During tax season, most CPA’s put in at least 60 hours of work each week. They don’t have the ability to look at growth opportunities for their clients at this time. It’s an exhausting few months filled with tight deadlines, anxious clients and more often than not, too few hours in the day to get everything on the to-do list done.
It’s not uncommon for the clients your CPA networks manage to request help growing their wealth during tax season. After all, for many, this is when they take a real close look at numbers they may have ignored much of the year. Unfortunately, during tax season, there are few things a CPA likes to hear less from a client than, “I need more of your time.”
Fortunately for both the client and the CPA, Financial Advisors like you exist. And when the CPA’s just can’t bear to add one more to-do to their list, you can. And doing so, makes you look really good, on all accounts.
This tax season, we encourage you to consider offering complimentary income growth strategy sessions with the clients of your CPA network. It’s a great way to fill in the gaps the CPA’s simply don’t have time to address during the stressful season, without adding anything to their plate.
You can make this happen in 7 simple steps.
1) Prepare a questionnaire that can be left at your CPA’s office for easy distribution. This is your opportunity to get all of the upfront information you need to create a winning strategy session, so be purposeful with the questions you ask. You know, based on previous experience, what you need in order to determine if you can (or want to) help a prospect with this or that. Tap into all of your head knowledge and get it on paper.
2) Get your back-end systems up and running. Your prospects don’t want to invest copious amounts of time trying to match their schedule with yours anymore than you do. That said, automate the scheduling process using a tool like www.TimeTrade.com or www.AcuityScheduling.com.
3) Create marketing materials the CPA can use to promote your complimentary strategy sessions. It would be wise to write an email, a few social media posts and to create a flyer that can be distributed at the office.
It’s always advisable to hire a professional copywriter and designer for projects like these, yet if your budget won’t allow for that, consider looking for help from freelancers on sites like http://www.UpWork.com. The mistake you don’t want to make is writing and designing something that looks homespun. Remember, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. That said, present your company at the highest level with marketing materials that scream “professional, knowledgeable and insightful.”
When marketing your complimentary strategy sessions, make sure you’re clear about what the offer really does and does not include. Be sure your content clearly identifies how much time you’ll spend with the prospect in the session and three takeaways to reach their growth potential they can expect as a result of meeting with you.
4) Prepare compelling case studies to share during your growth strategy sessions. You’ll want your prospects to quickly see themselves in the case studies you share and to recognize how your smart solutions created wealth for your other clients and how they can create wealth for them, too. Whenever possible, include client testimonials in any case studies you share.
5) During your strategy sessions, do regular gut checks. Is there synergy in the conversation? Are they asking good questions or the kind that make you squirm in your seat? Trust your gut—it rarely leads you astray. And have a couple of referrals at your fingertips so that when you’re not the right person for the job, you can send them elsewhere, which still leaves them with a good taste in their mouth.
6) Give everything you’ve got to these prospects during the strategy sessions. This is your opportunity to shine and show them just how good you are. Don’t hold anything back.
If you try this, we hope you’ll circle back with us and let us know how it all worked out. We’ve had great success planning strategy sessions on our end and think you will, too.
