As tax preparers, we understand the importance of managing client relationships in between appointments. If we’re also handling monthly accounting, we see our clients more often, but we only see some clients once a year during tax season. Is that a bad thing? Not always, but in some cases, it can cost you their business.
A wide spread of several months between visits—or almost a year in certain cases—is plenty of time for a client’s loyalty to wane. With the battery of pre-season advertising on TV, radio, and in print by larger tax preparation companies, your business can disappear into obscurity as clients fall away one by one.
How can you protect your tax preparation business from losing clients to other more visible companies? Easy. Be more visible.
Collecting contact information and building an email database is the first step. Using it is the next. What is there to say, you might be wondering. Touching base with news, tax tips and information is a valuable way to check in.
Here are a few ideas for managing client relationships via email:
- IRS Updates on Filing
- Tips for Organizing Tax Paperwork
- Benefits of Hiring a Bookkeeper
An important goal of every business is to engage clients and prospects. Encourage them to visit your website and give them a reason to go there. One way might be to email the first few sentences of your blog with a link to READ MORE on your website.
What’s New?
Do you have any company news? Keep your clients up to date by email. Send small business news to your business clients. For instance, this week Forbes.com featured entrepreneur Anthony Smith, a small business owner who created his own customer relationship management (CRM) software. He developed the software for his own business because he needed it, and there was nothing on the market he could afford. Smith thought other small business owners could benefit and today he has 1.2 million users.
This inspirational story illustrates how out of one company’s necessity, a practical and affordable solution was created for other businesses. IRS Solutions shares a similar story.
In helping clients deal with IRS collections issues and audits, we experienced firsthand how inefficient existing software was. Time was being wasted in IRS dealings, so as Anthony Smith did, we created our own software. Seeing how it saved time in our own practice, we figured, why not offer it other accountants who struggle with the same issues?
Then we took it a step further. We knew software wasn’t the only answer, so we decided to host monthly case study webinars. Members ask questions, submit challenging cases, and see demos of how to use the tax resolution and accountant client management software . Our program allows tax preparers and accountants to build year-round businesses offering products and services that extend far beyond those of tax season.
Build Your Business, Your Way
What started out as a solution to our own challenges now helps hundreds of other tax professionals save time, make money and build their businesses. IRS Solutions tax resolution software offers the support tax businesses need to rise far above the competition. Learn how to market your business in an already saturated market:
As your client list grows, manage relationships and introduce new service ideas. Unsure about pricing your services? Contact IRS Solutions and we’ll pass along what we learned along the way about service offerings and pricing. Get the Pricing Guide for tax resolution services.
