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Tag: financial planner marketing

24 Sep 2019

Ways to Improve Your Value & Ask Great Questions – Marketing for Financial Advisers

by Rachel Staggs | in Marketing for Financial Advisers
Ways to Improve Your Value & Ask Great Questions – Marketing for Financial Advisers

As we all embrace and further deepen a client-centric model, there are many challenges to overcome and many changes to make. People of all ages and financial situations need caring, knowledgeable advisers of all kinds to help them deal with the complexities of modern life. They need expert financial advisers to simplify their financial lives and help them identify and achieve their visions and aspirations. The opportunity has never been more significant [or expected] for financial advisers to put their clients first; you are needed today more than ever before. You have the opportunity to take an active role in understanding their ‘investment wiring’ and their circumstances, purposes, goals and then to take a stand and advise them what you think is the best course of action for them.

Marketing a financial advice business is about positioning change because at the end of the day that’s what you are going to help your clients achieve; change. You’re going to deliver not only a financial strategy but more importantly change in their emotional state and a step closer to their desires.

One of the ways you can achieve all of that is through the questions you ask and how intently you listen. 

Below are some proven ideas that you can use yourself or, distribute to your team. The question you should be asking when you read through this list is, ‘How well are we doing this?’ Perhaps rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10.

  1. Get on your client’s side of the table and let them know you’re there for them. [My question to you is, how do you know you are?]
  2. Ask great questions. That’s what will distinguish you as a great Adviser. And never be afraid to keep asking.
  3. Listen very carefully not only to how your clients answer your questions but to the subtext of their answers. Focus. Remember when you can articulate someone’s problem better than they can, they will look to you for the solution. But, you can only do that if you ask great questions, listen and then repeat back to them what you have heard.
  4. Understand their unique investment wiring; how they feel about money. Help them set and strive for their goals. 80% of us are visual people meaning we make decisions easier if we can ‘see’ things. 
  5. Diagnose the person and their situation thoroughly before prescribing their solution. Engage with mentors and others if required to deliver the best solution for your client. Clients love to hear that there is a team looking after them as well as you.
  6. Respect your client’s point of view. While you as their adviser can and in some cases should disagree with their position on things, always honour and respect them.
  7. Temper the financial jargon with plain English speak. An obvious one but you’d be surprised how many Advisers struggle with this.
  8. Take a stand. Great Advisers aren’t merely ‘yes’ people; don’t just tell your client what they want to hear rather what they need to hear. That’s another sign of a great Adviser.
  9. Treat every client as an honoured guest but also feel comfortable saying no to the ones that aren’t suitable.
  10. Your work is essential; be proud of it.
  11. Never stop learning about your clients. Continue to ask great questions, continue to listen because then you can keep offering great financial advice.

I know through the research that I do, most clients are overwhelmed with all the investing information available to them through the media and Internet. Make sure you don’t overwhelm them too. Don’t ask someone who is overwhelmed with lots of options, confused by the jargon and unsure what is the right thing to do, what they think? If you ask that question, there is a high chance they will say, “I think I need to think about it and talk to others, there’s just so much to take in.”

Once you know your client’s situation and fully understand their investment wiring, it is time to tell them what you as a professional think they should do. Tell them what they should do; that’s value.

As a great adviser, don’t ever lose sight of the fact that advice is about making a difference in your client’s lives. With the right tools, the right questions and commitment, you can advise your clients based on a deep understanding of their needs, wants, hopes and dreams far better than even they can!

Remember it’s the questions you ask that will enable you to differentiate yourself.

To end this post, I’ve jotted down some proven questions. If you don’t use these already, add them to your list. Yes, there are many many more, if you would like then feel free to contact me, rachel@srscc.com.au

  1. What are you hoping your money will accomplish for you?
  2. When you visualise your future, does anything concern or scare you?
  3. Does anything about money keep you up at night?
  4. In what ways do you and your spouse or partner feel differently about money?
  5. What motivated you to meet with me now?
  6. What are some of the best financial decisions you have made?
  7. Tell me more – this is a classic coaching question, you simply keep asking the question until you feel you’ve got to the bottom!
Tagged adviser marketing, client communication, financial adviser marketing, financial planner marketing, financial services markeing, marketing for financial advisers
16 Sep 2019

How to Influence Your Ideal Clients – Marketing for Financial Advisers

by Rachel Staggs | in Marketing for Financial Advisers
How to Influence Your Ideal Clients – Marketing for Financial Advisers

Wouldn’t it be ideal if you could get a database [list] of all the people [ideal clients of course!] thinking about seeking financial advice in the next 6 to 12 months?

