Every service you add to your pitch makes you easier to forget, not harder.
When someone asks what you do, what comes out of your mouth?
I am going to guess it sounds something like this. “I’m a CPA. I do tax returns, bookkeeping, some payroll, a little planning, and I help people who get into trouble with the IRS.” Five services in one breath. You said all of it because you were afraid that if you left one out, you might lose a client who needed that one thing.
Here’s the problem. You just described half the tax professionals in your county. The person you said it to nodded politely and forgot you in eleven seconds, because you gave them nothing to hang their memory on. When you are known for everything, you are remembered for nothing.
That stops today. In this post I am going to walk you through how to choose a profitable niche and position your practice so the right clients find you, pay your full fee without flinching, and refer you by name to people exactly like them. This is the same positioning work we drill inside Tax Resolution Academy®, and it is the highest-paying decision you will make all year that costs you exactly zero dollars to make.
The Generalist Trap (And Why You’re Stuck In It)
I know what you’re thinking. “But Dan, if I pick one thing, I’m turning away everyone who needs the other things. I can’t afford to narrow down. I need every dollar that walks in the door.”
I get it. I respect it. And I’m telling you it is the exact belief keeping your fees flat, your revenues low and your weeks at 60 hours a week.
Here’s what’s actually happening. The generalist competes on one axis: price. When a prospect cannot tell the difference between you and the three other firms they called, the only lever left is “who is cheaper.” So you get beaten down on fee, you take the work anyway, and you fill your calendar with low-margin returns from people who will leave you for a $50 coupon next February.
The specialist competes on a completely different axis: “this person fixes my exact problem.” A small business owner who just opened a Letter 1058 (the IRS final notice of intent to levy) does not want a generalist. They want the person who handles IRS collections all day and has … Continue reading