Roz Marketing - July August 2020
Why Aren’t You Giving Your Clients Hope?
The Roz Report
JULY/AUGUST 2020
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Stop Putting Obstacles Between You and Money
I’ve always said, “Never put an obstacle between your business and a sale,” and that saying is truer now more than ever. Case in point, in early May during the pandemic, Roslyn and I drove up to Santa Barbara for the day and decided to get lunch at one of the several restaurants that were open for carryout only. We walked up to the first place and were told that we had to download their app to see their menu and order food. Our response was to go to the restaurant next door. The second restaurant had the menu displayed on a podium outside for customers to view. Once we knew what we wanted, we went up to the window and ordered. The restaurant had also set up benches in shady places that were spaced apart so everyone could sit and social distance while they waited for their food. This restaurant didn’t put up a barrier between them and our money, and we had our food within 15 minutes. We experienced something very similar closer to home with picking up our morning coffee from our local coffee shops.
sales. Meanwhile, The Coffee Bean made it easy by enforcing social distancing safety while not placing hurdles in front of us and not driving customers away. The Coffee Bean had their baristas wearing masks and put marks on the floor to help everyone in line keep a safe distance apart. Getting coffee from The Coffee Bean was a much smoother process. Plus, every time we went in, they let us know how grateful they were for the business. Roslyn used to go to Starbucks all the time, but when they finally opened their stores back up (if you can call it that), she found she preferred continuing to go to The Coffee Bean. All of these establishments were following social distancing orders, but while Starbucks, Peet’s, and the first restaurant put up hurdles that made things more difficult, their competition implemented smart systems that helped keep folks safe while making things as easy as possible for their customers. During the pandemic, I see the exact same trend in the tax industry.
“Make sure you’re not inadvertently making it difficult for clients to hire you.”
There are three conveniently located coffee places on the way
Many tax and tax resolution practices let prospective clients
to our office: Starbucks, Peet’s, and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. You could only buy Starbucks if you went through their drive-thru. There is only one drive-thru in our area, and the lines were too long to make it worth the wait. Starbucks placed a barrier between them and our money. Peet’s had taken a page from the first restaurant’s playbook and required customers to download their app to order and pay for coffee. Not good if you are serious about making
know via email that they were limiting their office hours and that they might get back to prospects in 24–48 hours, if they’re lucky. If prospects did call on the phone, then most of those calls went to voicemail because no one was in the office and call forwarding had not been set up. In both of these situations, if you don’t pick up the phone or have a
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TO FLY OR NOT TO FLY? THAT IS THE QUESTION! BY ROSLYN ROZBRUCH (FOOD FOR THOUGHT)
A couple of weeks after the U.S. shut down in mid-March, one of the first things I did was buy plane tickets to Hawaii in September for Michael, myself, my daughters, and my son-in-law. We had already planned on us visiting my uncle who lives there, and I figured the prices would be great, and they were half the amount of what I usually pay. It wasn’t just me who thought this was a good idea. I was talking to my sister and niece and let them know what I did, and my niece, who is a teacher and holding classes online because of the pandemic, liked my idea so much she bought a ticket and flew to Hawaii two days later to spend time with our uncle. And even though I told my uncle about my big flight-price coup, I’m just realizing now that maybe I should ask my 80-something uncle if he’s up for five family members visiting him. But I think he is, since he was excited that we booked our flights, and being out and about (in a safe way) seems to run in my family. With everything going on in the world, and so much up- in-air, you might be wondering if you should go up in the air. You might even be asking yourself, “Is it safe to get on a plane?”That’s a good question. I have a friend who works for JetBlue, and she said they’re spraying a high-grade disinfectant in the cabin after every flight, as well as taking other measures to keep the planes sanitized. That makes me a little more comfortable about flying. I’ve heard good and bad stories about flying right now. And like everything else, how you perceive something is what you believe to be true. I have friends who have “hunkered down” and will wait a long time before they fly again and friends who are making future flight plans. One person isn’t right and the other wrong about whether to fly or not. It’s what you believe to be true and what you feel comfortable doing. Being somewhat of a germaphobe, as my daughters used to call me (and still do), I always bring my own blanket and headphones on board a plane anyway. Fly again I will because I like to travel, whether for business or vacation. And to make it possible, I have made a mind pivot. I’m gearing up to get on a plane to attend one of the mastermind meetings Michael and I attend. It wasn’t an easy decision to make, but the information that will be discussed made it worth booking the flight.
