rfassett Posted March 17, 2015 Report Posted March 17, 2015 My wife just mentioned how pleasant tax season is since we ridded our practice of some of the the real PITA's a few years ago - the kind that just like to keep everything in their world stirred up. So I had this thought. Would it be wrong to ask our prospective clients to submit to a personality test before we agree to take them on? Here is a sample of the client we will accept: Phone call yesterday: Client: Hi Ron, I just wanted to check and make sure you received the package I mailed a couple weeks ago. Me: Yes, client, we did get it. Things are just a little bogged down around here with the new reporting requirements and....... Client cuts me off mid-sentence: Ron, I don't care about all that. I have complete and utmost confidence in you and your staff. I just wanted to make sure you got my stuff, that's all. Have a wonderful day! Me: Thanks Client, we will be in touch. I want all of my clients to be like that. 13 Quote
JohnH Posted March 17, 2015 Report Posted March 17, 2015 I'd try that, but I'm afraid some of my clients might want ME to submit to a personality test. That's when the real problems would surface... 6 Quote
schirallicpa Posted March 17, 2015 Report Posted March 17, 2015 i seem to have some sort of LOSER magnet outside my door. 2 Quote
Terry D EA Posted March 17, 2015 Report Posted March 17, 2015 Just got off the phone with one. TP - How's it going?Made any progress yet? Me- It may take another week or more. I take prepare the returns in the order they are dropped off. TP - Okay no worries just let me know when it is done. 1 Quote
joanmcq Posted March 18, 2015 Report Posted March 18, 2015 I have one that sends emails & VMs every few days...got to my taxes yet? Until I do. BUT he brings me homemade pork adobo every year. With a side of rice and it's enough for 3 meals. Makes up for the emails! 1 Quote
JohnH Posted March 18, 2015 Report Posted March 18, 2015 (edited) Just got off the phone with one. TP - How's it going?Made any progress yet? Me- It may take another week or more. I take prepare the returns in the order they are dropped off. TP - Okay no worries just let me know when it is done. Next time they call, have some fun with them. "Today I entered your income from your W-2 form. Tomorrow I'll get the withholding entered. Then maybe the next day I'll get to your wife's w-2. By the weekend I'll have your home mortgage interest and property taxes entered. These numbers are all pretty large, so it takes time to get them right. Then I'll start on your interest & dividend income. (That won't take too long). So as you can see, it's going pretty good overall. And with all this time it's taking, especially adding in the time to take your phone calls & give you progress reports, I'm really happy to see how your bill is adding up." Edited March 18, 2015 by JohnH 8 Quote
Terry D EA Posted March 18, 2015 Report Posted March 18, 2015 Ah yes, that would be so much fun. 1 Quote
RitaB Posted March 18, 2015 Report Posted March 18, 2015 Seriously, though, it amazes me that people think we do their returns in stages. What is this - a garden? And also that they apparently think we don't really care about getting paid. We just pile up finished returns for the nice feeling we get inside. 7 Quote
kcjenkins Posted March 19, 2015 Report Posted March 19, 2015 Great feeling is when you allow yourself to fire one of the clients that complains about the fee. I say "allow yourself" because we all tend to bite our tongues and put up with them, knowing that most of them don't really mean it the way it sounds to us. But every year, if you allow yourself to fire your worst offender, tho, you will get a great lift from it. 5 Quote
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