April 15th has finally arrived! Time to relish the sense of accomplishment that comes along with making it through the tax season of 2008. You deserve a well-earned rest. But, remember, now's the time to reprioritize your schedule for the busy months to come. As you start digging out from under the deadlines that have kept you working at breakneck pace, you will soon clear the clutter that has been accumulating over the past few months. It's natural to want to remove those client files from your workspaces, But wait! Before you return those files to their permanent storage locations for another year, take a minute to consider the practice building opportunities you might be foregoing by removing those client files from your sight.

What happened to all those potential problems and ideas for operational improvement that you suggested to your clients during tax time?

• What about your recommendations for improved organizational efficiency?

• How about following up on the client's interest in business succession that you briefly mentioned?

• What about that cost segregation study you suggested?

• Or a better system for reducing inventory turnover?

• And so many additional items that you and your staff have identified, but have put off until tax season was over?

It happens each year after April 15th. Although CPAs have good intentions for doing something new, it's natural to want to clear your minds and desks of clutter and move on to the next pressing deadline.

Maybe it's the nature of the business, or simply the way CPAs have always done it. Sure, CPAs talk about being pro-active in identifying these types of situations, but they often let their busy schedules and new deadlines get them off-track in serving as problem-solvers for their clients. CPAs often stop short of their intentions as trusted advisors once they have helped clients comply with tax obligations and other reporting deadlines. After all, this is the type of advice that your clients were really looking for when they retained your services because it enables them to run their businesses more efficiently and helps them make more money.

Tips on Adding New Business

Here are some simple steps to help you capitalize on new business opportunities:

• Organize tax-season wrap-up sessions with your staff. Meet with your team to conduct wrap-up sessions for each client you worked on during tax season. Identify all needs and areas for additional assistance.

• Create a fun and relaxed environment for these sessions. Bring in lunch. Offer prizes for the best ideas that are generated during the sessions.

• Develop a system for contacting clients and addressing these findings. Identify who is best suited to make the contact and what strategy is best to share the information. Encourage participation from junior staff so they can see first-hand how these types of meetings are conducted. As a part of this process, plan out success stories to share that demonstrate successful projects your firm has provided for similar clients and the results that followed.

• Schedule meetings with your clients. Take them to breakfast or lunch or simply meet in their office and share your ideas with them. Outline how you and your team can work to help resolve them. Share success stories you identified in your wrap-up sessions to help them better understand the situation. These meetings will not only lead to additional work, but help strengthen your relationships.

• Keep track of the new business opportunities that you and your team achieved as a result of your actions. Capture the ideas in a summary report. Post them on your firm's portal so others in the organization can capitalize on them. Report your results to the firm so they can share in and reward you and your team's success.

• Celebrate your successes before you get started on all that new work you picked up. You and your team deserve it!

Start a new tradition this year. Do the stuff you have been meaning to do after the tax season instead of letting the waves of client demands get you off-track. You will be happier and more productive because you won't have to work so hard to find new clients to fill your schedule. Your clients will be happier because you were proactive in looking out for their business interests. And your staff will be happier because they will feel like they are contributing to their future. These actions will help your staff understand not only how to identify additional opportunities for work, but how to bring it to the client and make the sale. It is truly a win-win-win!

Tracy Crevar Warren, president and founder of The Crevar Group, advises professional services firms striving to grow and maximize performance. Warren was named by Accounting Today as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the accounting industry. She is an author and frequent speaker on various growth, business development, and marketing topics for local, regional, national and international audiences. Warren can be reached at (336) 889-GROW (4769).