Ask any top performing financial advice business where their ideal clients come from and they will say referrals.

Most advisers have at least one or two referral partners; people who refer the odd client here and there. However, I know that what these advisers want are more robust relationships with these referrers resulting in more potential clients. Is that the same for you or perhaps one of your advisers?

Below are five proven steps you and your advisers can take to improve your referral relationships. You might like to use these in your regular team meetings to help focus on building better relationships.

1.Build stronger relationships

You need to build even stronger relationships with your referral partners.

If your referrers aren’t sending you potential clients, it’s probably not because they don’t think you are capable, but because they don’t hear from you, so they forget about you which also lends itself to them not trusting you.

Stronger relationships lead to better trust between you and referrers.

If they don’t know you, they won’t trust you. I would encourage you to meet regularly so that you can get to know each other on a deeper level so that they trust you. If they don’t get to know, like and trust you enough, why would they remember you?

Too many financial advisers miss this crucial step because they don’t have the time or think the referer won’t want to meet regularly – incorrect.

2. Listen to them and learn about their business

100% it is not about you! Sometimes you can think this is an obvious point, but the amount of times I’ve personally witnessed this is scary.

You should know what the pain points are for your referral partners both with their clients, their industry, their business and themselves. Showing emotional intelligence can only lead to deeper relationships. Meeting with them and asking how a particular pain point is travelling is a simple thing to remember and of course, thinking of innovative ways to help should always be top of mind. You might not be able to help them but think about others that you know that might be able to solve one of their problems.

3.Separate yourself from the rest

If you believe that a particular referral partnership is worth the energy and time stop focusing on the number of clients they’ve sent your way. Instead, think about ways in which you can help them and add value. It could be as simple as offering to add one of their articles to your newsletter or website. Or co-hosting an event – yes, they still work!

4.Build a reputation and deliver

One thing that works is agreeing to a process; how will the referral partners introduce you to new clients, what will the handover look like [all those essential steps] and then, of course, make 100% sure you can and do reach that agreement. Another thing that also works is creating some sort of visual measurement system so that the referral partner can see where the client is at each step of the way when working with you. You might have a system for that already and if you don’t create something simple that you both agree on and then you can report against it.

5.Think broader

Business networking is the lifeblood of most businesses, and some do a better job than others. Make sure you think about who else your referral partners could benefit from being introduced to. Who else do you know that could add value to them from a business sense.

Ask any top performing financial advice business where their ideal clients come from and they will say referrals. Make sure you have the right referral partners too.

The post 5 Ways you can work better with your referral partners appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Rachel Staggs

Many Advisers I talk to wish to attract more of the affluent client, the perception being that they can afford advice and are experienced in paying for it. That said, the more affluent the client the more significant the fee, the more likely perceived expert status will play in the buying decision.

As the advice becomes more complex, the more the affluent client will look for a bona fide expert to help them solve their problems.  By positioning and presenting yourself as an expert, you have the opportunity to gain competitive advantage, justify your premium fees, make yourself more attractive to the affluent client and open the door for media acceptance and promotion.

Some may tell you that at this stage credentials are not so important to the affluent. They respect grit and hard work rather than qualifications – unfortunately I don’t agree with that. In this profession, qualifications shout credibility!  So lets assume you have all the right credentials to be able to work with the affluent members of the community.  The next step is to present and position you accordingly.

Below are three steps I would suggest you review and implement to help attract more of the affluent client:

Step One – Get published or self publish

People love to be able to say that their Adviser is an author; it has a kind of expert ring to it. You don’t need to rush away and write a book, although that is gold, instead you can publish white papers, E-books even newsletters. To present yourself as a knowledgeable expert you need a platform to achieve that and authorship allows you that platform.  Being an author has a kind of magical expert connotation to it.

At a minimum you should be authoring a monthly newsletter, quarterly white paper, annual E-book all of which will position you as an expert and allow others to share your material. If you have a book in you waiting to get out great, if not, perhaps you could co-author one?

Step Two – Self promotion

Now you have something to promote instead of just your services, it provides you with a natural competitive edge. Don’t think of self promotion as a nasty phrase because it’s not – it’s business and it’s helping position you so that you can help your ideal client solve their problems; nothing selfish about that.

Step Three – Publicity

Before becoming an author you may have found it hard to get noticed by media companies but now having written “7 BIG investment mistakes smart people make about money” you have given them an instant angle on a story, an interview or a reason to be one of their guest presenters.

Positioning is key to being perceived and received in the right way. Becoming an author of any kind isn’t the complete answer but it’s a logical way of differentiating yourself and informing affluent clients that they are dealing with an expert because that’s what they will pay for.

By Rachel Staggs, SRS Coaching & Consulting

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Rachel Staggs

The other day I was part of a meeting with several others. We were discussing the recent media attention about the industry and specifically about the Commonwealth Bank Financial Planning business; the negative press that the industry as a whole was receiving and the implied lack of growth.

There was a great deal of doom and gloom amongst the other people at the meeting about the apparent poor reputation of the industry, which as a marketing person I couldn’t really comprehend. From every corner of business, small business, large business, government, religion and yes, financial services, there are true, honest, kind, compassionate leaders that can be trusted.  And, unfortunately, there are dishonest, unscrupulous people who behave unethically. And unfortunately, nowhere is this more obvious than in the realm of marketing.

How can we fix it?

