In other posts on this blog, I’ve covered the topic of client acquisition cost fairly extensively.
I’ve also written extensively about the lucrative nature of this particular service. To give you the short version, there are 12.4 million active IRS collections cases right now, and the average 1040 client pays about $2,500 for full service representation. Business clients are even more lucrative, paying average fees of $3,500 for straight forward 941 cases, and thousands more on top of that for a variety of unique situations, lien work, 6672 representation, etc.
Combining these two factors, something readily apparent should emerge: You need to determine how much you’re willing to spend to acquire a client.
Without a sales staff to pay commissions to (which skyrockets your client acquisition cost, plus introduces a host of other problems, of course), my cost of client acquisition has average around $400 for tax resolution work. That’s a rough average across all my lead generation efforts, both paid and free, as well as my lead follow up costs to convert leads into prospects over time (there’s a HUGE marketing lesson in that sentence, by the way).
I’m more than happy…no, I’m ecstatic to pay $400 to make $3,500. That math works for me. $400 in…$3,500 out. Sure, there are ups and downs. Some cringe-worthy marketing tests sometimes. But all in all, that’s the formula.
How much are you willing to spend to acquire a customer? Seriously, think it over. It’s one of the single most important questions you can ask yourself if your goal is to GROW your tax practice.
My answer to that question is actually much more than my $400 average. In fact, it’s three times as much. Yes, I’m willing to spend up to $1200 to acquire a single client. In fact, given some challenges with conducting tax resolution marketing campaigns in my new home town, that number is probably going to increase. By the end of summer, I expect to be willing to spend $1600 to acquire a high-fee tax resolution client. Mind you, that won’t be my average, just my maximum.
If those kinds of numbers induce a panic attack, I’ve got some good news for you.
Two years ago, while visiting the beautiful city of Tallinn, Estonia for a full month, I conducted an experiment. It was a wildly successful experiment, and over the following 18 months I repeated it twice.
During this same time period, several of my private consulting client have also quietly been testing a similar process in their own practices. Then, back in December, I revealed the workings of this process to my Platinum Inner Circle members.
Even if you’re a Platinum member and have seen that early version, let me just say: You ain’t seen nothing yet.
I’ve had several behind-the-scenes projects in the works over the past few months, and creating a solid, repeatable system around this one idea has been one of them. After significant fine tuning (with even more to come, actually), a totally unique tax resolution lead generation marketing funnel has been created that runs virtually on auto-pilot, and can reduce your cost of client acquisition to less than $70.
I’ll repeat that, just so you know you didn’t read it wrong.
New marketing funnel. Auto-pilot. Client acquisition cost less than $70.
Working with a world class team of programmers and marketing specialists, I’m in the process right now of creating a whole new company around this concept. We’ll be providing a turnkey, fully automated sales and marketing funnel specifically to service the tax resolution industry. We expect the entry-level version of this service to start at $15,000 per firm.
The firms that purchase this $15,000 service are going to love it — I know they will. Considering that it’s also a 3 to 4 month program, when you break it down to a monthly investment, it’s on par with what the target companies for this service are likely spending anyway on their marketing, if not less. So, for a lot of firms, we’ll actually be saving them quite a bit of money.
Now I’m sure somebody out there reading this just busted out a calculator. We are accountants, after all. If you straight divided the $15,000 by $70, you’d be looking at it the wrong way. See, the $15,000 includes a fairly substantial profit margin. I’m not going to tell you how much, but suffice it to say our venture capital backers will be earning a healthy ROI on their investment.
The $70 cost of client acquisition figure is what it would be if you did this yourself.
“Geesh, Jassen, just tell us what it is already!”
OK, so here’s the deal. For some larger tax and accounting firms out there, $15,000 is a drop in the bucket. But for most independent practitioners, which is almost everybody that reads this blog, that kind of money often isn’t just hanging around, and I know that.
Well, you don’t have to spend the $15,000. Don’t tell my team at the new company this, and definitely don’t tell the investors, but here’s the reality: This system is so simple that anybody can do it.
Sure, there are some software tools you’ll need to learn how to use. But seriously, if you’re comfortable doing things like editing the Facebook page for your business and using most MS Office tools, then you can do this yourself. That’s how you save yourself $15,000.
So here’s the bottom line: If you’d like to get your cost of client acquisition into the double digits, and learn how to put together this secret-sauce marketing funnel to grow your tax resolution business, then you simply need to register for the Platinum Bonus Session at the Tax Resolution Leadership Conference.
For those of you that have been curious about what the subject of the Platinum Bonus Session will, this is it. In that two hours, I will give to you:
- The complete marketing funnel system in a clear, concise 11×17 flow chart you can take home
- The complete list of all the software tools and vendors you’ll need to pull this off
- What to say and where in order to make it functional
- A digital copy of the keystone component of the system
Nothing will be left out, nothing held back. You’re going to get a complete tour of the system that we’ll be using at my new marketing automation services company.
All you need to do is attend the Tax Resolution Leadership Conference May 5th in Atlanta, GA, and register for the Platinum Bonus Session at the same time when you register for the conference.
There are a couple things I should also mention about the Platinum session. First, it will not be recorded. Period. Absolutely no recording devices will be allowed during this session, either (leave your phones in your hotel room, please). Second, the materials presented at the session will not be available for purchase, ever.
In other words, this will not become a future course you see here on TaxMarketingHQ.com. As a turnkey service provided by my new company, we legitimately believe we can build a $20 million business within a couple years. Therefore, it will never again see the light of day in a “Do It Yourself” format. This is your one and only shot to see this in its entirety.
Right now, I’m offering Last Chance Pricing on admission to the event – just $397. The Platinum Bonus Session is only $97 extra. Combined, I firmly believe this is the best $494 you’ll invest into your tax resolution business in 2015. Not to mention the fact that it’s a lot less than $15,000!
I want you to also know that I’m committed to your success and satisfaction. Thus, I’m offering an unprecedented Double Guarantee:
- Show up for the morning session on May 5th, and if you tell me before lunch that this event isn’t for you, I’ll refund your admission to the event, no questions asked, and we’ll part as friends.
- I know for a fact that if you apply the material from just a single one of the hour sessions during this Conference that you’ll earn back your admission fee and travel costs. However, after attending both days, if you can honestly look me in the eye and tell me that it was a complete waste of your time, I’ll not only refund your admission fee, but also reimburse you for your two nights at the hotel.
Even though I’ll be going off in a few different directions this year, I firmly believe that the Tax Resolution Leadership Conference will remain an annual event. However, these types of things are often their best and most productive for attendees the first time around. With the Platinum Bonus Session in particular, I honestly believe that you will regret it later if you don’t come this year.
I’ll see you in Atlanta!