KPMG: Big 4 CPA Firm Doesn’t Understand Tax Law But Man Can They Sell Toasters
22 October 2005Small CPA firms take note. Forget the internet, forget blogs, and forget the endless Chamber of Commerce functions in your marketing plans. Get yourself a subscription to the local newspaper and an extra telephone line in your office.
Yes folks, that’s the brilliant marketing formula used by KPMG to sell “abusive” tax shelters that cost the U.S. government an estimated $2.5 billion in lost tax revenues.
According to PBS Frontline (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tax/interviews/levin.html) here’s how it worked.
KPMG representatives would call high net worth (often identified through newspaper stories about these individuals) individuals on the telephone from their call center in Fort Wayne, Ind., and the conversation probably went something like this:
KPMG: "We know you made a lot of income. Do you want to pay less tax on that income?"
Client: "Well, is it legal? Is it proper?"
KPMG: "Yes, we got a legal opinion saying it's proper."
Client: "Send me a copy of the opinion. And by the way, what will it cost me?"
KPMG: “Cost? Nothing! Good old Uncle Sam is the footing the bill for you on this one. When can we get together and talk this over?”….Boom….the deal is done!
That’s it folks. No demographics, no psychographics. No pre “warm up” mail out. Nothing.
Just pick up the phone and call ‘em cold. As you can see this was very, very lucrative to accounting firms and lawyers and investment advisors.
Small CPA firms don’t believe they can telemarket their service. Patrick McEvoy, president of CPA Marketing Best Practices (www.cpamarketingbestpractices.com) states this is simply untrue and the proof is right here in front of you. KPMG did this whole thing over a several years starting in 1997.
A smart small CPA firm can this tactic and double or triple their annual billing in 12 to 24 months. Simply offer something of value to a niche group of business owners in your town or city like a small pamphlet titled “12 Ways to Double Your Cash Flow.” Every business owner you contact will bite on this. Deliver it in person and bingo; you have a potential new client to talk to.
It’s as simple as that. KPMG made $128 million in 3 years using this approach. Surely you can generate a few hundred thousand in billings with some imagination and plain old fashioned “dialing for dollars.”
For more information call Patrick McEvoy at CPA marketing Best Practices (519-752-2669) or visit his blog at http://www.cpamarketingbestpractcies.com/blog./
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Source: ClickPress
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