APRIL SHOPPER

[BLACK BART]

I've told myself over and over (over the years) to NEVER believe that line "All I have is a W-2".  Card 'em, scan 'em, wand 'em, strip search 'em - demand an old copy before quoting, whatever it takes.  But for some reason I keep falling for it impulsively (must be something psycho/psychological there) and low-balling them.

Typical one dashes in this week: April shopper, late-model car, well-dressed, acts reasonable, smells okay, nevertheless, it's all about "Are you cheap?" Client tried filing online but the stubborn thing just would NOT fork over $2K CTC for the 17-year old, so abandoned that (don't know how they beat the fee), tried J-H (price induced a near-coronary), and afterwards were scouring the earth for a cheap independent (me).  After the poor-mouthin' start I spy a previous year in the junk and it's got 1040, A (fed/state), B, 2106, HSA, energy credit, but no EIC (how unjust) - too much income, of course.  Told tax-world has changed, dumped most old baggage, and negotiated a new price (amid groans and gnashing of teeth-both parties).

Next year, I swear; no April newbies get past the front desk without a lie-detector test!

 

[Possi]

If they ask my price, I absolutely don't quote. I tell them things like "cheaper than tax-in-a-box" or "I'll save you more money than you'll spend on me"  or my all time favorite, "my prices are very competitive, but I don't strive to be the cheapest." 

 

[JohnH]

Tell them getting good tax advice is like buying oats.  For a reasonable fee, I can provide you with good-quality oats.  But if price is your only consideration, you may wind up with oats that have already been through the horse.  

[Gail in Virginia]

I am of two minds about this subject.  As a preparer I know how hard it is to quote a fair and reasonable price without actually doing the work so that I know what is involved.  And if I have done the work, I want to be paid commensurate with my effort.  And yet as a consumer, I hate to agree to pay for services when I don't have any idea of what it is going to cost.  My preferred method earlier in the year is to tell them that if they bring me last year's return I can tell them what I would have charged to prepare that.  Sometimes I will quote a price range, emphasizing that this is based on the return only involving blah, blah, blah.  But I don't have a good solution that I am happy with, and I probably lose business because I have gotten short changed so often that I tend to quote high now, figuring that they won't complain if it is cheaper than expected but boy do they if it is higher. 

[Possi]

4 minutes ago, Gail in Virginia said:

I am of two minds about this subject.  As a preparer I know how hard it is to quote a fair and reasonable price without actually doing the work so that I know what is involved.  And if I have done the work, I want to be paid commensurate with my effort.  And yet as a consumer, I hate to agree to pay for services when I don't have any idea of what it is going to cost.  My preferred method earlier in the year is to tell them that if they bring me last year's return I can tell them what I would have charged to prepare that.  Sometimes I will quote a price range, emphasizing that this is based on the return only involving blah, blah, blah.  But I don't have a good solution that I am happy with, and I probably lose business because I have gotten short changed so often that I tend to quote high now, figuring that they won't complain if it is cheaper than expected but boy do they if it is higher. 

It's a little different for me because I only take personal referrals. I am confident they have already discussed prices together. 

[ILLMAS]

Imagine a client telling you this, "my friends that are in the same industry as me, pay very little tax (was talking tax preparer) and why do I always have to pay with you".  I'll let this sink in.

[BLACK BART]

7 hours ago, ILLMAS said:

Imagine a client telling you this, "my friends that are in the same industry as me, pay very little tax (was talking tax preparer) and why do I always have to pay with you".  I'll let this sink in.

I don't have to imagine - a few years ago the CEO of a local bank (people seek him out for financial advice) said to me:

CEO: "Why am I paying so much tax (many K's +) this year when my associates tell me they pay practically nothing for the same?"

BB: "Well, see; when you make the kind of money you're knocking down and you have those side businesses that are dragging in a ton, then you're gonna owe lots of tax.  Too, everybody's different - I doubt your pals' earnings are the same as yours.  More importantly though, last time you personally sent off all four estimates. This time you sent none.  So, it's pretty simple arithmetic."    

That was a little too plainly spoken for the fiscal analyst.  The meeting ended abruptly and I haven't seen him since.  

[SaraEA]

We rarely take new clients and the ones we do are referrals from good clients or others we don't want to disappoint.  However, when a potential new client asks how much it will cost in the initial phone call, we typically say we aren't taking new clients.  If price is the first thing on their mind, we suspect that will not appreciate the service we provide and the relationship will not be a good one. This week I have had to tell a number of clients that they owe big time, that I tried this and that but nothing helped.  Every one thanked me for the effort I put in.  Those are the clients we want.

I had a client today who wasted so much of my time that I kept silently going into his bill and raising it.  By the time he left it was up almost $100.  He offered to pay even though his return is not yet completed.  I suspect he fears losing me more than I fear losing him. I have heard many practitioners say that they purged their client lists of problem clients and enjoyed their jobs more while their income didn't suffer.

[Roberts]

I always quote a high cost in April because my guess is they are going to be a PIA to work with and they . Prices are always higher if you deliver in April.

 

Grouchy clients are my new pet peeve.

Client was waiting multiple K-1s and he brought me a gift certificate when he finally delivered yesterday because he felt bad.

 

Next set of clients are still waiting and somehow the fact their accounting firm 3 states away are late became my fault and I needed to explain why they were late.

[JohnH]

Q>  "Why is the accounting firm 3 states away late?"

A>  "Because they don't have it done yet."

[Catherine]

PITA people, people who dole out missing information one at a time over several weeks, and people who whine, ALL see their bills gets hiked.  If they go away permanently, that's fine with us!

[JohnH]

I no longer have any clients who come in, sit down, and start handing me their documents one piece at a time.  ("Here's my W-2, here's my wife's W-2, here's my mortgage statement, can I deduct what I paid for these Girl Scout cookies?, etc").  Sometimes I'd want to say "Wow! A W-2 form!  Thanks for telling me what that is."  I was generally thinking along the lines of "Give me that whole stack and shut up for a minute!"

Anyhow, the most fun would come when they pulled out their brokerage statement.  I liked to yank out the boilerplate pages and quickly cram them in the paper shredder before the client could say anything. As it would whine and grind away, the look on their face was priceless.   But then, maybe we just discovered why I don't have to deal with those folks any more.  

[grandmabee]

Exactly then the next thing they say is I could probably just do this myself.

[joanmcq]

One of the reasons I love working remotely!!!