In the accounting profession, there are a ton of deadlines. Month-end, quarter-end, and year-end. Payroll taxes, sales taxes, and corporate taxes. And extension deadlines, filing deadlines, and payment deadlines, to name just a few.
All of these deadlines may be a headache to business owners and accountants alike, but they are a marketer’s dream come true. How can you use deadlines to your advantage in marketing your services? Here are four ways to woo your prospect with deadlines.
1. Add compliance deadlines to your marketing messages.
First, take a look to see which deadlines you want to leverage, and bring them into your marketing message. Here are some examples:
“Who is preparing your W-2s this year? Did you know they are due at the end of January?”
“March 15th is the deadline to file your corporate taxes, and we’ll need your paperwork by March 1 to avoid delays and penalties.”
It’s much more powerful for the prospect to be asked whether they have their W-2s handled versus you simply bullet-point listing the services you offer when you first meet a prospect. Your prospect will be instantly engaged because you positioned your message in their world.
2. Fabricate deadlines that reward fast action.
“Register by March 10th and save $100.”
“You’ll get 3 bonuses if you act by midnight.”
“The first 10 people to sign up get a t-shirt.”
I love to reward my early purchasers, especially for my events. Applying this to tax and accounting services, you could offer discounts to individuals who get their paperwork in early.
3. The more deadlines, the more sales.
Department stores have long had sales during holiday weekends. They know the more deadline-driven sales days they can pack into their annual promotion calendar, the more sales they will generate. It works for other businesses too. The more deadlines you can pack into your promotion, the more sales will peak at each deadline. Luckily, our profession has monthly and quarterly deadlines that we can promote each period.
“June marks the end of Quarter 2, which means companies filing quarterly sales tax returns have July due dates. Let us help if your sales tax filing is a real hassle for you.”
"The end of June means we’re halfway through the year already! Are your books caught up?"
"Do you know how your business is doing financially? Let us help get your books caught up.”
4. The shorter the deadline, the more sales.
Not surprisingly, peoples’ attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. If they don’t buy right away, they might never get back to remembering about your amazing offer. Give people enough time to act, but not so much time that they forget. A few days, no more than a week, is a good window for most purchase decisions.
Think about how you act when there is and is not a deadline. Every year, there is a line of cars at the main post office just before midnight on April 14th. Every year, there are shoppers that close down the stores on Christmas Eve. These two are the mother and father of all deadlines, but there’s no denying that deadlines of any kind move people off their couches.
Try incorporating deadlines in your marketing messages and materials, and you might just be amazed at the difference a little deadline makes in your bottom line.
Sandi Leyva
Author Bio: Sandi Leyva, CPA, CMA, MBA, and founder of Accountant’s Accelerator, has helped thousands of tax and accounting professionals earn more, work less, and serve their clients better through her innovative marketing, training, and coaching services. Author of 30 books and hundreds of CPE courses, Sandi has won 12 awards for her thought leadership. Visit her at accountantsaccelerator.com and acceleratorwebsites.com.