12 Jun 2019

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

by Rachel Staggs | in 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

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

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

27 Mar 2019

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

by Rachel Staggs | in 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

07 Mar 2019

12 Reasons clients maintain an ongoing relationship with Financial Advisers – Marketing for financial advisers

by Rachel Staggs | in Marketing for Financial Advisers

In one of my last posts, I talked about what clients value about a financial adviser. It was evidence-based meaning it was taken from the research I have conducted for many years with clients of financial advisers. In today’s post, I’d like to share why clients maintain an ongoing relationship with a financial adviser, again, evidence-based.

The statements below are a good indication of the feedback that I receive from actual clients of financial advisers. I believe it’s important to regularly talk to your clients to find out what they value about your advice, what benefits you’ve provided them in terms of your advice and why they remain a client. Your business is built on your clients so why not get their feedback about your business?

Good service. Friendly and speak in a language that is easy to understand – no jargon. They include myself and my wife in the meetings so that both of us understand the advice and what our financial situation is.
Because of their caring attitude and overall effective management of our portfolio. We have no reason to leave.
Because they know us, they know what we want to achieve and they know our financial situation. They’ve helped us plan for our retirement, without them I doubt we’d know when we could retire.
We need them because we don’t know how to look after our finances ourselves.
I trust them with my finances. They haven’t let me down. I’m comfortable that they have my best interest at heart because they haven’t done anything wrong so I have no reason to doubt them.
I only have to speak to one person which I can do face to face, via email or over the phone whichever suits me far quicker than I could find the answer out on the internet.
They are the ones that have organised our finances and know how to manage them. We don’t so without them in our lives we would be a complete mess.
They have provided very useful advice which has ultimately helped us so we trust them. We don’t have to get involved in the details. They tell us what we need to know at a high level which is all we want.
Don’t have time to know what changes are being made in government that might impact is or what’s happening in the financial markets that could also impact us. We pay them to monitor all that for us.
They are proactive and contact us way before we’ve even thought we should contact them about something so it demonstrates that they have our best interest at heart and really do understand us.
We know that we can contact them at any time we have a question and they will respond. Even if they don’t know the answer they’ll find out and tell us. That gives us peace of mind.
Because we now have a better understanding of our finances which means we can make better decisions today about things that we want and know how those decisions will impact our future.

Of course, it goes without saying, your clients might have other reasons why they remain a client of yours, the above are general themes that I have put together based on the years of research I have conducted. It is important to note, however, that if you don’t know why your clients remain with you how do you know what’s important for the future of your business?

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

04 Dec 2018

An Article About Trust – Marketing for Financial Advisers

by Rachel Staggs | in Marketing for Financial Advisers

I hate to start an article off with a negative but never before has the industry rated so poorly for trust. Trust really is the cornerstone of your business and must be addressed.

What is trust? How can it be measured? Trust is very much in the eye of the beholder [is that a line from a song?] so it can be challenging to ensure that trust is written into your strategy and implemented accordingly. However, in this quick post, I’d like to share some simple actions you can take that will help bring trust into the forefront of your business.

How many people do you know that have been scammed? Perhaps you have been yourself; they are very sophisticated these days. Protection of data and privacy of information are two key things people worry about in today’s age. So, what systems do you have in place to protect your client’s information? How often do you invest in them? Who is responsible for these systems and processes you have in place? Now, tell your clients.

Another key area which is growing rapidly is the area of social and ethical responsibility. I’ve written about this before and still subscribe to the notion that as business owners you [we] have a responsibility to give back to others and helping those less fortunate than ourselves. What does your business do and how do you communicate that message. I’ve met advice businesses that do tremendous work in this area but fail to communicate it to clients because they felt uncomfortable about communicating it. Don’t feel uncomfortable. By promoting your social and ethical responsibility you are raising awareness and we need more of that.

When I survey clients of financial advisers I ask them about expectations and similar questions to ascertain what is important to them and 90% of the time it’s about having their best interest at heart. I know you know that but how do you communicate that? Where is your social proof that what you say you can do, you actually have done for others?

Displaying your ability to be trusted can’t be achieved through one piece of communication or through a campaign. It will take a layered approach; a multi-channel approach over time. Think of the hare and the tortoise!

