How may we improve the quality of our service to clients?;

              36 HASKINS & SELLS May
How May We Improve the Quality of Our Service to Clients?
By J . M . PALEN
AS this is a personal service organiza­tion,
the first way to improve the
quality of the service is to improve the
quality of the staff.
Unfortunately, the service which ac­countants
render is to a large degree
seasonal. This means that around the first
of each year a great many new men must
be employed. While generally these men
are capable, it sometimes happens that
in the rush of work an untried man is
sent out in charge of an engagement, who,
without supervision, is not capable of
performing a real audit.
While not entirely preventable, this oc­currence
might be less frequent if new men
were subjected to a more comprehensive
oral questioning on the subject of auditing,
by someone of tact and broad accounting
experience.
After assigning the accountant in charge
the principal should not consider his con­tact
with the engagement finished. Clients
employ Haskins & Sells because of the
reputation which various members of the
firm have established. The client is not
always able to appreciate the high-grade
work of the staff man, but receives a favor­able
impression if a principal comes to his
office during the progress of the work and
evinces some knowledge of his affairs.
This visit may, in fact, greatly facilitate
the work through the special opportunity
for obtaining information. The principal
meets the important members of the
client's organization, whereas the staff man
frequently has difficulty in getting in touch
with any but subordinates. Through dis­cussion
with the heads of the concern the
principal may learn of special uses to which
the report is to be put; whether the
previous report was satisfactory, and if
not, why not; also whether there are any
special matters to be covered. It may even
be found that no report is necessary other
than an oral one or a letter to the effect
that the accounts have been found to be
correct. The discussion may bring out
that certain work which the client has
asked to be done is in reality unnecessary.
If so, real good-will may be created by
telling the client the facts,
Frequently the discussion may be drawn
to taxes, system, or other special features,
resulting in an extension of the service.
In connection with the actual field work
many methods of improvement suggest
themselves.
In the first place, although there is no
question that a man who has performed a
particular audit several years in succession
can usually do the work more expeditiously
than anyone else, there is question as to
whether his audit is as good as a new man's
would be. He gets stale; he fails to give
proper consideration to changing condi­tions;
the office staff learns his methods
and how to evade them. A new man may
take more time but he brings a fresh view­point
and adds the element of surprise.
The accountant himself, by taking
thought, may constantly improve the
quality of his service.
Instead of plunging into the detail work
immediately upon his arrival he may well
spend the first few hours in drawing up a
rough balance sheet and income statement,
studying the system, or perhaps even
going through the plant to find out how
the business functions.