Destroying Sales and Fee Resistance

Do you want to know how to destroy sales resistance and fee resistance between the time the tax resolution prospect makes their appointment versus the time they actually come in?

There are specific 3 things you need to send your prospect in the mail between the time they make the appointment, and the time they show up.

On today’s video I tell you the 3 items that you need to mail to your client. This is an easy actionable plan. Communicating with your client is key to getting them to show up.

The first thing is The Guide to Selecting a Tax Professional and it asks 4 or 5 questions. One question is, what is the professional’s tax record? Another question can be, how will a professional keep information about my case? How will they communicate with me? So you answer all these questions that someone has in their mind who’s shopping around and looking to hire a tax professional.

The second document is the 6 Myths About Tax Professionals. And one of those myths can be myth number 2, all attorneys and accountants have IRS experience. And we know that’s not true. Another myth could be tax professionals listed on internet directories are carefully screened for qualifications. And we know that’s not true.

The third thing you should be sending them, this all goes in one packet, one envelope, these 3 documents, the third thing is is your 6 point or your 5 point or your 8 point plan to resolving your client’s IRS tax problems. And one of those could be we will obtain your transcripts and your records of account from the IRS. That’s Step No. 3. Step No. 6, we will prepare all forms required by the IRS to resolve your IRS problem. So you’re basically giving them a road map to resolution on your 5 point or 6 point or 8 point plan to resolving their tax problems.

So make sure that you communicate. It’s very important to communicate with your clients between the time they make the appointment versus the time they show up in your office or on the phone at the appointed time.

Destroy Client Objections Over Prices and Fees

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How to Destroy Client Objections Over Prices and Fees — I Don’t Like to ‘Handle’ Objections; I Like to Obliterate Them!

It’s important to understand that people can always afford you; it’s just a matter of priorities. Sometimes our prospects don’t comprehend the seriousness of their problems with the IRS, and we have a moral obligation to help them prioritize solving the problem. Sometimes it takes a frank conversation.

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Follow This Simple Formula: ACOC (Acknowledge, Compare, Options, Close)

When a prospective client brings up objections such as “I can’t afford that,” “That’s way too expensive,” or “If I had that kind of money, I would just pay the IRS,” the first thing you want to do is acknowledge the prospect by saying, “I understand.” Then, proceed with, “Listen, I get it, this is a serious investment, but what I’ve proposed here is a solution to a serious problem that will change your life.

Compare your lifesaving offer to a life-and-death situation:

So, if the price tag is your primary concern … let’s be clear with one another. A lot of people who say they can’t afford it or who can’t find the money are not being truthful. They’re well-intentioned, but being less than truthful nonetheless. So, if you’re saying you would hire me if only you could afford it, you need to listen very closely. We can get started today for $x,xxx (30 percent of total case value), which of course is nothing to sneeze at. However, let’s say if instead of retaining me for $x,xxx, you found out you needed to have a lifesaving medical procedure tomorrow, and the price of that operation was $x,xxx (the same amount of the retainer you are requesting). Would you say, “Oh, I can’t afford that; I’ll just suffer and let it get worse until I’m too far gone?” Of course not.

Now, discuss the potential options your prospect must decide on:

So, let’s get rid of the myth of whether or not you can or can’t afford it. Here’s the real question: Are you willing to do what it takes to make this investment or not? As you sit here today, you have three options: The first option is to do nothing. Doing nothing just doesn’t leave you with the problem, it makes the problem worse the longer you do nothing. So that’s not it. The second option is you can do something else with the money … but why? You know and I know that what I’ve laid out in front of you as our plan of resolution is the thing to do to protect you and your family and to permanently resolve this matter once and for all. And that’s option number three — just do the right thing.

Here’s where you “close.”

Yes, the money may be tight. Yes, this may be a stretch. Yes, you’re going to have to go out of your comfort zone a bit, but have you considered the alternative? That’s why you need to stop being less than truthful to me, and more importantly, to yourself. Just do what needs to be done right now so we can quit messing around and get down to business. I can get on the phone with IRS today and get you protected from their aggressive collection tactics.”

