Most of my articles offer simple practical advice and that is exactly what this article aims to do; give you a campaign that we’ve used that works. It might not be the sexiest of campaigns or the most complex but it’s a campaign that will get noticed and get you results; isn’t that what you want your marketing to do?

It doesn’t involve automation or social media. It doesn’t involve hours and hours of labour, it really is a simple idea that works.

A common issue for many advisers is not receiving the right type of client from a referral partner or networking group. Instead, they receive clients who don’t suit their business which can cause major dramas for the adviser, the client and person who referred them.

There’s a reason some of the greatest marketers in the world think of joint venture relationships as the most effective marketing strategy.

Someone else has spent years and money building trust with a list of clients and prospects that are also your ideal clients. Joint ventures make it possible for you to access their clients, tap into the trust, and position your advisory services.

In this article I’m going to share a marketing campaign that we have recently used with an adviser because it’s simple, doesn’t cost a fortune and works!

As with most brilliant marketing strategies, it’s not always the easiest thing to pull off. Even when the other professional party appreciates the value of your advice and services, they often lack the right mindset and understanding to promote you to another.

However, with the right message and campaign, you can quite easily fill your pipeline with the ideal clients your value proposition supports. Which I know is music to many ears!

Before you can launch this excellent marketing campaign though, you need to find the right partners. I’m not necessarily talking about accountants and solicitors [although this marketing campaign will work with them too] but other professionals who would be open to a JV marketing opportunity. Who? That will depend on who your target client is. Ask yourself, who do they trust? It could be a business coach, a personal trainer; the list is endless depending on who you want to work with.

Right from the start, you need to identify the perfect people you want to work with; people who share the same values, culture and ideal clients as you do. You might think that their values and culture doesn’t matter to you, but if there is one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that shared values and culture make the JV stick, and campaigns work!

Remember the WANTED/REWARD posters from old Western movies? The ones that show the face of someone that the sheriff is looking for? They pinned them to walls and trees around town.

We want a WANTED poster of your ideal client. This is the exact campaign that we created, and it worked.

First of all, have you worked out who your ideal client is? Remember, it can’t be all Australians! If you tell a referral partner that you can help anyone, you become a commodity, not a specialist, and you’ll simply be forgotten and never referred to.

This is how the campaign looked:

I recently worked with an Adviser who is part of a BNI group. BNI groups might not be your thing, but you might be part of another networking group which is why I want to share this idea with you – because it works! If you’re not part of a networking group, I would encourage you to. There are lots around, and if you really can’t find one you like, you could start your own.

This adviser was having a problem with articulating to the BNI group who his ideal client is.  He is a risk specialist. The group understood what he did, but they either couldn’t understand who his perfect client was or just forgot as soon as the meeting was over. So, we devised a plan so that they wouldn’t forget!

Knowing that most people are visual processors; meaning they prefer to see something than just read it, we created a WANTED flyer for this adviser to use at his BNI group.

The flyer had the words WANTED written at the top and a picture of a small business owner who was working on a farm. He looked successful but stressed. He had a young family; wife and three children. He had people who worked for him. The adviser named the farm business, the family and listed out seven other characteristics about this person.

Each Tuesday when the group met, the adviser handed out the flyer so that the group was reminded exactly who he wanted to see. Simply giving it to them once and never again wouldn’t have achieved the results. That’s an important tip! The group thought it was a great novel idea!

The result? He started receiving the ideal client referrals.

This simple idea can be used in your networking group, with your existing clients and your referral partnerships.

Marketing doesn’t have to be complicated, expensive or hard. Sometimes the simplest of messages work. There are many ways in which you can use this campaign. You could use it internally so help the team understand who your ideal client is. Use it on your website to clearly explain who you work with, although you might want to remove the words, WANTED! And you might look at using the concept in your corporate brochure.

One of the best ways to get your message out there is through presentations either from a stage/platform or online – one to many is far more effective than one to one.

But for many, the idea of actually doing the presentation sends them into a nervous sweat [sometimes that’s actually not a bad thing!].

To help you and more importantly to help others hear your message I’ve written some tips for you below:

1. No more than three key points should be discussed. People simply can’t retain too much information in this type of forum. Don’t baffle the audience. Think three key messages and stick to them.

2. Slow down. Take deep breathes. When people are nervous they can tend to speed up their speech or worse still, mumble. Remeber to breathe.

