Each year, QuickFee sends a survey to the clients of our professional service firms. In September 2022, we sent this survey to over 1,400 payment plan users to better understand their thoughts on this option – and how it affects their decisions with professional service providers.
The results showed that clients are satisfied with the payment plan option and also tend to view their providers more positively when they offer them.
Key Takeaways:
- Nearly all respondents loved having a payment plan option available to them.
- Many also agreed that it was important for their accounting and law firms to offer payment plans.
- Respondents are getting very concerned about the US economy (and may make changes to professional service spending.)
High levels of satisfaction with payment plans.
Our respondents had all used a Pay Over Time payment plan sometime in the last year, allowing them to pay their service bills over 3, 6, 9, or 12 months at low interest rates.
Their satisfaction with this option showed up clearly in our survey results. 90% of payment plan users said they were likely to use this option again in the future, and 96% said they are likely to recommend QuickFee to others.
People prefer service providers who offer payment plans.
Whether they were seeking regular services or facing an unexpected service bill, clients of top accounting and law firms think it’s critical to have affordable, budget-friendly options from their providers. 77% of our respondents said that payment plans are “very” or “extremely” important when working with an accountant or lawyer.
Breaking down the numbers even further, an additional 17% said that payment plans were “somewhat important.” That means 94% think there is some level of importance here.
Your clients are preparing for economic downturn.
Facing heavy inflation and fears of a recession, most of the professional service clients in our survey are looking to tighten budgets wherever they can.
In fact, 77% said they’re taking immediate steps to reduce their spending due to concerns about the US economy. 53% further agreed that these economic concerns could impact use of their service provider in some way.
Respondents considering changes to their service budgets may look at the following:
- Turning to a payment plan once again
- Cutting the amount or changing the type of services provided
- Switching to a new professional service provider
