[2]

By Michelle Golden - I've written about bad service attitudes [3] before.

Did you catch this Dear Abby letter [4]? A Texas accountant wrote in whining about what an inconvenience clients are and how put out the people in his firm are with it all!

Here's his beef as he anonymously chides clients:

• Do not just "drop in"....Being distracted from our work for a visit can be very disruptive.




• ...clients feel the need to share how their children are doing. We try to be polite and listen. But....Multiply that by how many clients come through our doors, and it's overwhelming.




• ...do not call your accountant and ask a question for...anyone else other than yourself....it is not billable time for our firm.




• ...if you call...requesting information about the tax consequences of a decision you are trying to make, please do not have a fit when you receive a bill for the time spent doing this research....

Thank goodness there are accountants out there who are mortified that this person represents their profession. Brenda Richter, for instance, an admitted VeraSage [5] groupie, felt moved to reply to this offensive complaining [6].

I agree with Brenda. If the crabby, weary accountant who wrote that sounds at all familiar to you, I know hundreds that don't have lousy attitudes about their chosen profession and I'll be happy to recommend some in your area!

Clearly, the short-sighted CPA doesn't see client interaction as an important way to serve the client better and maybe even address some additional needs. And apparently s/he is too busy to care that some of these interactions might be a great referral opportunity.

I'm amazed people get away with this really crappy attitude and some even achieve success despite themselves.