|
TaxCoach Briefs: July 8, 2010
Volume 5, Number 26
****Attention All-Stars and Press Club members ****: The next monthly webinar is July 13. Our "official" topic is "summer marketing," and we'll focus our time on using TaxCoach to generate year-round income. You'll find a complete agenda and registration instructions in this week's Scount and on the All-Stars page in TaxCoach. ===================================================== BEAT ME LIKE A RENTED MULE, PART 3-D This week's Briefs is a little shorter than usual. It's hot out, I'm tired, and I'm cranky. I just don't feel like rambling on like I sometimes do. But pay special attention today — if you've ever wanted to sell tax-planning services to existing clients, this may be the most important Briefs you'll ever read. Back in June, I introduced you to two TaxCoach elite members ("Sigfried" and "Roy"), who were hitting a wall growing their practices. Both of them knew what they ought to be doing to grow, but both were having trouble getting motivated to do it. Last week, I introduced you to "Liberace," who took my advice for those circumstances. He made 10 phone calls one day, set up four appointments, and closed two new clients. You would have thought he'd wake up early to do it again the next day - but sadly, you'd be mistaken. Yesterday, I spent time on the phone with yet another member. We'll continue the Vegas metaphors and call him "Elvis." (Why? Well, I bet he likes a good peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich. And right now, he really is "the King.") Elvis joined us in San Diego for the third Certified Tax Coach™ academy, June 11-13. Since then, he's sold 10 tax plans, all but one to existing clients, for a total of $37,000 in fees. He anticipates selling another 50, at presumably similar fees, between now and the end of the year. (You're doing the math right now, aren't you?) It's not all good news, of course. His staff is struggling to learn new systems and new material. And he's having to fire the bottom 10% of his clients in order to get the new work done. Oh, and the clients he's keeping look at him a little differently, too. As Elvis says, "Before all this mess in Washington, and me offering this service, I made sure clients always said 'he's good, but expensive.' Now they are saying 'he is AMAZING, but WOW is he expensive!' That is where I want to be in the market place.” He did it in two weeks. In June, when we all "know" nobody pays attention to taxes. In a town of fewer than 26,000 residents. So naturally, my first question for Elvis was how he succeeds where so many others don't. His answer was blunt and to the point: "I'd be stupid not to." Are you wondering how Elvis sells so much to his existing clients? The "secret" is, he's not selling at all - he's telling. He's sitting down with them, telling them that recent developments in Washington have made tax-planning more important than ever, telling them that it's time to do a plan, telling them how much it's going to cost, and then scheduling a delivery appointment. Sales trainers call it the "assumptive" close, and Elvis is a master. Have you struggled with selling tax plans to current clients? Wondering if your planning skills are really strong enough to pull it off? Worried that clients will ask "why haven't you shown me this before?" The fortunate reality is that none of that matters. Seriously. None of it. If you just have confidence in your relationship with your clients, you have what you need to succeed like Elvis. As we all learned in New orleans, if you truly believe that what you do will help your clients, you'll naturally enjoy the confidence to insist on the engagement. "Sigfried," "Roy," and "Liberace" can all do it too. And so can you. ===================================================== MEMBER APPRECIATION UPDATE Keith and I spent an hour Tuesday at Great American Ballpark here in Cincinnati, touring the "Private Party Suite" to host our elite (All-Stars and Press Club) members the first night of the upcoming Member Appreciation Event. It'll be the 159th game of the Reds' regular season, against the perenially-hapless Houston Astros, and that would ordinarily mean a great opportunity to catch up on laundry or yard work. But there may just be a pennant race involved. Either way, it will be great fun for the first 32 elites who register. We decided to host the MAE almost on a whim, right after returning from SuperTable 2010 in New Orleans. We're working on the final agenda now, although we're planning to devote the bulk of the time to the sort of group masterminding that so many have said was the most valuable part of the 13 live events we've previously hosted. Three weeks ago - again, almost on a whim - I opened early-bird registration. I didn't have a sales letter ready. Hell, we didn't even have a decent name for it. But we thought we might capture some low-hanging fruit that didn't need to see a letter first. Last week, I joked that registrations were flying in fast enough that I might not actually have to write a letter. Now I'm not so sure it's just a joke. We've filled almost half of the original 75 seats, and we've reserved space for 75 more. It's already clear that this will be the biggest TaxCoach gathering ever. A few minutes ago I looked up "no-brainer in the dictionary. Here's what it said:
Hey, if Webster's says it, it must be true. So don't risk losing your seat. Click here to register now! ===================================================== "Most valuable for me was finding solutions for my clients, and value for my clients — so they'll be happy with my fees. ===================================================== MEMBER CALL-IN WITH ED AND KEITH Fantastic call yesterday, and we finally broke the 4-way tie for largest attendance! Continuing the discussion on a member question from two weeks ago, this week we polled attendees about what tax prep software you use. The results are interesting, as they in no way parallel the overall market share of the various providers. That has a lot to do with most firms polled having five or fewer principals, and everything to do with the caliber of folks who are TaxCoach members. Over 89% on the call voted, and here's what we found (number shown is the number of members acknowledging each package as their primary system):
We also discussed this alarming article from the NATP alerting us that the IRS has bought 1500-2000 QuickBooks licenses in order to request QuickBooks databases as part of their audits. (Thanks to All-Star member and CTC™ Doug Wamsley for sending us the article.) We generally host calls each Wednesday. However, next week, Ed's traveling to a conference in cosmopolitan, sophisticated Cleveland. So our next call will be on July 21. We'll be polling you on what other tax-planning software you use besides TaxCoach.. If you're looking for clarification on TaxCoach strategies or additional ways to profit from TaxCoach, join us for the next call, on Wednesday July 21, 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 Certified Tax
Coach™ |