Any accountant can crunch numbers as they generate leads, but the secret is knowing how to make the most of leads when they come your way. As a tax professional, you can either survive or scale—it all boils down to calculating the lifetime value of your customers.
If you want to grow, you need an equation for bringing in customers that makes a direct, positive impact to your bottom line. It is a science, but once you learn it, it is incredibly simple. The most successful professionals and firms have two main strategies: First, they get clients in the door with a low-barrier offer; then, they follow that with back-end monetization.
Generate leads with a low-barrier offer
Many tax professionals and accountants are highly skilled at what they do, but need more expertise to scale a business based on those skills. You can start growing your business with two simple techniques.
The first focuses on generating leads with low-barrier offers. When you create a low-to-no-cost offer, your goal is to open the door for a broader array of clients. This unlocks opportunities to implement the second technique, which is to discuss the more complex services you provide with that broader client base.
The key is to structure low-barrier packages that appeal to the masses. A perfect example of a low-barrier offer with wide-ranging appeal is offering to file people's taxes for free. When you file W2s, you discover a lot about them, such as whether or not they have previous filings to submit or 1099 forms to file.
The gig economy is booming, and thousands of people have 1099 tax forms to file. That is where accountants are making their money. You can file W2s for free, then charge anywhere from $250 to $ 1,000 for each 1099. Think about all the people working with Uber, Lyft, DoorDash or Upwork. Most have W2s, but their disposable income comes from their side hustle.
One accountant I know well even offers to review people's taxes at no cost. His offer is incredibly simple: anybody worried about taxes comes to him and receives professional feedback. From there, he has a 60% booking rate for more complex services.
Your primary focus with these low-cost offers is building your client base. From there, you can monetize that base by offering more complex products and/or services that benefit your customers and generate additional revenue for your business.
Your low-barrier offer brings them in, and the other services you offer keeps them returning again and again. That's the marketing that takes the lifetime value of customers into account and scales businesses.
Add value to leads with back-end monetization
Once you lead with an easy and highly transactional low-barrier offer to get customers in your door, you can then monetize those offers on the back end. This is where you'll maximize each opportunity.
The important thing to understand is that your customer base is valuable to many other industries. Organize your business to handle transactional volume, then build a strong referral network. Your customers need services such as banking, wealth management, life insurance, health insurance, retirement income planning, notary services, and much more.
When you identify someone whose retirement plan would benefit from life insurance, you can pass that name along to an insurance agent. CPAs can help clients with so many products and services.
As a tax professional, you can either survive or scale—it all boils down to calculating the lifetime value of your customers.
Some companies pay premiums for those referrals. Each time you monetize one of these services, you are not only increasing the lifetime value of the customer, but you also are generating the extra revenue you need to scale your business.
Start by building a referral network of the products and services that benefit your clients. Your customers need services such as banking, wealth management through life insurance, and tax deferral strategy. You likely already operate in similar networks with other accountants offering these services, but may not have realized how much you can help each other.
If you are a CPA who is good at what you do but have difficulty scaling, it's time to reorganize your business model. Attract customers to the top of your funnel with a low-barrier offer. Monetize them with your standard practice, then increase each customer's lifetime value by driving additional revenue with referrals for external services.
Jamal English is founder and CEO of EDM Network, a dominant lead generation and marketing company revolutionizing strategic marketing, technology and distribution innovation. An entrepreneur and investor with deep expertise in the needs of the insurance, financial services and home services industries, he developed unique marketing campaigns that attract quality leads and produce fast results for clients. The core of their service is lead generation, and their goal is to help businesses achieve continuous profitable and scalable growth. As Executive Chairman for EA International Holdings, he specializes in customer acquisition brands, fixed-income senior insurance distribution, and long-term collateralized asset management. English helps companies scale by aligning synergies, and he is certified by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
Like what you're reading?
Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and we'll deliver content like this directly to your inbox.