TaxCoach Briefs:    February 25, 2010

Volume 5, Number 8

• Marketing Minute: Marketing Lessons From Teenage Moms
• Member Testimonia of the Week: Fire Your "D" Clients
• Member Event: SuperTable Registration Filling Fast
• Member Call-In: How Many Mistakes?

****Attention All-Stars and Press Club members ****: Our next monthly webinar will be on Tuesday March 9 at 4pm Eastern. Our topic will be "Hunters vs. Farmers" — understanding and profiting from personality types. Look for the agenda and connection instructions on the All-Stars Page in TaxCoach.

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MARKETING MINUTE (EAL)
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MARKETING LESSONS FROM TEENAGE MOMS

If you're like most TaxCoach members, you're not watching a lot of television right now. And if you are, you're probably watching American Idol, the Olympics, or CNBC. But there's one popular show - on MTV, of all places - that offers us a surprising marketing lesson even in the middle of this busiest season.

The show is called 16 and Pregnant and, surprisingly enough, each hour-long episode follows a 16-year-old through her pregnancy, childbirth, and aftermath, whether it means raising the baby or placing it for adoption. The program doesn't glamorize or sugarcoat pregnancy - it's produced in partnership with the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, and the show's producer calls it a powerful public service.

If you have teenagers of your own, you know it's a perilous time. I have a 13-year-old daughter myself, and it's not easy helping her navigate the new challenges in her life. And a friend of mine just spent last Sunday dealing with her 16-year-old son's first hangover. (The kid was sick until 8pm that night - hoepfully sick enough to scare him straight for at least the next few years!)

The program is full of drama. Some of the young moms are complete trainwrecks - "Jenelle," from North Carolina, started off saying motherhood will be like "dressin' up a doll everyday" - but by the end of the program, said motherhood is "like bein' in prison." The young fathers are unsurprisingly even less prepared - in fact, at least one appears headed for prison.

But can narratives like this really help teens make responsible decisions? Or does it just offer forgettable drama and nothing more? A recent study from Ohio State University found that TV dramas like 16 and Pregnant can actually be more persuasive than news programs. Researchers found that college-age women who viewed a televised drama about teen pregnancy were more likely to use birth control than those who watched a news program detailing the difficulties caused by teen pregnancy.

That study's lesson for us is that dramatic stories are more effective persuaders than "just the facts" recitations.

Granted, this isn't usual TaxCoach fare. So how can we use that lesson in our own marketing? By identifying, polishing, and telling clients the success stories that emphasize our value and spotlight the return our clients get on their investment in our service.

Keith and I have several stories we use to promote our system and our methods. We have our "origins" story - how we dreamed up the system sitting at the bar at Teller's restaurant in Cincinnati's Hyde Park Square. And we have member success stories - how many times have we talked about Dominique Molina billing $178,000 in tax-planning fees in 2008?

I spent several years traveling the country giving tax-planning seminars to real estate agents and investors. Translating topics like S corporations and medical expense reimbursement plans into plain English isn't always easy. But I culled stories from my own clients to tell my audiences. For instance, when I discussed the MERP, I would say:

I met an agent from Pittsburgh whose son was diagnosed with ADHD. The son's pediatrician prescribed "tae kwon do" lessons, so we wrote off the lessons under the MERP.

Stories like that - even short examples - illustrate your points in ways that listeners can readily understand. They make tax-planning concepts and strategies real and vivid. If you show a client how to write off part of his family's spring vacation as a business expense, don't just outline the rules for time spent in business activities. Help him hear the ocean crashing against the beach, hear the steel band at the hotel bar, and feel the sand under his feet!

Take a few moments before your next tax-planning presentation to reflect on your success stories. What problems or challenges did your clients face? How did you help them solve it? What were the results, in specific dollars and cents? And how did your client use the savings you created to live a better, richer life? Then keep those stories in mind as you help your clients understand just how valuable your service can be for them. In the end, the stories will pay off for both of you.

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MEMBER EVENT (EAL)
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SUPERTABLE REGISTRATION FILLING FAST

Less than two weeks ago, Keith and I opened registration for the 2010 SuperTable, May 5-7, in New Orleans! Our focus is pricing, and our goal is to help you make more from your practice, without even having to add clients, by showing your current clients how much more you're worth!

• Wednesday, we’ll present the Roundtable “Basic Training” for those of you who missed it.

• Thursday we’ll present a full day of advanced pricing strategies.

• Friday morning, we’ll present more advanced TaxCoach topics.

• Friday afternoon will be advanced training for Certified Tax Coach™ licensees.

We’ve never liked hosting meetings at the average bland and boring hotel. So we've traditionally looked for private golf and business clubs. But this year we've outdone ourselves - we're setting the SuperTable at the Old US Mint in the famed French Quarter. (Honestly, where better than an actual mint to host a meeting for tax professionals?)

