[ibCPAsoon]

Last Friday I had a meeting with a potential client who is very soft spoken for tax services. It was to the point it was almost a whisper and very difficult to hear.

I followed up with a phone call today and after having my volume all the way up, door shut, AC off, I was still struggling to communicate. Every sentence I had to ask to be repeated 3 or 4 times and I felt really awful about it.

The client also happens to be foreign so e-mail communications are very difficult as well. They have a great understanding of English verbally, but e-mails are not a 100% way of effective communication.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? How did you handle it? As I mentioned, this is a potential new client and the partners have asked me to “handle it”. I do not want to lose him due to this small communication barrier.

BEC - PASS JULY 2014
FAR - PASS DEC 2014
AUD - PASS FEB 2015
REG - PASS MAY 2015

[Thrawn]

Tell them, I am sorry but you are very quiet I can't quite hear you please speak up.

BEC 87 Feb 14
REG 84 Apr 14
FAR 82 Nov 14
AUD 86 Feb 15

[Ntw6817]

See if you can arrange for the client to come into the office

[CPA50]

I blame everything on technology. “I'm sorry, but I have a bad connection on my end and I'll need to you either repeat yourself or speak more loudly.” You can also blame allergies. “I'm sorry, but my ears are so stuffed up today, it would really help if you could speak up for me today.”

AUD 88 (expired), 80 retake
FAR 64,69,67,73,67,73,73,73, August 3
REG 75 (expired) September 7
BEC 72, 77

The adventure continues...

[10keyLeah]

Since this has the potential to be an ongoing issue if you do decide to take him on as a client, I would recommend being honest with the person. Ask them to speak louder. Also, I'd make sure that it will not be an issue to call them to ask questions frequently since e-mail is sketchy.

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[Pandarama]

I actually tell people that I'm hard of hearing and ask them to speak a bit louder for me. For me, this is actually not a lie, but I've had a couple people I know say it to a few people to help get them to speak more clear because people tend to slow down what they are saying for you.

Otherwise, could you simply just apologize and tell them honestly that it is difficult to hear them over the phone and ask them to speak louder for you because you don't want to miss anything they've said.

BEC - 80
AUD - 64, 75 - credit lost, 90!!
REG - 73, 74, 83
FAR - 61, 72, 85

Feels good finishing on my best note. Time to watch the mailbox.

[ibCPAsoon]

Thank you for everyone's input. I was very apologetic and the client seemed understanding.

Unfortunately, the partner decided to terminate any potential relationship with the client because we were unable to come to an agreement in terms of turn around and billing. The clients demands and expectations were unrealistic and wanted us to pretty much be on call to handle anything he needed on demand.

BEC - PASS JULY 2014
FAR - PASS DEC 2014
AUD - PASS FEB 2015
REG - PASS MAY 2015

[Author]

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