These simple steps will ensure that your close rate will soar when dealing with objections to prices and fees.

michael rozbruch tax and business solutions academy

Warm vs Cold List | Tax Resolution Marketing

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When you’re marketing for tax resolution clients you need to know the difference between a warm list versus a cold list.

A warm list is: People who already know you, their info is already in your CRM system, and that includes your clients, prospects/leads, and referral sources.

A cold list is: People who have never heard of you before and who don’t know you.

When you’re targeting a cold list to market to you need to keep a few things in mind. Watch this week’s video where I give you the step-by-step winning formula that will get a cold list of people to contact you.

Number 1 is you need to market to them and send them at least 3 letters, 3 multi-step letters, and you send 1 letter let’s say on the first of the month, the second letter should go 15 days after that, and the third letter should go 30 days after that. So within 45-60 days they’ve received 3 letters from you. And let’s talk about the envelope. The envelope should look very personalized. It’s like you got to think about getting a letter from your grandma. The letter itself should be very personalized, very customized as if you’re talking to that individual person. And the letter itself needs to have some things contained in the letter. There needs to be an offer. I call it an irresistible offer and an example of that is a free consultation.

The second is you need to have a call to action. You need to tell the reader of the letter exactly what you want them to do and more than likely that’s to call you right now.

So those are the ingredients that you need to have when you’re mailing to a cold list. Let’s review. You need to do a 3-step multi-step letter campaign. Okay. It needs to be individualized, personalized, customized is if that person is getting a letter from a relative. And you need to have the copy and the message to include an irresistible offer and a call to action.

So those are the steps that you need to follow when you’re mailing to a cold list.

We’ll see you on the next video.

Not the Judge or Jury

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We are living in times where controversy swirls all around us. Every day, there’s another breaking story that spreads like wildfire on the news and on social media. After just glancing at the surface, sometimes without even looking past the headline, people decide they know everything about a situation and are ready to cast judgment on a stranger. What we all need is a little more empathy for each other. This concept also applies to clients who have major tax problems.

Everyone has a story; everyone has a secret; and everyone has struggled with their own obstacles. If someone comes to us for help, we shouldn’t add to their struggles by deciding at a glance what kind of person they are. When people owe money to the IRS, there’s a lot of shame and stigma around it. They might have been let go from a job or a longtime career, had a business go south, suffered a serious illness. They may be dealing with the wreckage of alcoholism or substance abuse or the death of a loved one. Some might have needed to raid their 401(k) just to make ends meet, fully intending to put the money back before early withdrawal penalties hit after 60 days.

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One of the things that attracted clients to hire me was my ability to find common ground with them. I never judged or looked down on them. I made sure each new prospect knew I saw them as someone who wanted help and to have their finances back on track, and not for the mistakes they made in the past. I’ve had my own trials and tribulations in life and got a second chance — why shouldn’t I offer that same help to someone else who could use a second chance?

Some CPAs, EAs, and attorneys find themselves judging their own clients. Luckily, I’ve found that most people I know who specialize in IRS representation are drawn to this industry because of the intrinsic value they get in helping people, which is awesome. But if you are new to the industry, or one of those in the tax resolution industry who have found themselves feeling less empathic lately, you might want to be more aware of being compassionate toward your client. People who owe money to the IRS are already struggling with the shame and guilt of owing money and feeling like everyone is thinking, “If someone owes money to the IRS, they must be bad a bad person.” It’s important to remember that 99.9 percent of people who haven’t filed in a few years or who owe back taxes are not the sort you would read about in one of our IRS Terror Tale stories. They aren’t bad people who tried to pull one over on Uncle Sam. The reality is that many of them have suffered from some unfortunate life events that knocked them off their feet.

They might have been let go from a job or a longtime career, had a business go south, suffered a serious illness. They may be dealing with the wreckage of alcoholism or substance abuse or the death of a loved one. Some might have needed to raid their 401(k) just to make ends meet, fully intending to put the money back before early withdrawal penalties hit after 60 days. However, their situation didn’t get any better within the two-month time frame, and in addition to owing early withdrawal penalties, the extra income knocked them into a higher tax bracket. After this, their life starts to spiral out of control.

