Finally, a tax resolution CRM that will save you time

One of the most frequently asked questions I get is for my recommendation on a good client management/case work management system for working tax resolution cases.

When I started in tax resolution, no such system existed, so I ended up programming my own. That system worked for my needs and the needs of my firm, but it was light years away from being something worthy of releasing to the entire world.

Since then, a couple of companies have sprung up to attempt to fill the void, with varying degrees of success in creating usable tools. I’ve never felt good about recommending either of the existing options, however, for a variety of reasons that I won’t go into here. Oftentimes, I simply end up suggesting that tax resolution professionals use a different non-tax specific platform, like 37Signals, SalesForce.com, or Insight.ly.

However, I was recently introduced to a brand new tax resolution case work management system that I have really taken a liking to. The system is called BeanStalk, and it is built to accomplish one task: Streamline your entire case work process.

BeanStalk is beautiful because it doesn’t try to be all things to all people, like some other software solutions. BeanStalk is all about the case work side of things only — the system picks up where your sales process ends and your client intake process begins.

BeanStalk is built to follow a logical case flow. It has built in client intake processes, and even allows for a secure, client-facing web portal for your clients to enter their 433 information (which saves you staff time and increases efficiency). The system has an awesome built-in financial analysis engine, allowing you to more efficiently determine OIC and CNC eligibility.

Along with the deadline reminders and other case management functions you would expect, BeanStalk provides the ability to automatically fill in all the necessary IRS forms for you when you need them — no more fillable PDF forms!

The system is built to handle cases as efficiently as possible, and the company founder is an experienced tax resolution attorney, so he’s designed the system from a tax professional’s perspective, not a programmer’s point of view.

I know you’re busy with tax season, but I’d really encourage you to check out BeanStalk before April 15th rolls around. Spend some time playing with BeanStalk (they offer a free trial so you can check it out), and I think you’ll … Continue reading

My latest postcard marketing test

Happy New Year’s Eve! I hope that 2013 was your best year ever, and that you’re already working on making 2014 even better.

In the spirit of Continuous And Never-ending Improvement (CANI), and because I had some spare copies of Tax Resolution Secrets that I wanted to get rid of prior to the move to Georgia, I recently decided to test a new postcard to market for tax resolution leads.

I was definitely anxious to get it out the door, and I placed the Click2Mail order on Thursday, December 19th. That means that postcards were hitting mailboxes the day before and the day after Christmas. Definitely not the best timing, but I really wanted to do the test and it was better to get it out the door than not do it all (that’s a marketing tip in and of itself, by the way).

Note: This was a proof of concept test. You should NEVER do single mailings as part of your real lead generation campaigns.

Here’s what I did: I selected business liens between $15,000 and $75,000 in value across the entire country, with phone numbers only, and inched the date forward until I had a reasonable number. I ended up with 799, with a cutoff date for the lien filing that was only 10 days prior to my mailing date. After removing non-standard addresses, I ended up with 720 that actually got mailed.

For the postcard, I actually created a Frankenstein of three of my favorite (and best performing) plain postcards, then rewrote that draft into a cohesive unit with an offer of a free copy of my consumer paperback book about tax resolution. The postcard directed people to a web page specially set up to order the book.

Premium members that are actively logged in to the site and reading this article at the blog will see a link at the bottom of the article for downloading the postcard and a screen shot of the landing page.

I should say that part of the reason I wanted to perform this test was because I’ve received a number of comments from readers lately questioning the efficacy of postcards. In the past week, I’ve had 12 new, unique visitors to the special landing page I set up for people to order the book, and 2 people actually requested the book.

At the same time, I have had three new people sign up for my … Continue reading

How To Use IRS Tax Lien Filings To Get New Clients

Note: This blog post was originally written in 2013, during the height of tax lien marketing’s prominence. Since then, lien filings have dropped by more than half, and the number of tax resolution companies chasing these fewer liens has more than tripled. Thus, tax lien marketing is no longer the panacea it once was. Today, less than 5% of all federal tax debtors have a tax lien filed against them at all. Bear this in mind if you choose to pursue this strategy. More than anything, I’d suggest using the information presented here to help you in developing a strategy for marketing to niche target markets.

Using IRS and state tax lien filings is one of the most common methods for getting new tax clients. It also happens to be one of the most effective. A few hundred million dollars of tax resolution services alone are sold each and every year in the United States simply by marketing to federal tax lien lists, which are available directly from your local county clerk and recorder, specialty list brokerages, and credit bureaus. While not the only way to generate tax settlement leads, the reality is that the presence of a federal tax lien signifies an obvious problem for the taxpayer — a problem you can help solve.

I would advise reading through this tutorial thoroughly. It covers a lot of ground, and introduces marketing concepts you may or may not be familiar with. This tutorial in itself is a complete marketing plan for generating $1 million a year in client fees. It’s also a fairly thorough introduction to direct mail and telemarketing for lead generation purposes.

The Big Picture Idea

There are a couple of core concepts I want to cover before we get into the nitty-gritty how to portion of this tutorial.

First, as a tax practitioner (or any professional service provider, for that matter), you need to realize one very important, fundamental concept: You are a CPA, tax attorney, or Enrolled Agent SECOND, and a sales and marketing professional FIRST. This is a very radical concept to most people, no matter what their line of work. But the bottom line reality is that if you are in a small firm or in private practice, then you need CLIENTS in order to pay the rent and put food on the table. In order to get clients, you have to do marketing (word of mouth and … Continue reading