Getting closer to your clients is about richer, more proactive conversations. Here are three key topics you should be talking about.
Feeling left out of the loop? Sometimes your small business clients don’t come to you for advice until they desperately need it. And while it’s essential that they trust you for support when things go off course, it would be better to help them stay on track in the first place.
Getting closer to your clients is about letting them know that you’re available for richer, more proactive conversations. That you’re both able and willing to advise them on how to raise, recover and protect the funds they need to reach their goals. Ask your clients about their plans for the weeks and months ahead, where their business is today and what they need to move forward.
If your clients aren’t thinking about these things, then starting the conversation might be the nudge they need to get started. And if they are thinking about them, your input might be the key to following through. A recent Capitalise survey found that almost 60% of businesses owners wish their accountant would ask about their financial position and help them improve it.
Help your clients raise funds for growth
You’ve heard it a million times before, but here it is again: your clients have to spend money to make it. Whether it’s keeping the lights on while they build an amazing product or hiring top talent to drive their business forward, success comes with associated costs.
Finding the right kind of funding can be overwhelming for your clients, especially when they’re already short on time and have day-to-day operations to consider. Gone are the days when they’d simply speak to their bank manager about options – in fact, most businesses don’t even have a named bank manager anymore.
Let your clients know that they can lean on you for support when it comes to raising funds. You can recommend the best kind(s) of funding to meet their immediate, ongoing and future funding needs as well as the right lender (or lenders) to provide it. If you’re working with Capitalise, your clients can choose from multiple funding offers by filling in a single application form.
Fight in your clients’ corner to recover funds
To say running a business has its ups and downs is an understatement. Your clients will face their fair share of challenges and may need your support to manage bad debt or handle late payments from their debtors.
Make sure your clients know that you can help if there’s cash they need to bring back into their business, for example money tied up in overdue invoices. When a business needs to recover funds, you’re the one they want fighting in your corner – especially if you’re a Capitalise partner. You can help them access a simple and effective way to recover the money they’re owed with our ‘no win, no fee’ approach.
If you’re proactive in offering value-added services like this, your clients are more likely to come to you early on, before a challenging situation gets any worse.
Play a key role in protecting your clients’ position
When it comes to cashflow, knowledge is power. The more your clients know about their position, the easier it is to get ahead of challenges before they arise. In practical terms, this means constant monitoring – not only of where they are now but where they’re likely to be in the next month, quarter or year.
Work closely with your clients to identify trends; times of year when cashflow is tight because of slower sales, for example, or months where costs will be higher to keep up with demand. Find out if they’re tracking their credit score, what it is and whether they need help to improve it. When you understand their goals, challenges and upcoming financial milestones, you can advise on how to get ahead of the game.
With Capitalise, you can play an active role in tracking your clients’ cash position to help them reach their goals. You can build much closer relationships by being a key player in protecting their capital through effective cashflow monitoring and credit improvement.
Get in touch with your clients, and us, today
Ask your clients today if they need a boost to get back on track or fuel to take their business further. Reach out even if they don’t have any immediate needs (that you know of) to see how you can help with protecting the capital they have, recovering what’s outstanding and raising funds to move forward.
If you’ve already brought Capitalise into your firm, then reliable finance advice is at your fingertips. If you haven’t connected with us yet, take a short break and have a quick chat with our team whilst enjoying FREE pizza on us! (T&Cs apply)
Book in a call now and join the 90% of accountants who are already getting close to their clients by making advisory services a priority.
