Being In Debt
Volume 12, Number 13
Issue 561
I have so many debts that I am filthy rich.
I am indebted to so many people who believe in me--personally and professionally--that I will never be able to repay them, though I try hard every day.
Take my great friend, client and associate Deborah Costello--the kick-butt-for-what-you-believe-in attorney who consistently refers me business when she knows that her name is on the line, too, for everything I do. She bends over backward to bring referrals to me because she knows that I will try hard to be the greatest financial artist that I possibly can be. I use the term “artist” because she knows that every situation where service people are involved is like a piece of art: no two painters will paint the same picture. Each will paint it differently. She believes that I am a great artist in that I will apply my full passion and enthusiasm to everything I do. Sometimes I will paint a masterpiece that surprises everybody with its beauty, yet other times I will be a victim of the circumstances and just do the best that anybody could have, which, regretfully, might not have a spectacular result. But she knows that I will always try hard and bend over backwards to provide service towards an agreed-upon goal while trying to make the experience pleasing and, yes, even fun.
One of my role models for success, Alan Hess of Prudential Securities (a division of Wachovia), always reminds me that favors and referrals need to be acknowledged promptly and be repaid at least twice over in ways that the referrer would find exciting. Anytime we work together, it’s an example of the fact that two people spin an entrepreneurial referral wheel and not one with regard to how we serve our client. His zest for saying “thanks” makes me look at that moment when he calls to say “thanks” as a carrot that a hungry rabbit seeks. That makes me want to refer him more--especially when combined with the fact that he delivers superior service in a pleasing manner and that ALWAYS makes me look great.
A relatively new relationship--Sonny Smigo--reminds me that good referrals cost almost nothing in money but give great bounty when you least expect it. I met Sonny when I took a field trip to appraise one of his client’s stamp collections (another one of my specialties) and he and I got to talking accounting after I refused to present a bill. Sonny works magic with a patient and kind touch towards older people when it comes to managing their investments. He felt that I might do the same with his clients’ tax returns. He trusted me with a few; my prices were reasonable; my service apparently astounding, so we’ve enjoyed each other’s company this year to the tune of eight different returns and he promises that more are on the way. Another accounting firm had been sleeping at the wheel in their relationship with him (except to being alert to raising their bill) and their loss is my gain. The relationship with Sonny has cost me nothing in money. Not hundreds of dollars in advertising--only persistent “thank yous” and appreciation when combined with excellent service at a reasonable price. That’s all he wants. From his perspective, “is that so much to ask?”
My father, who died in 1991, still sends me clients each year. His buddies come to see me and their buddies come, too. Maybe it’s his legacy or maybe it is nostalgia. If you ask them, they would say that it is the customer service and quality that I give, not the fact that I‘m Bruce‘s son. Though that legacy might have something to do with it at the beginning, I doubt that I could retain the business just on that. Though every referral is valuable to me (and fascinating to trace where they come from), these ones from my Dad are especially wonderful. Thanks Pat, Glenn, Richard, Courtney, Jim and Fred--I’m indebted to you because of your threads to more and more clients. It’s especially interesting to see third and fourth string referrals come from my Dad. For example, my Dad sent me Jim who sent me Richard who sent me Betty who sent me Garry. This is a great honor to see these fourth generation referrals come through.
In 1991, my Dad met a holocaust survivor that was treated at a hospital that his army unit had set-up in 1945 in Cham, Germany. The survivor and he became great friends in his final few months. In 1999, that friend sent me her great friend, Rebecca, who is one of my clients today who sends me more and more referrals whenever she can. If it hadn’t have been for Dad, I wouldn’t have these clients--or would I? That’s the fun mystery of tracking referrals.
I always make sure to repay referrals in a way that is memorable. One of the places that I learned that from was my friend Sally Grigsbsy who’s legacy is, perhaps, one of the main reasons that I still love her former company, Paychex, so much. Deborah Costello even once called me “effusive” about the way I appreciate referrals. Maybe that’s why I refuse to enter into new and untested relationships with people--especially investment people--who call every week to say “let me take you to lunch.” I respond, “it would have to be an awfully expensive lunch because I already have hart-fought and hard-won, multi-year relationships in place. Why would I want to jeopardize those by entertaining the new person.” I’m having too much fun being in debt with existing referral sources to have time to go to new ones. If I’ve got something that works, why do I want to work harder? I’m working smarter now.
My system works. No tip clubs, BNAs, networking groups, rotary clubs, lions clubs, association, chambers of commerce and the like. The time that I would spend with those I can spend calling my great existing sources of referrals to simply say “thanks” or to write them notes or to send some birthday cards or to go visit to say, “I owe you and I will work hard until my debt is repaid.”
Look to your left and look to your right. Sources of new business are right in front of your nose. You are already in debt to the people who send you business now. Don’t insult them by looking elsewhere. Repay the debts that you already have before you go out seeking new business. You will find that more new business will be handed to you on a silver plate if you just appreciate it, thank the person that gives it to you, and, above all else--make the referral source look good by doing superior work with expediency and at a fair price.
David B. Robinson, CPA
Index of Previous Issues of Tax Fax
