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Maintaining transparency and good communication with clients is crucial for financial business leaders. This is especially important when those clients are small business owners, who are often stretched thin with other business priorities. As such, you'll want to streamline and strengthen your interactions with small businesses and their in-house financial teams to keep everyone on the same page.
To help, 18 Forbes Finance Council members share key tactics for improving communication with small business owners and their accounting teams. Here's how you can support mutual understanding and financial prosperity for all parties.
1. Deliver Clear And Succinct Messaging
Small business owners are constantly wearing many hats and need to prioritize their time based on what will bring the business the most value. For this reason, it pays to be clear and succinct when delivering your message to a client. If they can't quickly understand the value of what you are communicating and why it is worth their time, they may be letting great opportunities go by the wayside. - Shaune Scutellaro, CohnReznick LLP
2. Define Objectives And Roles
When working with small businesses, financial leaders should define clear objectives for financial management and establish expectations for communication frequency, reporting formats and decision-making processes. Ensure that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities, encourage open dialogue and actively listen to concerns, questions and feedback from the in-house team. - Lawrence Pross, Nexi
3. Support Associations With Financial Partners
One strategy I have used is to support associations that represent various financial partners. For me, working with exchange investors is incredibly important. So, I recently attended an annual conference for this group and had the opportunity to speak about how Delaware Statutory Trusts can help their 1031 exchange clients which provided me with many referrals. - Betty Friant, Kay Properties & Investments
4. Explain And Sell The Transformation
We need to build bridges for our clients through communication. Tell them exactly what process they can expect. Show them what happens before, during and after their purchase. We talk a lot about features and benefits and many of us do a good job of selling the "transformation" — but not enough of us educate clients on how we get them to that desired result. - Leo Anzoleaga, Leo Anzoleaga Group at NEO Home Loans
5. Gather As Much Information As You Can
As with any personal return, the small business tax-gathering chore should include as much detail as you can find. We would suggest QuickBooks for businesses just like Quicken for your personal tax filing. Assuming that you don't apply or use QuickBooks, you need to assemble as much detail using your business credit card for the business or your personal credit card for your personal taxes. - Richard Martin, Bluestone Wealth Partners
Forbes Finance Council is an invitation-only organization for executives in successful accounting, financial planning and wealth management firms. Do I qualify?
6. Explain The Benefits Of Specific Products
When working with small businesses, financial leaders should explain the benefits of specific banking products and how they fit into small business models. Be transparent about fees and make efforts to connect business owners to wrap-around services, including opportunities to improve their financial fitness. This, coupled with proactive communication, can help strengthen your client's business. - Monique Johnson, Beneficial State Bank
7. Tailor Communication To Each Business
Banks should be saying the right things, at the right time, to the right businesses. Gone are the days when banks could get away with mass generic communications. Now, tech tools enable more bespoke communications that are unique to each business and individual, so banks need to ensure they're using the right tools correctly. - Fiona Roach Canning, Pollinate
8. Explain Options And Offer Suggestions
It’s essential financial leaders are transparent. Explaining the options available and suggesting what best suits each business will build trust and yield the best results for both entities. Services should be tailored with the business's unique offerings and financial circumstances in mind. - Austin Mac Nab, VizyPay
9. Utilize Video Emails
Financial leaders can improve their communication by making use of brief video emails. A video should be three minutes or less and packed with relevant, useful and timely information that the business owner can use. The advantage of video communication is that it tends not to get lost in the sea of emails the business owner and their key team members are inundated with daily. - Ronald Gelok, Ronald Gelok & Associates
10. Explain The 'Why'
Focus on the "why." Ultimately, the decision lies with the small business owner and often they don't have enough information to make it, so they trust what someone tells them. Empowering them with the reasons to or not to consider when thinking about a possible direction will build their confidence as a business leader. - Marjorie Adams, Fourlane
11. Maintain Transparency With A Third-Party Communications Firm
Communication is key to operating any business, whether it be with employees, customers or stakeholders. This is more important when engaging with smaller operators given potential information asymmetry or misunderstandings. To minimize issues, increase transparency either directly or via a third party such as a communications firm, and time should be spent allowing all questions to be answered. - Manoj Jain, Maso Capital
12. Understand Business Models, Goals And Challenges
Understanding a small business's model, challenges and goals requires dedicating time to learn about the intricacies of the operations market in which they operate and the specific financial reporting obstacles faced by the in-house accounting team. Tailor communication in such a way that it addresses the unique needs and objectives of the team and culture to be more relevant and impactful. - Peter Goldstein, Exchange Listing LLC
13. Speak In Person Or On The Phone
Ditch the email. Pick up the phone. Better yet, meet in person. The art of communicating seems to be lost these days as we tend to use emails as our primary means of communicating. - Ken Hodgkins, Metro Testing & Engineering
14. Utilize Cloud-Based Software
Technology can play a key role in improving communication and preventing crucial errors. Using cloud-based software to streamline financial processes and improve transparency or adopting an OCR tool that is also trained to extract information, validate documents and process data with financial logic embedded can reduce manual errors, ensure accurate data extraction and improve communication. - Tomer Guriel, ezbob Ltd.
15. Explain 'Who, What, How And When'
It's critical for financial business leaders to effectively communicate the "who, what, how and when" to small business owners and their accountants. This means not only explaining financial strategies and processes clearly but also ensuring they understand who is involved, what actions will be taken, how these actions contribute to their goals and when they can expect results. - Chris Seveney, 7e investments
16. Actively Listen And Show Genuine Interest
Establishing trust and rapport with small business owners and their financial team is essential. This can be achieved through open and transparent communication, active listening and showing genuine interest in their concerns and goals. - Abiodun Sowemimo, CapitalMetriQ Swift Bank
17. Institute Regular Communications Channels
To enhance communication, financial leaders should institute regular channels, such as scheduled meetings or digital platforms. This ensures ongoing transparent dialogue with small business owners and their financial teams. Regular interactions facilitate timely information exchange, problem-solving and a shared understanding of financial goals and strategies. - Richard Polgar, CFG Merchant Solutions
18. Explain How Growth Plans Depend On Accounting Teams
Bookkeeping and accounting are the building blocks of any company's financial structure and are a basis for making vital decisions by business leaders. Communication can be improved by explaining company goals and growth plans to bookkeepers and accountants and making them understand how decisions like plant expansion or expansion into new geography are dependent on the data provided by them. - Raghavkumar Parmar, MMA Pan Asia Fund Management
The information provided here is not investment, tax, or financial advice. You should consult with a licensed professional for advice concerning your specific situation.
