Procrastinators Welcome

I’m in beautiful Scottsdale, mixing with about 1,000 serious entrepreneurs and small business owners at the annual InfusionSoft conference. The subject?
Putting your marketing on “auto-pilot”.
Most tax and accounting professionals haven’t taken the time (or don’t know how) to add marketing systems into their business. Sure, they’ll systemize the return-preparationprocess, or the write-up process…but for some reason, they just never “get around” to creating measurable, repeatable systems for *attracting* new clients, or retaining & developing the ones they’ve got.
But–even now, in mid-March, you can make a few tweaks to your systems to ensure that you’re getting the most out of the marketing opportunities of tax season.
Last week, I mentioned how you can actually get an even bigger *bump* in April than normal when you make a decision to promote to procrastinators. I’ve got some further thoughts on how you can implement this…systematically for you.
A Procrastination Welcome Mat
Do the taxpayers living and working around your tax office feel this way about your tax business? Do they think YOU would welcome them after they have delayed in filing with Uncle Sam this whole tax season? Well, let me answer these questions by painting you a picture of what normally happens in April every year in America.
Millions of taxpayers wait until the last two weeks before the filing deadline to take care of their annual filing obligations. Why do they do this?  Of course, we all know the answer to that.  We are all guilty of putting off stuff we don’t want to deal with.  It’s human nature.  The key issue for all of us in the tax industry is — what are you going to do with this information to make your season even more profitable?
You see, some large percentage of the population will fill out their own tax return and e-file or mail it in 15 to 20 days before the IRS deadline.  A smaller percentage (but still very significant) of taxpayers will choose a paid tax professional to help them file their taxes at the end of the filing season.  And what do you think the normal message is to these new tax filing prospects by the tax profession?
“Bring your stuff by and drop it off.  We’ll call you in a couple of days and let you know.” 
Or, “We can help you, but you’ll need to sit over there and wait (2 hours) so we can verify what you’ve brought us.  Then we can tell you how much and how long it will take us to complete.” 
Or, one of my favorites “Please take a seat and begin filling out one of those extension forms on the desk.” 
And finally, the classic screwed up response by tax professionals in April, “I’m sorry, we don’t take any new clients at this time of the year.” 
Obviously, there are others, but you get the point. Professional tax practitioners do NOT make procrastinators welcome!
And I’m not going to sit here and tell you — you HAVE to seek out and make room for procrastinating taxpayers in your tax business. Some of you don’t want those kinds of clients. In your business model, you have plenty of paying clients in April and would just as soon keep it like it is. If that is you, that’s fine. Don’t take this advice for the week, and keep plugging.
But if you *do* want a bump in revenue, speak to the emotional turmoil of stress and fear (well-stoked by the media in April) of waiting too long to get your tax info together.
Possible Headlines
“Warning: If you have NOT filed your taxes yet, read this now.”
“Attention Procrastinators: Yes, you can get every deduction possible without having to file an extension.”
“Procrastinators Welcome (and made to feel appreciated)!”
Don’t neglect a special “Procrastinators Only” offer to give them an incentive to come to YOUR office. And, as you compose your advertisement, remember: 
Conversational, direct appeals to the emotional state of your prospects is the key to winning the sale for these folks.
PS–Another fantastic method for scooping up procrastinators is by sending a newsletter to them to hit at the beginning of April. We’ve already got one written, and will gladly offer you a complimentary list of prospects around your office to send it to. Oh, and we’ll print and mail for you too. Send an email back to me or call Troy: 888-894-HERD (4373) ext. 1, but act quickly–time is short.