The library · Accountancy firms · Enquiries and follow-up

Find out why people did not go ahead

The usual reasons are price, a slow reply, staying with the current accountant or choosing an online provider. Firms seldom ask, and the answers shape the fee page.

The prompt
I work in marketing at an accountancy firm. Help me ask people who did not go ahead why.

Context: The usual reasons are price, a slow reply, staying with the current accountant or choosing an online provider. Firms seldom ask, and the answers shape the fee page.

Before you start, ask me for anything missing from this list:
- Who they are and what they enquired about
- What we most want to learn

Then:
1. Write a short, kind note with no sales pitch.
2. Ask three questions, one of them open.
3. Tell me how to group the answers.

Give me:
- The email
- Three questions
- A simple way to tally replies

Rules:
- Use only the facts I give you. Where something is missing, write [detail needed]. Never invent a number, a name, a quote or a source.
- Give general information only. Never write anything that reads as tax advice on a person's own affairs, and never suggest a tax saving or an outcome with HMRC is likely or guaranteed.
- Write in plain English, in our voice if I have given you a sample.
- Do not tell me what the rules or regulations say. If something may be restricted, flag it and I will check.

Finish with a list headed "Check before this goes out". Include these, plus anything else the partner who approves marketing or our ethics and compliance lead should see:
- That these people agreed to further contact
- No reference to the financial detail of their enquiry
- Where replies are stored and who sees them

Paste it into Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot. It will ask you for what it needs.

Check before this goes out

  • That these people agreed to further contact
  • No reference to the financial detail of their enquiry
  • Where replies are stored and who sees them

The prompt gives you a first draft. Someone qualified still approves anything a client will read.

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