Tag: client management

Managing the Client Through the Long, Quiet Middle of a Resolution Case

Most tax pros lose a resolution client in the boring middle of the case, not at the scary start or the happy finish.

The start is easy to do well. The client is terrified, you are the calm professional with the plan, and the relief on their face when you say “I have handled this many times” carries the whole first meeting. The finish is easy too. You deliver the outcome, they are grateful, everyone feels good.

It is the months in between that quietly kill the relationship. The stretch where you filed the request and now you wait. Where the IRS goes silent for what feels like forever. Where nothing visible is happening, the client’s anxiety has nowhere to go, and your phone starts buzzing at 9pm with “any update?” texts that you have no new answer for.

That long quiet middle is where clients turn anxious, go cold, badmouth you to the friend who referred them, or fire you and hire the mill down the road that promised them faster. Not because you did anything wrong on the technical work. Because nobody managed them through the wait.

Here is the promise. In this post I am going to give you the system for managing a client through a long, stressful case from intake to resolution. How to set expectations so the wait does not blindside them. The communication cadence that keeps them steady. The boundaries that protect you. And exactly what to do with the anxious client and the one who vanishes. This is the same kind of practice-building work we teach inside Tax Resolution Academy®.

The Case Is Long. Your Client Has Never Done This Before.

Start with the gap that causes most of the trouble, because once you see it you will manage differently.

You have worked dozens of these cases. You know that an offer-in-compromise can sit for many months before a decision, that a collection hold can stretch on, that IRS response times run long and unpredictable. To you, six months of quiet is a normal Tuesday. You know the silence means the system is grinding forward, not that something is wrong.

Your client knows none of that. This is the most frightening financial event of their life, and they have no map. To them, silence does not mean “grinding forward.” Silence means something has gone wrong, or you have forgotten them, or the IRS is about to show … Continue reading

How to Raise Your Fees Without Losing Your Best Clients

Every year you hold your price steady, you quietly give your clients a raise out of your own paycheck.

When was the last time you raised your fees? Not “added a line item.” Not “charged the new client a little more than the last one.” I mean actually went back to your existing book of business, the people you’ve carried for years, and told them the number was going up.

For most of the tax professionals I coach, the honest answer is “I can’t remember.” Three years. Five years. If ever! One guy told me he was charging a client the exact same $200 for a return he first quoted in 2014. Same client. Twelve years. Same two hundred bucks.

Read that again. Twelve years of inflation, twelve years of harder returns, twelve years of your time getting more valuable, twelve years of expenses increasing and the price never moved.

You are not running a practice. You are running a charity, and you’re the donor.

Here’s the promise. In this post I’m going to walk you through exactly how to raise your fees without watching your best clients walk out the door. The math behind why you have to. The real reason you haven’t. The script, almost word for word. And what to do with the handful who push back. This is the same kind of practice-building work we teach inside Tax Resolution Academy®, and the willingness to send one letter is the only thing it costs you.

The Math You’ve Been Avoiding

Let me do the arithmetic out loud, because the numbers are uglier than you think.

Say you’ve held a client at $400 a return since 2019. Feels loyal. Feels like good service. Now run the inflation on it. To have the same buying power as that 2019 $400, you’d need to charge somewhere north of $500 today just to stand still. So you didn’t “hold your price.” You gave that client a raise every single year, out of your own pocket, without them ever asking.

Now stack it. Say you’ve got 200 clients and you’ve been underpricing the book by an average of $150 each. (Your numbers will vary. These are illustrative, not a promise.) That’s $30,000 a year. Gone. Every year. Not theoretical money, not “potential.” Real revenue you earned the right to and chose not to collect.

And here’s the part that should sting. That $30,000 isn’t sitting in a … Continue reading

How to Fire a Problem Client Cleanly (Without Torching Your License)

One question, and no flinching on the answer. How many hours did you lose last month to one client? Not a good client. THE ONE. The one whose name on your caller ID makes your stomach drop. The one who emails at 11pm demanding answers, ignores every document request for three weeks, then blames you when the IRS deadline gets tight. The one who still owes you on two invoices and somehow thinks that is your problem to feel bad about.

You know exactly who I mean. You thought of them before you finished reading this paragraph.

Here is the part nobody says out loud. You are allowed to fire that client. Not “should you tolerate them better.” Not “how do you manage the relationship.” Fire them. Cut the cord. Get them off your desk and out of your head.

But you cannot just stop answering the phone and hope they go away. Do that with an active IRS matter or a filing deadline bearing down, and you trade a bad client for a bar complaint, a malpractice exposure, or a return that blows past its date with your name still attached. So, in this post I am going to walk you through how to disengage cleanly: when to do it, how to time it around deadlines and active matters, the exact mechanics of the letter, and how to protect yourself on the way out. This is the kind of practice-protecting work we coach inside Tax Resolution Academy®, and getting it right is the difference between a clean exit and a year of regret.

First, Be Honest About Whether It’s Really Them

Before you fire anyone, do a gut check, because firing the wrong client is its own expensive mistake.

A client who is scared, confused, or slow because they have never owed the IRS forty grand before is not a problem client. That is a normal client having a hard year. Your job is to lead them through it. Patience there pays off.

A problem client is a pattern, not a moment. You are looking for the repeat offender:

  • Chronic non-payment. You have invoiced twice, they have paid zero, and they keep asking for more work.
  • Won’t produce documents. You have requested the same 433-A backup four times and they keep promising “this weekend.”
  • Abuse. Yelling, insults, threats, or treating your staff like dirt.
  • Asking you to cross a line. “Just leave it off
… Continue reading