Hello, this is Matsubara, CRM Evangelist.

"I have my clients' needs in mind."

Many professionals in various fields feel this way: the closing month, renewal period, the name of the person in charge, the content of the previous discussion—the more experienced the professional, the more they rely on their memory and experience to cover these details.

However, many people are unaware that this "information held in their minds" is actually the biggest risk to their firm.

This article outlines the common customer management challenges faced by three professional service providers: tax accountants, social insurance and labor consultants, and administrative scriveners. It then explains how EMOROCO CRM Lite can change these challenges, along with concrete examples of its operation.

Three structural problems facing client management in professional services.

Problem ① Information exists only "in the teacher's head" (personalization)

In professional service firms, it's almost always the case that a veteran lawyer or staff member is solely responsible for handling all of the client's information.

"Company A's president is price-sensitive, so be careful when proposing additional services," "Company B's busiest month is December, so contact them by the end of November," "Company C's contact person changed last month"—this kind of information doesn't get recorded in notes; it only exists in the mind of the person in charge.

The moment that person in charge is transferred or leaves the company, the relationship with the client is reset to zero. From the client's perspective, it becomes an experience where "communication suddenly breaks down when the person in charge changes," and it is not uncommon for this to trigger contract termination.

Problem ② The "battle against deadlines" relies on sensation and memory.

Professional work involves a constant stream of deadlines.

• Tax accountant: Tax return filing, income tax return, gift tax return, consumption tax return, year-end tax adjustment
• Social insurance and labor consultant: Annual renewal of labor insurance, notification of basic calculation of social insurance, deadline for subsidy applications, and revision of employment regulations.
• Administrative scrivener: Deadlines for license applications, renewal of residence status, vehicle registration, inheritance procedures

When you have dozens or hundreds of clients, it becomes impossible to keep track of all these deadlines using Excel or paper spreadsheets. Mistakes like "I forgot to check it" or "I neglected to update Excel" can instantly destroy the trust of your clients.

Problem 3: The "referral chain" is not properly structured.

For professionals in specialized fields, most new clients come through referrals. The highest quality way to acquire new clients is when existing clients say, "I'd like to introduce you to a business owner I know."

However, very few firms systematically manage information such as "who introduced whom," "what kind of relationship they maintain with clients introduced through those referrals," and "whether they have recently thanked or updated the person who made the referral."

There is a significant difference in the number of clients over a 5- or 10-year period between firms that have systematized a referral chain and those that have not.

What changes when you use EMOROCO CRM Lite?

Change ① Transforming "the teacher's thoughts" into an asset for the entire office.

EMOROCO CRM Lite allows you to store information in records for each client. In addition to basic information (company name, contact person, contact details), you can freely add fields to record information such as "price sensitivity," "industry characteristics," "past consultation content," "contact person's preferences," and "things that should not be said."

Specific example settings (for a tax accountant's office):

Because this information can be shared with the entire team, even if the person in charge changes, they can immediately understand "what kind of person this is." The handover can be completed with just a simple "Please read this record."

Furthermore, EMOROCO CRM Lite can be customized without coding. You can change the fields you manage and the screen layout without programming, depending on your industry, size, and work style. The biggest difference from other CRMs is that you can "nurture the tool to match your company's workflow."

Change ② Deadline management starts "automatically".

EMOROCO CRM Lite's workflow automation feature automatically generates tasks for assigned personnel as deadlines approach.

Example settings for a tax accountant's office:

決算月フィールドの3ヶ月前
  → タスク「決算前ヒアリングのアポ打診」を自動生成
  
決算月フィールドの1ヶ月前
  → タスク「申告書作成の開始」を自動生成
  
決算月フィールドの2週間前
  → タスク「顧問先への最終確認」を自動生成

Example settings for a social insurance and labor consultant's office:

労働保険年度更新（毎年6月1日〜7月10日）
  → 5月15日にタスク「更新書類の準備・顧問先への連絡」を自動生成

助成金申請期限フィールドの2ヶ月前
  → タスク「必要書類のヒアリングと収集開始」を自動生成

就業規則改定フィールドの1ヶ月前
  → タスク「改定内容の確認と顧問先との打ち合わせ」を自動生成

This eliminates the need for the person in charge to check Excel every day. Since tasks are automatically sent as the deadline approaches, mistakes such as "accidentally overlooking something" or "forgetting to update Excel" are structurally eliminated.

Change ③ The "chain of referrals" becomes visible and systematized.

EMOROCO CRM Lite allows you to link client records together as "related entities."

"Company B was introduced to us by the president of Company A," "Companies C and D are connected through the same business community"—by visualizing these kinds of relationships on the system, you can manage your referral network as an asset for your firm.

Specific operational aspects of referral network management:

1. Add a "Referral Source" field to client records.
2. Select and link the client who was introduced to you.
3. Automatically generate a task for "6 months have passed since being introduced by Person A".
4. Set a task to "Update on current status and send a thank you message" to maintain relationships.

Furthermore, by visualizing the "number of clients obtained through referrals" and the "client map by referral source" on the dashboard, insights can be gained into questions such as "which clients are giving us the most referrals" and "should we be following up more carefully with clients who are giving us the most referrals?"

Specific examples of application for each of the three professional fields

Tax accountant/accounting firm

Features that tax accounting firms should particularly utilize: The dashboard constantly displays a list of clients whose fiscal year ends this month, next month, and the month after. You can quickly identify which clients you need to focus on this month in just 5 minutes each morning.

社労士事務所

Functions that social insurance and labor consultant offices should particularly utilize: By filtering by "procedure type" x "deadline," a list of procedures requiring action this month is always displayed on the dashboard. This structurally prevents missed procedures.

administrative scrivener office

Features that administrative scrivener offices should particularly utilize: Set up "stage management" for each project (accepted → collecting documents → submitted → completed) without coding, and display the progress of all projects in a Kanban format. You can instantly see which projects are stalled.

From "teachers who possess information" to "offices where information is organized within the organization."

In professional services, trust with clients is the greatest asset to a business.

However, as long as that asset exists "only in the mind of one individual," it is personal property, not the firm's. When the individual falls ill, or the person in charge resigns—that's when you first face the reality that "the information was nowhere to be found."

EMOROCO CRM Lite is a tool for recording, accumulating, and sharing that "information in your head" as an organizational asset.

• You can start small from just 1,500 yen per month.
• It can be customized to suit your office's workflow without coding.
• A simple user interface that you can start using today.

Shifting from "the firm is responsible for maintaining relationships with clients" to "the system is responsible for maintaining relationships with clients"—this transformation will lead to the firm's sustainable growth and improved client retention rates.

First, try EMOROCO CRM Lite with a 30-day free trial.
EMOROCO CRM Lite Product Page

Summary

This article outlines three structural problems in customer management faced by professional service providers and how EMOROCO CRM Lite can provide solutions.

• Eliminating reliance on individual expertise: We share client information with all staff members and maintain relationships even when there is a change in assigned personnel.
• Automating deadline management: Automate the generation of tasks for closing, updating, and submitting applications within the workflow, eliminating errors.
• Systematizing the referral network: Link the referrer and the referred party, and design a chain reaction of thank-you follow-ups and referrals.

In an era of intense competition among professional service providers, you can build the foundation to become a firm that continues to be chosen by clients, starting from just 1,500 yen per month.

Related article:[What can you do for just 1,500 yen a month? The full scope of business efficiency improvements achievable with EMOROCO CRM Lite]

Related article:[Why EMOROCO CRM Lite is a winning formula for small and medium-sized businesses in the CRM 4.0 era]