In the post-pandemic world, many contactless processes have been adapted to be permanent. As more people and businesses realized the opportunities to work from anywhere, the world of contactless started to solidify as a permanent state.
Overhead costs like rent, utilities and anything associated with the cost of physical presence are now carefully looked at by most organizations as to how necessary they really are.
But how does this impact our relationships with our clients?
Customer satisfaction is closely linked to their overall experience with their service. How is the business delivering on its promises? Is the service timely and contact frequent? Is service delivered with care and concern? Care and connection are critical to your organization maintaining lasting relationships, regardless of how they are delivered.
Clients are looking for genuine reach outs, not just the monthly newsletter. Communication that is tailored to their needs is critical, especially in an environment where you are not meeting face-to-face. Set up a standard of care for connecting with your clients.
Make sure that not all communication is done via email. A phone conversation or connecting on video can help clients get that in-person feeling that lets them know they have your attention.
Clients are looking for genuine reach outs, not just the monthly newsletter. Communication that is tailored to their needs is critical, especially in an environment where you are not meeting face-to-face.
Accelerate your digital availability by offering virtual conferences and client portals that are easy to use. In place of being unable to meet with clients in person, ensuring they have 24/7 digital access to everything they need can support them in feeling like their advisor has their back. Easy-to-use digital portals with client apps can make it simple for clients to access documents like prior year tax returns or estimated payment vouchers whenever needed.
These tools do not require any time commitment from you, but they do make clients feel that their needs are being met.
Make it easy for clients to provide you with what you need. If your office is not continuing with physical operations, consider setting up tools like virtual scan services.
These services allow clients to mail in their paper documents and will open and scan to PDF all the items. This eliminates any client documents going to team members’ personal homes or virtual office spaces while allowing the clients to still follow similar processes to what they are used to when in-person office settings were still in place.
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to keep clients happy in a touchless environment, but you do need to take the time to put yourself in their shoes. Paying for top-dollar services can feel stressful unless clients feel like they are absolutely confident they are working with the right advisor.
Small steps to ensure they feel seen and heard are critical to providing above-average customer service in a fast-paced environment of tax service.
