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TaxCoach Briefs: May 20, 2010
Volume 5, Number 19
****Attention All-Stars and Press Club members ****: The playback from May's webinar on Networking is now available on the All-Stars page. And mark your calendar now for June's call, on Tuesday June 8 at 4pm Eastern. We'll have agenda details and connection instructions for you on the A-S page and in The Scout. ===================================================== OBAMALYZE ME! Keith will tell you I'm always full of ideas. That's because, here at TaxCoach, I'm the Partner-In-Charge of Making Stuff Up. Keith will also tell you he's not always happy I have so many ideas. That's because he's the Partner-in-Charge of Getting Stuff Done. So, about a month ago, I'm sitting at the Cincinnati airport waiting for my flight to San Diego for the April Certified Tax Coach™ Academy. And suddenly, an idea popped into my brain. High-income taxpayers are realizing taxes are about to go up, not down. Why not create a mini-report to capitalize on their fear of those coming tax hikes - in order to generate more comprehensive planning engagements? And since most of the new tax proposals come out of the Obama administration, why not call it "the Obamalyzer"? I even figured we could take the existing Outlook Letter and re-purpose it to do just that! I immediately texted Keith (because I'm cool, like my teenage daughter), and asked how hard that would be. He probably grumbled when he realized I'd found yet another shiny thing to distract me, for him to implement. But he said it would be no problem at all, and the Obamalyzer was born. Now, after one short month of gestation, it's launched and ready to go. (Baby elephants have a gestation period of 22 months - but hey, when was the last time a baby elephant opened a lucrative tax-planning engagement?) The Obamalyzer is designed simply to start a conversation with a prospect or existing client about taxes. The goal is to disturb them by capitalizing on their fear of coming tax hikes and remind them (in the case of new prospects) that their current tax advisor is likely doing nothing to anticipate those hikes. With budget deficits spiraling towards two trillion dollars, the inescapable reality is that taxes are going up. Prospects know this – yet most tax professionals focus on recording history, not proactive planning. This lets you establish or add value by filling a gap your clients can easily see. There’s no shortage of scary developments to disturb those high-income prospects!
The Obamalyzer is not designed to demonize President Obama personally. While his poll numbers have slipped since his Inauguration, he still remains enormously popular in many circles. Be sensitive to prospects who indicate they like President Obama personally – you can disturb them just as effectively by stirring up fear of “Washington” tax hikes. The word “Obamalyzer” appears nowhere on the plan report, and you don’t ever have to use it with prospects. The initial prospect “pitch” might sound something like this:
Ready to start Obamalyzing? It's fun! Just sign in to TaxCoach and open a client file, or enter data for a new client. Click the "Create Tax Plan" button in the lower-right corner of the Home Page. Once you reach the "Create Tax Plan Report page, scroll down the left-hand side until you reach the orange "Obamalyzer" button. Clicking that button will open a dialog box and let you import the file into your preferred word processor. The report itself runs just three or four pages, depending on your clients circumstances. It's not designed to offer in-depth analysis or conclusions. Instead, it's intended to serve as a tangible deliverable (or "souvenir") to emphasize your message that taxes are going up and the smartest thing for your client to do is to engage you to plan how to handle them. We'll look forward to hearing about your success! ===================================================== IT'S OUR BIRTHDAY! Five long years ago, on May 25, 2005, Keith and I opened TaxCoach's doors. We sent an email to the list I had compiled while marketing my Instant Tax Relief system - a list that I knew included several hundred accountants and tax professionals - and just 20 minutes or so later, we had our first member! Next Tuesday, May 25, we'll be celebrating that birthday. And we're inviting you to a party! At 11:30, we'll be hosting lunch at Tellers restaurant, just a driver and an eight-iron from our office on Cincinnati's oh-so-chichi Hyde Park Square. Those of you who have heard the TaxCoach "origins" story know that Keith and I actually conceived the system while sitting at Tellers' bar, sometime back in 2002 or so. It took a couple of years before Keith had enough time off from consulting gigs to develop the system. He actually created it at our first office in suburban Loveland, Ohio - but we thought it would be more fun (and more convenient for us) if we hosted the event at Tellers. (Besides, those of you who are parents will probably agree that the conception is more fun than the actual delivery!) Wanna join us? Just call Catherine at 513-321-2820 by noon on Monday to RSVP. (If she's not there, you can leave a message, or email her at support@taxcoachsoftware.com. We'll even have cake and presents! (Hey, what kind of five-year-old doesn't want cake and presents for their birthday?) ===================================================== "I'm getting real close & have identified 2 existing clients to sell. However if I never sell a single plan, Tax Coach is still a bargain. I can't say enough about the changes you guys are effecting in me. ===================================================== MEMBER CALL-IN WITH ED AND KEITH We're back to the regular schedule of Wednesdays at 1pm Eastern, and with a bang! Yesterday's call set a new record attendance level, 29% bigger than the previous high-water mark. And, for the first time, we weren't able to get all the way through the questions in the log, so we extended the call to accommodate. 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 May 26, 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. ===================================================== 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. Regards, Ed LyonKeith VandeStadt http://www.taxcoachsoftware.com/ (513) 321-2820 TaxCoach SuperTable Certified Tax Coach™ TaxCoach All-Stars TaxCoach Press Club TaxCoach Closely-Held Insurance Company TaxCoach Cost Segregation TaxCoach Briefs archives . . . |