With everything going on in the world, and so much up-in-air, you might be wondering if you should go up in the air.
doesn’t seem like a good option. As humans, we’re naturally social and want to be with others. I will miss flying the way I used to know it, as I’m sure you will too, but besides being social, humans are also adaptable. We’ve made changes before, and we’ll adjust to whatever the new normal turns out to be. Right now it’s more, what are the changes I need to make to be safe when I go out? Here’s my question to you: Are you thinking of ways you’re going to “pivot” and move forward in your life? Instead of waiting for the solution to end the pandemic, which isn’t likely to be soon, are you thinking of what you need to do and ways to do it to go out and live your life? It’s a different answer for each of us, but whatever you decide is comfortable for you, here’s to you and your new normal.
–Roslyn Rozbruch
Whether you’re getting on a plane in the near future or waiting for a vaccine before you do, staying home forever
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PRACTICE CORNER FROM THE
The Money Is in the Follow-Up!
Most professionals (except our members, of course!) don’t have a system for following up with their leads and prospects. After a marketing team gets an inquiry, if the prospect doesn’t convert right away into a paying client, then most teams stop marketing to them. Think about this: If you’ve paid $200 to get the phone to ring and get a qualified prospect who didn’t hire you right then and there, then all that means is that the prospect was not ready to buy at that time. It doesn’t mean that they will never be ready to buy. Most people need to see, hear, or read your marketing message seven times before your marketing message begins to register in their awareness. Some argue that figure is closer to 20 times. This is because we are bombarded with 6,000–10,000 ads every single day. There are many things that go into a successful marketing campaign, but consistency and persistence rank near the top. When embarking on an advertising campaign, either offline or online, you must give it time to work. You can’t run radio or Google AdWords campaigns and stop after a few weeks because you didn’t get a call. What it means is the prospect hasn’t heard it enough times to register and/or you may need to modify the message, the offer, the call to action, or something else in the ad and keep testing until it works. The ugly truth of the matter is around 85%–90% of your leads will never become clients. That’s just how the math works out. The other 10%–15% will either buy at the first contact or up to 180 days thereafter. I had two systems (or sales funnels, if you will) that were running full time. One was for leads, and one was for qualified prospects who I had already met or spoken to who I knew I could help. A “lead” is an inbound inquiry via email or phone call. A “qualified prospect” is someone you’ve had an initial consultation with and who didn’t hire you — yet. Qualified prospects who I knew I could help went into my “180 day, 7-step snail mail and email” sequence. I sprinkled in some phone calls in there as well. I did this for a couple of reasons. First, it was extremely inexpensive to follow up with these, and second, I knew,
AWARENESS Follow up, follow up, follow up
through experience, that 67% of the people I spoke with who didn’t hire me on the spot became a client between 7–180 days after the initial consultation. Think about it … 67%! The money in the tax resolution business is in the follow-up. As for leads, people who reached out to us but we haven’t spoken to, they went into an auto-dialer system and were called up to seven times in an attempt to get them back on the phone or in the office for their initial consultation. If someone doesn’t hire you on the first touch, then remember to follow up, follow up and follow up. You’ll be glad you did.
