By Linda A. Hunt

My answer none! That’s not entirely true. I enjoy the work that I do and the fact that the majority of the time I get to work and play when I want to. Life/work balance is what they call it and being entrepreneurs we actually have more control over this factor than our counterparts who work for others.

Back in 2003, I was in the process of re-tooling my business and began thinking how nice it would be to work 4-days a week and enjoy a three day weekend, every weekend, without decreasing my current level of revenue! At first I cast the thought off as a “pipe dream” – there is no way I could do that and I came up with all kinds of reasons as to why I could not:

• How will I sustain my current level of revenue?
• What happens if my clients need me that day?
• How will I sustain my current level of revenue?
• What if there is an emergency that my staff just cannot handle?
• How will I sustain my current level of revenue?

 I was letting the repetitive thought “How will I sustain my current level of revenue” dominate my thoughts. Obsessing over this thought kept me thinking inside of the box, making me unable to get out of the way of myself. One afternoon, I was so sick of thinking about this I stood up in my office and started doing the “Hokey Pokey”. That’s right, the song and dance we learned as children – “put your right hand in, take your right hand out…” It was such a silly thing to do that it helped me to break the obsessive thoughts about why I could not work a 4-day week and relax.

For the rest of that afternoon, I enjoyed peace and quiet within my mind. I worked on other things and then the next morning it hit me like a ton of bricks! In order to move to a 4-day work week I had to change my pricing model!

This time I started thinking about pricing from a completely different perspective – how much revenue I wanted to earn that was directly related to my billable hours. At that time I was still performing client work and billing out about 50% of my time. If I wanted to work 4-days a week, I had to evaluate the tasks that I could delegate and those that I could not within my new work week and apply that to my current level of revenue.

Here are the steps that I followed:

1) Determine the number of hours you want to work. You can do this on a weekly, monthly or annual basis.
2) Determine the percentage of those hours that are billable.
3) Determine the percentage of those hours that are not billable.
4) Calculate that number by your current billing rate.
5) Determine the shortfall and make the necessary adjustments. For example, delegate client work to staff, adjust your billing rate, etc.
6) Work your reduced work week!

PS - I bet you will be humming the Hokey Pokey all day long!

By Linda A. Hunt

One of the things that has always been important to me, is creating long-term relationships with our clients. Whenever, I meet with a prospective client, that is exactly what I tell them. I make my intentions known upfront by saying, “My firm and I are looking to enter into a working relationship with you that benefits both of us for the long-term.” This simple statement really sets the tone for our forthcoming working relationship.

Here are the 6 secrets I use in my own firm to create great long-term client relationships.

1. Be a good listener. Taking the time to identify the needs of your client by asking them questions and concentrating on what they are really saying gives you knowledge. Knowledge is power.

Listen to their words, tone of voice, body language, and most importantly, how they feel. Be careful to not make assumptions. Thinking you intuitively know what your client wants can get you into trouble. Do you know the three outcomes/deliverables that are most important to your client?

2. Identify and anticipate needs. Your clients are not buying your services – they are buying solutions to a problem they are experiencing. When we begin working with a new client, we review all of the requirements/deadlines they may experience throughout the year. This enables us to be proactive and anticipate upcoming needs well in advance.

3. Make your clients feel important and appreciated. In my firm we have created a client appreciation system where we are in contact with our clients throughout the year, letting them know how much we appreciate their business and care about what is going on with them. So when one of our clients obtained their 20th client, which is a very big deal for them, we automatically sent them a celebration cookie bouquet to share in their triumph.

People value sincerity – it creates good will and feelings of trust. Clients are very intelligent and will know whether or not you really care about them.

4. Help your clients to understand your process. You may have the very best process for getting things done and if your clients don’t understand what that is, they will get confused, impatient and angry. Take the time to explain how your process works, not the nitty gritty details, a broad overview so that they can visualize the way the work is being completed.

5. Get regular feedback. Encourage and welcome suggestions about how you can improve your services. This does not mean that you have to incorporate into your process what they are saying but it does give you good insight into what they are thinking. Find a simple way in which your clients can give you feedback. My computer host company actually sends me a short survey to complete each time a work order is completed.

6. Treat your staff well. Employees and subcontractors are your internal clients and deserve to be treated well. Thank them and find ways to let them know that they are important. Remember without them, you would be doing all of the work yourself!

We got so many great responses to our question “What’s Keeping You from Having Freedom in Your Bookkeeping Business?” Here’s a breakdown of what you are saying keeps you from having freedom:

 
 • Not Having Standard Processes In Place - 34%
 • Not Having Enough Time - 25%
 • Not Having Enough Clients - 25%
 • Not Having Enough Money/Cash Flow – 17%

Here’s our answer to YOUR biggest freedom buster:

Not Having Standard Processes in Place

Creating and implementing standard processes in your business, whether you are a solo-preneur or have a staff people working for you, is a key ingredient to creating the freedom you desire!

By streamlining your operations you not only pave the way to more business but bigger profits and a business that virtually runs itself! Systems create consistency and consistency creates the reputation your business is built on!

To learn more about how to create systems for your business, check out our brand new coaching program, Success Secrets Master Mind.

By Linda A. Hunt

About two months ago on a Monday morning I received a fax from one of our clients disengaging our services. As you can imagine, this is not the type of fax that anyone wants to receive, especially on a Monday morning! The reason stated for letting us go was due to “poor economic conditions” and had “absolutely nothing to do with the services they received”.

This particular client’s business is a privately held equity fund and is heavily involved with the stock market. Even though I had knowledge that overall the market has been in a bit of a downturn, this fax surprised me for several reasons:

1)    Even with the great working relationship we have with this client, there was no discussion with us before executing his decision and my staff assigned to the account had no idea this was coming.

