MEET YOUR PEOPLE
The Joy in Helping Others
Teresa Sherwood of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., is always on the go. When she isn't preparing taxes for H&R Block, she's volunteering for the Red Cross, spending time with her friends and family, or enjoying a long walk on a nature trail.
Teresa, who has 11 years of experience, not only prepares taxes for walk-in clients, but also for H&R Block customers who use Online Office. She double-checks and files taxes for those using Signature, and answers questions for the customers who use H&R Block's option to call a tax professional with concerns.
Although Teresa enjoys preparing taxes for customers face-to-face, there is something special about taking calls from H&R Block's Online customers. "The calls are really fun," she says. "I like doing them. It's fun to meet people from all over the place over the phone or via email."
"I love when they're stumped and they're so excited that I could help them," she says. "Or when I've gone a little bit further and helped them even more than they thought I could."
Teresa, who also teaches classes in tax preparation, makes it her business to stay on top of changes in the tax code. She adds value by asking her clients probing questions, even when the caller was asking about something else, or when the Signature client believed his taxes were completely finished: "Last year I would go a step further and ask them if they took advantage of the phone credit," says Teresa. "I also know what mistakes are most common, so I'd ask them if they deducted their DMV fees, even though their question might be on an IRA or office in the home or something else."
Teresa continually gets some of the highest customer satisfaction ratings around. Sure, it's probably due in part to her helpful and friendly attitude, but the cold hard cash she saves her clients can't hurt, either: she estimates that clients who were unaware of the education credits they qualified for saved between $1,000-$1,500 with just one phone call to her.
Whether it's helping the Red Cross in disaster relief efforts or quietly helping her clients to navigate the complex tax code and save thousands, Teresa Sherwood's motivation is clear: to help people any way she can. With a smile.