The point is this: Everyone has a story; everyone has a secret; and everyone has struggled with their own obstacles. If someone comes to us for help, we shouldn’t add to their struggles by deciding at a glance what kind of person they are. When people owe money to the IRS, there’s a lot of shame and stigma around it.

I teach a lot about how to market to clients and how to close the client, but the fact of the matter is, being compassionate and empathetic toward a client is probably the best thing you can do to build trust and rapport. Prospects hire you, not your firm. People do business with people, not companies. People do business with you because they feel like they know you, like you, and trust you. I’ve shared many times that I left the corporate world and started my own tax resolution business because I hated working in the corporate world, and then my company grew so large I found myself back in the corporate world, involved with the operations and politics of the business, which is my least favorite part. The last months there, I ended up how I started, working with cases one-on-one with clients, because helping someone have a second chance is the most rewarding part of tax resolution.

Providing Great Client Care

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I teach a lot about marketing and sales and management, but today I want to talk to you about how to care and have empathy for your client. Sometimes with all the distractions and everything we’re doing today, we unintentionally judge other people.

99.9% of people with tax problems are good people who are dealing with a bad life-altering event that took place. And you know what? Everybody deserves a second chance. One of the reasons why I was so successful in getting clients to retain me was I found common ground with them. I genuinely cared about their situation. I genuinely cared about helping them and getting them the best possible settlement for the lowest amount allowed by law because it gave me such a great feeling inside to actually help someone. I can’t explain that feeling. There’s such an intrinsic value to this business that’s hard for me to put in words. But I found common ground with clients that came in to my office.

When I first started in this business in the prehistoric times, like 18 years ago, and stuff was really getting good for me, I had an IRS problem. I was making a lot of money and I didn’t put enough away for estimates. As a result, I ended up owing a large balance to the IRS. I wasn’t able to just take my checkbook out and write this big check. So I negotiated my own Installment Agreement. And you know what? When I used to tell people that, perspective clients that like leveled the field for them. And it doesn’t have to be something like that, it could be that they talk about their divorce, you can relate your issues with your divorce if that happened to you. When you find common ground with your clients it’s a whole different ballgame. It just drives the needle up over 120 miles an hour.

So, when you meet with clients remember 2 things, have empathy for them, care about their situation, don’t judge them, and find common ground with them and you’ll see that your close rates of people retaining you will soar through the roof.

Until next time,

michael rozbruch tax and business solutions academy

Tax Resolution Marketing Works EVERYWHERE

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This week’s question is will this work? Will marketing your tax resolution services work in a rural area? Or am I limited to my local area? Or, can I or should I do this out of my home versus an office?

Well, first of all, yes, tax resolution marketing will work in a rural area. We have many, many members who are killin’ it in rural areas because they realize that 1 in 50 American Taxpayers has a problem large enough that warrants expert representation. Let me repeat that. 1 in 50 US taxpayers has a tax resolution problem that’s large enough to warrant professional representation. Actually, marketing in a rural area could actually be more effective than marketing in a large metropolitan area because there’s a lot less competition. So keep that in mind.

Also, you’re not limited to just your local area. You can market to the surrounding counties. You can market to surrounding states. As a CPA an EA or an attorney in good standing with your state bar or the IRS if you’re an EA, you are able to represent clients in all 50 states with regard to the IRS. So you’re not limited at all to your local or rural area, you can extend your reach to other states.

Now, the second part of the question is – should I do this work in my house, or should I get an office? Well, number 1 is you can work the cases from your home. Personally, I didn’t want to bring clients into my house. That was a no-no. I didn’t want to do that, even though I started my first two months at my dining room table. Even then, I didn’t meet clients in my home. And today, you can lease a suite at Barrister Executive Suites, or Regis Executive Suites on a weekly basis or even a daily basis. You can use their conference rooms to see clients rather than bringing them into your home. In this way, you can bring the work home, but see clients in a professional setting. This is a good route to go because it sets up your positioning and you look more professional. Also, you can use that company’s mailing address and they even have phone service, everything is a la carte. So you can actually have an office without signing a long-term lease and look professional.

Until next time,

michael rozbruch tax and business solutions academy