Meetings - the big time waster.

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#1
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Since COVID put the kibosh on client meetings in 2020 I have "evolved" my practice into having nearly no meetings during tax season. Let's face it, we all know they're largely a waste of time anyway. My largest clients don't want meetings, it's often just people who like to visit. I like to visit too, but there is only so much time between February 1 and April 15.

Thoughts on meeting?
 

#2
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To expand on my reply to your post on the other thread, I would much prefer it if clients would drop off or use Sharefile. An "Info In" meeting should not be necessary, because any new matters should already have been discussed. A tax return review meeting is infinitely more useful, but that can be done virtually, thanks to my compatriot, Alexander Graham Bell.

For myself, I know I have to do better in getting clients to see that I offer more than a once-a-year service. The only thing that an "Info In" meeting has going for it is that clients sometimes talk more easily in person. Some of my best clients (well, at least until they start dying off) are the 80-somethings that are good money, even with an "Info In" appointment. I glean useful information a lot of the time and the daughters (usually) that bring them to the appointment see me in action. I've had quite a few referrals that way.
 

#3
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A meeting is only as good as the preparation performed.
If you have set no expectations prior to the meeting time, you'll probably have a poor quality meeting and want to abandon them.
Share that preparation with your client.
Since doing so, I've had some very valuable 15min meetings.
I think it's much more important to set meetings outside of busy season and, again, set the expectation of what will be discussed.
If your practice is simply preparing returns, you probably won't have much value in any meetings. I certainly have several clients who fit that profile, but these are not the core of my business and not what I'm trying to attract more of.
There's no right or wrong as long as you are deliberate and thoughtful about your strategy
~Captcook
 

#4
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I'll reply here instead of the other thread to avoid being redundant.

A practice without meetings will work with some clients in some areas. I'm not surprised that you have success restricting meetings with a practice in New England. On the flip side, my practice in small town Wisconsin benefits from offering meetings to clients who want them (but I have a growing fraction of virtual-only clients without meetings).

Like SumwunLost, I find "info in" meetings to sometimes be helpful but it's often not. In my experience, if I can keep it below 15 minutes, it's usually fine.

I am most efficient when clients mail or upload their documents, give me a couple weeks to prepare the returns, and then we meet in person to review the returns, get signatures, and pay my fee. Every year I improve the experience for virtual clients but it still takes more time than the in-person meeting -- I'm hoping that using Loom and an all-in-one practice management solution can at least bring it to parity this coming tax season.
 

#5
Beagle  
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I don't sell tax prep - I sell superior service at a reasonable price. If you don't build a relationship, you will be replaced by a cheaper online product.
 

#6
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Beagle wrote:I don't sell tax prep - I sell superior service at a reasonable price. If you don't build a relationship, you will be replaced by a cheaper online product.


Having been in practice 30 years I can attest that operating a relationship-based practice does not require meetings during tax season. My biggest client (1120S, 1065, 1040) hasn't been in my office for years at their choice, and they've been with me over 25 years. And I have clients scattered across the country who moved from my area years ago and obviously do not require a meeting. When you get older you start to place a higher value on your time and your health, and meetings during tax season do not enhance either. The irony of meetings is that it is the clients who least need them that most want them.
 

#7
novacpa  
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If a clue wants a meeting I try to schedule at a very expensive restaurant.
This reduces that automatic reflex.
 

#8
smtcpa  
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I haven't had a face-to-face meeting since late 2019. If a client wants to "meet" we do it by phone or zoom. And no meetings unless absolutely necessary during tax season. My practice has blossomed like never before. I agree with others, those relationships can be built from 4/15-12/15.
 

#9
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I'm actually taking this one step further and starting to feel like most phone calls are even a waste.

By the time you schedule the call, then spend 10 minutes exchanging pleasantries etc. might as well just have client email us their tax question and send them a written response they can rely upon.

I'm somewhere in the middle of the old time way and new wave technology generally speaking, however as far as our tax practices are concerned I really am starting to believe there really isn't a need to meet any clients in person anymore and if it's real important a 5 to 10 minute zoom call can replace an in person meeting.
 