Have a look at the diagram below; it’s called the Educational Marketing Spectrum. Every single one of your prospects falls somewhere on this spectrum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the left-hand side, point A is where the prospects first start thinking about solving a problem they have or a solution they need.

At the other end, point Z is where they decide to seek your advice and pay your fees.

In between is best described as ‘prospect fact-finding’. Here they will do some research, they’ll jump on Google, they’ll ask a friend for advice, they’ll probably ask one of their trusted professionals too, for example, their Accountant. As they progress from A to Z, their emotions get engaged, and the likelihood that they’ll make a decision increases rapidly because we [80% of us!] ‘buy’ on emotion and then justify with logic later.

As they progress along the spectrum, they decide to solve the problem. How long does that take? For some, it can be a matter of days, weeks or months. However, I know through the research I do, it can take some prospects years. They decide on a particular adviser, and at point Y, they’re about ready to make a decision; and point Z, they do.

Here’s what you need to know right now. Most Financial Advisers are ignoring this spectrum and not communicating and educating their prospects about the value of their advice. They assume that all prospects are at point Y or Z and move in for the kill there and then. Move in for the kill might not be the right terminology! 

The bad news

At any given time, only 1-4% of your market is at point Y and ready to engage. So there’s a massive mismatch. It doesn’t matter how excellent your offer is, it’s the wrong offer to 96 – 99% of your ideal market that’s why people aren’t responding as quickly as you’d like.

The good news

The whole marketing thing is straightforward. There are only two kinds of offers you can make.

There’s the incentive [business] offer, which is for people at the far right-end. That’s what you might do in a seminar-type environment or when you are seated face to face in their Accountants office or your office after a couple of meetings. You make them an excellent offer which is perfect because by then they will know you, like you and trust you. 

Now, to appeal to everyone else on the spectrum, you need to make an altogether different type of offer – the information offered.

There are lots of different kinds of information offers you can make along the spectrum. For example:

  1. Report
  2. Podcast
  3. Web recording
  4. E-brochure
  5. Case studies
  6. Success stories

All of these are low cost, low-risk opportunities for your prospects. Marketing is about lowering the risk for the person to take the next step in the process, so by drip-feeding educational based information, you are guiding them through the process empowering them to make the right decision. 

Provide your prospects with low-risk education offers and keep them engaged and close to you until they are ready to make a move to contact you [rather than someone else or no-one at all!].

Of course, all of this assumes you have a database [a list] of prospects. If you don’t, you need another type of strategy altogether.

For more information, please contact me directly, rachel@srscc.com.au

Tagged adviser marketing, client communication, financial adviser marketing, financial planner marketing, financial services markeing, marketing for financial advisers, rachel staggs
18 Jul 2019

A different way to articulate your value? Could it work for you? Marketing for Financial Advisers

by Rachel Staggs | in Marketing for Financial Advisers
A different way to articulate your value? Could it work for you? Marketing for Financial Advisers

What you say about your business isn’t nearly as important as what others say about you. Would you agree?

I’ll assume you agreed!

So, knowing that what others say about you is far more important than what you say can I ask why you don’t have more client testimonials and reviews? Perhaps it’s an issue of time or remembering to ask?

The good news is, there are several ways to get the feedback about the value you add, below are four proven ways.

1. Client surveys – a perfect way to engage with your clients is through a survey and an ideal question to ask them is what value they have gained from your advice. At the same time, gain their approval to use their feedback in your marketing and voila, you have some evidence-based proof about your value.

2. Google reviews – whatever you do don’t shy away or ignore these. As a nation, we are used to reading [and giving ] reviews online, so make sure those that are looking can find great reviews about the value you add. The best way I have found to gain Google reviews is to make it part of your client engagement process; share the Google link with your client once they agree to complete it for you.

3. Facebook reviews – similar to above, if you have a Facebook page, make sure you have some reviews. You can actually shift the menu items on your page so that reviews are at the top.

4. LinkedIn recommendations – once again, very important and an excellent place for people to share the value you have provided to them. You can then share your LinkedIn profile URL, and people can see the recommendations.

Four great ways to get feedback about your value.

Once you have the feedback, make sure you use it on your website and any marketing material. The golden opportunity though is when you are talking to people about your business and value because you can share your thoughts, but then you can back it up with evidence by quoting what your clients say about you.

Do you need some help? Email me rachel@srscc.com.au and we can arrange a time to chat.

