Accounting
Art of Accounting: How to make clients your sales team
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Many CPA firms rely on client referrals for growth. I consider referrals a validation of a satisfied client.
Occasionally the lack of referrals is because a client likes you and wants to continue using you but does not feel confident that you would do a good job for someone they might refer you to. There could be many reasons for this. If you feel their reticence is valid, then I suggest you examine the relationship and what might be done to right it so they will become a raving fan. Many of these clients feel that what you do for them is good and is part of the overall package of the relationship that they are happy about being with you. However, they feel something is lacking and that is what’s holding them back from referring you.
That is an important issue, but today I want to suggest ways to get more referrals from existing clients who are truly happy about their relationship with you, and I will start with a short story.
In the early 1990s we hired a full-time salesperson who was not an accountant, but a “professional” salesperson. We gave him a list of our clients and told him not to contact any of them, and otherwise, anyone else was fair game for him. About a month into the relationship, I overheard the receptionist buzz him and tell him that Mr. Soandso was on the phone. Later in the day I asked him why Mr. Soandso called him and he said he returned a call he made to him. He missed seeing his name on our client list and I called the client to apologize for the intrusion, explaining the call was from a salesman we hired. The client said he was not aware we wanted new business and the following month he recommended three clients to us!
That experience taught us that you have to let clients know you want to grow and would appreciate any referrals. We thought about this and realized that barring dissatisfaction with your services, the two major reasons clients do not recommend you are: 1) they do not think about it; and 2) they do not know how to go about it.
This led to us making a greater effort asking our clients for referrals and to develop “materials” for clients to use when referring us. We then considered our clients to be our sales force.
We changed the way we spoke and learned to never say we are busy or too busy and now we say, “We are doing quite well but are looking to grow,” followed by “and we would always appreciate referrals. They are important to us.”
As “sales managers” we need to manage our referral base, which are our clients, professionals we interact with, bankers and pretty much everyone else we know, including our alumni and other CPAs. The way we go about this is to develop fact sheets, blogs, memos and speech handouts on the many specializations and industries we have expertise in and send them to targeted clients. Email has become a ubiquitous way to distribute much of this material. However, we also want to create a personal connection, and we do this by postal mailing printed copies to people we think are interested in those topics or who know people they could refer. We include a handwritten note saying, “The enclosed is something we wrote (or presented) and I think you would enjoy seeing it. Also, I would appreciate any comments or questions you have. Further if you think you want to proceed.”
I believe postal mailed information that is not immediately thrown away will linger for a while in sight of the recipient, giving it a much greater shelf life than an email. Note that it helps if you have a mailing address where they will receive that piece of mail. Many people now work virtually and only sporadically go into their office. If you can, mail it to their house. I am a stamp collector and when I mail this material, I try to select attractive stamps that also get attention. I have a few stories about clients I’ve gotten or friendships that developed because of my choice of stamps. In many cases the mail is sent by an express service or with a postage meter — that’s OK too.
Whenever we speak with business and larger tax clients, we try to make them aware of a new service that they might be particularly interested in. You can prepare some notes on some added services you could provide to each of your clients that you have meetings with. I prepare notes about two or three added services and usually get one added engagement every other time I meet with a client.
Another thing you can do is adopt my 1/20th Tax Client marketing method. This involves calling tax clients with a goal of getting added engagements from 5% of your tax clients each year. This might require contacting many more clients, perhaps as many as 15%, in order to achieve your goal. However, none of the extra calls are wasted because they are a way to let these clients know about the additional services you offer and to also suggest that they let anyone they know that they think would need such services about you. This works wonders! The 1/20th rule is explained and included in my checklist file which you can
A final suggestion, for now, is to inform your staff about the importance of added engagements from clients, make them aware of what you offer, and how to approach it and look for openings. This takes some effort and training but is a very small investment with a very large payback with added business, better and more thorough services to clients, and more involved and aware staff.
The above might seem daunting, but it isn’t. It is many small things pieced together to create a very large whole. The goal is to make your clients more effective in referring you and more aware about how to do it. I did and do everything and this all works.
And be the sales manager your clients, i.e., your sales staff needs.