–Michael Rozbruch
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David Rappaport, Enrolled Agent Member Spotlight
In the movie “The Godfather Part III,” Al Pacino’s character, Michael Corleone, says, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!”The same can be said of David Rappaport, who was doing tax resolution from the mid-1990s until 2007. Then in 2010, his clients brought him back into the industry. Except in David’s case, he was glad they did. David shares how it all started: “It was the mid-1990s, and I was working with my dad. We had a tax practice, and one of my father’s CPA friends got into trouble with the IRS. We found something called Compliance 2000, an IRS program that came out in the mid-1990s.”The father and son team helped their colleague resolve his tax problem and realized that tax resolution should be a part of their practice. From that moment on until 2007, when David’s father passed away, tax resolution was a focus of their business, which was based in New York and Florida. After 2007, David didn’t want to do tax resolution, but he says, “In 2010, people literally started begging me. ‘Hey, can you help me again? Are you still doing this work?’” He decided to help some clients and realized how much he missed representing people before the IRS. With his long history in tax resolution, David knew about Michael Rozbruch long before he met him and became a charter member of Roz Strategies in 2014 when Michael launched his company. When asked about why he joined and the success he has enjoyed since, David says, “The attraction was having a clear pathway for marketing, pricing, and a blueprint of how to run a tax resolution practice. Michael always has an answer to your problem. The Q&A call is probably the most important feature besides the upgraded pricing lists. I’ve doubled my income in the last few years just from his pricing models.” David says he relies mainly on referral marketing to get new clients. “I don’t need hundreds or thousands of clients. I need good clients who stick with me and want personal service,” he explains. “I actually have clients in 16 different states. They all are New Yorkers, ex-New Yorkers, families of New Yorkers, friends of New Yorkers, partners of New Yorkers, or Florida people. It’s always been by referral, word of mouth, and doing a good job for my clients.”
happy if his liability could be reduced to $200,000. David analyzed the case and determined that his client was a good fit for an offer in compromise. He put in an offer for $28,000 to settle the case. David’s client said the offer was ridiculous and wondered aloud why they should even bother. David’s answer was simple: The IRS goes by the numbers. The revenue officer didn’t agree with David, so David requested a manager review the offer. The manager didn’t agree with David’s number, either, but countered with $33,000. “I wasn’t going to jump for joy,” he says. “I’m like, ‘Well, okay, let me get back to you. I’m only authorized for $28,000 on a five-month payment arrangement.’ I talked to my client and said, ‘Joe, they’re offering $33,000.’ He said, ‘Why didn’t you take it?’ I said, ‘Because I just wanted to play the game they’re playing.’”David went back to the revenue officer with a counter-offer to accept the $33,000 but to spread the payments over 24 months. David says, “My client was ready to pay to $200,000.” While his practice is still based in New York City, David and his wife, Caryn, decided to move their family to Connecticut in 2017. Blessed with 5-year-old twin boys, Maxwell and Joshua, the couple moved to a community where their boys play outside in their yard, David can get into the city via a short train ride, and Caryn, a nurse practitioner specializing in oncology, practices at a local hospital. David acknowledges that life in Connecticut is good, but says, “I’m still a New Yorker.”
David shares one story of how he helped a client who owed well over $650,000 to the IRS and who said he would be
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Join us virtually for the 5th Annual Tax Resolution Success Summit. Aug. 27–29, 2020 For virtual registration, go to www.rozstrategies.com/nola for more info. Unmask Your Potential
Not only will you have your marketing plan in place with actionable strategies to put in place on the Monday after the event, but you will also hear from new speakers, and favorite ones, who will inspire and motivate you. Will you be ready for the influx of new tax resolution cases on the horizon? This event happens only once a year.
Some of the Speakers: Brian Kurtz, Authority on Direct Response Marketing Andre Norman, Ambassador of Hope Dave Dee, The Expert on “One-to-Many” Sales
For more information, go to www.rozstrategies.com/nola, contact our concierge Ruthie at Ruthie@rozstrategies.com , or call our offices at 888.670.0303.
