How to hand over your clients to your employees

A couple of weeks ago I used a dam metaphor to describe how to hand over your precious clients to a bookkeeper on your team. I received some great feedback and questions so I thought it was worthwhile expanding on that this week. If you missed it you can find it here.

If you’re just starting up your bookkeeping practice you’re in the perfect position to set up the expectation with new clients that you are building your business and that in about 12 months you will be replacing yourself with another member of your team. They will be more open to this concept if you talk about the systems you have in place to guarantee the quality of the work. Although the client will still be attached to you, when the time is right, it’s a much easier conversation because you have prepared them in advance. And, BTW, make sure you set this expectation for every new client you engage as your business grows.

If you have existing clients, as much as you love them, extricating yourself from them can feel a little like trying to drag yourself out of quicksand. It’s exhausting. And it’s at this time that you are most vulnerable and might feel like giving in because they just won’t let go. It’s helpful to understand, and address, what’s going on in their world. They are fearful of the unknown. You rescued them. Their business is complex. Despite that, they now have more accurate information than ever because of you and their business is growing as a result.

The trust they place in you is your leverage. But trust only goes so far. To fulfil on your promises you have to have systems in place to recruit the best bookkeepers, for how the bookkeeping is done, manuals written that are specific to your client’s business and audit controls to check the work. Yes, there is a lot of work to do, but it’s the kind of work that will ultimately give you choices. It’s the kind of work that Michael E Gerber refers to in the E Myth.