How to be Proactive vs. Reactionary as a Tax Pro

By Jasen Stine and Robbie Randall.

One of the biggest complaints from clients is that their tax pros react to their problems only when the house is on fire. And on the other hand, tax pros can get frustrated when clients only come to them at tax season. There is a disconnect, but it doesn’t have to be that way. What most clients don’t know, is that tax pros can and often do offer proactive measures in the form of advisory services. Here are the first steps to take when educating clients on the many services your firm offers.

Introduce Advisory Services

Start by aligning your services to your clients goals and needs by having a conversation with your clients about their future and the offerings your firm has to ensure a proactive-based mindset. As you lay out different plans, educate them on advisory services and the benefits of creating a specific plan designed for them and their finances. This initial meeting will help clients understand the partnership built through advisory services and the act of proactively planning for success, and having plans in place for unforeseeable events. Life can change quickly and having a year- round advisor can help adapt through those changes.

Set A Meeting Cadence

Once clients are on board with adding advisory services to their contract, set up a meeting cadence to showcase your dedication to their success and to get a better understanding of what it is they want. By meeting with them regularly, tax pros are able to create curated content for each client and ensure a better future. This cadence will also allow you to have a pulse on each client’s mindset at all times and be able to proactively predict changes to their goals.

Create a Long-Term Plan

After conducting a few meetings with each client, start introducing longer-term planning. Once you have a better understanding of where they want to end, you can start creating a guide on where to begin and how to achieve certain goals. By doing so, tax pros are able to create gameplans to not only help clients succeed, but also to help combat unforeseen problems that arise, like a pandemic, and have a proactive plan in place to help decrease negative impacts.

Stay on Top of Trends and Investments

Clients look to their tax pros for expert advice. To showcase your proactive mindset, start sharing your expertise about broader topics and investments in their business you believe are the best for your clients in the long run. This can be a simple article you share over email with commentary, or a bigger discussion in one of your regularly scheduled meetings. Showing your clients they are always top of mind goes a long way in ensuring their trust in you as their tax pro.

All in all, clients rely on tax pros to be proactive with their recommendations. By introducing advisory services, your clients will have confidence that you have their best interest in mind and have a plan in place to help them not only succeed, but navigate unforeseen troubles.