How to converse with your clients about upfront pricing and payment!

Moving to upfront pricing AND upfront payment for your clients, (as opposed to time/cost billing) can be one of the best decisions you make for your business, especially for your cashflow! Utilising our favourite engagement and payment software, Practice Ignition, the new experience for your clients is practically magical!

It doesn’t come without it challenges though, for example, your team need to get their head around scoping work and providing a fee to the client, BEFORE they begin working on the job, which means that their level of accountability to be efficient in completion, just increased a great deal.

Then there is trying to ascertain how to handle those “special” clients that every firm has, you know the ones, those clients that get you to do so much adhoc work that you couldn’t possibly upfront price them! The answer to this, is that upfront pricing in an accounting firm, especially for compliance work, should be applied for 90-95%, that 5% or so of special clients get handled in the exact same way, so fret not!

Final challenge is how to have the “conversation” with your clients. The thought of this for some accountants can literally skyrocket their anxiety levels, so we’ve put together a quick guide with a basic script, along with some of the random comments we’ve experienced and answers to combat.

A few things to remember that will help with the changes you’re making to the way you engage with your clients and take payment pre-service. 

• We highly recommend utlising Practice Ignition to manage the software element. 
• You should probably consider hitting up a preferred integrator to assist with the implementation…<insert cheeky plug for Clarity Street>
• Before you send your first proposal, you need to have communicated the changes you are making to your clients in the form of:
  • Via an email or hard copy letter
  • A hard copy letter might seem counter intuitive, but we all get so many emails these days so posted letters get noticed, and your changes are important!
  • Send a newsletter
  • Write a blog and put it on your website
  • Communicate the changes in as many ways as possible
• Finally, call your client and tell them about the changes just before you send them a proposal. (If nothing else, it's a great touch point with them to check in!)

At the point where you’re ready to have the conversation, here’s a basic script to help you:

Firm: Hi this is XXX from XXX calling. We recently sent out a letter with information about some new software that we’re installing here at XXX, along with some changes we are making internally to the way we will be engaging with and invoicing our clients moving forward. Do you remember seeing that letter/info?

Client: Yes, I do actually!

Firm: Oh great, did you have any questions about this process?…..no….well then, as a reminder, as we mentioned it’s time to get your XXX work done, so now that we have you’re work in, you’re going to receive a proposal that will have the details of the service we will complete, it will ask you to enter your payment details, you can read the terms and conditions and once you accept it, it will take your payment so we can then proceed with completing your work, just like when you pay for a flight online! - If there’s any issues or you wish to discuss this proposal before you accept it, don’t hesitate to give me a call and we can talk through these.

Or

Client: No, I don’t remember seeing it?

Firm: Okay, not to worry, I’m sure it will come in the post etc soon! Whilst I’ve got you though, to explain, we’ve recently implemented some new software that allows us to send our clients a proposal for the work we are going to complete, in advance. The software also allows us to take payment in line with our new terms, which is now prior to beginning your work, much the same as if you were to buy some plane tickets online. Now, because it’s time to get your XXX work done, as we have this work in, you’re going to receive a proposal that will have the details of the service, it will ask you to enter your payment details, you can read the terms and conditions and once you accept it, it will take your payment so we can then proceed with completing your work - If there’s any issues or you wish to discuss this proposal before you accept it, don’t hesitate to give me a call and we can talk through these.

Questions or Statements & Answers

I don’t have any money in my account though at the moment?

1. That’s okay, you still get to determine when you pay for our service, as soon as you’re ready, just go through the process accept the proposal and then we’ll begin your work.

Why are you taking payment before hand, I always pay my invoices on time.

1. Most service based businesses are changing the way they operate, especially from a payment perspective, for example, you don’t get to pay for your flights when you get to the destination. We are streamlining this across our client base.

But why, how does this help?

1. We are providing you with a quote that you get to accept or discuss prior to accepting and prior to us beginning your work. This allows you to budget for this expense and help your cashflow. We also have agreed turn around times to complete your work. Providing we have everything we need we will have this completed within XXX time frame.
2. All we are doing is changing the timing of when we invoice you. We are still going to do your work, we are still going to raise an invoice and you are still going to pay this. It just ensures that we are efficient in processing our clients work, not to mention you know exactly where you stand when it comes to the fees associated, which means there’s no bill shock when the invoice arrives after the work is completed.

I don’t do direct debits, I don’t like putting my details into a system

1. Have you ever purchased anything online before, or do you make car or mortgage repayments, it’s the same thing!
2. You can pay with either a credit card or direct payment via EFT.
3. It’s an EFT payment, not a direct debit (unless it’s a recurring service/payment type) ?
4. Our software has bank level security
5. You are only authorising us to take one payment, not multiple payments

There’s probably a number of other random things clients will say to you, and ultimately the more conversations you have with your clients on this topic, the better and more comfortable you will feel.

The key to this, is to remember the reasons why you have made the decision to transition to this new piece of software and new methodology of upfront payment. Be excited about this decision and approach the conversation you have with your client with a smile on your face. It’s when they hear hesitation in your voice and a lack of conviction as to why this is happening that they will challenge you...change is hard at the end of the day, even for the little things!

Be pumped, be excited and get your clients excited by the experience too - ultimately, communicate!

If you want to know more, get in touch!