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Here’s the good stuff! Get ready for a long exhaustive list of marketing tactics and ideas that will give you exposure to new clients, new prospects, and bigger success.
Section 1: Marketing to people you know
It is much easier to develop ideas to market to people you know versus those you don’t know. Referrals from your clients and strategic partners will be pre-sold and eager to get started working with you. This is a great area of focus!
Marketing to existing clients
(1) Provide EXCELLENT SERVICE – create a client service matrix
There’s nothing like providing a raving fan experience for your clients. When working with me, some advisors want to jump straight ahead and find new clients rather than paying attention to the ones they already have. In order to receive referrals from your existing clients, you must be WORTHY of referrals. so make sure your service is exemplary.
(2) Master referral conversations
After you are providing excellent service to your existing clients, you can take the step to ask for referrals on a regular basis. Asking for referrals is not as simple as just asking. You need to incorporate finesse in the way you ask. One way to do this is to master referral conversations.
65% of high income wealth managers ask clients for referrals an average of FOUR times annually
Having a script doesn’t mean you should recite it like a robot. Using a script just helps you to practice asking in a natural manner that is authentic for you. Practice makes perfect. When you practice and the opportunity presents itself, you will be MORE POLISHED.
(3) Send out a service survey
Sending a survey helps you determine what products and services your clients want you to provide. It shows that you WANT to be their “go to” financial person. Don’t be surprised if you find out you’ve made some missteps along the way. Take the opportunity to make it right for the client. In your survey, you can also glean some important information that will help you market to people you don’t know. See below.
(4) Create a client call list
This goes back to service. When was the last time you picked up the phone and called your clients for no reason at all? How about to check in on them and find out if there’s anything you can do for them? Even if you don’t get them on the phone, leave a message and that will count towards a “client touch” that demonstrates excellent service. As you become better with service, you can also use this as an opportunity to ask for a referral.
(5) Send a three letter referral campaign
This is one of my favorites! Send three referral letters two months apart. You can focus on three different issues; you can focus on what’s going on in your practice; or you can tie in an event to coincide with the sending of one of your letters. No matter what you decide, each letter is subtle and positions you as the helpful advisor at the ready for your clients – the person they can count on.
An example of this is:
Letter one – follow up letter after a Client Review meeting – review the action items from the meeting. End the letter with a well worded request for referrals.
Letter two – advertise your upcoming client appreciation event. Close the letter with a request that your clients bring a friend or relative.
Letter three – the third letter is always positioned as an educational piece meant to demonstrate the life changing situations that would warrant a referral to you. Births, deaths, divorces, job changes, business owners selling a business, and much more. This is where you show all the life altering events that signify a movement of money.
(6) Client appreciation events – at least one per quarter
If you’ve never held a client appreciation event before, now is your chance to plan out your next year’s events. I recommend one event per quarter, but if you are just beginning to have events, you can start with two per year. The key to this tactic is to ask your clients to bring a friend or relative. In the beginning you will be introducing this tactic. As time goes by, you will focus more on the “bring a friend” component.
(7) Conduct a Client Review Meeting – ask for a referral
In your quarterly review meetings you tend to cover wide ranging issues and concepts that demonstrate commitment to your clients. At the end of such a meeting, ask for a referral. Make sure you use an agenda that the client can follow along with. At the bottom of the agenda, include “Introductions” as a point to review. This tactic can be used in tandem with referral conversations and a three letter campaign.
(8) Leverage Centers of influence
I’m not going to go into how to get referrals from other professional advisors except to say that you should be getting them. If you are not, have an earnest conversation with your COI’s and explain that referrals seem to be one way and not reciprocated. Explain your expectations. Create some accountability. If you are still not getting referrals, STOP referring and find someone else who is good at what they do and WILL reciprocate.
Section 2: Marketing to people you don’t know
Developing ideas to attract people you don’t know is much more difficult than targeting those you do know. You will have to hone your message and prove your skills before this strategy can pay off. This is where a professional brand and website is CRUCIAL to your success.
Direct Mail Lists –purchased
I have a few companies I use for obtaining mail lists that I recommend to my clients. Defining who your audience is and having the right message is essential. Make sure you have your mailer professionally designed. In order to garner the attention of busy people, your message should be directed at the end users’ needs and it should GET THEIR ATTENTION. Always have a strong call to action in several locations on your mailer. I recommend postcards over letters, but it all depends on the message and the audience. Direct mail is not a onetime thing. It must be repeated for best results.
(9) Zip code based mail lists – send a mailer to a zip code based selection of homeowners in your area.
(10) Affluence based mail lists – send a mailer based on affluence and level of investible assets. The key to success is to have a client attraction device or custom written report meant for this group. Your mailer should direct recipients to a specific page on your website where they can claim a free report that addresses their top concerns.
(11) Niche based mail lists – send a mailer to a niche such as women investors, divorced women, or widowed women. This group is vastly under served and has distinct needs. Think of other niches that could benefit from your offer. Take a look at your book and see which niche markets you are already working with as a starting point.
(12) Industry based mail lists – this is similar to a niche list except that industry lists are based on professions or occupations and can be a rich treasure field if you know how to leverage the opportunity. Once again, the message is crucial as is the call to action.
