Calling all Accountants!
We have about a week to reach out and make our connections with our accountant referral partners before they start getting tied up with tax returns. Accountants are excellent referral partners and very easy to connect with if you follow a simple plan like the one we have laid out on the website or in my e-book. The important starting point is to NEVER cold call or direct mail an accountant for business that you don’t know! So what are good ways to engage accountants?
- Verify your client’s tax returns! The simple task of calling an accountant to verify that the tax returns your client gave you are the returns that were filed is a great starting point and likely not being done by other people in your market! Not only is this a great ice breaker, it can save you lots of time and surprises down the road!
- Follow-up with each accountant with a Thank You card after a closing to thank them for their help. So few people send cards in the mail that they really stand out!
- Make them part of your “Collecting 9’s & 10’s” process and see how you can refer them your clients that need help.
- Have a strategic plan on how you can provide exceptional value to the accountant’s current clients, as well as ways of incorporating that accountant into you seminars and videos as a local expert.
Once you have connected with the accountant, be sure you are sharing important information they and their clients need to be aware of. Changes in rates, programs, property values, and other considerations can really help that accountant serve their clients. Just the ability to provide a simple “Annual Mortgage Fitness Check-up” for their clients can be an exceptional value added service for that accountant. This works especially well in early September when accountants are getting ready to work with those clients that filed for tax filing extensions! You can read more about this on the website.
Accountants are really great referral partners! You just have to get in front of them and provide exceptional value through a few very simple strategies. If you don’t have a list of accountants already; start collecting them now and they will be available for you in early September. Remember, once the second week of February hits, accountants will be working on their tax preparations and likely to involved to spend much time with you, so don’t be a pest!
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