2)    He felt the finance function was expendable! Leading me to question – had failed in demonstrating the value we provide to our client?

Immediately upon receipt of the fax, I called my client to uncover the underlying motivation for their decision to disengage us.  I knew there were alternative ways in which we could continue to work together while they rode out this rough patch and wanted to communicate that. When I reached my client, I heard the distress in his voice. He was being pressured by the investors in the equity fund to lower costs and he felt that we were one cost that they could do without because he has a financial background. (I won’t go into what a big mistake I believe this is.) He was already under stress and now he was increasing that stress by adding the work we performed to his already over burdened work load. He had made his decision and at that time could not see any other alternative. All I could do was respect where he was in the process and check in on him periodically.

Here’s the thing I have learned over the years - people will react to situations in ways that may or may not make sense to you and there is nothing you can do about it – it is out of your control. My client’s reaction makes no sense to me and is out of my control. All I can do is talk to my client, satisfy my curiosity to determine if there is something that we could have done differently or better and know when it is time to move on from trying to “fix it.”

Experiencing any loss of revenue is not fun and while this loss has impacted my firm it has not crippled us because of measures I have taken over the years that have helped to cushion and even out the sources of our cash flow. Here are a few of the things we have done:

Ø  Diversified our client base and making sure one industry NEVER represents more than 30% of our total revenue base. While the majority of our clients are service based businesses they are NOT all in the same industry. This is very important. When I first started my business we were working with a lot of interior designers/decorators. Then the about 10 years ago the northeast, where we are located, experienced a major hiccup in the real estate and home improvement industry. My interior decorating clients were not getting business or paid and that rippled into my firm not getting paid, causing a major problem to my cash flow.

Ø  Added recession proof businesses to our client portfolio. There are businesses out there that are ALWAYS busy, like lawyers and funeral homes. After experiencing “not getting paid because my clients were not getting paid”, I started thinking about businesses that are always busy and added a few of them to our client portfolio. Think of these businesses like an insurance policy.

Ø  We limited businesses in complimentary specialties within an industry to less than 40% of our total revenue base. For example: general contractors, electricians, plumbers, interior designers, etc. At the time our interior decorating clients were not getting paid, guess what? Our general contractor clients were not getting paid. It is important to remember that a downturn in an industry such as home improvement affects a good number of complimentary specialties. Having almost you entire client portfolio in complimentary specialties within one industry can be the end of your business.

Ø  We NEVER allow one client to make up more than 25 % of our total revenue base. Having one client that constitutes more than 25% of your total revenue base is very risky and you have placed the control of your business in your client’s hands, unbeknownst to them.

By implementing these guidelines over the years, we have been able to “recession proof” our business and keep at bay any major cash flow losses from losing a client. The percentages above are the ones that work best for my firm and it took us a couple of years to incorporate all of them. If you have been in business for a while, this is not something that you can do overnight and that is okay. As long as you are aware of this and incorporate measures into your future marketing efforts to diversify your client portfolio you will be just fine.

Remember, in life there will always be situations that are completely beyond your control and that is okay. Protecting your business involves making sure that you and your business, are not reliant upon any one customer, industry or employee for that matter.

May 30, 2008

Showing your client that you care is one of the most important things you can do to keep your clients happy and ensure longevity in your working relationship. Being a freelance bookkeeper we are privy to private, personal information very quickly, often times during the very first meeting with a client.

In our society, most people make decisions based upon emotion. When I began looking for my first home, I interviewed several real estate agents to determine if we were the right fit for one another. Out of all the agents that I interviewed only one sent me a personal note, thanking me for my time and considering them to represent me. To this day receiving that note sticks out in my mind. Why? Because it demonstrated that this real estate agent was interested in working with me and obtaining my business. She got my business.

Business owners feel the same way about their businesses and when they hire a bookkeeper, they are revealing personal information and trusting that bookkeeper. When someone is so deeply and emotionally invested, it is normal that they expect everyone to feel and act in accordance with the way they are feeling. They want to work with people who demonstrate care, respect and expertise in their field.

Being a freelance bookkeeper your clients know on some level that you are working with other businesses and that is okay with them as long as they feel important, cared for and are one of your priorities.  Here are a few things you can do to ensure they feel this way.

• Planning. The first thing I and my staff do when we obtain a new client is to create a calendar with all of the important dates that will affect this account. For example, pay dates, when monthly reports are due, estimated tax payments etc. This will provides me and my staff with a visual and keep key due dates associated with this client fresh in our minds. We refer to the calendar each time we perform processing for this account.

• Systemization. The next thing we do is work with the client to create a standard process that each of us will follow as it relates to their account. For example, we go over with them in detail what materials we will need to perform the services they have hired us for and when those materials are needed. Over the first couple of weeks working with the new account, we will check in with them periodically to see if they have any questions and how they are doing with the process.

• Build Trust. Say what you do. Do what you say. It’s that simple to develop the trust of your client. If you say you are going to do something and cannot meet the original deadline, call your client and let them know. Don’t assume they are too busy to notice.
Communication. Be in frequent communication with your client and let them know what is going on. I do not mean call or email them with every minute detail. I do mean, leave a courtesy message or send an email checking in with them and a broad overview of how things are going at your end. Being in frequent communication with your client not only lets your client know that their bookkeeping is being handled it keeps the door open for when you need to make an adjustment in their overall process.

• Acknowledgement. Being a freelance bookkeeper we have a front row seat to what is happening with our client. Be sure to acknowledge important accomplishments and achievements – both personal and professional. It demonstrates that not only are you paying attention, you care and wish to share in their triumphs.

Showing you care about your clients takes only a few minutes and the return on your investment is priceless. Make it a point this week to call at least two of your clients and let them know you care.