Happy new year! 'Tis the season, in our profession, when all the consumer magazines predict what the markets will do in the coming 12 months—and (this is the amazing part) consumers and investors will pore over these forecasts as if they're from Nostradamus himself. I can't explain why, but I can suggest that we in the profession take a different approach. Instead of predicting the future, let's take steps to control it.

How? We all know that there's a fine line between keeping your clients merely satisfied and constantly impressing them with the level of your service. Yet the impact on your practice can be enormous. If they're merely satisfied, then your clients might be inclined to listen if one of their friends recommends the advisor across town. But if you're constantly exceeding their expectations, then they'll be the ones buttonholing their friends about coming into your office. So let's start the new year off right by finding some easy-to-implement services you can add that other advisors have created and that clients really appreciate.

Quarterly Tax Master

One simple task that Michael Pace of Seattle has taken over for his self-employed clients is making their estimated quarterly tax payments via the IRS EFTPS website (www.eftps.com). "It's pretty simple to navigate once the set-up paperwork has been completed," he says, adding that this also gives him a reliable record of estimated payments come tax time.

How does it all work? "I custody at Schwab, so I normally select a client's Schwab One account as the account from which the estimated payments come," Pace explains. "The funds come from the money market position in the account, so I have to make certain there's enough cash to make the payment." If not, he selects something to sell.

If you decide to do this, however, remember to follow up on the site to make sure the transaction was completed, especially the first time. "I've had a couple of situations where the bank account number, routing number, etc., were 'accepted' by the IRS, but the transaction didn't complete," says Pace. "I then had to track down the set-up error."

Andy Schrag, who practices in Vancouver, Wash., offers an elegant way to make those quarterly payments for older clients without having to write a check or transfer anything through IRS websites. He'll have clients who must take required minimum distributions from their IRAs do it quarterly, aligned with the required estimated payment dates: 1/15, 4/15, 6/16 and 9/15. "The last payment is two weeks early, but so what?" he says. Then you simply withhold that percentage of the required distribution necessary to make the estimated tax payment, which might be 50%, 75% or even 100%."

Pace also sends his clients a semi-annual reminder to make their property tax payments, which in Washington are due like clockwork in April and October. "The statements come at the beginning of the year," he says. "But people get busy and sometimes forget to make the payments." If clients have property in different states, which are on different schedules, he'll have the information in his database and alert them on the required dates.

Post-Meeting Memos

A few years back, it was somewhat extraordinary for advisors to send meeting reviews, summaries or action memoranda to clients after a meeting. Today, with all the fancy new customer relationship management software and web-based dictation services like Copytalk and Wordzexpressed, it's becoming almost commonplace to generate a follow-up letter. This bit of correspondence lists all the items that were covered and identifies action items for the client and advisor.

Jan Dahlin Geiger, who practices in Atlanta, has taken this follow-up process to a new level. After meetings, she sends her clients a three-page "client summary" letter, which lists family information, insurance status, estate planning details, the location of safety deposit boxes and their keys, and the location of important documents such as wills and powers of attorney. "We also ask if their executor knows how to contact us and other pertinent questions," says Geiger. "It's amazing to me how such a simple document has been so appreciated by clients!"

Will Rogers in Augusta, Ga., maintains all client goals and planning assumptions in his ACT database. "Whenever a client shares something that I think I should remember, I put it into a customized field that will allow me to publish this information in letters and reports," he says. Now, whenever he prints out a client letter, somewhere near the top it will include the phrase, "My understanding of your expectations of me are," followed by bullet points such as:

• To help you retire at age 63 on when you reach $4,000 per month of income.
• To never lie to you.
• To keep track of all this stuff, so you don't have to worry about it.
• To help you implement tax strategies in a time frame that is the most beneficial to you.

He also prints the list, "The specific information you would like from my office includes":

• A graph indicating where you stand in relation to meeting goals.
• The amount of cash available for unexpected needs.

"By simply keeping track of what my clients want from me in ACT, I've been better able to meet their expectations," says Rogers. "And the information I send out is highly customized to each person, even though 90% of it is automatically generated from my previous notes."

Spread the News

How many of you have clients who brought you substantial positions in low-basis stocks that you have to set aside, because selling them would inflict a painful capital gains tax bill? Normally, advisors harvest losses as aggressively as possible to offset gains as you try to reduce these holdings.

Deborah Saas, a practitioner in the Cincinnati area, decided to go a step further and keep clients informed about those stocks, a process that could be almost totally automated. She created an email Listserv for each of her clients' legacy stocks-a task which takes just a few seconds per company. Then she signed up to receive free daily news briefs from websites like cnn.com, marketwatch.com and the nytimes.com, among others.