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S H O U T
... continued from Cover
Kudos to Ben Butterfield for getting two new clients per month from referrals and working on your marketing plan using the Roz-Man strategies to build it up to five new clients per month and keep it growing. We like how you think! Congratulations to Ron Friedman for getting your own radio show! Way to go, Michelle Macmaster , for setting up your Facebook page for clients and potential clients. Be sure to use the social media posts from the members’ site to post on your page! Congratulations to Ronald Whitaker for making over $11,000 in 30 days. That’s awesome! Good job, Harry Miller , for posting “Celebrity Tax Problems” stories from our newsletter on your website. Very clever! High-fives to Shaun Smith , Jamie Leggett , Thuy Nguyen , Evelyn Saunders , and Margo Bennette-Cole for mailing out your referral letters! Keep up the good work!
live answering service in place, then the potential client will call the next person on the list. When someone has a tax problem, they’re going to hire the first person who picks up the phone. It’s really amazing to me the obstacles practice owners put in place to keep money at bay. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we do business. Make sure you’re not inadvertently making it difficult for clients to hire you. For example, don’t wait for people to start coming to your office again. It will probably be a while before folks are comfortable going into your office, and to be honest, you don’t have to do any business in your office in the first place. I was in the tax resolution business for 16 years, the last eight of which saw me doing 98% of my business remotely over the phone. I hardly saw any clients in the office. This saved a lot of money and time for everyone involved. Most clients appreciated not having to come into the office to do business. These days, with videoconferencing services like Zoom and other resources, it’s easier than ever to work remotely and make things more convenient for your clients. The trick is to learn the art of closing sales over the phone. Be sure to master and implement the high-ticket sales and one-call close strategies. These strategies are designed to teach you how to sell over the phone. All of this information is in your TRDST and on the Insider’s Circle membership site. If you want your business to thrive, not just survive, then you need to adapt with the times. When it comes to both ordering lunch and seeking out tax resolution services, people aren’t going to jump over a bunch of hurdles in order to do business with you. Review your office processes to remove obstacles that separate you from clients wanting to give you money.
Dedicated to your success, –Michael Rozbruch
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O U T S !
Kudos to Nancy Benet for mailing out your newsletter.
Do you have a story or picture to share with us on something you’ve implemented, a client you’ve helped with a tax problem, or anything else you’d like to share? If you do, email it to us at Info@RozStrategies.com and we will give a shout out to you!
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11271 Ventura Blvd. #612 Studio City, CA 91604 Inside This Issue pg 1 ∙
Stop Putting Up Obstacles
Food for Thought
pg 2 ∙ pg 3 ∙ pg 4 ∙ pg 5 ∙ pg 7 ∙ pg 8 ∙
From the Practice Corner
Member Spotlight
Tax Resolution Success Summit 2020
Shout Outs!
IRS Terror Tale of the Month
If there was a bingo card for political-financial scandals, then Massachusetts state Rep. David M. Nangle would be calling out “Bingo!” In February 2020, Nangle was arrested and charged in federal court for an astonishing amount of crimes. He was indicted on 28 counts, including several counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, and filing false tax returns. A former chairman of the House Committee on Ethics, Nangle has served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for the 17th Middlesex District since 1999. Despite running unopposed, Nangle raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations. Prosecutors alleged that after falling into deep gambling debt, Nangle began tapping into campaign funds to repay these debts andmake personal purchases. In order to cover up his illegal use of campaign funds, Nangle wouldmask such expenses as being political in nature. Documents suggest that Nangle also filed false bank statements in order to take out loans to help pay his gambling debts. When individuals fall this deep into fraud and financial troubles, it’s not surprising to find tax fraud listed as one of their alleged crimes. Nangle has been accused of knowingly filing fraudulent tax returns for the 2014–2018 tax years. On these returns, Nangle claimed fraudulent business deductions for supposed IRS Terror Tale of the Month State Representative Makes a Bad Gamble
“consulting”work he did for a local home improvement company. One such fraudulent deduction claimed that Nangle drove 47,000 miles in one year for the consulting company. Additionally, reports suggest that Nangle claimed thousands of dollars in false deductions for alleged charitable donations. Nangle is also accused of pressuring a state employee to help him file the fraudulent returns. When the employee refused to submit the false returns, prosecutors allege that Nangle claimed he would“take the blame if anything happens.” Nangle betrayed the trust of his constituents and could pay a hefty price. For his many crimes, Nangle is facing over 50 years in prison, with fines of over $1 million. The charge of filing false tax returns alone provides for a sentence of up to three years in prison and a fine of $100,000. Hopefully, Nangle has learned that you should never gamble against the IRS.
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