identifying and ranking client acquisition techniques among members of the iranian association of certified tax consultants

In today's competitive environment, possessing tax knowledge alone is insufficient for success in tax consulting; the use of effective client acquisition techniques is essential. accordingly, this study aims to identify client acquisition strategies employed by members of the iranian association of certified tax consultants during 2024–2025. in the first phase, a survey was conducted among association members to identify the range of client acquisition methods they employ. following processes of homogenization, integration, and the elimination of redundant items, the final set of techniques was determined. in the second phase, these techniques were validated through a two-stage screening process using the fuzzy delphi method, incorporating expert opinions. finally, the step-wise weight assessment ratio analysis (swara) method was applied to rank the techniques based on expert evaluations. the results indicate that word-of-mouth marketing ranked first, followed by client referral programs, while advertising through local radio and television received the lowest ranking. the novelty of this study lies in developing a localized and structured model tailored to the iranian context by combining multiple multi-criteria decision-making methods. this topic has not been previously explored in the national literature.