“Dogs are loyal, cats are satisfied,” observed Jim Kane, http://jameskane.com/. He then expanded on his comment during a presentation I attended last week. “Loyalty does not equal satisfaction. Loyalty is about the future. Satisfaction is about the past.”
Listening intently during Jim’s two hour presentation, I came to realize that it’s essential for the ASCPA to build and maintain loyal relationships with CPAs. Of course I want our members to be satisfied, but being loyal….that’s where it’s at.
ASCPA team member Heidi Frei recently shared this story about talking with a member. “I just tried to step into her shoes to see what she was feeling with the large salary cut she had just experienced.” Really understanding our members’ world is just one of the many techniques Jim taught us about building loyalty. Heidi did this, and we all celebrated when this member paid her dues.
Ashley Cole, another ASCPA team member, shared the following from a participant evaluation of a CPE class: “I am impressed on a regular basis by the quality of speakers, content, staff and facilities at the ASCPA. Great work!” This is definitely a satisfied member, and I think Jim would also say she is a loyal member. She feels welcome, appreciated and valued, all signs of another loyalty category.
Heidi sent me the following article with more information about loyalty: Hyatt’s Random Acts of Kindness: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/magazine/21FOB-Consumed-t.html?ref=business. Gratitude wasn’t one of Jim’s eight signs of loyalty, so I’ll invite him to share his thoughts.
I’d also like to know your thoughts. Why are you (or why aren’t you) a loyal member of the ASCPA? How do you build loyal relationships with your customers/clients?
All members who comment on this blog by July 31, 2009, will be entered into a drawing to receive an invitation to the ASCPA’s Leadership Day in June 2010. We may entice Jim Kane to speak at this event that’s just for our volunteer leaders. If so, we’ll be in for a treat, as he received a standing ovation after his presentation last week.
Many of you know that pet owners contact the ASCPA for advice from time-to-time, confusing us with the ASPCA. Writing about dogs and cats will probably increase this confusion, but I’m ready. My copy of the ASPCA Complete Guide to Pet Care is on my bookshelf.
Arizona Society of CPAs
J. Michael Stolp
mhstpt
Robert K Minniti, CPA, CFE, Cr.FA, CFF, MBA
Ed Zollars, CPA
Jason Washo, CPA, PFS
dsscpa
cguerriero
Cindie Hubiak, CPA
Jose Herrera
Heidi Frei
Loyalty and gratitude toward the ASCPA? YES!! Naturally…….the result of this organization’s significant contribution and influence on my career. Dogs? Well hey, my little buddy MOOSE LOVES ASCPA CEO CINDIE H.
I am a loyal member of the ASCPA. As a new Arizonian (2 years) it has brought me 2 clients so far. I have enjoyed the great resource of the Taxserv List too. During tax season it is a God send. I also try to utilize the luncheon seminars to network.
I encourage client loyalty by trying to give them the extra mile. I try to send pertinent tax updates during the year, prepare a free tax return for their high schooler or college student, and just keep in touch.
Loyalty is about the future and I see the ASCPA as a partner in my Accounting career in Arizona for many years to come. Year after year the society offers great training opportunities. Now, if I could just find time to regularly attend section leadership meetings….
Who won?
We’ve decided all three CPAs who commented on this blog post will receive an invitation to Leadership Day.
Peggy, Joanne and John, please mark your calendars for a great day on June 11, 2010, 8:30-4:30, and we’ll send more details later.
Thanks to all of you for your helpful insights on loyalty. We appreciate each of you!
Cindie,
First of all, thank you for mentioning me in your post about loyalty last month. I’m not sure if you received any hate mail from cat lovers for repeating my claim that dogs are loyal and cats are only satisfied. But if you did, I apologize (I’m just glad it wasn’t me!) I also wanted to tell you how sorry I am that it has taken me this long to respond to your post and to answer the question you had regarding gratitude. Let me give it a try.
Is gratitude one of the signs of loyalty?
Yes…and no. If someone is loyal to an organization or to another person, it would be pretty safe to assume that they are grateful to that organization or person for the service or attention they receive. But the reverse isn’t necessarily true. The fact that someone is grateful, doesn’t mean they are loyal. It could simply mean they are happy you did what they expected you to do. Their gratitude is an acknowledgement that you completed the task they expected you to complete. Nothing more.
This is the biggest blind spot most organizations and individuals have when it comes to their professional relationships. Thinking that they should receive (and deserve) credit for things that their customers, clients, members or employees expect and take for granted. I’ll give you an example from my own experience. About 10 years ago, I was using the same accountant for both my business and personal accounts. He was a nice guy and I think a good accountant. I didn’t have a very complex company with a lot of employees, not many investments, and only a few accounts payable, so the work was pretty straightforward. I was never audited and never had any tax problems. I was grateful.
Without going into the all the details, one day i decided to have another firm do the accounting for my business. I called my former CPA to tell him what my plans were and he was understandably upset. What was ironic, however, was not that he would be upset that I was replacing him with another firm. It was his shock over why I wasn’t more loyal to him. He started to run off a list of things that he believed should have earned my loyalty. “My taxes were always done on time…” “There were never any errors…” “I was never audited…” All true. But wasn’t I paying him for that? Was not having my taxes completed on time, with a few errors, and the possibility that I could be audited by the IRS really an option that I would have found even a little bit acceptable? Of course not. So why should I give him credit for it? I was grateful that he did the job I was paying him to do, but he certainly do anything above and beyond that would have earned my loyalty.
The state of our relationship was made very clear when he finished going through his list of “accomplishments” for me, I said, “Tom, do you know what I do?”
“Of course I do. You are a consultant.”
“Right. But what kind? What do I do? Who do I work for? What markets do I serve? How healthy are those markets in this current economy? Who do I compete against?”
Silence. Dead silence.
As I said, Tom was a good guy and a good accountant and I was grateful for the work he did for me. But I couldn’t possibly be loyal to someone who didn’t really know anything about what I did – or care, for that matter. I was a client. I had money come into my office and go out of my office and at the end of the year, it all had to balance out. That was his job. The same job he performed for all of his clients, so there was nothing special about me. As far as Tom was concerned, I was just another number that he worked with.
Building a loyal relationship requires much more, however. You need to be competent at what you do, and you need to be trustworthy. But the people you want to be loyal to you will never give you credit for those things. They will always expect them. They will expect that you know what you are doing, and they will expect that you are being fair and honest with them. Loyalty occurs when you start recognizing them as unique individuals. (Maybe they look like all of your other clients because of the kind of work they do or the kind of service they offer, but they see themselves as unique, so you need to as, well.) It comes from understanding the challenges they face. The things that keep them up at night. The internal and external forces that are impacting their businesses, their jobs, or their personal lives. It comes when you start being proactive and anticipate what they will need tomorrow and next week and next year, before being asked. It comes when they see you as an essential part of their lives – a trusted advisor. Someone who they could not get along without because you do understand who they are, what they care and worry about, and what they need in order to reach their goals and find success.
When you can do that, you will see real gratitude…and real loyalty.
Cindy – that is great (all 3 of us getting the invitation). Thank you!