Every tax season you have to face some of the same issues. How many of my previous clients will return? How hard will I have to work to get the appointments scheduled this year? Will I need to hire part-time help and how much will that cost? And how do I get everything done on time while keeping clients happy without losing my mind by the Tax Day!

In the back of your mind you’re wondering is there anything I could do to make this easier this year? Well, it might be time to consider how business texting services can make a difference.

Consider the following:

  • What if you had help reaching out to your clients instead of just emailing and calling them (which they seem to ignore) 3 weeks before they came in the previous year asking them to make an appointment?
  • You already know the clients that come in on April are not the ones who will come in February so reach out to them differently.
  • What if there were an easy way to remind them of appointments automatically?
  • That would cut down on rescheduling and “no shows”.
  • What if you could easily remind them of paperwork they forgot?
  • Unfinished returns impact your cash flow.
  • How about sending them status updates so they don’t keep calling you?
  • That might allow you to handle more clients
  • And what about sending a “thank you” and asking for referrals after their tax return is complete?
  • Referrals are the key to growing your practice, but it is uncomfortable to ask. What if there was an easy way to do this?

These things work, but they take time and may require additional staff to help do them.

If that would make your life easier, you could do what thousands of tax preparers are now doing with a business sms service (tax pg). Textellent is a texting service that helps you better serve your clients and attract new clients by leveraging non-sensitive data in your tax software (supports all leading tax software). You can send many personalized messages (in any language) automatically yet they appear as though you wrote each one personally. The service uses your name (and even your logo) and your client’s name to personalize each message and sends them out in a timely manner.

Here’s how it Works

By using your tax software to know when your client came in last year, Textellent’s cloud-based, secure service can send an invitation to make an appointment 3 weeks prior to that date in the new tax season. It can even provide a link so the client can book an appointment themselves. And the new appointment can be automatically synced with your office calendar. On-going texts, including appointment reminders, paperwork reminders, thank-you’s and more also go out automatically (as though you or your staff sent them personally). You will also be amazed how many referrals you can receive by sending out friendly (yet systematic) texts asking them to refer friends or family. In addition, it is also a great, proven idea to boost goodwill by sending greetings for the holidays and new year which occur right before the tax season!

Retaining Clients and Bringing in New Clients

This retention tool has helped many tax professionals see their client retention rates grow from 70% to over 90%. By automating these functions clients reduce the need for part-time staff and preserve their own billable hours for real, revenue-generating work.

Texting can also assist you in acquiring new clients via opt-in keywords sent to our short code 87000. You can advertise “text ‘abctaxes’ to 87000 for a free consultation” in your social media, print and other advertisements. When your prospects text in that keyword, they will receive a pre-defined automated response as well as they are put on a series of nurturing messages sent via a “drip” campaign. These messages will invite them to respond back and engage with you after which you can offer them an appointment and close the sale.

Here are some additional stories about tax preparation marketing you may find interesting.