Eight Great Ways to Win All the Financial Services Business You Want
Eight Great Ways to Win All the Financial Services Business You Want
The answer is clear: to avoid being seen as a commodity, you must consistently and compellingly prove that you are different.
You must prove that you are better. You must prove that you offer your clients something above and beyond the services offered by your competitors. You must prove that you, better than anyone else, can help them manage the murky and confusing yet opportunity-filled world of investing and money management. That's what marketing is about—it's not about sending slick brochures to your mailing list once a year. It's a very creative, very human process, making clients feel secure and appreciated and even delighted.
Here are eight tips, you can follow right now:
Add an MVP to your team . . . the "NBC."
Have you ever thought that you could bring in tons of new business if only you had the time to deal with current clients? I suggest hiring a New Business Coordinator ("NBC" for short) to ensure that the necessary follow-up work is being done. The NBC joins you at every new business appointment . . . hears firsthand what needs to be done in order to transform a prospect into a client . . . schedules the follow-up appointments, prepares the paperwork, etc. He or she creates a relationship with the prospect by giving that person another point of contact in the office (besides you). If you're worried that you can't afford an NBC, think again: many financial advisors have found that such an individual pays for him/herself countless times over. So bite the bullet.
Give video marketing a try.
If you're thinking that financial planning doesn't evoke the most exciting visual imagery—computer software? Mutual fund documents?—consider what your clients can buy with the money you help them save and create. Grandkids playing in front of a charming beach cottage, say, or a new luxury car zipping around curves. A spectacular sales video can hit people on an immediate, gut level. So why not create one and send it to your top prospects? If you need more convincing, consider this: a study by the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania found that prospects who watch a video make their buying decision 70 percent faster than those who only read a brochure. Pretty impressive, huh?
Don't let your Internet home collect cobwebs.
Have you updated your website lately? You should. You might write a regular column on current economic news and make it an integral part of your site. This will give clients and potential clients a reason to bookmark your website and maybe even establish it as their home page! Alternately, regularly add a thought-provoking quote or bit of humor to your site. Anything to prevent repeat visitors from getting bored and going elsewhere!
Use e-mail to "Keep In Touch."
I am a big proponent of establishing a "Keep In Touch" (or KIT) Program to stay connected to clients. One of my myriad suggestions for doing so is the use of e-mail. For instance, you might send e-greeting cards to your clients on their birthdays or holidays. Or, if you come across something you know a specific client would be interested in (say, a fascinating article about one of his hobbies), e-mail it to him with a "this made me think of you" note. The beauty of e-mail is its immediacy and its casual, "off the cuff" nature. It makes clients feel that they are a part of your life, which in turn is likely to make them think of you as part of theirs.
Offer a targeted seminar (NOT "General Investing for Every Investor"), mail invites to a targeted list, and provide a targeted message filled with potential solutions.
A good example: "Unlocking Your Retirement Funds," presented for individuals who work at a particular Fortune 100 company. Even if ten or twenty people attend, it will be a great seminar because each and every one of them will be getting to retire with a rollover or they would not have come. One proven source for generating lots of attendees to your seminars is Response Mail Express/Seminar Success. Their system absolutely puts people in seats. The rest is up to you!
Leverage your events to create a buzz.
Got a great idea for an event? You can't hold it in a vacuum! Press releases, ads and invitations will get people there and create a buzz. The more creative you can be with your event, the more "buzzworthy" it becomes. As a very hypothetical example—let's say you decided to host a "Pennies from Heaven" penny stocks seminar. You ask everyone who attends the seminar to bring a jar of pennies (actually, any and all coins are welcome) to donate to a local charity. Your firm agrees to match whatever amount is collected. Voila! You have a great hook for your press releases, ads and invitations. With such a creative and goodwill-inspiring idea, the local newspaper may well show up. And your name becomes known throughout the community.
Consider a creative name change.
