TaxCoach Briefs:    June 25, 2009

Volume 4, Number 28

• Marketing Minute: My Doctor's New Prescription
• Member Opportunity: Great Response for "Certified Tax Coach™"
• New Resource: TaxCoach Call-In Days

Are you showing clients how to use a Section 105 Medical Expense Reimbursement Plan to deduct family medical costs as business expenses? If not, they may be losing thousands in tax savings and client referrals! Your TaxCoach membership includes everything you need to establish plans for clients. If you're not already a member, click here for your 30-day no-risk trial.

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MARKETING MINUTE (EAL)
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MY DOCTOR'S NEW PRESCRIPTION

Tuesday morning I saw my doctor for my annual physical. That's always a delightful exercise -- my favorite parts are when he reaches into the drawer for the rubber gloves and when his assistant straps electrodes all over my body for the EKG test. I guess I should be thankful I haven't turned 50, when the really invasive stuff starts.

The good news was, I'm going to live. I've even dropped 16 pounds since my last visit! (I've actually dropped 140 pounds in a single day, when I took my first wife to divorce court!)

The bad news was, my doctor is restructuring his practice and dropping 2000 of his patients! But as I listened to him describe what he's doing, I realized the new arrangement would be as good for me as it would be for him. And I realized there were lessons for us in his move.

It's no secret that doctors are fed up with health care. My doctor currently manages 2600 patients. He's at the office 10-11 hours a day, then goes home with 2 more hours of work. And seeing 20+ patients per day doesn't leave much time for the quality preventative care that he became an internist to offer.

What's he doing to cure his headache? He's joining a national network of independent providers to offer primary care and wellness services on a basis similar to what has become known as "concierge care." He'll cut down to just 600 patients. Those of us who stay will get a 90-minute annual physical, with unlimited follow-up visits, extensive annual lab work far beyond the usual battery of tests (including even DNA testing), and a personal wellness plan.

The fee for all of this? A flat $1,500, billed annually, semiannually, or quarterly. So much for ridiculously-coded bills, "Explanation of Benefits" forms, and the rest of the paperwork that makes going to the doctor more painful than whatever it is that sends you to the doctor!

My doctor loves it, of course. He'll make more money for less work. And good for him! He'll also be giving his 600 patients far better care than he can now. Studies show that patients who enroll in this program miss far less work than those who don't. And at 44, I'm starting to show some signs of age myself. If this program helps take the problems I would have been looking at in my 50s and push them into my 60s, well, that's a win!

TaxCoach members struggle with the same practice management challenges. Last month, I held a Subscriber Consultation with one member whose firm prepared 13,000 returns out of a single location - including 1,700 by him personally! (If you think he's ready to slit his wrists, you're right. I can't even count that high!)

And last week I spoke with another member who has taken on as many clients as he can handle himself, and was deciding between hiring staff (with the resulting personnel challenges, etc,) or focusing on a smaller number of more lucrative clients. These are just two out of literally hundreds of members looking to reinvent their practices -- for more money, better work-life balance, or both.

Have you gotten frustrated with your practice? Are you seeing more clients than you ever expected and delivering less service than you ever wanted? If so, some sort of "concierge" program might be appropriate for you. Here are some of the questions to ask:

• Who are the best clients for this sort of program? We've seen effective programs for converting 1040 engagements into year-round retainers. But you'll find it easier with business and financial-planning clients with more complex ongoing needs.

• What services can you bundle into your packages? Many of you offer accounting, payroll, and tax-prep services for a fixed monthly fee. But we've seen TaxCoach members succeed with audit protection, year-end tax-planning reviews, periodic financial reviews, and similar services. They also open doors to lucrative financial-planning, insurance, and investment-management relationships.

