The Valentines theme is love.

And love is a remarkable business concept worthy of your business attention. Try this for size…

Love your clients.

            But love is just a word.

                        And words are cheap.

And I can’t see your clients welcoming you on bended knee, waxing lyrically about your undying affection for them.

So, words are cheap.

            But actions aren’t.

                        Actions are real.

Actions PROVE you are serious about the relationship you have with your clients, your actions prove your customer-love is real.

So what actions are you taking to prove, to demonstrate, to genuinely care for (if not love) your customers?

Stephen Covey in his book – The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Families – suggests ‘love’ should be seen entirely as a doing word. A verb.

So what should you be DOING to demonstrate your customer care (love)?

Here’s three suggestions on Valentines day:

1. Surprise them – be spontaneous – the thing about spontaneity is you got to plan it in.

What are you doing to surprise them or surpass their expectations every month not just on Valentines day!  

EXAMPLE: Turn up unexpected at their office with a book for them or biscuits for the team.

Alternative strategy don’t surprise them, be predictably boring and see what happens over time to the quality or your relationship.

2. Make ‘em look good or feel special about being with you.

Perfume, chocolates (enclosed), flowers or a hug works for your significant other. But your business clients want value from you so they can look and feel good about working with you and your firm.

EXAMPLE: share competitor insights, expert comment from a web site or an article from their trade press.

Alternative strategy, don’t make your best clients feel special, make ‘em feel just like all the rest! Then see what happens.

3. Check in often. Regular contact and communication is at the centre of all great relationships.

Regular feedback is important too.

EXAMPLE: Monthly client care programme and regular customer satisfaction feedback are common sense (but not common practice). Have you got monthly feedback from some (or all) your best customers?

Alternative strategy contact and communicate rarely with your best clients and see what happens!

Love is a verb – it is a doing word – what are you doing for your clients so they know you love them?

You know you’ve done enough doing when they say “I do!”

Thing is you gotta keep ‘doing’ to prevent them saying “I don’t” and divorce you – join another firm! so keep on ‘doing…

            Keep on loving your clients.

                        Hope YOU enjoy lots of love this valentines day

                                    Happy Valentines Day

                                                Lots of love from Paul and the team at www.remarkablepractice.com

Author of ‘Bamboo Marketing For Accountants’ – the route map to marketing success for accountants in practice

Creator of ‘WHAT’S POSSIBLE in your business’ – cultivating a greater flow of new clients for your accountancy firm through profitable word-of-mouth…

And let’s get LinkedIn  http://www.linkedin.com/in/paulshrimpling

Read our most recent blog here www.remarkablepractice.com

January defines the customer-time focus of your practice.

What I mean is…

                                 …January starkly, inescapably, shows you where your firm is focussed for your clients.

And you’ll be focussed on one of three things, their…

PAST         PRESENT         or          FUTURE

Not all firms are tax-return focussed in January, but lots are. Are you?

I’m not saying this is wrong (well maybe I am!).

But I am saying it’s worthy of your attention, because it’s important to consider…

Where are your clients focussed?

In January are your business clients focussed on their past, present or future?

Chances are they are looking at 2011 and working out how to make it a bigger and better success than 2010 was.

If your firm is consumed by tax returns you’re past focussed. You’re not talking about your clients’ future. Your priorities are not congruent with your clients’ priorities. There’s a mismatch which is hindering the relationship with your business clients rather than helping build it.

Yes tax returns have to be done on time.

And yes you should ALSO be having conversations with your clients about their plans for 2011 (and how you might be able to help and support them).

What a great opportunity for high quality, meaningful conversations with your clients January is?

It would be a crime…

It would be a crime wouldn’t it if you let this relationship opportunity go begging because you were so consumed by tax returns?

Next steps…

1. If you have your tax-return workload under control, get your client facing team together for 10 minutes. Then plan as many client calls in January as you can manage. Make the calls and have future-facing conversations with your clients about their business and about their plans for 2011.

2. If you are totally consumed by tax returns (dealing in historical data) then having a debrief 1st week in February to plan the ways-and-means to radically change (improve) your tax-return workflow makes sense. You can then be more future-focussed in january 2012. And please be aware there are several firms who have reduced January tax return work to a trickle, freeing them up to have future-focussed conversations with their clients this week and the whole of January.

Warning…

If one of your competitors has tax-returns under control and is calling your clients (their prospects) about your clients’ future plans then your 2011 GRF and partner profits are threatened.

You know it’s the quality of the relationship you have with your clients which determines their loyalty to your firm this year (and every year). January provides an immense opportunity to build better relationships by having future focussed conversations with them.

So go on then… call them

Paul Shrimpling

PS  The customer-time focus  of your firm has strategic implications worth considering too if you want to have a look at a way you can do this have a look at this framework - Analyse your firm’s PAST PRESENT FUTURE focus - thanks to Mark

PPS Happy New Year - here’s hoping all your plans for 2011 come to fruition for you and your family. 

PPPS I finished 2010 swimming in the volcanic lake at the top of Mount Pinotubo - it was real cool (rather warm really!). I then started 2011 swimming a mile in the South China Sea at Morong on the island of Luzon in the Philipines also very warm! A 2011 goal is to do some more weird and interesting swimming this year and also to learn salsa – what are you doing different in 2011?