How accountants can measure client satisfaction

Happy clients are more likely to be returning clients. So, keeping them satisfied is your fast-track to a consistent, sustainable workload.

Measuring client satisfaction helps you see how much value you provide, and which areas are lacking. This means you can focus your efforts in the right places to improve services and build a more successful practice.

In this guide, we show you client satisfaction metrics and how you can use them. Discover ways to measure client satisfaction and make improvements that keep them coming back.

What is client satisfaction?

Client satisfaction measures how content your clients are with the services they receive. Depending on how you measure it, client satisfaction levels tell you whether you’re meeting clients’ expectations and delivering value.

You can use client satisfaction metrics to improve your services, client retention, and brand loyalty. Your client satisfaction levels can help you decide which new services to offer, and which existing ones need work. Imagine that there’s a service you offer that you thought would be highly sought after, but in reality proves to be of low interest to your clients – or the other way around.

Why is client satisfaction important?

Many practices will already have KPIs and metrics to keep teams on track for performance, retention, and revenue. But, how well do your practice goals align with what your clients really want?

Keeping clients happy is what keeps you in business. Satisfied clients stick around longer than those who aren’t satisfied, and they might even refer you to other businesses in their network. However, fail to do this and you’ll likely find the opposite might happen.

Clients that stick with you also ensure longer-term financial stability and sustained cash flow. Needless to say, reliable cash flow makes it easier to keep operations running smoothly and invest in your practice. Not to mention, the peace of mind that comes with having a stable income.

High client satisfaction levels are something you can use to promote your practice, too. Use positive feedback as social proof on your website or social media. Your high client satisfaction levels can show potential clients you’re the right choice.

Receiving positive feedback can also be incredibly empowering and motivating for your whole team. We all like to be recognised and rewarded, and measuring client satisfaction can help you meet those needs for yourself and your team.

How to measure client satisfaction?

Before deciding which metric you’ll choose to measure client satisfaction, consider what you want to learn about your clients and services. Are you looking for detailed, written feedback on a new service? Or, a number rating for the overall quality of service? Pick your goal before you pick your metric.

Common formats for getting client responses include surveys and feedback forms. You can customise these formats with the questions that matter most for your practice. For example, you could ask clients to rate a particular service on a scale of 1-10. Or, you could provide statements about your services for clients to agree or disagree with – ‘Using our recommended document capture tool is easy’.

Don’t ignore popular review platforms like Google Reviews or Trustpilot, either. These are invaluable tools in identifying what your clients are saying about you, and what you might need to improve.

Once you’ve settled on your goals and format, you can create a plan for gathering data. Here are some things to consider:

• How will you collect the data? Will you use survey software, share a form via email, or something else?
• How will you analyse the data? Will you assign this task to a person, or use software to crunch the numbers?
• How will you act on the data? Will you meet with the whole team to discuss the findings and make an improvement plan?

There are plenty of software tools out there that help you gather, analyse, and take action on the data.

H2: 3 key client satisfaction metrics for accountants to measure

It’s time to turn satisfaction into something measurable. These client satisfaction metrics can help you on your way.

1. Customer effort Score (CES)

A Customer Effort Score (CES) shows how easy (or difficult) it is for clients to use your services.

CES survey questions require your clients to rank processes and services based on their ease or difficulty, using a 1-5 or 1-7 scale. For example – you could ask clients, ‘How easy was the onboarding process for you to complete?’, and get them to rank their experience.

The highest number means very easy, and the lowest number means very difficult. The higher your CES, the easier it is for your clients to use your services. Some CES surveys use smiley faces or icons in place of 1-5 or 1-7, but you’ll still need to track the numbers to generate your score.

You can calculate your Customer Effort Score in a few simple steps: tally up all the responses and then divide this by how many responses there are. For example, if you surveyed 150 people on a scale of 1-5, and their scores added up to 600, you would divide 600 by 150 for a CES of 4 out of 5.

CES is useful for identifying friction points in your services. It’s worth noting that consumers are willing to pay for excellent services, so making it harder for clients to engage could be putting them off.

2. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Your Net Promoter Score (NPS) is calculated on a single survey question – ’How likely are you to recommend our services/practice on a scale of 1-10?’. The higher the score, the more likely your clients are to be promoters of your practice.

Calculating NPS is slightly more complex. The 1-10 scale is divided into three categories – detractors (1-6), passives (7-8), and promoters (9-10). To calculate your NPS, you need to subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. So, if you surveyed 50 clients, and 10 were detractors, 10 were passives, and 30 were promoters, it would look like this:

10 detractors = 20%

30 promoters = 60%

60% - 20% = 40% NPS

Your NPS indicates how likely your clients are to stay loyal to your practice and refer your services. Promoters, as you’d expect, are the clients most likely to sing your praises. The higher your NPS, the more promoters you have.

NPS is an overall measure of satisfaction and loyalty, so while you won’t get a granular view on specific services, you will get a broad sense of how satisfied your client base is. And, if you track NPS over time, you can drill down into negative responses or a decline in your score by following up with a more detailed survey.

3. Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI)

Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) is the most direct measure of client satisfaction. You ask clients ‘How satisfied are you with [insert specific or general service] on a scale of 1-10?’

You can ask clients to rate services as a whole, or something specific. For example, following busy period you might ask clients how satisfied they were with your compliance services. Once they’ve responded, you could use your CSI as an indication of whether processes need improving before the next tax year.

To calculate CSI, simply add up all the scores and divide them by the number of responses for an average. As with any client satisfaction metric, measuring CSI regularly will enable you to track it over time and see if you’re improving. And, because you can focus on specific service areas, it’s easier to track changes and make targeted improvements.

How to improve client satisfaction?

Improving client satisfaction always comes back to the end user of your services. Ask your clients for their suggestions, and loop your team in too – they’ll see things in day-to-day operations that you might not.

Beyond that, communicating frequently and transparently with clients, addressing their feedback and pain points proactively, and using tools that minimise the workload for them, will help you deliver a better service.

For practices and their clients, so much of the work depends on the technology used. Ensuring you make the right software choices can have a significant impact on client experience. Focus on ease and usability when you’re selecting software, so that tech is a useful tool and not a stressful burden.

Xero provides practices with simple workflows and clever automations to reduce the administrative workload for you and your clients, and make managing finances easier. Connect your clients’ bank accounts to Xero for an automatic feed of live transactions, and show them beautiful reports and forecasts that help them make better financial decisions.

For more help building a successful practice, check out our accountant and bookkeeper guides. Or, try our accounting software for practice management today.