michaelmars wrote:Its touch market out there.
I'm kind of surprised to hear this, because as a part of the baby boomer accountapocalpyse I hear that there are not enough buyers and therefore sellers are having to make concessions (i.e. not every firm is worth 1x revenues, sellers have to guarantee retention somehow). Or -- and this is something a friend of mine ran into when looking for a firm to buy -- are you dealing with a seller whose firm is nominally for sale but is really not emotionally ready to sell?
MichelleSCPA wrote:I am finding over and over again through the grapevine that my former clients are unhappy, very unhappy. Calls and emails are not promptly returned, if they are at all. The new CPA is gruff and curt. And yes, everyone has different personalities. However, as a professional, I feel that behavior towards a client (for the MOST part) is not acceptable. I could hone in on more details but don't want to put more out there if you KWIM.
I think this is a good point that the seller has due diligence to do sometimes, too. Or, maybe the seller's non-solicitation clause needs to be short
ATSMAN wrote:My long time family physician retired last year and the business was sold to a regional practice and I can already see the difference in "customer service". Before my doctor would call and discuss lab results and now I only get a call from the nurse if there is an issue!
Sounds a lot like an accounting firm, doesn't it? In a small firm, the principal often is a hand-holder, but larger firms have scaled their businesses such that profit is more important than customer service.