#10
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I don't have them unless it is not feasible to do them remotely. All of my "meetings" are generally more social in nature since I have established ways of doing meetings or reviewing things in a modern, digital environment.
 

#11
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I have come to the conclusion that meetings and phone calls are, approximately 95% of the time, a waste of our time as far as our production efficiency.

Meetings and phone calls have a slight benefit to accuracy.

Meetings and phone calls seem to have a large benefit to client retention. I don't know if that's because it's my area (small community of about $300K in the metro), my client population (I would say almost all are 40+), but almost every time a client doesn't came back it's someone I have not met or talked with much in the last several years.
 

#12
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Sometimes calls are better. Sometimes they're not.

The best is a client that's insync with you regarding when a call is necessary or not. Some want to hop on a call too often. I guess they type slow. Who knows. Some you can never get on a call when you need them. They're just so busy.

I had one client (key word "had") that used to call me around 12:30 local time whenever they had a question. And, they were in the same time zone. Apparently this individual thought I was a robot who never took lunch. It got old quickly.
 

#13
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I have people try to call me on the weekends. I don't know if they expect for me to actually answer or if they just want to leave a voicemail, but they could also e-mail me if the latter. Joke is on them, my phones are shut off and go straight to voicemail Friday-Sunday regardless of what month it is.
 

#14
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I've had clients attempt to call me at 8 or 9 at night. I would think that they're just calling to leave a voicemail, however most of them don't, so it begs belief that they're calling and expecting someone to answer.
 

#15
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Some things come up in meetings that do not come up "online", and I find them to be beneficial for both client and tax preparer.

So I offer a quick review meeting with clients that want one.

I do NOT do drop off meetings - as they waste more time than review meetings, IMO.

If a client is the type to babble and branch in a million directions, I interrupt them and explain that we must stay focused to finish their taxes only and then later I fire them.
Last edited by ItDepends on 23-Jan-2023 5:34pm, edited 1 time in total.
 

#16
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ManVsTax wrote:I've had clients attempt to call me at 8 or 9 at night. I would think that they're just calling to leave a voicemail, however most of them don't, so it begs belief that they're calling and expecting someone to answer.


About 2 dozen clients have my cell phone. 2 from me that are my best 2 clients. The rest are from an idiot financial advisor who decided if he was texting with clients then I should too. I have since corrected his behavior, but a good 20 - 25 received it.

I literally had one of these text me at 11:30 at night and an unrelated one text me at 5:15 the next morning. I keep my phone on silent at all times, so I didn't know it until after the fact, but I just don't understand who in their right mind thinks that's okay. Both are still clients because they have otherwise been great well paying clients, but I called them each the next day and said don't bother texting me as I'll never look at it. Call my office phone or email me.
 

#17
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RazorbackCPA wrote:
ManVsTax wrote:I've had clients attempt to call me at 8 or 9 at night. I would think that they're just calling to leave a voicemail, however most of them don't, so it begs belief that they're calling and expecting someone to answer.


About 2 dozen clients have my cell phone. 2 from me that are my best 2 clients. The rest are from an idiot financial advisor who decided if he was texting with clients then I should too. I have since corrected his behavior, but a good 20 - 25 received it.

I literally had one of these text me at 11:30 at night and an unrelated one text me at 5:15 the next morning. I keep my phone on silent at all times, so I didn't know it until after the fact, but I just don't understand who in their right mind thinks that's okay. Both are still clients because they have otherwise been great well paying clients, but I called them each the next day and said don't bother texting me as I'll never look at it. Call my office phone or email me.



I will not do any business on my cellphone.

Zero.

If a client gets it somehow, I ignore it completely (which is hard to do, but it is a boundary I wish to stick to).
 

#18
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ItDepends wrote:I will not do any business on my cellphone.

Zero.

If a client gets it somehow, I ignore it completely (which is hard to do, but it is a boundary I wish to stick to).


I had many clients get my cell # during COVID because our firm didn't have Voip phones set up yet. Only two will still call me on it and one of those only when he's in a real pinch, which I forgive him for. The other will call my office and then two seconds later call my cell. He's otherwise a really great person and client. So, I really don't mind that much.
~Captcook
 


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