Building a Better Client Experience in Accounting

Prioritizing the client experience your firm offers can build a strong reputation and secure long-term clients—both are crucial for revenue growth in small- to midsize accounting firms. Clearly, your client experience has to be more than an afterthought. According to HubSpot:

• Revenue grows 1.7x for businesses that prioritize client experience.
• Customers stick around 2.3 times longer.
• Over 60% of companies that prioritize CX report stronger customer retention and increased customer value.

So let’s get you a checklist of actions you can take, across three key areas of operation, to immediately improve your firm’s client experience:

1. Seamless client interactions
2. Internal efficiency
3. Protecting client information

If you nail the checklists for all three areas, you’re well on your way to delivering a superior client experience in accounting and finance. And superior client experiences can drive financial benefits.

Seamless Client Interactions

You want your clients to know that you’re there to support them in their financial goals and that you’ll make complex processes as easy as possible. Enhance your client experience by making engagement effortless and personalized:

1. Personalize engagements. Use client data to tailor communications, project recommendations and proposals, even if your interactions are infrequent or seasonal.
2. Simplify document access. Enable real-time, secure document sharing for paperwork like contracts and tax information.
3. Centralize client feedback. Implement a secure, unified system to gather and act on feedback quickly. This will help you continuously improve your services, which clients will notice.

Internal Efficiency

A team that’s efficient delivers services faster and has more time for strategic, high-value work. Here are a few actions you can take to improve efficiency:

1. Automate document processes. For routine workflows, eliminate time-consuming tasks like approvals, invoicing and basic tax prep. This will free up your team for more strategic, client-facing work.
2. Define and track performance metrics. Set clear metrics for how your accountants, CPAs and advisors manage workflows, support compliance and communicate with clients.
3. Unify collaboration tools. Your firm may already be leveraging collaboration tools, but make sure they’re not siloed into uselessness. Your tools should connect internal teams as well as external partners and clients in order to streamline execution and elevate the client experience.

Protecting Client Information

Keep the exchange of PII and documents secure to ensure client trust and protect your firm’s reputation. You can build and maintain trust with rigorous data security:

1. Invest in data security. Equip your systems with enterprise-grade protections to better safeguard sensitive client information.
2. Audit regularly. Conduct security reviews and update your systems on a schedule to stay ahead of the evolving risks of cybersecurity.
3. Communicate transparently. Keep your clients informed about how you’re using their data and how you’re protecting it for them. Have protection policies in place and visible to reinforce trust.

The CX-ROI Link: A Clear Formula for a Successful Accounting Firm

To effectively improve ROI, accounting firms can’t leave their client experience behind. Fortunately, modern technology is an advantage here—you can maximize your client experience in every facet of your operations without overburdening your team or needing new talent.

The formula is simple: Personalized interaction plus automated workflows plus up-to-date security equals a CX strategy that directly feeds into ROI. By aligning these elements, you can deliver the kind of client experience that supports an increased ROI.

Learn how Progress ShareFile software can support your business in this important moment of discovery and transformation.