If you’re a sole practitioner, or business owner of a growing accountancy business (AKA The Mastermind), no doubt one of your key goals and main challenges is attracting new clients.
You probably started the year with a target figure and you’re not doing bad, but tax return season is looming…..and you need a game plan.
Here’s our guide on how to win those target clients this tax season:
Step 1: Identify “The Ultimate Target”
Time is precious, you need to be focused. You know you want more of your top 5% clients. But who are they? Here’s how to define them:
(1) Identify your top five clients.
(2) List their key attributes: Fees, value, service needs, location, T/O, industry, no. of years in business and no. of employees.
(3) Set 30 mins on the clock and brainstorm (with your team if you have one) your client’s; goals, fears, challenges, dreams, what makes them feel good, the stuff they wouldn’t admit and the things they would like to say but can’t. (To get in the zone, think about yourself as a business owner & list your own).
This doesn’t have to be a MASSIVE loooooong drawn out, laborious exercise 🙄 – set aside no more than 2 hours and do what you can.
You now have your “Ultimate Target” profile and your brainstorming session above has probably identified loads of ways to directly communicate with them in a way that will resonate.
Step 2: Revisit your hit list goal
Now you know who you REALLY want, it’s time to revisit your goals. Although we’re pushing you to grow your firm at the busiest time of the year, we’re not completely crazy…. you still need to be smart.
Here’s how:
(1) Review what you want to achieve (2) Check what resource you have available to get you there (3) Pick a realistic target (4) Just get started
Don’t beat yourself up if you your new targets are lower than what you anticipated. What’s important is that your targets are realistic and achievable, you’re just being agile (sorry buzzword, we couldn’t resist!)
Step 3: Build your hit list
With “The Ultimate Target” 🎯 and business targets agreed, your game plan is well underway….but this strategy won’t work without super focus. Don’t just settle with a numerical target figure, you need to build your hit list.
(1) Start with your current hit list (if you have one) and remove any time wasters! If they don’t fit your Ultimate Target profile, they’re not worth your time.
(2) Mark the remaining contenders from “Sure thing” to “Gonna need graft”, and if you’re feeling confident allocate the month you think you can real them in.
(3) To find more of your “Ultimate Targets” we recommend the LinkedIn Sales Navigator tool which you can purchase on a month by month basis for approx. £60/mo. Simply sign up for a one month, use the tool to build a target list using filters such as: Geography, Industry, Seniority level, Job title, Company type and no. of employees and connect with key contacts on LinkedIn – don’t forget to cancel after one month if budget us tight.
(4) No budget? You can use the free version of LinkedIn to search for people based on: geography, industry and job title which might be enough to help you identify a few extra gems.
Step 4: Prepare to attack
Ultimate target profile….check, monthly/quarterly targets…..check, hit list…..check.
So, how do you approach these clients with something that will really make them take note and listen? Well, we’re going to let you into a little secret……………tax is your new best friend. Stay with us…..we’ve not completely lost it!
Here’s how you’re going to use tax:
Clients all know the term, “The Tax Gap”. What they don’t really know about is ‘The Other Tax Gap’. And what isn’t widely publicised, is that OMB’s, SME’s and Individual Tax Payers are suffering from unknown unknowns every day because they don’t know what can be achieved for them through the application of tax reliefs.
(1) Reach out to target client’s and educate them. This is your way in. It’s highly likely your perfect clients are underclaiming tax reliefs and OVERPAYING taxes…ouch.
(2) Offer a tax diagnostic review (what is a tax diagnostic review?) and identify areas they haven’t considered with their current accountant. Be the hero.
The upshot is your peers will be offering their clients R & D, company share option plans and EIS etc. and think that they are “doing” tax planning. The reality is, this is the same as everyone else.
But the tax gap comes from the thousands; not the few, allowances, reliefs and incentives that are grossly underutilised. Hidden opportunities lie everywhere, because tax is actually in everything.
The complexity in applying the UK tax code means reliefs are being left unidentified. Having and being able to access expertise is one thing. But applying that expertise to individual clients to diagnose the other tax gap is another.
Be different, offer something clients are not currently receiving and attract new clients this tax season.
Be more wolf.
If you enjoyed this blog and you’re serious about keeping your business growing in tax season, take a look at our latest ebook. We’ve pulled together a practical guide (with templates and everything!) for you to smash it this tax season – download it here.
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