One of the key documents that can help display your trust is your FSG and your privacy statement but when we asked a group of people to find it on a selection of websites, guess what? They couldn’t find it because it’s placed at the bottom of your website in the smallest font compliance will allow! I think we need to change this.

Governance is another keyword that clients are looking for evidence of. How is the business structured? What are the capabilities of the team? What are rules that the business goes by? What processes and systems are in place? How does the business make sure that its clients, employees, stakeholders and community are protected and looked after? Communicate it.

I remember giving a presentation to a group of advisers a couple of years ago and one of them said that they were part of a cottage industry; perhaps a paradigm shift is required by those that still believe that to be true!

Ethics. I know you are honest and transparent but how are you demonstrating that? Do you ever talk about the audits that you have to go through and how successful your business is or has been? Why not? Clients would have no idea about the number of audits that are conducted on your business – talk about a key way to demonstrate trust!

Trust is one the fundamentals of any business and while the above tips will definitely help you [plus there are more ideas] the ultimate way to focus on trust is through your client-centric culture. Not your compliance culture or systems culture but through being a true blue client-centric focused business.

A client centric culture will drive trust.

30 Oct 2018

How Relevance Will Be Your #1 Marketing Weapon – Marketing for Financial Advisers

by Rachel Staggs | in Marketing for Financial Advisers

What does relevance mean? According to the dictionary – the degree to which something is related or useful to what is happening or being talked about. In the context of financial advice then it would be how relevant both the business model is and the advice being offered is to the client.

Relevance has been uncovered as one of the critical drivers of success for the future of financial advice. Relevance coupled with trust will be the two pillars that will attract the ideal client and keep your ideal client. By ignoring your relevance puts you in a position of danger.

So how do you remain relevant and how do you communicate your relevance?

In this short article, I’ll address some fundamentals that you can use in your business right now.

The first thing to consider is creating a framework to work within.

Demonstrate + Involve = Empowerment

Three keywords which will help you deliver the right message. Whenever you can demonstrate things like your capability, expertise, ongoing education, investment philosophy, innovative investment options; the things that are important to clients.

Then involve people in a discussion about the things you have demonstrated through existing clients supporting what you claim, through business partners supporting you, through discussion groups and open communication channels.

Because if you can demonstrate what the client is looking for and involve others, even them, you’ll empower clients to make the right decision to partner with you.

It’s a shift in paradigm for some; rather than relying on others to position your business you start to, and you take control of communicating your relevance to your existing clients and potential clients – even COI’s.

Due to the Royal Commission, questions are being asked; we all know that. Those businesses that think their clients aren’t a little bit concerned and thinking about their adviser, unfortunately, are not living in the real world – sorry to have to say that but I know through the research that I do. So let’s be proactive and start talking about and promoting things like your investment philosophy. You already have one [it might need a refresh] but start bringing it to the forefront and be proud to share it and demonstrate your relevance [plus a few other things!].

You’ve heard us all talk about the importance of content marketing and in the context of relevance I have to bring it up again because what content marketing does is help people answer their burning questions and demonstrates your relevance. If you don’t have things like a blog or white papers or articles where are you demonstrating your relevance regarding solutions for clients?

The other really simple thing you can do to demonstrate your relevance is to share information every time you attend a PD day, course or anything of that nature. Your clients wouldn’t have a clue about the amount of professional development you have to complete each year so tell them! A quick summary of the key points that you learnt from the course shared through your communication channels again demonstrates your relevance.

Relevance is also demonstrated through your financial solutions; the investment options you have available. The new breed of adviser, for example, Fox and Hare Wealth are doing some great things in delivering relevant financial packages to their target market.

As a marketing professional, I talk about all things marketing. But to end this article, I’d like to introduce the notion of organisation change because this is one of the most significant paradigm shifts you can take today as a financial advice business to drive home your client-centric culture. Across the globe, we are seeing a transformation away from functional specialisation to more cross-functional teams that focus on a specific client group. If you have a business that delivers financial planning, accounting and broking, for example, start having a conversation now about how your structure could be changed to match your client demographics rather than sticking with the same old structure.

Relevance isn’t just a word it’s an important pillar that will help your business stay alive now and into the future.