Keeping clients happy should be at the forefront of any accountancy firm. After all, research shows that increasing customer retention by as little as 5% can increase company revenue by 25-95%.

After you’ve done the hard work of onboarding a new client and understanding their unique needs, you want to keep them on your books and make sure they have a positive experience with your firm.

Accounting software can go a long way towards keeping clients happy. It facilitates strong collaboration, making it easy for you to get the information you need without chasing and streamlining your processes. It’s not surprising that many accounting firms use accounting software as one of the many ways of boosting customer satisfaction.

Continue reading to discover:

  • The importance of customer experience in accounting
  • Why accounting software & digital transformation makes clients happy
  • How to improve your customer experience

The importance of customer experience in accounting

Your clients’ customer experience starts when they land on your website to their interactions with your team and filing of their annual tax returns. With the accounting market becoming increasingly saturated, firms need to prioritise the customer experience.

The service you provide your small businesses customers and how it affects their experience with your firm determines if they work with you –– and recommend you to others. Exceptional customer experience creates sustainable growth by promoting brand loyalty, reducing churn rate and encouraging brand advocacy. 

Some of the benefits of happy clients include:

  • Increased Profitability & ROI. Research shows that it’s 5-25x more expensive to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one.
  • Increased Loyalty. Happy clients are more likely to use additional services. They realise the value of your offering and actively look for different ways to involve you in their business.
  • Client Referrals. Satisfied clients are also more likely to recommend your accounting firm to their friends, family, and small business owners. This increases your firm’s revenue by adding more clients to your books. Word of mouth continues to be one of the best ways for accountants to acquire new customers.

Today’s customers have a wealth of accounting firms to choose from, so they can easily find another firm to meet their needs if you don’t deliver. Providing an excellent customer experience is key to winning (and retaining) business. 

Why accounting software & digital transformation is essential for keeping clients happy

Technology advancements like accounting software and automation allow you to deliver outstanding customer experiences by streamlining manual tasks and focusing on more high-value jobs. As a result, accountants are increasingly turning to technology to manage their workload and customer needs without compromising service quality.

Modern clients actively expect innovation within accounting. Research from Salesforce indicates that 75% of customers want companies to use new technologies. These tech-savvy customers expect a seamless, efficient service, the ability to collaborate with their accountant from any location, and instant access to financial data.

Customers’ increased expectation of on-demand accounting services makes it essential for your firm to embrace a digital-first and agile approach that champions and helps clients realise the benefits of the latest technology.

Firms that fail to adopt new technologies risk falling behind and damaging their credibility when their current ways of working become outdated or open to risk, inaccurate calculations or don’t meet compliance standards.

How to improve your customer experience with the best accounting software for small businesses

Your firm needs to meet customers’ increasing needs and expectations, or you risk losing them to your competitors. Embracing accounting software offers a win-win for everyone involved. Clients benefit from greater convenience and efficiency. At the same time, accounting professionals can increase productivity and focus on the growth of their business.

Here are some ways you can improve customer experience with innovative accounting software:

Identify & streamline inefficiencies

Start by reviewing your existing processes and systems. Making your accounting and bookkeeping services as streamlined as possible will allow you to gain a serious competitive advantage while managing a greater workload without cutting corners. Eliminating inefficiencies will also reduce your firm’s operational costs and allow your customer to experience the benefits.

In addition, tech-savvy clients want their firms to offer convenient services as they’ve become used to accessing accounting software via their smartphone. Juggling client demands without efficient systems is nearly impossible. Thankfully, accounting software makes it possible to automate tedious tasks and meet modern expectations.

Embrace automated accounting

Automated accounting has drastically changed the industry by eliminating manual error-prone and time-consuming processes with real-time, responsive solutions. It’s also transformed the way accountants interact with and support their clients by giving them more time to focus on advisory services.

Offering advisory services allows you to position your firm as an essential service for your clients, allowing you to build long-lasting relationships. As a result, it’s not surprising that 76% of accountants expect advisory services to make the bulk of their revenue in five years. 

Personalise client communications

Clients don’t want to feel like just another name on your books or mailing list. Personalising communications and delivering content that helps them understand their finances, start and run a business, and generally guide them on the journey of growing a small business can go a long way.

Going the extra mile by personalising your approach allows you to build deeper, longer-lasting relationships and could make the difference between a happy customer and one that disappears into the void.

Digital transformation is critical for accounting firms when maintaining client relationships. 

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