David Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 This isn't one of the burning issues but I'd like to get some feedback from the community. This year I have a lot of clients who say they can only set up an appointment from 7 pm or after during the week or only on weekends. Have any of you come up with a polite way of asking how they are able to go to their doctor, dentist, chiropractor, etc. during the day? I do offer appointments up to 6 pm during the week. But I prefer to work from my home office on the weekends. Thanks for your feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack from Ohio Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 I have switched to 90% drop off. No appointment needed. I have a drop box in the wall beside the door. Solves the problem, and I am more productive with no one sitting there watching me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted February 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 I encourage existing clients to email or drop off their documents instead of setting up an appointment to meet. But many still want to have the face to face meeting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnH Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 I encourage them to drop off or mail their info to me. I strongly urge them to email info to me rather than call. I do everything possible to keep my clients out of my office so I can get some productive work done. But there are a few who simply must sit down and hand me their info. In that case we make appointments. But if they want an appoinntment at a time that isn't convenient for me, I just tell them it isn't convenient. i don't really care when they go to the dentist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulldogTom Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 My father in law had a saying "You gotta make hay when the sun is shining". In our industry, the sun shines Jan 15th through April 15th. We try to accommodate all of our customers to the best of our ability. I would stay and do the return if that was the only time that the client had and we could not get them to e-mail their information. Tom Hollister, CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion EA Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 I too ask them to drop off through the mail slot in my front door or send their materials another way. I have several who drop off very early, 6 a.m. or earlier, on their way to work. I hardly ever take night appointments any more. I will take a weekend appointment from time to time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted February 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 "I would stay and do the return if that was the only time that the client had..." But that is my point - that ISN'T the only time the client has. They seem to be able to go to the doctor, dentist, their kid's school, etc. during the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kea Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 I'm a night person, so my office / phone hours are 1:00 PM - 9:00PM. (But, of course, I'm working later than that.) As someone who used to work a typical office job, I was very frustrated by doctors, banks, etc. that were also only open typical business hours. That meant a lot of things just didn't get done. (Working 50-60 hours per week was also a factor.) I like that I can be available for times that meet my clients' schedules. My problem is more with the clients who want morning appointments. I try to push them to afternoon, but in some rare cases I'll take the morning appointment, if that is the only time that works for them. This issue is getting to be less common as more clients mail, e-mail or fax their documents to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KINGCHUCK1971 Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 I have my clients to utilize my outdoor drop box, fax, or email me their information. This way I'm able to focus on my work and actually get work done. If I do a face to face it costs more and I do face to face for my business clients (payroll & bookkeeping). Time is money people! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILLMAS Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 I once had schedule an appointment close to my office closing time and then TP called me to let me know he was going to be late 30 to 45 minutes and I said fine, when he got here he said he was sorry because he had to stop by and get something to eat, and he had the nerve to tell me, I was going to call to you to see if you wanted something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion EA Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 I sometimes take teachers on Saturday mornings. They bring me coffee and pastry. I did have a client bring dinner one time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack from Ohio Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 I once had schedule an appointment close to my office closing time and then TP called me to let me know he was going to be late 30 to 45 minutes and I said fine, when he got here he said he was sorry because he had to stop by and get something to eat, and he had the nerve to tell me, I was going to call to you to see if you wanted something Increased fees to cover the food he did not bring??? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILLMAS Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 No, but I do have some clients that bring me a bottle of tequilla or even a 24-pack of beer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MsTabbyKats Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 Sadly...if you cannot accommodate the client.....you lose the client. I stopped allowing (I work out of my home) people coming over at their convenience. Some were never to be seen again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaB Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 "I would stay and do the return if that was the only time that the client had..." But that is my point - that ISN'T the only time the client has. They seem to be able to go to the doctor, dentist, their kid's school, etc. during the day. I know you are right, and if clients can't make it to my office when I'm here, they just have to go elsewhere. They will get there if you just hang tough. Obviously, you can make an exception if somebody really, really has no choice, but you don't have to be available 24/7. One last week said her new hours were 7 - 4. My official hours are 8 - 4. Of course I'm here long past that, and I don't lock the door, but I don't tell anybody that. If they catch me, they do, but I gotta go to the bank once in a while, too. Anyhow, when I called to tell her that her return was ready, she managed to get here in 15 minutes. At 2:00. