Firm owners are expected to wear many hats and look after numerous clients at the same time. But without the right processes and boundaries, you could experience client chaos and overwhelm. Michelle Weinstein shares how The Abundant Accountant can help you resolve this hurdle with one of her clients, Melissa Schroder of Melissa’s Advisory Service, LLC. Melissa reflects on how the eight-week sales mastery course helped her take control of her finances, determine which clients to let go, and add up to $27,000 to her revenue. Tune in as she shares how embracing such a huge change allowed her to bring her career to greater heights and get out of the hamster wheel.
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Episode 165 | Quieting The Client Chaos With Melissa Schroder
We have a very special guest. Our special guest is a client at The Abundant Accountant, and she is dedicated to helping small business owners save on taxes and take control of their finances. She grew up on a dairy farm, owning a business herself, which has brought real-life experience to her work and in her firm, not textbook knowledge. She understands the challenges business owners face and partners with them to find practical, strategic solutions. She’s especially passionate about helping our clients prioritize themselves, fund their retirement, and build profitable businesses.
Before we welcome our special guest to the show, if you have created a firm, but you feel like it’s a job that you can’t escape, and there are no systems and no real plan for freedom, it’s time to make a shift. You shouldn’t have to hit burnout to get to your next revenue goal, and you don’t need more clients. You need better quality ones with a sales process to enroll them with confidence.
Here at The Abundant Accountant, I’ll show you how to package your services, raise your prices, and work with high-margin clients who respect your time. If you’re interested in exploring what that looks like, book your free strategy call at TheAbundantCall.com, and let’s lay out a roadmap that turns your firm into a real asset, not a glorified job. Now, let’s welcome Melissa to the show.
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Melissa, welcome to the show. I am so happy to have you here and be a guest. You are a true absolute inspiration to so many firm owners. I’m excited for them to learn your story about how you added about $25,000 extra in revenue. I think it’s probably even more now. You cut down your workload. You’re working maybe a little bit less, but with better clients and fewer clients, and enjoying your life and putting all your effort and stuff into your brand-new house.
Melissa Schroder Of Melissa’s Advisory Service, LLC
Hopefully, those feelings of being overwhelmed, overworked, and undervalued are now a thing of the past, but I know there are a lot of firm owners who might still feel that way. I’m honored that you came here and have this conversation with me. Thank you for being here. Before we start, I’d love it if you could share where you’re at in the country and what your firm specializes in.
I am in a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. I focus on farmers and also on service-based professionals, so contractors and such, or I even have a couple of insurance agents, but people providing services.
I know that you’ve made a lot of shifts in working with us here at The Abundant Accountant, going through our eight-week sales mastery course. Why don’t we start and share something fun with us, like how you’re spending most of your time now?
Client Chaos: The eight-week sales mastery course teaches a process that allows accountants to learn more about the problems and struggles of their potential clients.
Since tax season has been over, it’s been nice. I took a whole week off. I didn’t even worry about anything. As you mentioned, we’re in the process of building a house, so I’ve spent a lot of time finalizing details and picking things out for that.
Addressing Overwhelm And Burnout
I’m sure a lot of that probably didn’t seem possible a few months ago. How did you feel before you met me, found The Abundant Accountant? Let’s rewind a little bit, and maybe you can share what you were struggling with most in your day-to-day operations of the firm, especially as it relates to your sales, your pricing, the number of clients you had, everything, and how you felt that stress was showing up for you.
I was overwhelmed. I started my firm in 2020, and I wanted it to have the flexibility and be able to do more of living versus working all the time. I had gotten to a point where I had taken on too many clients and not at the fee level they should have been at. I was working way more than I had anticipated. I didn’t know how to change that, how to maybe stop the bus going forward that way, and turn it into the direction I wanted it to go. I was doing roughly 220 tax returns at lower rates. I had monthly advisory clients, and I had that all going, but they weren’t at high enough fees necessarily to justify hiring somebody else to help or eliminating some of that tax work.
What was the moment and the breaking point where you knew you couldn’t keep doing this and something had to change, but you didn’t know how to turn that bus around, as you said? What was that breaking point for you and your firm?
It was in the summer of 2024 because I ended up working most of the summer. A couple of years before, I had been working 3 or 4 days a week, and in the summer of 2024, I was working 6 days a week. I knew I couldn’t keep that up. I didn’t have time to do anything I enjoy. I went through the certified tax planner class, and that’s where I met you. That helped to launch some more confidence in my abilities and in pricing. Your program solidified that and gave me a much better guideline.
