Marketing a Tax Business With Compelling Offers

We spent all of this week in beautiful Baltimore (yes, really beautiful — unless you walk a few blocks from the Inner Harbor, then that’s a different story). We were there for the NATP Annual Conference, and I’ll tell you — it was a blast!
Some competitors, of sorts, were there, and that was actually one of the highlights. I’ve written before about how much of a mental (and business) breakthrough you can have when you embrace your competition, and that certainly held true for us there.
I LOVE my competition. (They make us look good! Just kidding. Ed, I know you’re reading this … just a little friendly zing :). You sir, are the real deal — and that really was an incredible seersucker suit! Feel free to quote me on that.)
But the main point I want to make today is the importance of offers.
You see, I had never actually had my company present at a trade show before, and I was determined to do it right — make it a true test, if you will.
And I also knew that these trade shows are full of meaningless swag, and bored salespeople filling a booth for the mothership. It was time to stand out from the crowd.
So, I wrote a book. Now, mind you — I didn’t do that overnight. In fact, I’ve been working on this book all during tax season, but it required a DEADLINE to get it to the publisher, and get ‘er done.
The book is called: HOW TO EASILY ATTRACT, RETAIN & PROFIT FROM MORE TAX & ACCOUNTING CLIENTS  … USING THE NEW CHANNELS OF MARKETING —  and it was an enormous hit. We gave it out for free.
We gathered more contacts than any other exhibitor in the hall (despite a disadvantaged booth position), had more meaningful conversations (our booth was PACKED all the time), and may have earned more dirty looks from other exhibitors than any other booth (though we eventually won them over with — mostly Melissa’s — charm).
Why am I telling you this?
Simple. It was yet another powerful demonstration of the importance and power of making a compelling offer and giving your prospects what they really want.
Your tax and accounting prospects aren’t looking for “just another tax professional”, and if you continue to market that way, you’re toast. But, even more so, you MUST give them a reason to respond. In a whirling world of trade show swag, the coolest
key chain doesn’t cut it.
My book was written to speak to, and help with, the very things that really matter most to tax and accounting business owners like you, and the attendees of this conference.
And for you, in a world full of “free consultations” or other similarly-overused incentives, you need to identify something which will actually incentivize your prospects to give you a call, or take the action you want them to.
Heck, KEEP offering the “free consulation” … but clearly identify it’s specific value (by computing the hourly worth of your time), and turn it into a “$XY Gift Certificate for a Tax-Saving Power Session”, or some such.
The point? Stick out from the crowd. Don’t accept the status quo.
Watch your results soar.