Tagged adviser marketing, client communication, financial adviser marketing, financial planner marketing, financial services markeing, marketing for financial advisers, rachel staggs
12 Jun 2019

How to convert more leads with digital marketing – Marketing for Financial Advisers

by Rachel Staggs | in Marketing for Financial Advisers
How to convert more leads with digital marketing – Marketing for Financial Advisers

Following on from a previous post which talked about digital marketing I’m going to explain what to do when you have a list of potential clients because what works in the digital landscape is different to the traditional marketing landscape.

So, let’s assume that you created a landing page to support your specific campaign; for example, the campaign might be targeted at expats returning home to Australia. They saw your ad or similar, requested a copy of your video, report or information in exchange for their email details. Now you have their email details what will you do?

Unfortunately, research shows that not everyone calls you directly and becomes a fee-paying client just because they opted in for your value offering. It takes people time. They want to move at their own pace – I talked about that in my last post.

However, we also know that they probably haven’t solved their problem – the one they went looking to answer on the Internet, so we need to remain relevant and in contact and help them through their decision-making process, and we can do that through an email sequence.

Depending on what your value offer is and what their problem is, the ‘formula’ below is what others are using. You will need to test it though for your campaign.

In summary, you send around seven emails. Seven emails which will educate the person in the value of your advice, the fact that their problem will remain a problem and likely get bigger if no action is taken and that you are the person to help them.

When someone downloads your value offer remember they don’t know you; so it’s essential to send them information which will help them get to know, like and trust you for them to ‘buy’ from you.

One of the ‘formulas’ that works for email marketers is below. This formula works, but it will depend on what your value offer is and the fee for your advice. You may have success with putting a strong call to action on your landing page, for example, ‘click here and book a 15 minute time to chat with me’ if not, try this sequence.

Email 1 & 2 = explain who you are, what you do, your capabilities, your point of difference – focusing on building trust.

Email 3 & 4 = talk about the problem. Remembering that your digital marketing campaign focused on that one problem. Support it with case study’s, research, statistics, client stories that will demonstrate that it is a serious problem.

Email 5 = talk about the ‘promise’ that they can get the help from you and make sure your promise is evident and easy for them to understand; that’s about managing expectations.

Email 6 = talk about the solution is to contact you via your online diary to book a 15-minute chat.

Email 7 = remind them of how they can solve their problem by contacting you.

These can be a blend of written emails and video.

Wherever you can, add client testimonials throughout this sequence because what others have to say about you has a great deal of weight; far more than you saying how good you are!

As I said, test it and tweak depending on when a client converts. If nothing happens after the 7th email, you can add them onto your regular email distribution list and keep inviting them to contact you. By adding them to your newsletter list, it means you get the opportunity to continue to educate them about the value of advice and demonstrate your expertise.

I know having done these types of campaigns that it can take people weeks, months if not years to make contact eventually. The point is, never give up because others do, and that’s the mistake they make. Remain relevant and demonstrate the value of your advice.

Two other tips; be authentic and come from a place of wisdom.

For more information about marketing for financial advisers, please contact me rachel@srscc.com.au

Tagged adviser marketing, client communication, financial adviser marketing, financial planner marketing, financial services markeing
24 Apr 2019

How to re-engage with your prospects and fix your follow up – marketing for financial advisers

by Rachel Staggs | in Marketing for Financial Advisers
How to re-engage with your prospects and fix your follow up – marketing for financial advisers

Working with an adviser this week he revealed that he had a long list of prospects who he felt still needed his advice but was unsure of what to do to re-engage and help them in their decision-making process.

It’s an interesting concept a prospect list! In this instance, the prospect list was a list made up of potential clients who had either called and spoken at length with the adviser or had met face to face.

What do you do with your prospect list? 80% of advisers ignore them.

I remember years ago when I worked in the corporate world we were given some sales training [yes, those were the good old days!]. I specifically remember one of the key messages was that if someone had taken the time out of their busy day to either make a call or even spend an hour of their precious time with us, it was for a reason. Not because they had spare time on their hands and they didn’t know how to spend it! They had a problem, and they wanted to speak with someone who could help them solve it. Remember that simple message.

You can have the best most positive meeting with a potential client and then not hear a word afterwards. Your left feeling unsure and start asking yourself, ‘was it me?’, ‘was it something I said?’, they seemed keen and made all the right noises, why haven’t they returned my call or responded to my email?

I can’t answer that; I can’t explain it because stuff happens. People have a problem they meet with you, leave the meeting and then fall back into their world – stuff happens.

And then comes someone who cares enough to follow up – you! The question is how and how often.

