5 powerful touchpoints: when clients will appreciate hearing from you

Are you targeted to contact your clients during the year and increase touchpoints? Or do you struggle to find commercial angles to discuss when in meeting with business owners? Sharing something meaningful can lead to conversations which can change their business. And may result in increasing their access to finance, reducing their interest costs or avoiding costly bad debts. This makes subsequent difficult fee negotiations extremely easy!

Here are five powerful touchpoints that can strengthen client relationships while opening up valuable advisory conversations.

1. Their credit score or limit has changed

A client's business credit score rarely changes without reason. If it has improved, it could be the ideal time to review their existing borrowing. Better credit profiles can improve access to finance and, in some cases, lead to more competitive lending terms. It may be worth exploring whether consolidating existing borrowing could simplify repayments or reduce overall financing costs.

If the score has fallen, understanding why is the priority. Perhaps weaker accounts have recently been filed, or payment performance has deteriorated. If the latest management information paints a much stronger picture than historic filed accounts, Capitalise's Credit Review Service may help rectify that position.  A decreasing score or limit may also indicate growing cash flow pressure, creating an opportunity to discuss funding before problems become more serious.

2. There's been a surge in searches on their business

A sudden increase in searches against a company's credit file is always worth investigating. Who's looking? It could be suppliers assessing whether to extend trade credit. It could be lenders reviewing an application. It could be potential customers considering your client’s resilience. All of these provide ideal opportunities to contact your client.

If they're actively seeking finance, you can help them find the right solution. If suppliers are reviewing their creditworthiness, or potential customers assessing their financial stability, now may be the time to strengthen their business credit profile to maximise access to trade credit and appear more resilient. Sometimes a simple phone call can uncover an important project the client hadn't yet mentioned.

3. They've received a CCJ

A County Court Judgment should never be ignored. Clients have 28 days from the judgment date to settle the debt before it remains on the public register and damages their credit profile for years. A conversation should focus on understanding how it happened.

Was an invoice missed? Or is this fraudulent?Has correspondence gone to the wrong address?Are approval processes failing?Or is the business simply under cash flow pressure?

Alongside resolving the immediate issue, accountants can often help clients improve internal financial controls, automate invoice management and, where appropriate, discuss funding options to relieve short-term pressure.

4. Bad debts are increasing

Reviewing year-end accounts often highlights rising bad debts. Rather than treating this as historic information, use it as the start of a forward-looking discussion.

• Could credit control procedures be strengthened?

• Are customers being credit checked before trading?

• Are overdue accounts being monitored consistently?

Capitalise's Credit Risk Manager can help businesses assess customer risk, monitor existing customers and identify warning signs earlier, helping reduce future bad debts. Talk to your Partnership Manager about bundle prices for Capitalise for Business subscriptions. 

5. Multiple borrowing facilities are becoming difficult to manage

Many growing businesses gradually accumulate finance from several different lenders. An overdraft. Two asset finance agreements. Several unsecured loans for working capital finance. Individually these facilities may all have made sense at the time, but collectively they can become expensive and difficult to manage. A funding review may reveal opportunities to consolidate borrowing into a simpler structure that better matches the client's current needs and improves cash flow visibility.

Turning monitoring into meaningful advice

The strongest client relationships are built through timely conversations, not annual meetings. By using Capitalise to monitor changes in credit health, funding activity and financial risk, accountants can contact clients when advice is genuinely valuable. Sharing the Capital Report is an ideal starting point.

These conversations demonstrate proactive support, strengthen your relationships and often uncover opportunities to improve a client's financial resilience long before issues become critical.

How can we help?

To discuss possible new lending facilities from over 130 lenders or whether the Credit Review Service or Capitalise for Business is right for your clients, contact your dedicated Partnership Manager by emailing partner.support@capitalise.com