When firms start working with Renew, we often ask them, "Do you have any clients who send their documents in 3 batches, the last one right before the deadline?" You already know the answer we typically get. Then we ask who has told that client, in writing, when documents are due and what happens if they're late. Very few firms do that with any consistency.
When that happens, the client isn't breaking your rules. The issue is, you don’t have rules.
(If you haven’t already downloaded our Fix Your Tax Season Checklist, you can get it here: https://hub.renewgroup.com/fix-your-tax-season-program). Or if you’d like to chat about how Renew has been helping firms fix tax season for 30 years, just reply to this email, or book a 15-minute Discovery Call. Or if easier, text us at 317.496.2192.
Every firm has them. Documents in dribs and drabs. The "quick question" email at 9pm. The call on April 12 expecting a return that week. The client who won’t use your preferred software.
This is a ‘dictating the terms’ problem. When the firm doesn't set the terms, its least organized clients set them instead. That's how the Deadline-Driven Firm gets built: one exception at a time, leading to far too many ways of doing things, and everything arriving at the last minute.
Your engagement letter covers scope and liability. It says very little about how the relationship actually works: who does what, how, and by when.
Blake Meester, a Renew member, has a simple view. Tell the client you have a professional process that gets them the outcome they want, and that it works your way. In his words, "when you do that, nine times out of 10, they're doing it your way."
I remember on one of our Renew calls, my co-founder Shannon Vincent once asked Blake a rhetorical question: if I bring my car to your car wash, can I tell you how to wash it? Blake's answer was that he'd happily point you to the car wash across the street.
Clients don't want to design your process. However, they do need to know you have one.
We call it a Mutual Commitment Statement. It's 1 page, both sides sign it, and it goes out with the engagement letter rather than sitting in the fine print. It covers 3 things:
Remember to ask clients to sign the statement when you send it out to them. Wording like this works: "Before we start this year, here's how we'll work together. It's 1 page. Please could you sign it and send it back with your engagement letter?"
Last week’s Renewsletter was about the clients you already know are the wrong fit, and how to release them gracefully. The Mutual Commitment Statement weeds out the ones you missed.
Some clients may push back. Pay attention to who. A client who won't commit to sending documents on time is putting up a red flag.
Frankly, there's a good chance those are Insanity Zone clients. On a Pareto for Profit™, they tend to pay the least and take the most. If they won't sign in November, you still have time to move them on before Thanksgiving.
It's your firm. You set the rules.
You must make your firm the #1 client. Use this time of the year to put in place the changes that will fix your tax season.
Download the Mutual Commitment Statement
Want to talk through how to roll it out to your clients? Just reply to this email, or book a 15-minute Discovery Call.
Text us at 317.496.2192
if you want to talk it through.