Take a look at the business listings in the white pages of your local telephone directory. Do you see lots of names like The Morgan Company, Brown & Associates, Smith & Green, The Anderson Group? Notice that these names say nothing about what they do and who their customers might be. Does your name convey who you are and what makes you different? Now, I'm not suggesting that you adopt a lowbrow name like “Investments R Us.” But, just for the sake of argument, let's say our USP is that you help clients integrate charitable giving strategies into their overall money management plans. Couldn't you call yourself something like The Caring Investment Group, Inc.? It's catchy, to-the-point and immediately conveys what makes you different.
Form a strategic alliance with someone who shares your target market.
Let's say your specialty is advising middle-class families who are concerned about saving for their kids' college educations. Obviously, these families should start saving right away, so you need to catch them when their children are small. You decide to team up with Dayna's Daycare Center. You can work out a deal whereby Dayna invites her customers to attend an exclusive financial planning seminar hosted by none other than you. In return, you hand out brochures about her daycare center (and glowing verbal recommendations) to your clients. Such strategic alliances are practically painless, and all they require is a dash of ingenuity and a pinch of cooperation.
If you consider some of these ideas to be a little "out there" that's just because you've bought into the stereotype that financial services has to be a buttoned-down, humorless industry.
Financial advisors can be very creative with their marketing efforts—and when they are, they reap big rewards. I've had clients adopt my ideas and completely turn their companies around. Yes, money is a serious subject and you must manage it proficiently, but in the final analysis clients interact with people, not profit reports. Touch them on a human level and they'll see you as having that something extra that your competitors don't. This is what marketing, performed with sincerity, innovation and passion, can do for you.
Eight Great Ways to Win All the Financial Services Business You Want - To learn more about this author, visit Maribeth Kuzmeski's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Financial advisors, you know who you are and what you do. But try looking at yourself through the eyes of a potential client. Imagine . . . you know next to nothing about investing and money management. You are nervous about what could happen to your nest egg (which represents your next home, your retirement, your kids' inheritance) in an era of extreme economic uncertainty. And when you need a financial advisor and all you see is a long gray line of sober corporate logos, faceless suits and identical-seeming mutual fund literature, choosing one is a daunting, confusing task. How in the world would you, our hypothetical prospect, decide to go with, well . . . you?
The answer is clear: to avoid being seen as a commodity, you must consistently and compellingly prove that you are different.
You must prove that you are better. You must prove that you offer your clients something above and beyond the services offered by your competitors. You must prove that you, better than anyone else, can help them manage the murky and confusing yet opportunity-filled world of investing and money management. That's what marketing is about—it's not about sending slick brochures to your mailing list once a year. It's a very creative, very human process, making clients feel secure and appreciated and even delighted.
Here are eight tips, you can follow right now:
Add an MVP to your team . . . the "NBC."
Have you ever thought that you could bring in tons of new business if only you had the time to deal with current clients? I suggest hiring a New Business Coordinator ("NBC" for short) to ensure that the necessary follow-up work is being done. The NBC joins you at every new business appointment . . . hears firsthand what needs to be done in order to transform a prospect into a client . . . schedules the follow-up appointments, prepares the paperwork, etc. He or she creates a relationship with the prospect by giving that person another point of contact in the office (besides you). If you're worried that you can't afford an NBC, think again: many financial advisors have found that such an individual pays for him/herself countless times over. So bite the bullet.
Give video marketing a try.
If you're thinking that financial planning doesn't evoke the most exciting visual imagery—computer software? Mutual fund documents?—consider what your clients can buy with the money you help them save and create. Grandkids playing in front of a charming beach cottage, say, or a new luxury car zipping around curves. A spectacular sales video can hit people on an immediate, gut level. So why not create one and send it to your top prospects? If you need more convincing, consider this: a study by the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania found that prospects who watch a video make their buying decision 70 percent faster than those who only read a brochure. Pretty impressive, huh?
Don't let your Internet home collect cobwebs.
Have you updated your website lately? You should. You might write a regular column on current economic news and make it an integral part of your site. This will give clients and potential clients a reason to bookmark your website and maybe even establish it as their home page! Alternately, regularly add a thought-provoking quote or bit of humor to your site. Anything to prevent repeat visitors from getting bored and going elsewhere!