Click here for more information. But don't wait too long! We've already sold over 20% of the available seats!

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MEMBER TESTIMONIAL OF THE WEEK (KAV)
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E & K - It took me 4 1/2 months since the Tampa Roundtable, but I finally heeded your strong advice & terminated the relationship with my D-level client, Joe. I'm still getting my head around the loss of $1,200 / month in retainers, but I've also found I have time now to do things my A-level clients have been asking for. In the past 10 days since firing Joe, I have billed $1,800 in special project work for 2 of my top clients. I also have 3 more such projects that I'll get done before month-end, now that I have JOE GONE & MORE TIME. If not for you guys pushing me, Joe would still be a pain in my (neck)! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Doug Wamsley, CPA, MST,
Athens, GA

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MEMBER RESOURCE (KAV)
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MEMBER CALL-IN WITH ED AND KEITH

This week: "The Goodness" again, as usual. The first question, however, was so good that Ed went on for 21 minutes expounding on it alone! So the question list isn't as long this week as sometimes. But hey, nobody bailed during the treatise, so it must have been worthwhile!

Here's an excerpt of questions and comments raised by callers this week, straight from the call log.

• I am the worst "closer" in the world. I just did a seminar (only 6 folks), but at the end, I just said, "well folks that's it." I gave a brief spiel about the importance of planning but at the end, it seemed like no one was in pain enough to follow up with me. Do you have some clever closing comments at the end of your slideshow.
  • Thanks! I love the wording "how many mistakes are you making, and missing out on without realizing it, here's your chance to find out..."
  • Do you take questions during your presentations?
  • I did engage two of my "students" and got in two long discussions. I will try follow up with them. Thanks "world's worst closer"
• Is the SuperTable in New Orleans going to be more technical strategies or more marketing issues.
  [A: The short answer is, it's a combination, just like the TaxCoach method itself. Take a look at www.TaxCoachSuperTable.com for more details on what we'll be covering. ]
  • Can we bring staff to New Orleans conference?
    [A: Yes, they are certainly welcome. However, with the SuperTable limited to 75 seats and already being 20% sold, there are no discounts for guests. ]
• I'm launching a direct mail campaign next week - one part letters and one part postcards (to the same list) using the templates in Tax Coach. What response rates (for an appointment) would you think I should expect?
  • RESPONSE RATE---WRONG QUESTION...THEY NEED TO HAVE A LEAD-GENERATING MAGNET...ALSO NEED TO LOOK AT ROI
• Just a fun quick follow-up on the "Firing of Joe"... As it ends up, Joe's son, Frank, actually owns 3 of the 5 restaurant corporations. When Frank found out I had fired Joe, Frank called & came to see me. Frank said he didn't care what I did about Joe & Joe's 2 restaurants. But Frank said he would gladly pay my higher fees as long as I would keep him & his 3 restaurants. So once again, firing Joe ended up being NOTHNG BUT GOOD NEWS for me & everybody in the office!!!! Tax Coach members, FIRE your D-Level clients now! It works!
• A local CPA has been sending me postcards advertising his tax prep. service (I guess he hasn't figured out what I do for a living!) I've also seen flyers from him in the local Valpak. He's advertising a $200 special to prepare a LLC or Corp. tax return. Part of his pitch includes a free tax plan with every tax return. Now I've had some tax prep. prospects come to me with this guy's flyer asking me to match his price. How do you even respond to that question?
  [A: Six words: "You Get What You Pay For." ]
  • I just had a prospect turn me down even though my income tax return price was substantially lower. Therefore, I am going to increase my prices.
  • Tell the prospect great, he should go for it, and come back if he isn't happy... and then increase the fee when he comes back.
    [A: The competing CPA, by the way, is not now, nor has he ever been, a member of TaxCoach! ]
• Do you have information in Tax Coach on hiring your kids other than the brief implementation checklist?
  [A: Yes, there are two "Hire Your Family" modules, one in the Your Business section, and one in the Your Investments section. You'll find these on the Reports screen, once you add or select a client within TaxCoach. ]
• I've been giving some presentations to realtor groups, but am finding that the realtors who have interest tend to be new and not have much income (read few opportunities for tax planning). What is the best way that you've found to get in touch with more seasoned realtors who are generating more money and have more opportunities to save money.

If you're looking for clarification on TaxCoach strategies or additional ways to profit from TaxCoach too, join us for the next call, on Wednesday March 3, at 1pm Eastern. Enter a question or just listen in on the repartee. Check the "Contact Us" button within TaxCoach for registration instructions.

While our elite members (All-Stars, Press Club, and Hall of Fame) can still schedule time directly with Ed as part of their coaching programs, we simply cannot answer marketing and tax-strategy questions via email or unscheduled calls.

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We can answer questions on using TaxCoach system features anytime. (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,