3. Nerves are good. I hinted at it above. Feeling nervous makes you grounded and you come across as more natural.

4. Own your mistakes. If you missed a key point from the last slide it’s totally OK to admit it. We were often taught that if you got to the end of a presentation and you’d forgotten a key point then offer the audience some ‘bonus’ material and talk about it then! You are human after all!

5. Embrace your flusters! If you feel yourself reddening, sweating or simply getting flustered it’s OK. Walk away from your spot to maybe the other side of the stage or, if you are online change your posture, breathe and continue. You may even want to have a line up your sleeve that you can use to distract the audience at that stage so that you can re-focus.

6. Look up and talk. Never ever read your presentation. It’ll be boring, you won’t be able to project your voice or engage with your audience. Preparation is the key and if you’re as passionate as you say you are about the topic – show it!

7. Stick to the time slot. The number of people that say to me, ‘I’ll wing it!’ scares the living daylights out of me! Why? Because it’s rude to go overtime plus you’ll lose peoples attention.

Presenting is an ideal marketing tactic for any financial adviser – actually let me re-word that, any financial adviser who wishes to. If it’s not up your alley then don’t do it let someone else in the business but make sure you share these tips with them because even the most confident people need some tips now and then!

Need a professional presenter for your next conference, PD day or strategy day? Contact me directly for information about the marketing topics I present. rachel@srscc.com.au

The first thing any professional marketing person thinks of when they read and see all of the media around The Royal Commission is reputation management. Managing the reputations of the thousands of financial advisers and their staff who do outstanding work for their clients day in day out. Ideally you would work from the top down and take a strategic view, but unfortunately, that horse has bolted.

So what can you do as a business to ensure that your reputation remains intact and that you continue to attract and retain the right type of clients, employees and business partners?

There are many ways, but in this post, I’d like to suggest one way. A way that won’t cost you anything and you can start doing today.

Make sure your excellent reputation is visible for everyone to see.

How? Online reviews. I know some of you will grumble when you read this but think about it. 80% of people who meet you for the first time whether told about you through a trusted source of theirs or Google, will check you out online. Why do they do that? Because they want to make sure you have a ‘heartbeat’ [seriously clients have actually used that word] and that you look like you know what you are doing.

Sometimes when people Google your name, your website might not be the first thing that comes up – do it now and see what Google has to say about you. [Finish reading this first!].

If people can read loads of the positive reviews about you, your business and profession surely that has to be a good thing? I know it won’t rid the profession of its current reputation but its a move in the right direction for your business and it won’t cost you anything!

People love to rate things, and we like to read comments about what others have said about things too! I admit I use Tripadvisor. I’m respectful with my feedback and like to read what others have said about places I’m about to spend my hard earned money. I will also admit that I read the comments on Facebook about products that appear in the sponsored spots! Some of them are entertaining! And yes, I have purchased a product because of all the raves reviews!

I know many of you are concerned about all these rating platforms and options available to clients, don’t be. Rating sites and variations of them are here to stay, and they will evolve. What I would suggest you do, though, is take a proactive role in managing your reputation rather than shy away from it.

Here are four simple tips you can start using or, if you are already using them, review them:

1. Own your patch – what people say about you is only one part of the whole reputation landscape. Have content rich visibility on social platforms, for example, LinkedIn, Facebook, and your blog. By having relevant up to date information, you are beginning to show the world that you are knowledgeable. I’m not saying that anyone who shares content is brilliant, instead, if you have content that is visible online, it’s a good start!

2. Be proactive – I keep saying this…when you post an article on a social platform don’t just post the information and give yourself a tap on the back! All you’ve done is clog up the system like many others out there! When you post something, ask for a comment, ask for some feedback – aim to get some engagement. There are 101 reasons why you would do that simple action but in the context of this post, if you ask for feedback and each time you get responses [and they will be good] it is another way to help develop your reputation. It shows people that others do like you and like to communicate with you positively.

3. Ask – rather than running away from online reviews, ask for them! Sometimes if you don’t ask, you don’t get. If you make it part of your plan to get lots of positive comments from your clients and business partners, it will again, help build a positive reputation for you. Ask for them on FB, LI, Google reviews, your website and Adviserratings to start with

4. Take note – actually, take the time to read what words your clients are using when they are describing your service. Are there common words being used? Do you use the same words to describe what it is that you do? If not, why not?

Don’t let the increase in online rating platforms rattle you, instead, accept that they are here to stay and embrace the opportunity to be able to engage with people and make your positive reputation visible to others.

First of all, allow me to clarify what I mean by the term ‘business development’. Business development means the act of participating in actions that will help grow the business. In simple terms then yes would be the answer.

