Welcome to a free edition of Start Up To Grown Up: Your source for ideas, insights and tactics to take back control of your business and scale it sustainably and profitably by Heather Townsend, award-winning author of The Accountants’ Millionaires’ Club and Founder of The Accountants’ Growth Club
The irony is that I spend my working life on calls to clients. But if you asked me to pick up the phone and do an unprompted call to a client, I would need to take a deep breath before doing so.
It appears that I am not alone with this. And I can’t even claim to be Gen Z or the Millennial generation. I spend a significant amount of my time helping my coaching clients to get over this hump. Which is strange when these phone calls are a great way for my clients to seemingly effortlessly generate new business.
So why do so many of us hesitate to take this simple step? Misconceptions about sales, fear of rejection, and relying on hope often hold us back. In this article, I’m going to explain why phone calls should be a core part of your account management process and how to integrate them into your routine without feeling pushy or uncomfortable.
Why we hesitate to call clients (Even if you’re not Gen Z)
Yes, Gen Z and millennials get a lot of attention for avoiding phone calls. But it is not just the younger generation that hesitates to make a call without booking it in advance. For many small business owners, especially those in professional services, the idea of calling clients without a scheduled meeting conjures up awkward feelings.
In reality, these calls are not about “selling” in the traditional sense; they are about being proactive and providing great service.
Common concerns often include:
“I don’t want to bother my clients.”
However, clients appreciate a business owner who checks in and offers help before issues escalate. If you are not speaking to your clients, someone else might be.
“I’m not a salesperson.”
The good news is that you do not need to be. These calls are about client service, not selling.
“I don’t have time.”
Or do you? Ask yourself whether you are prioritising the right things. How many hours are lost to firefighting problems that could have been prevented with proactive client management?
“I have too much client work right now”
Excellent, this is a great problem because you are regularly speaking to your current clients. Or do you have your head down ploughing through the work? When you are speaking with your clients, this is your opportunity to generate more work effortlessly. Perhaps they need to extend their coaching or consulting assignment? Maybe another legal matter has popped up?
It appears that my physio is brilliant at finding more opportunities with his current clients!
When I walked into my physio for my 3rd appointment post-surgery on my ankle, my wrist had decided it was feeling left out. So much so, it was incredibly sore and in a brace. (I wrote about this last week)
My physio asked me:
“How’s things?”, and then “Do you want me to look at your wrist?”.
Two very simple questions.
But with those questions, he got his next assignment booked.
If he’d just focused on my ankle, he would have missed out on some very easy low-hanging fruit for more work.
But how often do you start a client call by going straight into the matter at hand? Instead of a more general “how’s things?”
It’s such a simple question, but one that could yield you the next piece of work with the client.
Whether or not the thought of calling clients makes your stomach turn, it is time to reframe your mindset. These calls are not interruptions. They are opportunities to help clients and keep your business top of mind. They are also a great way to win high-quality new business almost on autopilot..
The hidden opportunities in your existing client base
Many growing businesses focus heavily on attracting new clients. But unless you are just starting, there is plenty of untapped opportunity within your current client base. Even if you think you have “done all you can,” remember that your clients’ needs are always evolving.
They may not realise they need more help, and they are unlikely to ask unless prompted. A quick check-in call can reveal:
Ad hoc projects, such as helping a colleague or friend
Future plans, such as expanding their business or entering a new market
Opportunities to offer services from other parts of your team
Even if the call leads to nothing immediate, your clients will appreciate the effort. It builds trust, deepens relationships and often triggers referrals. One well-timed call can make a meaningful difference to your pipeline and your revenue.
How to make time for these calls
When you are busy, it can feel counterproductive to find time for business development. But new business does not happen overnight. It can take weeks or months to go from an initial conversation to a signed agreement. And if you sell big-ticket work like large consultancy assignments, it can take years.
If you are going to stop the lumpy pipeline of work, which then leads into a feast or famine situation, you need to be doing a little bit of business development each day. This doesn’t mean spending more than 5-10 minutes on business development a day. But it does mean doing something. Nothing kills a growing business faster than a hole in the pipeline of new work. Think of these calls as part of future-proofing your revenue.
Here are some practical ways to make time:
Block out time in your calendar to make calls every week
Ask your team for input: Who should you check in with and why?
Review your client list regularly to identify those who might need extra support or a nudge
Compare this with going to a networking event on the hope of meeting someone who may know someone else who needs your services! Well-timed phone calls from your desk to clients will often produce better returns.
Putting these calls on autopilot
If I told you to pick up the phone to a client right now, would you know who to call and why? I am guessing probably not. You’d feel, and quite rightly, that you were being put on the spot and needed time to think about who to call. But this is often the situation with these account management calls.
We haven’t thought about WHO to call and WHY. And then WHEN to make this call. As a result, these calls often don’t happen.
This is how I changed it with a current client. Let’s call him Steve. Steve had a team of 3 people, and they worked well together. But when I told Steve that his marketing plan needed to include 3 hours of calls to clients each week, he looked at me blankly. So what he did was book a short 1:2:1 with each of his team members to ask them:
What clients are you waiting for information from?
What clients are doing something noteworthy, for example, a significant dip in cashflow or hiring people?
Which client do you think needs a call and a bit of TLC (tender loving care)?
It was these conversations that then built his list of people to call that week. These quick conversations with his team members didn’t just yield opportunities for account management calls. They also got their team to step outside of their current work and think more commercially about their clients.
After Steve started to make these calls consistently, he found that the client referrals doubled within a few months. But even better, he’s picked up a bit of work every 1 out of 3 calls. It may have only been small bits and pieces, but they all added up into a significant bit of new business each month.
How to overcome the reluctance to call
If only it were as simple as blocking time and picking up the phone. For most of us, there is mental resistance to overcome. Here are some tips:
Send a message first to warm things up: “Hi [Client’s Name], I spotted something I think we should have a quick chat about. Nothing urgent, but worth going through together. When is a good time to call?”
Get accountability: Ask a coach or colleague to hold you to a goal of 3–5 calls per week.
Plan your message: Know what you will say if you get voicemail or speak directly to your client.
Keep going: The more you do it, the easier it becomes.
Track your results: When you can see that these calls are working, you are more likely to make them part of your business development routine.
In summary
The simple act of picking up the phone can change the way your business grows. These calls are not about hard selling. They are about being visible, staying connected, and making it easier to scale by improving your client relationships.
If you want to move from growing to scaling, you cannot afford to rely on scrabbling after new clients week in week out. You need to be good at winning more work via your existing clients. When it comes to ad hoc client calls, start small. Just get a few calls done this week. You might be surprised at what opens up.
Your actions this week
Draw up a list of clients to call over the next few weeks to see how they are doing.
Share this post