sample postcards and letters you can use right now.
by jassen bowman
tax resolution systems
the absolute least expensive source of new clients always has been and always will be old clients. a staggering number of tax professionals fail to properly market to retain their existing clients, some of whom then become lost clients.
more: lead generation marketing must happen daily | checklists for new lead generation | client management checklists for tax resolution | how to handle client complaints | checklists for your tax resolution office setup | case study: building a tax resolution business | marketing requires ruthless accountability
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this checklist assumes that your 7216 disclosure properly addresses the use of tax return information for marketing purposes. if your past 7216 does not authorize this use, then don’t do this – but update your current 7216 with such verbiage to allow future use.
- using your tax software, crm system or by hand-pulling client files, find anybody who came into your office for at least one return in the past five years, but did not return in 2017.
- make a personal telephone call to this client. this can be handled by a staff person.
- make another personal call one week later if they don’t schedule an appointment.
- if unable to reach or unable to get them to schedule an appointment, send reactivation postcard #1.
- if no response from postcard #1, send postcard #2 approximately two weeks later.
- if no response from postcard #2, send letter #1 two weeks later.
- if no response from letter #1 within two weeks, send letter #2.
- if no response from letter #2 within a few weeks, move client to inactive list.
- contact inactive list at least twice per year, such as in january and june to catch late filers or those looking to switch preparers again.
- after three to five years with no response, remove client from inactive list entirely.
note on example marketing pieces
these are merely examples. don’t get hung up on using these precise mailers – create your own based on your target market, geography, demographic factors, offers, etc. if you use these verbatim, with zero adjustment for your own local factors, and they don’t work for you, then i’m going to have zero sympathy.
postcard #1
for postcards, i use click2mail.com and just send their basic 4.5×6 white, yellow or green basic postcards, address on one side, message on the other. these are cheap and surprisingly effective for a wide variety of marketing situations. for a decade plus, these have been my workhorse.
i’d send this first postcard as green or yellow, and postcard #2 as the other color.
headline: “it’s been a while since we’ve saved you money on your taxes!”
body:
we are concerned because we haven’t seen you in a while and want to make sure that you are receiving every single tax benefit that you’re entitled to. we are worried that you’re either paying too much tax or not maximizing your refund.
since we have not heard from you, we need your help in updating our records. please contact us today at ____________ so that we can update our client files and help you minimize your tax burden.
jane smith, cpa
xyz tax & financial
postcard #2
use a different color for this postcard than the first. what the colors are doesn’t matter – just pick one. postcard #2 can also be sent out of sequence outside of tax season, as it will resonate more off-season than postcard #1. the “chess move” image is the kind of stock photo available from sites like istockphoto.com or shutterstock.com. the license for such images is only a few dollars.
headline: “did we make a wrong move?”
body:
we’ve noticed that it’s been a while since your last tax checkup.
our firm is committed to helping clients maintain total financial health, and believe that tax planning is a year-round process. you can prevent costly tax problems through proactive tax planning.
we sincerely care about your tax matters, and we’d love to hear from you! please contact us today at ______________ for a free review of your last [one/two/three] years of tax returns prepared elsewhere, and to review your tax situation for this year. you’ll be glad you came in!
jane smith, cpa
xyz tax & financial
letter #1
these letters were written by a professional copywriter, and cost nearly $4,000 to have written. it is a great base for other campaigns, meaning you can and should modify this general concept to apply to other marketing campaigns.
dear ______,
i’ve got some really great news for you, but first i have a confession to make.
here’s my confession: i always thought i really cared about my clients. but then, as i was thinking about you the other day, it hit me: if i really cared about you, when you didn’t come back to have us prepare your income tax return or to provide a tax planning checkup, i should have called or written you right then to see what happened.
but i didn’t.
when you didn’t respond, i should have done whatever it took to find out why you didn’t come back. was it a money problem? was it a fear problem? maybe we somehow dropped the ball?
it wasn’t enough to send a postcard or make a routine phone call to remind you to come back in. if we really cared, we should have called out the boy scouts, the fbi, the coast guard … whatever it took to find you and get you back here and save you from all those nasty consequences of delaying tax services … and make sure you’re getting every single tax benefit you’re entitled to.
but i didn’t do any of those things. please forgive me and accept my sincere apology.
and now for the good news! just give us a call today at _____________, and make that appointment for your tax checkup and 2014 tax return preparation. bring in this letter, and we will automatically give you a 30% discount for that appointment. you know you need to come in, so why not give us a call and get started on maximizing your tax savings.
here’s to saving you money,
jane smith, cpa
xyz tax & financial
{phone}
p.s. dang it all. have i really done enough here? i’d sure hate to have almost convinced you to come in and get your taxes straightened out, but just not quite enough to actually come in. tell you what … we’ve got a really great gift for you. you obviously want to pay the absolute least amount of tax every year, so if you call us right now at _______ to schedule your appointment, and bring in your last [one/two/three] years tax returns, we’ll conduct a comprehensive 1040 savings review for each year to look for any missed deductions, credits or other tax-saving opportunities – all at no cost (zilch, nada, nothing, free). don’t wait. give us a call today!
p.p.s. if all this didn’t quite do it, please, please at least phone and tell us why. what will it take to get you back in here?
letter #2
dear ______,
a couple weeks ago, we sent you a letter inviting you back into our tax office since it’s been a while since we’ve seen you and, more importantly, because we genuinely care about you and your tax health.
we have made several attempts to contact you via personal phone calls and by mail. we realize that “life happens” and we all procrastinate doing what we know needs to be done, such as planning to maximize our tax savings each year.
we realize that time often just seems to slip away. or perhaps you didn’t receive our previous message or letters. regardless, here’s the deal … when you call to schedule your next tax appointment, we’ll take a whopping 30% off, plus provide a free 1040 savings review on all your returns for the past three years to look for any missed tax savings opportunities.
to take advantage of this “welcome back” promotion, which expires on [date], just give us a call at _____________.
sincerely,
jane smith, cpa
xyz tax & financial