I remember we were sitting at a Mexican restaurant, and I had Mila, my dog, there. We were sitting next to each other. I don’t even think we were talking about work-related stuff. I think we were talking about your house and other stuff, and then you reached out. I don’t remember how many months after that. What had you reach out for help and say, “I need to do something different. I got a little confidence on the technical side, tax planning,” but what had you extend your hand and say, “I am not going to be able to figure this out on my own?” What was it about at dinner that we spoke about that had you say, “I’m going to let my walls down and I’m going to reach out for support?” I’d love it if you could share a little bit about that moment.
It was probably about a month after CTC that I reached out to you, but I had listened to one of your podcasts, and I was struggling to write a letter to explain to my clients that I’m changing. “The firm is changing, and the new prices are going to be this,” which was a substantial increase. You had had somebody else on your podcast, and you were talking about this letter. I’m like, “I need that. That’s what I need.” That’s initially what had me reach out.
One of the things that we worked on together was writing your price increase letter in a way that you can have massive results from it versus the fear, which most people had, and maybe you can walk us through what you were thinking, that you were going to lose all your clients if you send a letter like this or if you send this, everyone is going to leave you. Now you’re going to be left with nothing. That’s why many firm owners don’t do it and use some template off Google or something. What was that process like for you when we ended up working together and you wrote that letter, but when you actually sent it, and what were the results when you sent the letter too?
I sent it with the intention of knowing I needed some of these clients to decide to go elsewhere. I was trying to lead them in that direction, I guess. I was scared because I’m like, “What if none of them come back?” You were very reassuring that you’ve never had that happen and whatnot. With it, I implemented that they had to pay the minimum fee in advance. You typically feel it by the end of April, but by the end of January, I had the cash. Everybody had paid, and I did 83 fewer returns than I had the prior year. I made more money and was able to focus on those clients a little better.
How much more money with 83 fewer returns?
Since accountants are selling services to clients to invest in them, they should also spend some resources to invest in a program to coach them about new sales strategies. Share on XI ended April with $27,000 ahead of 2024. My biggest monthly accounting client decided to take their accounting in-house. I lost them. I didn’t have their revenue, and still had that additional revenue.
Melissa’s Experience With The Sales Mastery Program
I had no idea that that was the thing you wanted to get done, and then you heard the podcast. I’m wondering who you listened to. Now we have yours on here, so how cool is that? We spoke at dinner, and you heard about the eight-week sales mastery program. What were you thinking when we first talked about it, or when you first heard about it on the show, or maybe you went to my website, TheAbundantAccountant.com? What were you first thinking, and what were you most skeptical about?
I was afraid it was going to be pushing for more sales. I’ve never been pushy. I like to give people the option, and if they choose to go with it, yay. If not, then that’s what they felt was best for them. That had me a little leery. Once I got in there, I realized that you’re not trying to push it as salesy, but a good conversation, and lead them into the correct decision.
What would you share with other firm owners that might be thinking what we do here at the Abundant Accountant, or the eight-week sales mastery program is going to be pushy, and you can’t let a client decide what’s best for them? How would you share going through the program, how it was such a 180 from what you thought? That might help another firm owner who might also be in your same shoes, wondering, “It’s going to be some pushy thing and they’re going to give you some scripts and it’s going to be like a car salesman experience.” I’ve heard that before.
It’s not like a car salesman experience. You teach us a process that allows us to get the client or potential client to talk. We learn more about them, their problems, and their struggles. That helps us to frame when we do ask for the sale. That helps us to frame that in a way that they’re like, “That’s what I just said.” You’re truly listening to what they’re saying and using that.
That’s a great way to put it. It’s a step-by-step process where you can allow your current client, if you’re going to upsell and take someone from, like, bookkeeping to advisory or CFO services, or a brand-new prospect, and get them, and allow them to feel heard and understood by talking a lot. I think you’ve mastered that, or you’re on the way to it. You’re doing so awesome right now.
I know that you probably didn’t think any of this was possible a few months ago. I would love it if you could share what you feel is different and unique about working with us here at The Abundant Accountant. I know when we spoke on our first call, you had done things like listen to podcasts, read books. I even think you did some other coaching programs. What did you feel was different about the eight-week sales mastery program versus anything else that you had looked into in the past?