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gail in Virginia Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 I have a bushel of golden delicious apples sitting in my office right now. Anybody want one, come on over. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richcpaman Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 David: I have appointments that start at 3 pm in the afternoon, and then I will go to 9pm at night, on Mondays and Wednesdays, and then Saturday from 9 till 3pm or so. That is for 1040 clients. And I preschedule them. I meet my business clients outside of those hours, and then work the rest of time to get things done. Clients are asking you to alter your times. And you are unwilling to do so. At that point, they will bend to your request, or they will leave and go someplace else. Presuming that they make time during the week to go to other places, and they can do the same for me, is illogical. The Dr. states that the office hours are 9 am to 3:30 pm. And if you want to see the Dr., that is when you get your chance. If you don't want to debate your clients, then state simply that those are the times you can meet with them, and leave it at that. They will adjust, or not. Switching as many as possible to drop off or mail in is an option. But it takes time to do that.... We are in the client service business. It means I will work late, and odd hours, and get paid quite well for that. If I wasn't getting paid quite well, I wouldn't work weird hours... Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcjenkins Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 We all have a few of those. A few you may be willing to lose. But you might try something that worked for me. As all you long-time members know, I'm very much of the Owl type, while Don was of the Lark type, so he got most all the early bird types. After his stroke, and I was doing it all, I had to retrain some of them, so what I did was to tell them, "I can see you at 2 pm Wed, or 3 pm Thur, or 10 am next Tues." I never made an appointment earlier than 10 am, but did not tell them that. The point was, given those options, many would choose to take the afternoon rather than wait. You could reverse the times, but use the same logic. Allow one day when you do take evening appointments, if you feel you can, but given that those may mean waiting, I'll bet you find that many will realize that they can, in fact, come by during the day after all. It's natural for everyone to ask for the time best for us, but we adapt when we need to. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxxcpa Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 I only have one client who comes in the evening. Some come in the morning or afternoon, but most mail or e-mail their returns.. Only two clients stay here while I prepare their returns--which is the worst option. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack from Ohio Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 I have a bushel of golden delicious apples sitting in my office right now. Anybody want one, come on over. It is a good thing you are so far away!! Golden Delicious apples are my weakness!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted February 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2014 "Clients are asking you to alter your times. And you are unwilling to do so..." I don't mind accomodating the clients IF they truly can't get here during the day. But I know that they are able to get to other appointments during the day. It escapes me why they think they can tell CPAs that they can't come in until later in the evening but they would never even think of asking an attorney, doctor, dentist, etc. to do so. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NECPA in NEBRASKA Posted February 7, 2014 Report Share Posted February 7, 2014 I love having a locking drop box now. I have managed to get some of my clients to just drop off, but most insist on seeing me. I don't take weekend appointments anymore and nothing after 6:30. It took me a long time to wean them from the weekend ones, but I don't think that I lost anyone over it. I just explain that I have to have some time to work when there is no one here and the phone isn't constantly ringing. Now if I could just get more of them to give me their email addresses so I don't have to wait until the next day to call them with questions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnH Posted February 7, 2014 Report Share Posted February 7, 2014 why dont you just ask for their email address when you get their phone number and other contact info? You can also ask if they use email or texting as a primary means of communication. I find that many of the younger clients dont use email very much - they almost exclusively text. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NECPA in NEBRASKA Posted February 7, 2014 Report Share Posted February 7, 2014 I do ask them in my client letter. I have a lot of older clients that just don't like anything on the Internet. Their grandkids are not a problem, they never want to see me and do everything by email. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joanmcq Posted February 7, 2014 Report Share Posted February 7, 2014 I'm with Kea, as a true night owl, my appointments start at 1pm and I'll take one as late as 7pm. Saturdays are fine too, but I rarely meet anyone on Sunday. I take off when I want to; for example this upcoming Wednesday Burning Man tickets go on sale and I will be working on one monitor and hitting the 'buy tickets' button until I get one. And I'll freely tell clients this. And the week after that I'm leaving early to go on an actual date. But I'll work on Saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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