Mail Lists – you compile yourself
(13) Business Journal – book of lists – target a niche – your city’s business journal publishes a book of lists annually detailing the top businesses in many different niche categories. Use this tool to develop your own mail list.
(14) Business Journal – new business listings – use the weekly listing of new businesses in your business journal to compile a mailer to companies that may need your services.
(15) Direct mail letter to business owners – with a follow up phone call – purchase a list or compile it yourself and send a mailer to business owners. Entrepreneurs are a rich niche for financial advisors because you can help them in many different ways: help with their defined contribution plans; help with their non qualified plans; help investing the profits of the business; assist with obtaining key person insurance; help with wealth management of their personal assets. After you send your mailer, follow up with a phone call and watch this tactic get great results!
In my workshops speaking to groups of financial advisors I find they are not getting out of the office very much, sometimes not at all. Advisors need to have networking in their weekly activities. Sometimes success is 50% just showing up. Being in the right place at the right time can connect you with people you would otherwise never come into contact with. If you want to build your connections, you have to develop a plan to get out of the office at least weekly.
(16) Chamber of commerce – while you will run into many advisors at the chamber, it is still a great way to get exposure. The best way to get the most out of your membership is to volunteer for a board or committee and become involved. You will get to know fellow committee members and key opportunities will become available to you for your effort.
(17) Leads groups – the less time you have in the industry the more likely a leads group like BNI or LeTip will work for you. Never expect to receive more than 5-10% of your business from this tactic. As your experience grows, you will get business from other channels that make this opportunity too time consuming to maintain.
(18) Speed networking – this new type of networking event has sprung up all over the United States and can be quite effective as you have the opportunity to connect with many people one-on-one. You will sit down with one person and have a short time period to each share your message. Then you will switch to a new person. It’s like musical chairs. To find an speed networking event in your city, type into a search engine “speed networking your city.”
(19) Industry groups – do you serve several clients in a particular profession? How can you leverage these relationships for networking? You can find their groups and associations and become a member. This is how I became entrenched in the issues financial advisors face every day, by becoming a member of the Financial Planning Association and joining the board.
Public speaking
There is no better tactic that is more effective at getting new clients than public speaking. Public speaking establishes you as an expert in your field and conveys credibility. There is a certain cache afforded to speakers that is difficult to duplicate in any other marketing tactic.
Seminars and workshops – Speak to groups your clients belong to and position your talks as educational classes. In your client survey listed above, ask your clients which clubs, organizations, or groups they belong to. Offer to provide an educational workshop and think about a broad topic that provides education and comfort to many types of audiences. You will not do any selling during your presentation. The opportunity is in the feedback piece you ask participants to complete.
Ideas for your workshop content:
- (20) Retire in Style – 7 Tips to a Stress Free Retirement
- (21) Money and Behavior: 5 simple ways to stop doing dumb things with your money
- (22) Your Money – Your Life: 4 smart strategies for creating financial success
- (23) Living Life In Retirement – How to create a continuous income stream after you retire
(24) Lunch and Learn – collaborate with a complimentary business and hold a lunch and learn. Pool your clients and come up with topics that would interest both groups of clients. Provide a sandwich lunch and a great learning opportunity for your clients.
(25) Brown bag lunch for a specific niche – approach community organizations and offer an educational lunch with specific topic: Women’s Wealth – A Journey to Financial Success
(26) Start a MeetUp Group – Wealth and Wine Happy Hour – get creative and host a group based on a unique “branded” topic – meet regularly and discusses topics where you have expertise. The MeetUp system is an inexpensive tool to get the word out about your group. As the host you will be perceived as an expert.
(27) Appointment setting services – this type of business will manage the process of sending invitations to consumers for a complimentary portfolio review with you. The incentive for the prospect to come into your office is a restaurant gift certificate. Appointments with qualified prospects are made for you – calls are recorded so that you can review them. Some of my clients have had great success with this tactic that resulted in over 30 appointments and up to 10-15 new clients.
(28) Second opinion services with a CD Rom mailer – we have moved into the digital age which means experimenting with new modalities for getting in front of prospects. This type of business will provide you with CD Rom mailers that offer a second opinion on prospects’ wealth.
Use your website as a prospecting tool by utilizing Inbound Marketing Tactics
(29) Blogging – establish your expertise by blogging. Don’t make the mistake of setting up an exterior blog that is outside your website domain. Your blog should be www.yourdomain.com/blog or you will be wasting your time. Use your blog as a way to show how you’re different by blogging on money topics, financial planning, or wealth management.
Write articles for niche online publications – drive traffic back to your website. The key to this tactic is to write a great “About the Author” section and send readers to your website. Write for the following online websites:
(30) online publications that your target market reads. Find out what they read from your survey results from existing clients!
(31) Trade publications – targeted to your Ideal Clients. What industries do they belong to?
(32) www.EzineArticles.com – a website where writers can contribute their articles
(33) www.SelfGrowth.com – a website committed to life improvement
(34) www.Business2Community.com –unique blog with great article topics
(35) www.HubPages.com – a site devoted to sharing high quality content
(36) www.BusinessKnowHow.com – a site targeted to business owners and sharing ideas
List your firm with a “Find an Advisor Website”
(37) http://www.wiseradvisor.com/
(38) http://www.paladinregistry.com/
(39) http://www.fpanet.org/ – Planner Search – for FPA members who are CFP®’s