It’s the interaction. It’s not just a class that you’re doing on your own and not interacting with other firm owners and/or the instructors. Every week, we have homework and we have to turn it in. You guys read it, look at it, and give us feedback. That helps us to build our sales process. There’s the accountability piece, too. You’ll reach out if we haven’t made a meeting or if we’re not communicating with you, and like, “You need to be here. You chose to do this.” That piece of it helped, and it makes you get the class done instead of doing part of it and then forgetting about it, moving on, and doing more work.
Embracing Change Despite Constant Struggle
Was there anything scary about making the investment to do this? You’ve invested in technical stuff. You’ve read books, you’ve done podcasts, you’ve done other things. What about making an investment in your sales process and making this scary change to increase fees to your clients and change the whole front-end process of your business?
What fears came up for you around making the investment of not only money, but what about the time? It takes a lot of time to do your homework, watch the modules, and show up to the group coaching call. You did it during one of the busiest times of the year. We get a lot of times, “It’s not a good time in my firm,” or “It’s tax season,” or “It’s extension season.” To be honest, I believe that in this industry, there’s never a good time. The good time was a year or two ago. What would you say was your experience with that in making the investment and the fears around that?
Client Chaos: Learn to let go of clients that do not fit your services and guide them somewhere else.
There was some fear. What if this doesn’t pay off? I also knew something had to change. I’m selling services to clients to invest in me. It was time for me to invest in a program to coach me through some things. I didn’t have a lot of fear. I was ready to go. I knew I needed to change.
Around the amount of time that you had to commit on a daily basis, I would love it if you could share your experience with that. Yes, it was doing the homework and creating your sales process throughout every assignment, but how did you make that time during tax season? When you knew something had to change, yet you knew that you also had no time, I would love it if you could elaborate a little bit on your thought process, and share it also with other firm owners who also don’t have any time. They’re overworked, not getting paid enough, and the fees are too low. It’s this constant struggle of being on the hamster wheel.
I looked at it as it was a short-term pain for a long-term gain. I tend to be a morning person anyway, but I did most of those sessions at about 6:00 AM. I got it done first thing, and then I didn’t have an excuse that I didn’t get it done later in the day or something came up or whatnot. I pushed through to do as much as I could because I started before Christmas. The bulk of it was in January, which is not as busy yet, but it’s getting there. I had an appointment with myself every morning to do that, and that’s how I made sure it got done.
You’re a very committed person. I love that you committed to your own appointment with yourself. I think a lot of times, human beings put things on our calendar, but we don’t adhere to them. When you time block something, you don’t follow through on it. Even though time was tight, with our help and accountability, you stayed focused and you went all in, even when things got hard. I think that’s what you have to be, as the CEO of your firm, because you stopped making decisions from “I can’t.” You said something has to shift. Something has to change. You can’t keep going on like that. I commend you for that. It’s a bold and hard decision that you made, but aren’t you so glad it has paid off?
Absolutely, yes.
Celebrating The Biggest Wins
Let’s talk about some wins. What do you feel have been the biggest results you’ve seen? I know we sent out the letter, and you did fewer tax returns, and you increased revenue by $27,000, and that was with one less monthly client. Since going through the program, what would you share have been some of those financial wins, the time-wise ones, and the emotional ones?
Where my firm is at, it’s a pretty small community, and so I always felt guilty if I didn’t take somebody on. If somebody reached out and wanted services, I felt guilty. You helped me to set what my ideal client is. If they can’t meet these criteria, then they’re not going to be a good fit. That helped to relieve that guilt because I knew then that they had called and wanted a tax return. That’s not my ideal client. It made it easier to tell people, and to guide them somewhere else, or explain that this is what I work with, and you’re not a good fit for that. That part helped.
What about any other financial wins? Have you tallied up everything since then? I know you got another increase on a client.
Yes. I’ve set higher minimums in general for the ones I continue to do tax returns with. New clients are coming in. It’s more about doing a tax plan and the tax return, setting those fees, and being confident in asking for them. I haven’t added all that up yet.
What do you think it’s upwards of?
Put yourself, your family, and your health ahead of your job. You can find somebody else to do your work, but there is only you. Share on XIt would have to be at least $30,000, if not more than that, at this point.
