Tax Planning Referral Marketing System

Referral marketing is a method of promoting products or services to new customers through referrals, usually word of mouth. Such referrals often happen spontaneously but business can encourage customers and contacts to talk as much as possible about a brand or product.

Word-of-mouth referrals are the number one-way professional service firms get leads and new business. This is supported by the American Marketing Association’s 2009 study which found that peer recommendations are two point five (2.5) times more responsive than any other marketing channel.

To develop a referral marketing system for your tax planning practice you need to:

• Define your ideal client – business owners, clients paying a lot of tax, clients with lots of assets and investments.
• Identify your best referrers – bookkeepers, finance brokers, financial planners, etc.
• Clarify your differentiation – define what you do and provide that is different from your competitors, i.e. actually provide tax planning services to clients that save them tax.
• Educate your referrers so they understand how to add value for clients.
• Ask for referrals.
• Reward the referral sources – 20% to 50% of the first year’s fee
• Track your referrals and analyse key results.

For your practice to grow through referrals it must be referable (i.e. adds value and exceeds client expectations), and must implement an effective referral program.