Editor's Note: This is another in a series of articles from Steven Piascik and the team at PIASCIK. The stories will cover a broad range of topics for today's accounting professionals.
I recently wrote about the importance of the CPA as a trusted business advisor to clients. The last two years have seen a rise among businesses turning to CPAs to help them navigate difficult business decisions. Let’s take a look at one of the most important tools that every CPA should keep: a referral network of trusted providers.
This list should include bankers, insurance agents, payroll and benefits providers, attorneys, even CPAs specializing in niche tax areas. Case and point: My firm, PIASCIK, specializes in international tax, real estate, medical practices, and professional athletes/entertainers. We often get calls from other CPAs with clients in these niche areas who require specialized tax solutions.
A CPA is not a jack-of-all-trades. You’re not expected to know everything. I am the first one to admit this. But just as powerful as tax advice is the ability to problem solve for your clients. When you cannot provide a direct solution, partner with someone who can. Building trusted relationships with experienced vendors, providers and other service partners is equally as important as serving clients. These professionals serve as go-to sources when clients ask for assistance beyond tax filing. They can enhance your overall client service and client retention.
I often say that a referral is the best or the worst advice you can ever give. You must have a trusted and reliable referral network. This can only be built over time. Never refer a client to a provider who cannot follow through. Your connections to banks, payroll providers, law firms, insurance providers and others are just as important as your client relationships. The best CPAs are known for this. Building and maintaining these trusted and reliable referral sources has been vital to my firm’s growth and client retention for 20 years.
Client and referral relationships were put to the test in 2020, when COVID sent clients running to CPAs for assistance in applying for PPP funding and other relief programs. How well CPAs handled their clients depended on their capacity to respond.
During the pandemic, my firm already had strong connections with several bankers who could help our clients to expedite PPP applications. These bankers enabled our clients to be among the first businesses to receive PPP funding. Months later, my firm realized additional opportunities for clients to maximize savings through the Employee Retention Tax Credit. Our connections with Alliant Group, a firm specializing in processing federal and state tax credits, incentives and deductions, enabled our clients to apply for additional relief they might not otherwise have known about.
Nancy Bartolameolli, founder and CEO of Woodcrest Financial Group, said that our team’s ability to understand complexities that extend far beyond putting numbers on tax forms was key for them. “Last year, they presented our clients with strategies that resulted in significant tax savings. One was a Cost Segregation Study that netted our client over $700,000 in tax deductions, and another was for the Employee Retention Tax Credit that the clients were not even aware was available to them. One quarter alone netted them over $100,000 in credit.”
Trusted, experienced attorneys are another excellent referral source. One of our best examples is our ongoing engagement with Sands Anderson, a firm with clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic. “It’s been a mutually beneficial relationship all along,” says Brian Pitney of Sands Anderson. “I know that PIASCIK is strong in international tax, so when I have clients engaging in imports or exports, I connect them with Ryan Losi (executive V.P. of PIASCIK). Likewise, Ryan will reach out to me when his clients require complex tax law, such as international corporate transactional work. Nowadays firms like ours really value mutual collaboration.”
Connections with referral sources are more than a two-way street: I’d call it a four-way intersection. It works like this: We send a client to a referral source, such as a payroll provider, when their needs are beyond our tax scope. The client benefits from a better solution. The payroll provider benefits from a new client. We benefit, because our client is happy and sees the value of service we provide them. They stay with us. The client tells a friend, and that friend engages our firm for tax services. Same with the payroll provider when asked by a customer for their recommendation of a CPA firm. It’s a win-win-win-win all around.
How solid is your client referral network? Consider this referral check-list:
- Problem solve – If your client has an issue affecting their business, problem solve with them. Don’t turn them away, claiming it’s outside of your scope.
- Build trusted referral sources — Make sure any outside provider will fulfill what they claim to offer.
- Follow through — After you refer a client to an outside provider, be sure to check in with them during the process — Make sure they are getting what they need from the referral.
- Stay involved — Be prepared to step in to help your client, if needed.
- Never ask for referral fees
As a practicing CPA, your referral network is vital to client service. Take time to nurture these relationships in 2022. If done carefully and with diligent follow-through, I guarantee you will see positive growth in your practice.
Steven M. Piascik, CPA, MT, is founder and president of PIASCIK, a CPA firm headquartered in Richmond, Virginia that provides specialized tax and financial services to a broad range of clients throughout the world. Established in 2001, PIASCIK has served publicly traded companies, multi-million-dollar international companies, real estate, medical practices and high wealth individuals and families. In 2021, PIASCIK was named a “Top 5 CPA Firm in North America” in Inside Public Accounting’s annual “Best of the Best” survey of firms. He can be reached at 804-527-1815 or by email spiascik@piascik.cpa. For more information, visit www.piascik.cpa.
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