That’s a $30,000 increase from where you were in the past, so that’s your gain. That’s amazing. What about your stress levels? How is working a little bit less, having better clients, getting rid of the people that you wanted to get rid of? How has that impacted your personal life, your relationships, and you emotionally on a personal level?
It has helped. I didn’t gain weight during tax season, and that’s huge for me because typically, I gain weight at some point. It allowed me to continue to take care of myself without having as many clients to work with. I stayed up with going to the gym and eating like I should, and it wasn’t takeout, and the things that we all fall back to.
That is huge because now we’re going into summertime, and I’m not like, “Now I’ve got to lose these 10 pounds again.” I don’t have that hanging over my head. It has given me a lot of time that I needed, especially with this house project. If the tax season had been like it had been in ‘24 in ‘25, I can’t even fathom it. It relieved a lot of space for me to be able to do things I needed to do.
Why You Should Prioritize Yourself
In that space, putting yourself first during the busiest time of year is a win in itself. As you said, you’re not yo-yoing back and forth, and you’re in this calm state. I’m sure, Melissa, there’s probably someone tuning in who feels exactly how you used to feel. Overwhelmed, overworked, gaining weight, and unsure if something like this would work for them. I’m curious, what would you say to yourself 90 days ago, to the person who is scared to invest in themselves, or they don’t think they have time? What would be your advice to yourself if you were tuning in to this? Just like you listened to the other podcast, if you could go back to yourself and say something, what would you want to say to her?
Change is hard, but it’s worth it. You have to put yourself, your family, your health, and all that ahead of the job. At the end of the day, they can find somebody else to prepare a tax return, but there’s only you, so you need to be able to put yourself first and take care of yourself.
Is there anything else you want to share with your younger self? I know you weren’t too scared about the investment, but for some people, especially some newer firm owners who don’t have as many clients as you had, this is scary. It’s like, “I’ve got to invest in systems for my business and other things.” Why was this so important? What if you had done something like this in 2020 when you first started? What would life be like, and what would your firm be if you did it differently right from the get-go?
There have been a lot of decisions over the last few years that I have made that I probably would’ve made differently for sure. I profited more at this point from them. I hired an admin in ‘24. I could have maybe done that earlier to help out with some of the things when people call, or handling some of the details that I don’t necessarily need to be the one handling.
You could have made more profit, you could have hired help earlier, and maybe you just don’t know what it could have been like because you didn’t have that. Maybe there’s a firm owner who is just starting out, like, “I just need leads,” or “I just need to focus on marketing.” Instead, you see this as this is the foundation of your firm.
I know I understand this, but without a solid sales process, the leads are almost worthless because you’re not able to price them or screen them to make sure they’re going to be a good fit going forward, and end up with a lot of headaches later that you could have prevented.
The Future Of Melissa’s Firm
Now you see that, but you don’t know what you don’t know. How do you feel now about the future of your firm, now that you have your custom step-by-step sales process, you have real clarity on who you serve, and you know how to qualify them? How do you feel about the future of the firm right now?
If you let go of clients who do not fit your policy, you are stopping a problem before it becomes one. Share on XI’m excited. I am on track to probably look at hiring another professional-level employee and grow with good-quality clients. It’s exciting to see what I dream of and imagine what’s coming up in the future.
Did you see this as a possibility a few months ago? How does it compare if you paint us that picture?
I was trying to keep my head above water. I was working a lot and not able to sit down and even think about what if this changed, what if this was possible? I was too busy doing the work and not being able to work on my firm.
Melissa’s Takeaways With The Sales Mastery Pro
You were in it instead of being able to be that. What do you feel is one lesson or insight that you think every firm owner should know based on what you’ve learned working with us here at The Abundant Accountant?
Know your boundaries and don’t be afraid to say no, or don’t be afraid to hold that firm. Again, once you let those clients in that don’t fit your policy, you’ve created another problem that you’re eventually going to have to deal with. Stop the problem before it becomes one.
For you and your firm and your personal life, what does freedom look like to you now?
It’s having more time to do the things we enjoy. Some vacations and things like that will be happening here soon.
Where are you going?
We’re still debating that.
What are the options?
We were talking about going out to Arizona or going somewhere out in that area. A couple of years ago, when we started to take a vacation, we went for two weeks. That’s the plan. We usually find a couple of VRBOs and go enjoy the area that we’re in for that time. Two weeks give you time to finally decompress.
