Category: Client Management

The Onboarding Process That Screens Out Problem Clients Before They Sign

Every bad client you ever fired told you who they were in the first conversation. You just had no system built to listen.

Of the last five clients you fired, regretted, or wished you had never signed, how many of them gave you a warning sign in the very first conversation?

I am going to guess all five.

The guy who argued about your retainer before you had even quoted it. The woman who said “my last accountant was a crook” about the third preparer in a row. The one who could not find a single piece of paper but was certain the IRS was wrong. You felt it. A little knot in your stomach. And then you talked yourself out of it, because the revenue looked good and the calendar had a hole in it and you needed the work.

Here is what is actually happening. You do not have a bad-client problem. You have an onboarding problem. The bad client was standing right in front of you, waving a flag, and your intake process was not built to catch the flag. It was built to collect a credit card.

This is the fix. Not how to say no to the wrong client after you have spotted them. How to build an intake and onboarding sequence that does the spotting for you, so the wrong ones screen themselves out before they ever reach your engagement letter.

Why your gut is not enough (even though it is right)

Your instincts are good. After ten or twenty years of doing this, you can read a problem client in about ninety seconds. That is not the issue.

The issue is that ninety seconds happens on a phone call, at 4:45 on a Thursday, when you are tired and behind and the prospect is being charming because they want something from you. Your gut whispers “this one is trouble,” and your mouth says “sure, let me send you the engagement letter.” Memory is not a system. A feeling you override is worse than no feeling at all.

A real onboarding process takes the decision out of that exhausted Thursday moment and spreads it across several deliberate steps, each one a gate. A problem client has to clear every gate to reach you. Most of them will not bother. That is the entire point. You are not trying to convince good clients to sign. You are building friction that … Continue reading

How to Raise Your Fees Without Losing Your Best Clients

Every year you hold your price steady, you quietly give your clients a raise out of your own paycheck.

When was the last time you raised your fees? Not “added a line item.” Not “charged the new client a little more than the last one.” I mean actually went back to your existing book of business, the people you’ve carried for years, and told them the number was going up.

For most of the tax professionals I coach, the honest answer is “I can’t remember.” Three years. Five years. One guy told me he was charging a client the exact same $400 for a return he first quoted in 2014. Same client. Twelve years. Same four hundred bucks.

Read that again. Twelve years of inflation, twelve years of harder returns, twelve years of your time getting more valuable, and the price never moved.

You are not running a practice. You are running a charity, and you’re the donor.

Here’s the promise. In this post I’m going to walk you through exactly how to raise your fees without watching your best clients walk out the door. The math behind why you have to. The real reason you haven’t. The script, almost word for word. And what to do with the handful who push back. This is the same kind of practice-building work we teach inside Tax Resolution Academy®, and the willingness to send one letter is the only thing it costs you.

The Math You’ve Been Avoiding

Let me do the arithmetic out loud, because the numbers are uglier than you think.

Say you’ve held a client at $400 a return since 2019. Feels loyal. Feels like good service. Now run the inflation on it. To have the same buying power as that 2019 $400, you’d need to charge somewhere north of $500 today just to stand still. So you didn’t “hold your price.” You gave that client a raise every single year, out of your own pocket, without them ever asking.

Now stack it. Say you’ve got 200 clients and you’ve been underpricing the book by an average of $150 each. (Your numbers will vary. These are illustrative, not a promise.) That’s $30,000 a year. Gone. Every year. Not theoretical money, not “potential.” Real revenue you earned the right to and chose not to collect.

And here’s the part that should sting. That $30,000 isn’t sitting in a drawer waiting for you to redeem it … Continue reading

The Hidden Cost of Saying Yes to the Wrong Clients

One of my Mastermind members recently shared a story that stopped me in my tracks—not because it was unusual, but because it’s the exact moment every successful tax professional must face (plus it made very proud).

She met with a prospective client for fractional controller services. On paper, it was perfect: a former boss who knew her work, familiar processes, guaranteed income for three to six months. Easy money, right? Especially when she is trying to start a brand new tax firm.

Then came the pricing conversation.

Her rate: $250 per hour. His expectation: $45-$50.

That’s not a negotiation gap. That’s a fundamental misalignment of value.

Here’s where most practitioners stumble. The voice in your head whispers all the “reasonable” justifications: It’s guaranteed work. I already know the systems. It would be so easy to just say yes. It is money/cash today that I need.

But she didn’t.

She recognized something profound in that moment—her desire to please people and work with everyone could have sabotaged everything she was building. Three to six months of underpriced work would have meant three months of NOT building the practice she actually wanted.

This applies to every service you offer.

Whether it’s a tax prep client pushing back on your $500 return fee, a bookkeeping prospect expecting $25 per hour work, or a resolution case where someone wants champagne service on a beer budget—the principle remains identical.

You get to choose.

You choose the practice you build. You choose how you spend your time. You choose who you work with and at what price. Not your clients.

Notice I said “choose,” not “hope for” or “settle for.”

When you accept work at rates that don’t serve your goals, you’re not being flexible or client-focused. You’re actively building the wrong practice. Every hour spent on underpriced work is an hour unavailable for the clients and services that actually move you forward.

My mastermind member concluded her message with something that made me incredibly proud: “So thank you for your support and your mentorship. I’m learning so much and I’m finally starting to believe in myself and my ability to build this practice.”

That belief didn’t come from saying yes to easy money. It came from having the courage to say NO.

So here’s your homework: The next time a prospect has “sticker shock” at your rates, resist the urge to negotiate against yourself. Instead, wish them well and … Continue reading