Use e-mail to "Keep In Touch."
I am a big proponent of establishing a "Keep In Touch" (or KIT) Program to stay connected to clients. One of my myriad suggestions for doing so is the use of e-mail. For instance, you might send e-greeting cards to your clients on their birthdays or holidays. Or, if you come across something you know a specific client would be interested in (say, a fascinating article about one of his hobbies), e-mail it to him with a "this made me think of you" note. The beauty of e-mail is its immediacy and its casual, "off the cuff" nature. It makes clients feel that they are a part of your life, which in turn is likely to make them think of you as part of theirs.
Offer a targeted seminar (NOT "General Investing for Every Investor"), mail invites to a targeted list, and provide a targeted message filled with potential solutions.
A good example: "Unlocking Your Retirement Funds," presented for individuals who work at a particular Fortune 100 company. Even if ten or twenty people attend, it will be a great seminar because each and every one of them will be getting to retire with a rollover or they would not have come. One proven source for generating lots of attendees to your seminars is Response Mail Express/Seminar Success. Their system absolutely puts people in seats. The rest is up to you!
Leverage your events to create a buzz.
Got a great idea for an event? You can't hold it in a vacuum! Press releases, ads and invitations will get people there and create a buzz. The more creative you can be with your event, the more "buzzworthy" it becomes. As a very hypothetical example—let's say you decided to host a "Pennies from Heaven" penny stocks seminar. You ask everyone who attends the seminar to bring a jar of pennies (actually, any and all coins are welcome) to donate to a local charity. Your firm agrees to match whatever amount is collected. Voila! You have a great hook for your press releases, ads and invitations. With such a creative and goodwill-inspiring idea, the local newspaper may well show up. And your name becomes known throughout the community.
Consider a creative name change.
Take a look at the business listings in the white pages of your local telephone directory. Do you see lots of names like The Morgan Company, Brown & Associates, Smith & Green, The Anderson Group? Notice that these names say nothing about what they do and who their customers might be. Does your name convey who you are and what makes you different? Now, I'm not suggesting that you adopt a lowbrow name like “Investments R Us.” But, just for the sake of argument, let's say our USP is that you help clients integrate charitable giving strategies into their overall money management plans. Couldn't you call yourself something like The Caring Investment Group, Inc.? It's catchy, to-the-point and immediately conveys what makes you different.
Form a strategic alliance with someone who shares your target market.
Let's say your specialty is advising middle-class families who are concerned about saving for their kids' college educations. Obviously, these families should start saving right away, so you need to catch them when their children are small. You decide to team up with Dayna's Daycare Center. You can work out a deal whereby Dayna invites her customers to attend an exclusive financial planning seminar hosted by none other than you. In return, you hand out brochures about her daycare center (and glowing verbal recommendations) to your clients. Such strategic alliances are practically painless, and all they require is a dash of ingenuity and a pinch of cooperation.
If you consider some of these ideas to be a little "out there" that's just because you've bought into the stereotype that financial services has to be a buttoned-down, humorless industry.
Financial advisors can be very creative with their marketing efforts—and when they are, they reap big rewards. I've had clients adopt my ideas and completely turn their companies around. Yes, money is a serious subject and you must manage it proficiently, but in the final analysis clients interact with people, not profit reports. Touch them on a human level and they'll see you as having that something extra that your competitors don't. This is what marketing, performed with sincerity, innovation and passion, can do for you.
Eight Great Ways to Win All the Financial Services Business You Want - To learn more about this author, visit Maribeth Kuzmeski's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
|||
David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
|||
Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
|||
Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
|||
David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
|||
Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
|||
Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
|||
Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Maribeth's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Workplace Culture Warning Signs Checklist Business Owner Guide Evolution of Networking Is your branding on the nose? |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Niche Blogs 2009
Top 50 Niche Blogs 2009 | |
 |
Top Social Business Blogs
Top Social Entrepreneur Blogs | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||