Being Open To Accepting And Embracing Change
Melissa, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us here on the show to share your story and share how you’ve done this full 180 turn from where you were and where you’re at now. If someone is tuning in and they’re on the fence right now where they want to make a change, they just don’t know what they don’t know, and as you said, stop the problem before it becomes a problem, what would you say to them right now about the eight-week sales mastery course or working with The Abundant Accountant? What would you say to that person?
Client Chaos: You have to be willing to put yourself out there to embrace change.
Make the call. Do it now. The sooner you do it, the better your future is going to be. You’ve got to be willing to put yourself out there and accept the change.
You’ll be going on vacation every two weeks, like you, building your house, focusing on going to the gym, eating right, not doing takeout, not gaining weight, and putting your health first. I think that’s such a beautiful thing that you’ve been able to do and embody it. That’s how it is. I think you’re on such an inspiring journey to hear about, and watching you step into this new version of yourself and your firm.
It’s been such a true honor, and I loved that we’re working together. I look forward to continuing so you can get this person hired and take even more work off your plate, and maybe work part-time. How cool would that be? I want to say thank you, Melissa, for taking the time. Is there anything else that you’d love to share with a firm owner that might be tuning in that maybe I didn’t ask you about, but you feel compelled to share about the program, how you feel, or anything before we wrap up?
I’m glad I did this. It has made a huge change in my life and in my firm, and also in my confidence level. There are fees I have asked for now that I would have never asked for before. I do it now, and it doesn’t even bother me. If they said no, it’s like, “That is what it is.” I’m glad I did it, and I hope some others will follow.
I do too, because I truly believe that as an industry, for any accounting, bookkeeping firm, tax firm, CFO, firm owner, when we all make these changes in our firms and we all increase our fees and we all get new confidence, our clients aren’t going to be asking for discounts anymore. They’re not going to be looking for the cheaper person when everyone levels up together. No matter what, it’s only going to help more clients, and it’s only going to help more firm owners.
That’s truly our mission. I thank you for sharing that because, as you said, it has changed your life, it has changed your firm, and it has changed your confidence level. You’re asking for things you’ve never asked for before, and clients are paying you, no problem, because they see your value. I believe many more firm owners need to get paid for the value and what they’re worth, not what you think a client can afford. I think you’ve embodied that. I’m super proud of you, Melissa. Thank you again for taking the time to be here with us. It’s been an honor, and I look forward to maybe doing a part two after you hire this person and wrap up the year. I want to hear that revenue goal hit. Thank you so much for being here.
You’re very welcome.
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Episode Wrap-up And Closing Words
Thank you all so much for joining Melissa and me. What an amazing turnaround. If you’re a solo firm owner, like Melissa, or you have a small team and you think, “I’m too small to charge premium rates,” I think you need to think again. Premium pricing isn’t about your firm’s size. It’s about positioning. It’s about having confidence and having a repeatable sales process that works. Even if you hate selling or freeze up when someone asks you, “What do you charge?” or you feel like selling is pushy, like Melissa did.
Here at The Abundant Accountant, we help firm owners like you break free from Imposter Syndrome and build the firm that works for you, not the other way around. If you’re ready to elevate your firm to new heights, go to TheAbundantCall.com to schedule your complimentary strategy session with me and my team. We will assess your current sales process while identifying key revenue opportunities and develop a tailored plan aimed at doubling your revenue, all before you pursue bringing on any additional clients.
Should you choose to want help implementing it, we’ll guide you through that process, too. If not, no hard feelings. We’re here to support your success regardless of the path you take. Don’t let indecision hold you back. As Melissa said, make the call. Take that first step towards a more prosperous firm by scheduling your call with us at TheAbundantCall.com. Thank you all so much for joining us here, and I look forward to seeing you in the next episode.
Important Links
About Melissa Schroder
Melissa Schroder is a CPA and the founder of Melissa’s Advisory Service, LLC is dedicated to helping small business owners save on taxes and take control of their finances. Growing up on a dairy farm and owning businesses herself, she brings real-life experience to her work, not just textbook knowledge. Melissa understands the challenges business owners face and partners with them to find practical, strategic solutions. She’s especially passionate about helping clients prioritize themselves, fund their retirement, and build profitable businesses.
