If you want to take your tax or accounting firm to the seven figure level (or beyond) you have to do the OPPOSITE of what you see your local competitors doing.
Yes, I know that is a very bold statement. But, I’m here to tell you today, if you do what everyone else in your area is doing in the industry in marketing a tax business or marketing an accounting business, you will never rise above the crowd and reach the top of your profession.
I help lead a small group of business owners and sales professionals in the Kansas City area who are part of our church community. We focus on the practicals of growing a real business (and the spiritual components, therein, of course as well — because I happen to believe that God cares about the transactional details of how we operate our business life).
Anyway, a friend of mine has a small computer business. He has spent several months preparing a manual on “how to successfully operate a computer business” and notably, he was very proud to tell me about it.
When I inquired about the marketing, he said, “Well, in this business no one actually promotes themselves … its all word of mouth.” My immediate response was, “If EVERYONE does not promote themselves in this industry, then putting together an extensive, online and offline marketing campaign and doing the opposite of everyone else is the first thing you should be doing with your time … not writing an operations manual!”
My friend was taken back by my ‘odd’ advice. A week later, when I saw him again, he took me back to that conversation and pressed me for more. (This was such a crazy concept to him … doing the opposite of everyone else to reach real success … because of the fact that I was so passionate about it, he wanted more and more advice on how to apply it.)
I told him only 2% of the people in any industry are really doing well. I mean, they are achieving success that’s out-of-this-world good. They are at the top of their industry. I told him, if you want to be the ‘top dog’ in your area, you cannot do what the crowd
(or the industry norm) is doing and expect to get hugely successful results.
If You Are Doing What Everyone Else In Your Market Area Is Doing,
You And Your Tax or Accounting Business Are Dying
A Slow And Painful Death …
Let me give two quick examples to illustrate my point.
1) As we enter the summer, there’s a significant number tax & accounting firm owners who have put the tax season behind them and don’t want to think out it.
The 2% high achievers (business owners who have set goals or are already working their strategic plan or are already experiencing real success from it) are analyzing what they did well, what they did not do so well and what key areas they will focus their time in the off-season.
2) The tax professional norm is to go to their regional IRS show, hear about some proposed tax law changes (and get a tax write off for the trip).
The 2% club of go-getters come to these same IRS events and find 2 or 3 other business owners doing some really smart marketing or sales techniques which are dramatically increasing net profit (that has nothing to do with taxes or the agenda at the IRS event).
That’s what I mean by ‘opposite’.
If you find yourself doing the same old thing you’ve always done, and it seems to be pretty close to what everyone else in the industry does where you live, maybe you should think very seriously about trying a NEW approach this off season.
Like Zig Ziglar always says (or was it Einstein?), the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
And, by the way — one easy way to get this kind of marketing intelligence, the kind that the go-getters are seeking out at those IRS Forums, is to explore what is already available to you in our NEW members area.
Enjoy with our compliments.