I assess if I can be of help; if not, it is easy to say no. The other folks [we can] usually send away by asking for a high retainer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For phoned questions beyond \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d Adkins supplies no answers because of liability issues but does offer an appointment \u2013 usually for a charge. \u201cMany want free advice, and if they have one question I probably have five back at them,\u201d she said. \u201cIf it\u2019s not worth something to them it\u2019s not worth wasting my time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You didn\u2019t open a tax practice to show business the door, but you know from minute one that some potential clients won\u2019t work out. How to send these questionable folks away politely yet effectively? \u201cSometimes you just get that feeling that this is not who you want to work with,\u201d said Kerry Freeman, EA, of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107202006,"featured_media":442,"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":[509474205],"class_list":["post-440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-client-relationships"],"header_image":"","yoast_head":"\nNo Thanks: How to Turn Away Potential 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\/no-thanks-how-to-turn-away-potential-clients\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No Thanks: How to Turn Away Potential Clients - Tax Pro Center | Intuit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You didn\u2019t open a tax practice to show business the door, but you know from minute one that some potential clients won\u2019t work out. 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