How to Tell Clients Bad News Without Losing Them

Your accounting practice grew one client at a time. Accounting professionals, by nature, are service oriented. You realize the importance of delighting your clients so they continue to work with you over the years and refer new clients to your firm.

Does Your Customer Service Policy Create Burnout?

Overall, clients possess a wide variety of needs. Some requests easily fall within scope. But, every now and then, a client asks you for something extra.

• Work outside of scope.
• Tasks which don’t interest you.
• Activities with a short deadline that interfere with your planned work flow.

Many of my clients find it hard to say no. To avoid confrontation, they immediately say yes even when they mean no.

There’s a hidden cost to this standard of customer service. Pleasing everyone causes you to stretch yourself too thin. Resentment sometimes flares up, especially when you experience burnout. Saying yes to all requests isn’t sustainable.  

Define Your Limits

First of all, it’s possible to say no without compromising the client relationship.  Search for evidence of others who successfully set boundaries.

Now imagine what it would be like to run your firm rather than have your firm run you. If saying no feels difficult, this does challenge your limits.  

Similar to any other function in your accounting practice, develop a process for difficult conversations. Then, continue to fine-tune the process so it works for you. With planning and preparation, you’ll transform difficult conversations into win-win outcomes.

Set the Stage

Let’s start at the beginning. Onboarding new clients is the ideal opportunity to set boundaries. Teach your clients how to work with you. As a result, you end up with clients who appreciate and respect you. This saves headaches down the road. 

Add a Client Expectations Letter to your onboarding process. Get a copy of the exact letter I share with my clients. 

Include these items in your letter:

• Communication.
  • Explain all aspects of communication.
  • Do you prefer email, phone or text?
  • What’s your response time?
•  Meetings.
  • How often do you meet with clients?
  • Are you available for last minute client meetings?
• Expectations.
  • What can your clients expect from you?
  • What do you expect from your clients?
• Requests.
  • Client requests.
    • How do you handle client requests?
    • Who on your team do those requests get sent to?
  • Accounting requests.
    • Define the response time when your firm requests additional information.
    • Explain your security policy when sending sensitive information.
  • Scope of work.
    • Review all requests that extend beyond scope of work.
    • Payment policy for services beyond scope of work.
    • Procedure for addressing out of scope request which your firm decides not to fulfill.

Gracefully Say No

One of your clients asked you for a one-time favor. As a result, some self-imposed pressure flares up. Your knee-jerk reaction is to immediately agree because that quickly reduces your tension.

But, you resist the urge since the request lies outside of your scope. The internal dialogue feels like a tug-of-war. It’s important that clients like you. And, it eliminates the possibility of confrontation.

Although you want to say yes, you need to say no. Your mind races with worst case scenarios.

• What do I say?
• Can I really tell her no?
• Will they get upset?
• What if she threatens to leave?
• What if she leaves a bad review?

Learning to say no is a skill. Just like anything new, the first time is the most difficult. Saying no to a request that’s outside of your scope can be done gracefully.

Prepare with a Dress Rehearsal

Prevention is easier than intervention. Even client-centered firms periodically say no. This is the ideal time to follow your procedure to gracefully turn down a client request.

Define which requests are not a good fit for your firm. Some requests may be accounting related, but not something you offer. Other requests actually lie outside of anything regarding financials.

Telling your client no is rarely easy. Consider how to deliver the message. Set some time aside to think this through. After that, wait a day before replying to the request. Sometimes the right words come together after you had a chance to sleep on it.

Once you decide how to deliver the message, rehearse your soundbite. Either practice aloud in front of a mirror, role play with a colleague or capture it on zoom to playback the recording. A dress rehearsal prepares you for the real conversation.

Say What You Mean

Saying what you mean raises your integrity. When done appropriately, your client will respect your decision.

Ready to tell your client no? Then, ease into this new response. Be mindful that the self-imposed pressure occurs because you feel a need to quickly respond to the request, especially if it’s face to face. You’re more likely to say yes even if you mean no when’s someone’s gazing right into your eyes.

Let’s replace that immediate yes with a new response. All you need to do is say, Let me think about it and I’ll get back to you. This new response acknowledges the request. It also buys you time to decide without any external pressure.

Take some time to think this through. Do you want to say yes or no to the request? Be brutally honest about this.

If you decide your answer is no, then how do you want to reply? In-person, phone, email or text?

By the way, avoid giving a long, drawn out response. Rambling on actually weakens your decision. It invites pushback. You’ve come this far. I don’t want you to cave into the pressure.

Deliver a Sandwich

There’s a right way and a wrong way to tell a client no. Let’s tip the odds in your favor with this difficult conversation. The Sandwich Technique pairs positive and negative together to soften the no response.

Yes, this method has pros and cons. If you’re uncomfortable saying no, then this eases you into your new boundaries.

Basically, it’s a 1-2-3 strategy. Start off by saying something positive.  Next, address the core concern. Wrap up with an intention or positive statement.  

Say something like this:

Sarah, thanks for reaching out to me with your request. You’ve really got your financials in order since we started working together.

I considered your request and realize it’s not a service we can fulfill to your requirements.

Option 1: This is an alternative approach. Would this option work for you?

Option 2. We do know someone who can do that. Would you like us to introduce you?

Option 3. The project is a great fit, but we can’t meet this deadline. Do you have some flexibility?

Sarah because we value our relationship, we wanted to let you know what our decision was as soon as possible. 

Expect the Unexpected

Some clients expect to get what they want. They won’t hear you tell them no. It’s like telling a 5-year-old no in the candy aisle of the grocery store. Be like a broken record. Gently repeat your decision, without additional explanation, and stick with it.

You may be inclined to turn your no into a yes because the repeated requests wore you down. This sets a trap. Your client learns your no is really a maybe or a yes.

By the way, some clients will not respect your decision. Do not accept responsibility for another person’s response. No one has the right to guilt you or intimidate you into doing something. Those clients may no longer be a good fit for your services.

Professional, Not Perfect

Once you have this difficult conversation, you may feel relief. Even if you stumbled, you followed through. So, be gentle with yourself.

Acknowledge the fact that you led a client through a difficult conversation. Afterward, review the conversation – without beating yourself up.

• Where did you stumble?
• What part needs improvement?
• What would you do differently next time?
• What insights did you gain from this?

The Bottom Line

The journey begins with you. You need to value your limits before expecting others to respect your limits. Initially, setting boundaries challenges your comfort zone.

Defining your terms teaches clients how to work with you. You cannot make someone respect you. So, be selective about who you choose to work with. You deserve that.