This offer is designed to introduce young taxpayers to the tax firm with the hope of establishing a life-long relationship. Mailing graduate gift certificates is an effective long-term tactic to help build a clientele. Variations of this idea include mailing to college seniors, offering discounts instead of free tax returns, and offering free electronic filing for self-prepared returns. If you mail to college students, remember that nearly half of today s college enrollment are adults age 25 and over. Therefore, your mailing should be targeted to full-time traditional students, and a limit on the dollar amount or type schedules included should be specified on the gift certificate.
Direct mail is only one of many ways to reach a targeted audience.
In future issues of the Tax Practitioners Journal, we ll tell you how to effectively advertise your products and services through cable TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, and newsletters. This article is an excerpt from the Income Tax Practice Marketing Handbook, available in NATP s bookstore. He is founder and President of Peoples Income Tax, Inc., which operates 16 tax preparation offices in central-Virginia and licenses income tax school and tax practice management systems to independent tax firms nationwide. Chuck is involved in numerous community and small business advocacy activities. He is co-author of two books on career education for adults and numerous articles on adult education, income tax and management.