Some People Look for Ways to Create Fire
Volume 12, Number 11
Issue 559
I think that there are certain people out there who are drawn to create adversarial situations with professionals as a way of justifying their own insecurities or their own deep-seeded emotional or financial problems. Some people would say that these types simply don’t understand that “more flies are always attracted with honey and not vinegar.” Others would say that people who can’t get along with professionals just haven’t ever understood how to do so and have never been lucky enough to find a good one to teach them how. My Dad used to try to get over encounters with aggressively and overly-demanding people by simply saying “Dave, I was this person’s entertainment for the day.”
Among the new clients that I see at this time of year are a few who have never worked well with prior CPAs. Each year I attract some new clients who change CPAs every year looking for one that they feel would be the “right” one for them. They say that they have never found the right one for them because there aren’t any good ones out there. This is a tall order for me to fill, especially since it is usually delivered in the first five minutes of an initial consultation. Sometimes I succeed with the CPA-shopper and sometimes I fail like others have done before me.
Mostly at this time of year, though, I see clients who have been with me for many years who understand that if you find a professional who brings passion and enthusiasm to a relationship in a caring and compassionate way that you can work out the minor communication difficulties later that are present in any relationship. The synergy of working together towards a common goal by asking lots of questions, being happy, using humor, and being an important part of each other’s lives is looked at as important--and it should be.
Usually there is a reason why people change CPAs. When price or geographic distance (because of moving), are not the obvious reasons, I am always interested in why someone changes. Frankly, I don’t want to make the same mistakes and, often, I am upfront to ask what happened. In a few instances, it’s obvious that some people are drawn to creating adversarial situations and, regretfully, I wonder if any one of the dozens of CPAs that I admire in Richmond could ever make them happy. But I am just as drawn to trying to help them as they are to being so hostile that no professional could ever do it “right.” Am I setting myself up for failure?
Clients who exhibit hostile and aggressive attitudes should never be accepted by any business. But the “Catch 22” situation is that once you diagnose a client as one that you should not accept, how do you disengage from them without making the situation even more volatile? The good person deep down inside me wants to try to save the relationship because I have the belief that I’ll work hard to fix the situation, but is this the best idea? Do the few hostile and aggressive and “can’t ever do anything right for them” people that do get in the door create so much risk and negativity that the cost--whatever the cost--of counseling them out is worth it?
A minority of people always seem purposefully scattered with their records but then are overly detailed in expecting perfection in an outcome. While most people are intelligent enough to understand the “garbage-in, garbage-out” analogy, a few new-to-me clients seem to be purposefully disorganized to the point that I become the problem and not the solution. While I always try to diffuse the situations with the “if you don’t know, I don’t know” type of humor as well as give unwavering and patient explanations as to why I need what I need to get the accurate return that is required, I seem to become the brunt of the hostile taxpayer’s anger at the process. Blame for their own problems and frustration are purposefully and willfully shifted to and against me.
Good professionals--plumbers, car mechanics, electricians, contractors--are the solution and not the problem. IF (big “if”) you find one that is available, priced reasonably, and comes with good bonafides at a competitive price, treat that professional with a commensurate level of respect and friendliness beyond that to which you expect yourself. I’ve tried that with my professionals and it seems to work wonders. With my own clients this time of year, it is a breath of fresh air to meet someone who is as happy to meet me as I am to meet them.
I recognize that taxes are among the most hated things that the general public hates to do, but the best results are always received when BOTH my client and I work together in a cooperative manner that depends on both of us compromising, discussing and being reasonable. My clients make mistakes and I catch them. I make mistakes and my clients catch them. I want clients who realize that the cornerstone of any successful relationship is working together with passion towards life and a zeal towards attaining a goal. In my case, that would be making sure that the lowest legal tax is paid through a process of tax return preparation that is minimally stressful and invasive on the client’s life.
Clients who think that their professionals can deliver products by mind-reading don’t live in the real world.
My great friend Dave DeBaugh once said that I had so much passion and enthusiasm towards friendly and fast service that I “must have flunked the personality part of the CPA exam.” Though I give my best shot at serving everyone--including those hostile and negative people that I never should have let in to begin with--it sure is nice and a much more pleasing experience to have people that are happy, cooperative and spirited about working together rather than the opposite.
David B. Robinson, CPA
Index of Previous Issues of Tax Fax
