Advisor Tax Mistake #2 – Not Getting Referrals from COIs

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This article is the sixth in a series of the seven most-common mistakes financial advisors make on tax planning with clients.

“I send tons of clients to my local CPA, but she never sends me a single client back!”

As an advocate of advisors working closely with tax preparers, and as a tax preparer myself, I hear the complaint of unreciprocated referrals all the time from financial advisors. Typically, I respond with questions such as:

  • How many referrals have you sent?
  • What have you done to demonstrate you are different from the other hundreds of advisors asking for referrals?
  • Why do you think the CPA has the time to worry about your practice?
  • Shouldn’t you be sending referrals to the person who will do the best job with your clients versus the person who sends you the most referrals?

If getting referrals from centers of influence (COIs) is a marketing strategy you plan to pursue, then the first step is to take some Jocko Willink (navy seal turned guru) ”extreme ownership” and acknowledge that the only person responsible for your lack of COI referrals is… drumroll please… you!