Customer relationships are at the heart of a successful business. Develop excellent rapport with your customers, and you will enhance the value of your services to them! Not only will they see the services you provide—they will feel valued and respected.
This can help you retain customers, and more than that, it can bring you more business in the long run. You can expect your reputation will win you more clients in the future through word of mouth.
Having a customer relationship management (CRM) tool is essential for running your business. On your own, you may find it hard to keep track of countless customer details, such as names, addresses, birthdays, family info… the list goes on. By having detailed customer info close at hand, you will be better equipped for connecting with your customers.
ProClient CRM makes the process so simple. You won’t be stumbling to recall names and other bits of info. You’ll have greater confidence when speaking to your clients. You’ll be capable of making them feel that they matter to you.
CRM is a tax preparer’s secret weapon in providing great service. It is a powerful tool for building a successful and long-lasting tax preparation business.
Why CRM Matters
So how do you actually use the CRM tool in practice? Let’s have an illustration of what it does.
You are expecting a client to come in for a meeting. Sure, it’s business, and you’re going to be discussing their financial details and taxable income—which can be difficult or sensitive topics.
It’s not a social occasion… but it wouldn’t hurt to put a sociable veneer on the meeting. Come across as friendly and agreeable to put the client at ease. They’ll be more willing to speak to you openly, trusting you with their tax matters.
It helps to make some small-talk conversation. To do so confidently, you need to know your client. That might not be so simple when you have a lot of clients to keep track of.
No problem… ProClient CRM does the hard work for you!
The CRM Tool in Action
ProClient CRM will quickly get you up to speed right before a client meeting. Simply bring up the client’s information card and take note of what you need to know. Keep it close at hand in case you want to consult it during the meeting.
Now you can greet your client by name or nickname, whatever they prefer. You can ask after their wife and kids. You know what industry they are in and can discuss any relevant news. If you’ve kept notes about their hobbies, sports interests, or other things, you can drop these topics into the conversation.
Your client is bound to relax and hopefully develop rapport with you. They will feel more comfortable discussing finances with you. That will make your job a lot easier.
ProClient CRM will make client meetings a breeze! More than that, they keep everything you have on the client—info, documents, appointments, activity—readily accessible in one place. You can make one small update, and it will automatically reflect on all other materials related to that client. They’re all interrelated.
A Ton of Functionality!
ProClient CRM adds so much convenience to your tax office workflow. Most CRM apps are simple databases used to look up info and are nothing more.
With ProClient, you get a CRM tool that interacts with other features and functions, allowing you to make quick updates and adjustments. Update something from the CRM interface, and it will update elsewhere, too. No need to perform multiple screen switches to update everything manually, one by one.
Here’s how that works. The CRM connects to the document management system. From the CRM interface, you can view all of the documents on a client’s account.
You can add, remove, or edit the file tags of the documents. You can download, upload, or update any document from the CRM screen. You can toggle file sharing permissions on or off. Turning it on grants the client access to the file (so they can update it). Turning it off removes the client’s access to the file.
In other words, you can use the document manager features from the CRM interface without going to a different menu. Truly convenient and time-saving!
ProClient CRM is also connected to the client portal, appointment scheduler, and messaging system. Want to send an email or text message to a client quickly? You can do so from the client’s profile in the CRM tool!
Adding a Client to the CRM
You can access the CRM tool from the main screen of ProClient. Click on the main menu and select either “All clients” or “Add new client.” If you are using the CRM for the first time, you’ll want to begin by adding some client entries.
Clicking on “Add new client” takes you to a new page with a form to fill out. The form fields include the client’s first name and last name, company, job title, date of birth, mobile number, work number, home address, city, state, zip code, and email address.
The form also includes functions to add info on the client’s family members. If the client’s spouse has an existing entry in the CRM, you can add the spouse by simply clicking on the “Link contact” button. This brings up the list of CRM records, from which you can select your client’s spouse by name.
You can add the names of the client’s children by clicking on the plus sign beside the label “Children.”
The “Tags” function lets you add tags that will help you organize and categorize clients however you like. You can add tags that signal a “new client” or specify the industry they are in, for example.
When you have filled out the information, click on the “Add new client” button to save the listing. This will also create a ProClient Portal page for the client and send a link to the portal to the email address entered here. The client can use the portal to send you important files by uploading them to the cloud.
That’s one way ProClient CRM ties everything together so that client-related tasks and data can be updated—without you needing to lift a finger!
Using the CRM to Prepare for Meetings
Every time you acquire a new client or prospect, you can add their info to the ProClient CRM. Then when you meet with that person, you can view their record quickly to grasp all of the relevant details about them.
That will help your meeting go more smoothly. You can inquire about their spouse or children, ask them about their particular job or company, and so on. If it is their birthday, you can send them your best wishes.
And you can easily find contact information for anyone. Simply click on “All clients” on the ProClient menu, and you will see a page listing clients by name, phone number, and email address. To find a particular client quickly, use the handy search function.
If you click on the gear icon beside the search bar, you can configure the list view to your liking. You can show or hide the clients’ names, phone numbers, or email addresses. View only the information that is relevant to your purposes.
Using the CRM to Manage Client Documents
When you click on a client’s name on the CRM database, it will take you to a page that shows the client details and more. It quickly brings together in one interface everything you need to know about the client, including their activity, communications, and documents.
A client’s CRM entry includes pages for notes, appointments, communication, and history. Clicking on any of these pages also shows you the document center. This lists all of the files that your client has uploaded to the cloud using the ProClient Portal.
From the CRM page, you can adjust the permissions on any file listed under the document center. You can share or unshare a file with the client. If you unshare a file, the client will no longer be able to view or access it via the ProClient Portal.
Icons show whether or not a file is currently shared with a client. With only a glance, you can easily determine if a file is being shared or not.
You can add tags to the file entries under the document center. You can easily email or download any file. You can also upload a new version of the file.
Work Smarter with ProClient CRM
With the power of ProClient CRM at your fingertips, you can come across as a well-informed, professional, and thoughtful service provider. And you also have a record of all your transactions with the client. If there is any disagreement or confusion over something previously communicated, you can resolve the issue by consulting the CRM records.
The CRM contains a history of logins, messages, appointments, and documents. The notes page allows you to take detailed notes that you can look up anytime. To ensure that you record important details discussed by you and your client, be sure to use the notes function.
All of these elements are interconnected and accessible through the CRM interface. No need to jump between different screens, juggling multiple items! You can use ProClient CRM to update files on the client portal, appointments on the calendar, materials on the document manager, and so on!
Maintaining good customer relationships can be quite challenging. The ProClient CRM tool simplifies this one troublesome task so that you can focus on jobs with a higher priority.