I believe it’s essential to come from a place of caring, of empathy knowing that you are the right person who can help them. Have confidence, conviction and communicate.

Here are some ways in which you can remain relevant and top of mind with your prospect list:

1. Add them to your monthly newsletter subscription.
2. Connect with them on LinkedIn.
3. Follow them on Twitter.
4. Send them your most recent report or whitepaper.
5. Email them a copy of a flyer with some notes that are relevant to them.
6. Invite them to your next seminar.

The most important thing you can do though is to pick up the phone and call them. “Hi John, its Rachel here I trust you are well. I thought I’d pick up the phone and check in. I’m curious, given our recent meeting and your desire to work out when you can afford to retire how you were travelling? How valuable was the information that I shared with you the other day [week or month]?”

It depends what the response is to what happens next, but my message is, it’s essential not to give up and to remember that they made the time to contact you initially. Don’t for a second doubt yourself instead have the confidence that you are the right adviser to help them and until they say the words, ‘we went with another adviser’ you keep in contact. People appreciate a follow up because it shows you care and you want the business, not many people follow up these days because they start to doubt themselves. Don’t. You have no idea why they didn’t call you back or respond to your email. It could be for a thousand unknown reasons.

Remain top of their mind, and you’ll gain a new client. Research [conducted by SRSCC] shows that it can sometimes take up to 2-5 years for a prospect to re-engage. Why? Just because!

Any questions? rachel@srscc.com.au

Tagged adviser marketing, client communication, financial adviser marketing, financial planner marketing, financial services markeing, marketing for financial advisers
27 Mar 2019

How to promote yourself as an expert financial adviser – marketing for financial advisers

by Rachel Staggs | in Marketing for Financial Advisers
How to promote yourself as an expert financial adviser – marketing for financial advisers

Most advisers that I meet with charge a premium for their service; and a much deserved fee it is. Other advisers ask how they can justify such high fees. When you are seen as an expert in your field [and you can deliver on that!], people will pay a premium.

So how do you position yourself as an expert? I won’t kid you it does take time and planning but the tactical ideas I share below work and the best thing about them is that they don’t cost the earth!

My advice is if you would like to be known as an expert in your chosen area of specialisation work through this list and identify 2 or 3 ideas which you can implement. Tackling all 13 would be crazy but know that each of them works you just need to decide which ones you can practically undertake.

In no particular order:

1. Testimonials to support the fact that you are an expert.
2. Case studies to demonstrate the typical results you achieve for people.
3. Blog posts to share your ideas and thoughts.
4. Guest posts and articles to share even more value and demonstrate who you know and mix with.
5. Videos of how to and tips and up to date relevant information.
6. Speaking engagements to your ideal client to educate them about their problems [remember they want but you know what they need!].
7. Slideshare to visually demonstrate your capabilities and areas of strengths.
8. White papers to provide thought leadership and knowledge.
9. Podcasts to cut through to those that like to listen to information.
10. Research papers to raise your profile and demonstrate your understanding.
11. eBooks that are quick and easy to read about a range of topics relating to your ideal client.
12. Webinars that can be recorded and watched later.
13. Educational based marketing activities to educate your ideal clients about their potential problems and how they should consider fixing them.

For more information about the above ideas and how SRSCC can help you and your advice business, contact me directly, rachel@srscc.com.au

Tagged adviser marketing, client communication, financial adviser marketing, financial planner marketing, financial services markeing, marketing for financial advisers, rachel staggs
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  • Ways to Improve Your Value & Ask Great Questions – Marketing for Financial Advisers
  • How to Influence Your Ideal Clients – Marketing for Financial Advisers
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  • How to get clients to bring along a friend to your next event – Marketing for Financial Advisers
  • A different way to articulate your value? Could it work for you? Marketing for Financial Advisers

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LATEST NEWS

Ways to Improve Your Value & Ask Great Questions – Marketing for Financial Advisers

Ways to Improve Your Value & Ask Great Questions – Marketing for Financial Advisers

September 24, 2019
How to Influence Your Ideal Clients – Marketing for Financial Advisers

How to Influence Your Ideal Clients – Marketing for Financial Advisers

September 16, 2019

TESTIMONIAL

Rachel has a very personable manner about her which is very refreshing. I have found Rachel to be very approachable and she has integrated her expertise into our business, it is just like having a specialist marketing manager in house. I would highly recommend Rachel within the Financial Services industry as she understands what it takes to succeed in this very niche industry.
Cameron Forbes / Forbes Financial Planning
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