Would you travel for advice/help?

[KarenC]

Our accountant (and solicitor) is a long way from us - but he offers webcam and phone meetings as well as face-to-face. We are happy with phone meetings as it's so rare for us to require a face-to-face.

[FletcherTax]

Thanks to all who contributed here and sent me private messages.

All valid and useful comments.

Even from the replies here - it's clear that some people will travel or use other forms of communication if they're getting the service they can trust and are happy with.

Every clients requirements are different so a clear cut answer will never be possible to this one.

Please keep your comments coming. Thanks again,

[netshmoozer]

I would definitely keep this people close to my vicinity. Buyers and clients is one thing, but vital resources such as lawyers and accountants need constant communication with. You don't want to look for help only to find out that the person you find answers with are on a out of town vacation. Really dangerous especially in legal issues.

[JamesMillar]

Your marketing efforts don't need to be focused on local business / individuals unless you are looking for clients that consider it important. It might be worth starting there but to be honest, if a prospective client was considering the use of our services and location was the major issue to them then they are probably not worth having. We travel all around the country and often its to meet up with small business operators like those on this forum so location issues can be overcome if you are the right person.

Client selection is a very important process and its not just about them being happy with you (perhaps in the early days of practice development there is a little more take what comes). For example, we evaluate the type of prospective client, their business objectives, their personality, their expectations etc and determine whether they area a good fit. They don't have to be a big client to be a good client. Life is short so avoid working with clients and people that you don't like.

[FletcherTax]

Originally Posted by JamesMillar

Client selection is a very important process and its not just about them being happy with you (perhaps in the early days of practice development there is a little more take what comes). For example, we evaluate the type of prospective client, their business objectives, their personality, their expectations etc and determine whether they area a good fit. They don't have to be a big client to be a good client. Life is short so avoid working with clients and people that you don't like.

James I agree 100% - not all clients are good clients. Some are just not worth having for all the hair loss they will soon be responsible for. And as you said, the right client will travel to us or we will travel to them.

[Emroy]

@sixx - I think you mean you agree with Ken, not emroy :P Which is funny, because I take a completely contrary position.

Personally, everything I need for my tax is stored digitally. All scanned in and then put into a box to forget about.

Also, I'm part of the generation that basically grew up with a computer screen in front of them, so I feel completely comfortable about having my tax done online / via telephone.

Of course I'd prefer for an initial conversation to be by telephone rather than email, but from then on email is fine.

[sixx]

Originally Posted by Emroy

@sixx - I think you mean you agree with Ken, not emroy :P

Doh! yes you are right.

But yeah, everything we have is stored digitally too, not to mention a near fulltime accounts/bookkeeper but our Tax man goes far beyond doing an end of year tax return.
As we grow in different directions and attempt different ventures, we've found a good Accountant is one of our most important assets.

Our Accountants wife is a Trademarks Attorney too which comes in handy as she operates from the same premises as her husband.

Horses for courses I guess.

[beanydc]

I'm in the northwestern outer reaches of Auckland, and the bulk of our clients are local (within twenty minutes drive). But we also specialise in tax debt, which means we get clients from further afield. Often they come out for the first meeting, and then the rest is done by phone until the work is signed off, where again usually they drive out. Then the monthly / eoy stuff is done by distance.
Accounting is affiliative, so repuatation seems to be more important than location. The district also has a few stunning local things to do, so clients sometimes take a day off and treat themselves, with tax added in.

[Steven Hudson]

Hello Janna

Our accountants are 5 mins down the road but I seem to talk to them more and more either by email or on the phone.

Last time I went in there was to pay for some work they had do for our company. They hadn’t even completed the invoice; the accountant suggested I pay via internet banking.

I think for new business you will need to have a P2P contact, however as the relationship grows less need for it.

Consider having a office where you can use and pay for a day only in the area you are considering prospecting for new customers

Cheers

Steven

[Jessica Somerville]

When I recently searched for a financial advistor/accountant, I looked in the yellow pages online and searched for suburbs around my area. I was even more satisfied when he came to my home to have the consultation.....I looked no further!
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Jessica