How the FreeAgent mobile app can boost your client retention

This content was originally published at https://www.freeagent.com/blog/how-our-mobile-app-boosts-client-retention/ From practising yoga to hailing a taxi, it’s fair to say that apps are a huge part of our everyday lives. In the first half of 2020 alone, 71.5 billion apps were downloaded by smartphone users around the world. As you may be aware, the FreeAgent mobile app can make it easier and more efficient for your small business clients to take care of their admin. What you may not know is that the app can also help you to reduce your client churn and retain healthy, happy client relationships for longer. What is client churn? Client churn refers to the rate at which clients stop using your services within a certain time frame. Our client churn data looks at clients of FreeAgent partner practices who closed their FreeAgent accounts between May 2019 and May 2020. These figures include clients who opted to use another method of bookkeeping while continuing their relationship with their accounting practice, as well as those who ended their practice relationships (e.g. clients who closed their businesses). What the numbers tell us Our data shows that clients who used the FreeAgent mobile app were significantly less likely to ‘churn’ than clients who didn’t use it. For one practice, there was a difference of 14.3% in the churn rate between clients who used the app and those who didn’t. These statistics suggest that the adoption of the FreeAgent mobile app could have a significant impact on how likely your clients are to retain your services. Stay ahead of the curve Research shows that as technology continues to develop, even more people will use their mobile devices to complete daily tasks. For example, forecasts suggest that the number of customers who use mobile apps for banking will increase from 48% in 2018 to 72% by 2024. At FreeAgent we’ve seen this trend in action, with the number of FreeAgent mobile app users increasing by 10% over the last two years. Our data also shows that 33% of practice clients have logged into the app within the last 90 days. By encouraging your clients to use the FreeAgent mobile app, you can ensure that you and your practice are ahead of the curve. This could give clients confidence that your practice is able to adapt and develop as technology evolves in order to provide them with efficient services tailored to their needs. More time for you to add value The FreeAgent mobile app includes handy features such as ‘Capture for later’, which allows your clients to snap their expense receipts while they’re on the go for you to deal with later. Clients can also explain their bank transactions using the FreeAgent mobile app. Our client churn data suggests that those who do so are more proactive in keeping on top of their finances. Practices only have to explain 14% of bank transactions for clients who use the mobile app, compared to 47% of bank transactions for clients who don’t. These features make it easier than ever for your clients to stay on top of their admin. This could make chasing paperwork and transaction explanations a thing of the past and give you extra time to invest in making your client relationships even more positive and productive. What’s next for the FreeAgent mobile app? We’re constantly innovating and improving the FreeAgent mobile app to help you and your clients automate tasks, save time and improve your relationships. There are a number of new developments in the pipeline, including the option for clients to make in-app payments to suppliers. We’re also working to automate the receipt capture process using optical character recognition. This will mean that your clients’ receipt data will be extracted digitally so you won’t have to type out their expense information manually. If your clients don’t already have the FreeAgent mobile app, they can download it for free from the App Store or the Google Play Store.