Do not hesitate to contact me at
The House unanimously passed four bipartisan bills Tuesday concerning taxes and the Internal Revenue Service that were all
- H.R. 1152, the Electronic Filing and Payment Fairness Act, sponsored by Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Illinois, Suzan Delbene, D-Washington, Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, Brad Schneider, D-Illinois, Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pennsylvania and Jimmy Panetta, D-California. The bill would apply the “mailbox rule” to electronically submitted tax returns and payments to allow the IRS to record payments and documents submitted to the IRS electronically on the day the payments or documents are submitted instead of when they are received or reviewed at a later date. The AICPA believes this would offer clarity and simplification to the payment and document submission process while protecting taxpayers from undue penalties.
- H.R. 998, the Internal Revenue Service Math and Taxpayer Help Act, sponsored by Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, and Brad Schneider, D-Illinois, which would require notices describing a mathematical or clerical error to be made in plain language, and require the Treasury to provide additional procedures for requesting an abatement of a math or clerical error adjustment, including by telephone or in person, among other provisions.
- H.R. 517, the Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act, sponsored by Rep. David Kustoff, R-Tennessee, and Judy Chu, D-California. The process of receiving tax relief from the IRS following a natural disaster typically must follow a federal disaster declaration, which can often come weeks after a state disaster declaration. The bill would provide the IRS with authority to grant tax relief once the governor of a state declares either a disaster or a state of emergency and expand the mandatory federal filing extension under Section 7508(d) of the Tax Code from 60 days to 120 days, providing taxpayers with more time to file tax returns after a disaster.
- H.R. 1491, the Disaster related Extension of Deadlines Act, sponsored by Rep. Gregory Murphy, R-North Carolina, and Jimmy Panetta, D-California, would extend the amount of time disaster victims would have to file for a tax refund or credit (i.e., the lookback period) by the amount of time afforded pursuant to a disaster relief postponement period for taxpayers affected by major disasters. This legislative solution would place taxpayers on equal footing as taxpayers not impacted by major disasters and would afford greater clarity and certainty to taxpayers and tax practitioners regarding this lookback period.
“The AICPA has long supported these proposals and will continue to work to advance comprehensive legislation that enhances IRS operations and improves the taxpayer experience,” said Melanie Lauridsen, vice president of tax policy and advocacy for the AICPA, in a statement Tuesday. “We are pleased to work closely with each of these Representatives on common-sense reforms that will benefit taxpayers, tax practitioners and tax administration and we’re encouraged by their passage in the House. We look forward to continuing to work with Congress to improve the taxpayer experience.”
The bills were also included in a recent Senate
The House also passed two other tax-related bills Tuesday that weren’t endorsed in the recent AICPA letter.
- H.R. 1155, Recovery of Stolen Checks Act, sponsored by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-New York, would require the IRS to create a process for taxpayers to request a replacement via direct deposit for a stolen paper check. If a check is determined to be stolen or lost, and not cashed, a taxpayer will receive a replacement check once the original check is cancelled, but many taxpayers are having their replacement checks stolen as well. Taxpayers who have a check stolen are then unable to request that the replacement check be sent via direct deposit. The bill would require the Treasury to establish processes and procedures under which taxpayers, who are otherwise eligible to receive an amount by paper check in replacement of a lost or stolen paper check, may elect to receive such amount by direct deposit.
- H.R. 997, National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act, sponsored by Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, would prevent IRS interference with National Taxpayer Advocate personnel by granting the NTA responsibility for its attorneys. In advocating for taxpayer rights, the National Taxpayer Advocate often requires independent legal advice. But currently, the staff members hired by the National Taxpayer Advocate are accountable to internal IRS counsel, not the Taxpayer Advocate, creating a potential conflict of interest to the detriment of taxpayers. The bill would authorize the National Taxpayer Advocate to hire attorneys who report directly to her, helping establish independence from the IRS.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Missouri, applauded the bipartisan House passage of the various bills, which had been unanimously passed by the committee.
“President Trump was elected on the promise of finally making the government work better for working people,” Smith said in a statement Tuesday. “This bipartisan legislation helps fulfill that mandate and makes improvements to tax administration that will make it easier for the American people to file their taxes. Those who are rebuilding after a natural disaster particularly need help filing taxes, which is why this set of bills lightens the load for taxpayers in communities struck by a hurricane, tornado or some other disaster. With Tax Day just a few days away, we must look for common-sense, bipartisan ways to make filing taxes less of a hassle.”
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