Freelance Bookkeepers: What to do When Your Clients are Struggling to Survive
Are you leaving money on the table by not offering your bookkeeping
clients more services? In this current, tough economy, there are a
couple of simple things you could be doing to help your bookkeeping
clients stay alive and at the same time attract new ones.
If you are a freelance bookkeeper who has experience putting together basic websites and setting up autoresponders, you could be helping out your clients who are fighting to keep their businesses going. You know the ones who are struggling because you get to see their account balances every month when you reconcile their bank statement.
Are you worried that you could potentially lose a bookkeeping client because their business might go under? Then it’s in your best interest to pay attention to what I’m about to tell you.
Most small offline businesses have no clue about setting up their own websites or permission-based email marketing. When they think about typical advertising, they think of newspaper or radio ads, which is extremely costly.
But if your client’s cash flow is suffering, they may have to cut their traditional advertising costs just to stay afloat. So what can you, their bookkeeper, do to help them out?
Offer to setup a simple website for them. If you know basic HTML, then setup a static website with a few pages of basic information about the business. If you know how to use Wordpress, you can create a website even faster along with adding some great features that Wordpress plugins can provide.
Then, if you have experience with autoresponders, this is a “must have” add-on service for your client. All businesses can benefit from having their customers signup for their mailing list so that they can send them specials offers and keep them informed about their business. This helps to build a strong relationship with their customer.
The outlay to set this up is minimal compared to traditional advertising costs. The customer just has to pay for a domain name, web hosting and the autoresponder itself. The monthly cost is under $40 which is a bargain in the offline advertising market.
You benefit from adding this service to your bookkeeping business in several ways:
1. You get to keep your existing bookkeeping client which ensures a continued income well into the future for you
2. You generate lots of goodwill from your client and possibly even referrals for new clients.
3. You attract new clients by adding these offline services to your bookkeeping arsenal while charging good rates for this at the same time.
It’s win-win for you both. Plus, I can guarantee if you offer to set this up for a client whose business is suffering; they will jump all over this and be extremely grateful. I’ve personally done this with great results.
I suggest that you set this up for your existing bookkeeping clients for little to no additional charges. Your goal is to keep your bookkeeping client and help them out at the same time, not gouge them.
Alternatively, you could barter with them if they have something of interest to you. Be creative. You could provide free hosting on your server in exchange for something. I’m currently doing this and it is working out great.
As a freelance bookkeeper, you have the inside information on your client’s financial health. It’s up to you whether you want to help them out or watch them go out of business.
