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TaxCoach Briefs: May 27, 2010
Volume 5, Number 20
****Attention All-Stars and Press Club members ****: Our next webinar will be on Tuesday June 8 at 4pm Eastern. We'll be taking a page from Keith's book to focus on "Getting Stuff Done," with an analysis of action goals that attendees at this month's SuperTable set out for themselves. Watch for agenda details and connection instructions on the All-Stars page and in The Scout. ===================================================== BEAT ME LIKE A RENTED MULE Five years ago Tuesday, Keith and I launched Tax Coach out of a 1930s-era garage at 367 Addison Avenue in Palo Alto, California. (Or a church in Loveland, Ohio. Whatever. - Keith) Since then, our little software startup has evolved into a complete business development system, and I spend as much time coaching members as I do tracking technical matters like tax law changes and updates. Yesterday, I had two coaching calls with elite members that illustrated some of the limits of what we can do. While I prefer to use this space to brag about how effective the concepts and strategies we teach can be, this week reinforced the very basic lesson that they aren't worth bupkis if you don't actually use them! My first call was with a Press Club member in the southeast. We'll call him "Sigfried" because that's not his name. We've spent time developing a plan to grow his one-man CPA practice, in part through referrals from his target market of attorneys. In short, we've developed a system for growing the business through attorney referrals. The only thing we haven't done is close new clients! We've discussed what types of attorneys would make good tax-planning clients themselves, which types can serve as referrals to other attorneys, and which can serve as referrals to clients. We've talked about how to approach them and even worked on an "elevator speech" for making the most of those precious networking opportunities. I listened as Sigfried talked about the new assistant he had hired and the work he was currently processing for clients. But I didn't hear anything about new clients he had engaged since our last call, or anything he had done to work on the business rather than in it. So I asked him, flat out, "what have you done in the last week to grow your business?" The answer? Well, he had left a couple of messages with a contact who might get him some local television appearances. "And what else?" I asked. Click here for what I heard next: At that point, I asked Sigfried if I could tell him something he didn't want to hear. He said yes, of course (which is why that's such a great question), and probably regretted it when I told him the reason his marketing wasn't working was because he wasn't doing anything! My next call was with an All-Star member in the midwest. I'll call him "Roy" because he's never been mauled by a white tiger. The All-Star scheduler that Keith developed to manage appointments (and which we're about to roll out as a separate resource) includes space for members to insert a brief agenda, questions, or comments. Roy's agenda was "Beat Me Like a Rented Mule," and after my conversation with Sigfried, I had a pretty good idea what we would be discussing. Sure enough, Roy was struggling with a self-diagnosed case of MDD, or Motivation Deficiency Disorder. He knew he wasn't doing what he needed to do to grow his business. He knew what he needed to do, he just needed a little outside accountability. (As the Greek philosopher Nike once said, "Just do it!") My advice to both Sigfried and Roy was the same. Stay away from the freakin' tigers! And more importantly, plan to contact a specific number of people every day for the next week. Approach them with the primary goal of generating a planning engagement and the secondary goal of generating referrals. Then write down the results of each of those conversations and be prepared to report back to me on our next call. Writing down the results is crucial. If you can't measure what you're doing, how can you improve it? There's no shortage of good advice in the world. We like to think that when it comes to tax practice development, we give some of the best advice available. But none of it means bupkis if you don't use it! If you're reading these Briefs, you're probably looking to add new clients or better clients to your practice too. What have you done in the last week to accomplish those goals? If you're like most TaxCoach members, you probably can't even answer that question. So put it in writing for the next week and see for yourself if you're doing enough:
At the end of the week, take a good look at your log. Are you really doing enough to accomplish your goals? Or are you just coasting because it's summer now and you're excited you can wear white? (Like Sigfried.) Are you bold enough to send us your log for a little outside accountability? If so, email it to accountable@taxcoachsoftware.com and we'll enter you into a drawing for a free month of TaxCoach. Is that enough to motivate you to do something you know you ought to be doing anyway? (Isn't this is like bribing your four-year-old to take his vitamin in the morning? - Keith) Elite members, we'll be discussing this in more detail on our next webinar on Tuesday, June 8. ===================================================== SAVE THE DATE! Keith and I have always realized our greatest strength is our members. I can write all day long about marketing and fulfilling tax-planning services. But nothing I write is as valuable as the lessons you bring us from the real world. What works? What bombs? Why does it work or not? Those are the lessons members really want to learn. To thank you for everything you bring to us, we're hosting a special Member Appreciation event, here in Cincinnati, on Thursday, September 30 and Friday, October 1. We'll offer a few hours or so of new prepared material. But the focus will be on networking and masterminding. In fact, we'll be dividing the audience into roundtable-size groups for most of the time. This is a member appreciation event, so admission will be free. We're especially interested in meeting new members who've never attended a TaxCoach event. We're even letting you design your own event! What do you want to ask a roomful of peers that you can't ask your competitors back home? Click here to tell us what you're dying to learn and we'll make sure we put the winners on the agenda. Keep an eye out for more information and registration forms - we'll have those for you shortly. Especially if you've never been to a TaxCoach event, this is your chance. Mark your calendar now! Also, the final Certified Tax Coach™ Academy of 2010 will take place September 22-24 in Chicago. CTC members, keep an eye out for details. ===================================================== "Maybe I'm just giddy, but I have to tell you the Wednesday phone call is on my calendar as a recurring appointment. I never miss it and never let client appointments supercede it. ===================================================== MEMBER CALL-IN WITH ED AND KEITH This week's call had "The Goodness" again, as usual, with as many attendees as last week. We even started out with a couple of leftover questions. If you're looking for clarification on TaxCoach strategies or additional ways to profit from TaxCoach, join us for the next call, on Wednesday June 2, at 1pm Eastern. Enter a question or just listen in on the repartee. Check the "Contact Us" button within TaxCoach for registration instructions. Calls are generally held each Wednesday, however please note there will be no call on June 9. 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 . . . |