• Should you offer more than one package? Research shows that offering two or three packages can sell more engagements and steer clients to choose your preferred package. You can also customize packages for specific target markets. (Hall-of-Fame member Bill Zumwalt, for example, targets real estate agents. He could certainly offer the traditional "Silver," "Gold," and "Platinum" level packages. But real estate agents target "starter" buyers, "move-up" buyers, and "executive" buyers. So he chose to offer "starter," "move-up," and "executive" packages for that market.)

• How much will you charge? It's tempting to "play it safe" and price low to eliminate fee resistance. If so, you may regret leaving money on the table. Our experience shows that once you sell the concept, price is far less important than you think!

If you're just launching your practice and you don't have 2600 "patients" yet, you might still want to start focusing at least some of your efforts on these sorts of clients - rather than just taking whatever business you can today, then finding yourself wanting to reinvent it all tomorrow.

One of our most popular Roundtable topics has been the advanced-day "Pricing Clinic." We walk through how to structure ongoing service agreements, how to present them to clients and prospects, and even showing you actual TaxCoach member programs. (For more information, sign up for one of our fall Roundtables in San Francisco, Baltimore, or Tampa.)

We've seen requests for a full-day or two-day program focusing solely on pricing. If that's something you'd like us to present, email us here to let us know you're interested!

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MEMBER RESOURCE (EAL)
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GREAT RESPONSE FOR "CERTIFIED TAX COACH™"

Last week, we Keith and I introduced our upcoming "Certified Tax Coach™" designation we plan to start granting in September, in conjunction with Hall-of-Fame member Dominique Molina in San Diego.

Our goal with “Certified Tax Coach™” is to give you a formal designation to establish up front just how distinctive you are, along with access to clients who are hungry for true tax-planning services. And Dominique is the practitioner to "clone" here. Last year, she billed $178,000 for tax planning engagements, at fees ranging from $1,500-$3,500 per plan.

Dominique is currently developing a three-day curriculum focusing on:

• real-world tax planning strategies and case studies,
• the secret step-by- step approach she uses to create an average of $15,000 per year in tax savings per client, and
• masterminding and small-group discussions with peers from across the country.

The designation itself will include license to use the “Certified Tax Coach™” trademark, ongoing training and CE, and placement on a national website where clients from across the country can find the nearest Certified Tax Coach™. (Become a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and you'll be one of 84,000. Attend our Certified Tax Coach™ Inaugural Class, and you'll be one of just dozens!)

We've been pleased at how many of you have taken our program survey, and we've already discovered some surprising results. If you haven't already done so, take the survey now and leave your name and email address to join our Priority Notification List. We’ll be excited to bring you more details as they become available!

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NEW RESOURCE (KAV)
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MEMBER CALL-IN DAYS

Ever since Ed and I launched TaxCoach, we've invited you to submit your questions on TaxCoach content, strategies, or marketing to us by email or phone. We've been pleased to answer those questions as part of making our service as valuable to you as possible. But as the volume of questions has grown, Ed's time has become scarcer, and he has been forced to dedicate most of it to our All-Stars, Press Club, and Hall of Fame members.

We still want to hear your questions because they tell us what you need to know to make the most of the system. We still want to answer to be as useful as we can. We just need a better system. So, starting in July, we're offering regular Member Call-In hours, where you can present your questions and discuss the answers with Ed and other callers.

The first call-in will be on Wednesday, July 1, at 1PM Eastern. Here's the connection information:

To Join Online:

To Join by Telephone:

Dial 309-946-4568
Access Code: 496-392-002
Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting
Meeting ID: 496-392-002

Of course, access to Ed is always available to All-Stars, Press Club, and Hall of Fame members, via the scheduling calendar on the All-Stars page.

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We're happy to answer your questions on TaxCoach content or features. (Save marketing and tax strategy questions for Member Call-Ins.) For best response, email support@taxcoachsoftware.com. If we think the answer will be useful to all of our members, we'll publish it (anonymously) here in the 'Member Q & A' section of TaxCoach Briefs.

Regards,

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