Why Are There Only X Number of Liens For My Criteria Available?

On the old tax lien database system, we got a lot of questions pertaining to why only so many liens were available for a given set of selection criteria. This is a very good question, and I will attempt to answer it here.

First and foremost, one must understand that liens are a finite resource. In other words, there are only a limited number of them. In 2010, the IRS filed 1.1 million Notices of Federal Tax Lien (NFTL). The vast majority of these liens were against individuals owing less than $10,000.

In Fiscal Year 2012, the IRS only filed 707,000 tax liens. That’s for the entire United States.

In 2013, the IRS only filed 602,005 tax liens.

So, the number of lien filings is going down. As of March 2012, the IRS changed the threshold for filing a lien, raising it from $5,000 to $10,000. Anybody with a lien filing less than that amount is a repeat offender, and is pyramiding their tax debt liability.

Let’s go back to that 707,000 liens filed in 2012. Keep in mind that, under most circumstances, we don’t collect lien data on liens less than $5,000. Therefore, those smaller liens won’t even be in our system, and those liens (for repeat offenders that are growing their tax debt) are usually only a couple thousand dollars.

Last year (2012), we collected data on about 250,000 federal tax liens. Since these liens are mostly $5k and above, this represents new tax debtors.

Think about a business that owes 941 taxes, and has for years. They could owe a total of $80,000, and are growing that by several thousand dollars each quarter. 941 debtors represent about 40% of all new debtor lien filings, but these same folks also have an additional 1 to 4 liens filed against them per year. When you have one existing debtor with up to 4 new liens filed per year, that’s a significant portion of the “missing” liens we’re not collecting.

Also consider your search criteria. If you are only searching for liens above $25,000, for example, then you’re simply searching above the range at which most tax liens are filed. In other words, there are simply fewer tax debtors that owe more than $25,000, in comparison to those that owe less than this amount. The percentage distribution in our system is skewed high because we cut off at the $5,000 mark, but even at … Continue reading

Case Study: How One Small Tax Firm Built Their Sales & Marketing Machine

This is the story of a small CPA firm (three partners) in New York City that hired me in January 2011 to help them grow their tax resolution business. I worked with them to create a written, systematic, and scheduled marketing process to drive sales of this service, which then fed sales of their other service offerings.

The firm employs no sales closers, and they rely exclusively on old tax lien filings (3 to 6 months old) as sales leads. They use old leads because, after a couple months, the vast majority of tax resolution firms have quit calling them, and they are therefore able to pick up clients with very little simultaneous telemarketing competition.

The firm’s telemarketers (“openers”) call these tax liens to verify that they’ve got the correct business, confirm that the tax lien is still an issue, and collect an email address and/or fax number and obtain permission to send “free information regarding how to get the IRS off their back” — there is absolutely no “selling” involved in a traditional sense. They then immediately receive a two-page introduction letter via fax and/or email, and they also receive a 12-page info packet (a 9 page sales letter, 2 page engagement letter, and a payment form) in the mail that comes in a specialized red “Rush Priority Express” envelope.

Every 5 days for 60 days, without fail, completely on automation, the prospect gets an email and/or fax with a short blurb (about two paragraphs) about a tax topic, and an offer — free consultation with a CPA (NOT a salesman), a free review of their latest IRS notice, X percent off representation, free end of year 940 prep, two 941’s prepared during the course of representation, etc. These “touches” are a highly effective follow up program from the very beginning, and their phone rings off the hook.

The key to this tactic was the creation of the series of emails (duplicated as faxes) that go out over the course of a couple months, every 5 days. Prospects are bombarded with the risks of being in collections, the problem with going at it themselves, and what the firm can do to fix the situation. This follow up program puts the CPA on the “right side of the desk”, as prospects then call in for help, rather than the CPA having to be the aggressor and chase the prospect down.

The licensed partners close all … Continue reading

Transferring Telephone Sales Calls To Closers

Some tax resolution organizations will choose to use a sales model in which a team of 3 or 4 telemarketers are making the initial contact with tax debtors, and then transferring the calls of people that are actually interested to a sales closer or the licensed person on staff. This is a highly efficient sales model that ensures that the closer or licensed person is only talking to interested people and doing actual consultations, making better use of their time. The telemarketers in this case can be minimum wage employees with some sort of bonus/commission structure for sales made, or even just straight hourly.

Transfers to the closer or licensed professional can be handled one of two ways. The first way is to transfer the call LIVE, which is often more effective. The other option is to have the telemarketer set telephone consultation appointments for the closer. The latter method is often preferential for very small firms and solo practitioners. In the case of a solo practitioner operating only in their local area, these appointments can be physical, in-office appointments to discuss the tax problem, and the telemarketer must screen the prospect using a set of questions developed for that purpose, to ensure that the licensed professional can actually help them and their time is being used most efficiently.

Live Transfers

The transfer from Opener to Closer needs to be done smoothly and professionally! Once you have the call you should have an intro. For yourself that goes something like this…

“Hi (prospect) , this is (your name), I’m one of [FIRM’s] [senior consultants, attorneys, CPA’s, Enrolled Agents], and the reason (opener) transferred you to me is to take the conversation farther to see if we can be of service for you on the (tax issue) problems. OK? Now, as (opener) explained, [FIRM] specializes in resolving government tax lien problems for companies all across the country. Actually, we have clients in every state in America. Also, as you probably know we get the tax lien info from public record sources. Anyway, (opener’s) notes state that you owe the (IRS / State) approximately ($ amount) in back taxes: does that sound right?”

[Remember, you always want to be asking questions that either get you YES answers, or that ENGAGE the prospect in CONVERSATION.]

After receiving a YES answer, or engaging in conversation about the correct tax debt amount, continue with the script:

“What I need to … Continue reading