But why do so many financial advisers not actively business develop?

The following answers may surprise you:

1. I don’t have time to business develop

2. Business development is a sales role, and I’m not in sales

3. We get all our new clients through existing clients

4. We wouldn’t know where to start

5. I don’t need any more work at the moment

When we look at advice businesses that are growing a large percentage of them, use the act of business development to help that growth. Whether your advice business is small, medium or large, I would suggest that everyone needs to have a business developer within the company.

7 Benefits of business development

The benefits are vast. However, I have listed the top 7  below:

1. Makes the business more visible

2. Helps create a reputation for the business

3. Informs others that you are open to introductions [new clients]

4. Expands your networks

5. Expands your thinking

6. Starts to position you as a thought leader

7. Leads to increased revenue and more value

7 Tactics you can implement.

Firstly I would recommend you have a strategy. What is the aim of your business development, what do you want to achieve, what is your message etc.?

Here are 7 business development activities for you to consider or perhaps share amongst the team:

1. Attend ‘outside’ industry events. Attend at least one new event each month. An event where you won’t meet other advisers.

2. Target other organisations where your target client works. Propose some educational seminars/workshops that you could hold to bring their employees up to speed with all things financial – related to them of course.

3. Use content marketing to create your reputation and visibility. Commit, share and build your online audience.

4. Consider developing professional groups where other professionals come and network – this can be online or offline.

5. Develop a ‘call register’ to stay top of mind with all strategic business partners.

6. Develop some key sponsorship relationships that support your brand value and attend the events.

7. Participate in some research – look at partnering with another organisation to complete it. Develop the research paper and attend presentations where you talk about the findings.

Business development should undoubtedly be part of your overall growth strategy; the question is, do you have one?

The word trust, according to the dictionary means ‘reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.’ Which I believe we would all agree on.

But why is it that people trust some financial advisers and perhaps not others? Is it qualifications? Is it because they are part of a particular association? Is it because they have been in the profession for over 20 years?

None of the above.

Over the years I have personally interviewed clients of financial advisers. Not through an online survey but actually one on one. One of the standard questions I ask is, ‘When you first met Bob, why did you decide you could trust him?’

The answers?

• Top answer – Because he was referred to me by my Accountant and I trust my Accountant.
• Next answer – We just really liked him, he comes across as very personable.
• Next answer – He took the time to listen to us.

Interesting answers but I’m never surprised. Not once has a client said because my adviser has XYZ qualifications or belongs to a particular association. It’s all those intangible things that people use to judge you and decide whether or not they can trust you.

I don’t discount qualifications by any stretch of the imagination and nor would clients I’m sure if they knew more about them. I assume clients expect their adviser to have a certain level of qualification. Perhaps next time I’ll ask them!

My point is, from a marketing perspective never underestimate the power of introductions from others. Focus your marketing efforts on developing healthy, sustainable professional relationships and receive more of the right type of client.

Remember introductions can come from a variety of channels, other professionals, your existing networks, alumni, your online community, the list is endless.

Never let your finger off the pulse because introductions from others are one of the main reasons potential clients trust you to start with.

I’m not really one for having favourites, that said, I do have a few favourite actors one being Morgan Freeman.

Channel surfing the other day, I landed on an old Graham Norton show – Morgan Freeman was one of his guests.

The interview was about promoting new movies; how do you do it, what’s the best way etc.

Morgan Freeman’s response was poetic [to my ears anyway!].

He said, ‘ Word of mouth is the only form of marketing. You can promote all you like, but if you get no reviews, it’s a waste of money.’

Couldn’t have said it better myself!

Yes, he was talking about promoting movies, but the same approach goes for financial advice too.

A common mistake made by financial advisers [and other professionals too] is going directly to the market through internet advertising and so forth and not having any reviews.

I know in our house if a movie doesn’t have a particular number of reviews, the boys won’t watch it! How is it in your house?

If your marketing material doesn’t show any reviews of your value, your service and the outcomes you can get for people, like Morgan Freeman says, ‘It’s a waste of money.’

We all know that gaining new ideal clients is typically achieved through word of mouth. However, I am seeing more and more financial advisers trying to go directly to the market to attract ideal clients. If this is you, please include as many reviews about you as possible.

You can gain reviews on a plethora of platforms now, for example, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and sites set up to rate financial advisers.

Tip: Whenever you get a review ask permission [from that person] to share it on your marketing collateral too.

A promotion without any reviews is a waste of money! Thank you, Morgan Freeman!

What’s the number one marketing activity?