Firstly let me start by saying that we are all in sales, I acknowledge that you may be in the business of offering strategic advice but when it boils down to it, it is a sales process. And all sales processes need a high level of trust, especially in the world of financial advice. The process starts with a simple conversation. It may be a conversation between you and a potential client, between one of your clients and a potential referral, between one of your business partners and a potential client or between your website and social media platforms and a potential client. An effective marketing strategy will turn these conversations into relationships of trust with these potential clients over time. Remember not everyone is ready to engage with your advice, just yet.

We know that people buy from those they trust and this is never truer than for financial advice and for the times we live in now.  If you don’t have the trust it doesn’t matter how well your systems work, how well you’ve defined your offer or priced your advice. If a potential client doesn’t trust you, you have no opportunity to change their lives for the positive.

This also applies with your referral partners. Perhaps you set up what you thought would be a rewarding professional relationship but over time, you haven’t been receiving the referrals you envisaged you would.  The trust element is woven throughout the fabric of your business. And, its for that reason that your marketing strategy should support that and communicate loud and clear why and how you can be trusted and supported by others who have experienced that trust.

What are they thinking?

When someone meets you for the very first time they are thinking, consciously or not, “Who are you and how can you help me?” Knowing that, we all need to ensure that we are able to communicate the answer to that question quickly and concisely and this can be done throughout your marketing communications strategy.

Your potential client and referral partner may also be thinking?

1. Can you really deliver what you say you can? Demonstrate that through your experience. Show them that you can because you have a positive track record.
2. Can they trust you to hold their personal information and that it wont be shared? Explain how you do that.
3. Do they like the other people in your business, can they trust them? If they are to liaise with any other people in your business make sure you introduce them and share their credentials.
4. Do they believe that taking your advice will result in the outcomes they are looking for? Demonstrate you’re past experience working with people just like them.

If you are looking for a pipeline of clients that will want to take your advice and referral partners that want to work with you, remember that you can never under estimate the level of trust that you need to communicate to them to ensure you get the amount of clients your business needs to grow.

Trust has been spoken about for decades across all service based industries but I believe now more than ever before your marketing message needs to be reviewed to ensure that you are articulating and supporting the fact that you can be trusted because trust is something that is being questioned and written about by many people at the moment.

Review your website, marketing collateral and every touch point where a client and referral partner may interact with your business, is there any evidence that they can see, hear or read that demonstrates that you and your business can be trusted? If the answer is no, then I would suggest that this is a golden opportunity to address that and shout from the rafters that you can be trusted and explain why.

I know that some advice businesses don’t have a marketing plan and I never understand why. Marketing encompasses many elements of a business and in this article we’ve addressed just one being trust. If we all know that relationships are built on trust and that trust is being questioned by the media and some clients, why aren’t more businesses communicating the fact that they can be trusted? Your marketing will do that for you.

If you would like to know more about how you can improve your marketing then please join The Adviser Marketing Program, a practical marketing course developed by qualified marketing professionals specifically for the advice industry. Click here to find out more.

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During this open commentary the Industry Thought Leaders will share with you  some of the aspects they believe are critical in developing and sustaining a  quality business. Topics that will be covered are:

1. Ownership & Management by Bob Neil

2. How a business should operate by Jim Stackpool

3. How marketing can position your business for success by Rachel  Staggs

4. How to leverage technology by Colin Williams

Have your pens ready and your mind open as you discover what it takes to  build a quality advice business. Your questions will be answered.

This is the very first in our monthly series of Q&A as a panel of  Industry Thought Leaders and we look forward to you joining us. Spots are  limited to 100 so book now to avoid disappointment!

Q & A With The Industry Thought Leaders

Your questions, your issues, your problems  answered by a panel of Industry Thought Leaders During this Free Live Interactive  Webinar

It’s about open discussion and commentary

It’s about giving you access to a collective group of Industry Thought  Leaders

It’s about inviting you to have your questions answered, every month

It’s about adding value to your business

It’s about real time answers to your real time questions every month

It’s about passion, energy and focus.

For more information and to book your webinar seat  click here

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Rebranding can be expensive so there must be tangible benefits. This makes it easier to communicate it to clients and convince your employees, that it’s worth the cost.

You can create confusion in the market if people don’t understand why you’re doing it.  It’s also fundamental to ensure any new name is available to use, and to protect your own brand equity. Search online to see if anyone is using anything like it in a similar field and take the appropriate Trademark actions.

The execution is critical. Plan how to migrate email and your website, tell suppliers, clients and staff, and change stationery and marketing collateral. Choose a date when your new systems will go live and ensure there’s a crossover period, so people using your old email addresses or website are redirected.

It is strongly recommended that you give a presentation to your staff, showing them what everything would look like down to the business cards and recapping the reasons for the change. “It’s important to allow people to buy into it. Think about how you will inform your existing clients; should you hold a seminar, create a direct mail campaign or a cocktail evening?

Should you rebrand?
Many people enter into rebranding without fully understanding what their existing brand means to everyone. Firstly you should understand what you already have as a brand by talking to your employees, clients and suppliers.

Only then when you completely understand where the brand has been and what it has become can you identify its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. Remember rebranding costs and can take a significant amount of time to implement. The brand needs to reflect the business plan so make sure you have completed that first!

A brand is a perception. It’s the reputation of your company in the mind of your client. It’s a perception that will have a lasting impact on how a client, employee and supplier interact with your business. So it’s critical that you get that perception right.

External branding consists of your advertising, signage and sales messages. These messages should be considered as promises to potential clients, because this will form the basis of you new clients’ perception. If you fail to deliver on your brand promises, then you may cement distrust in the brand and ultimately lose the client and anyone they chose to share the experience with.

Internal branding relates to the inner workings of your business, your client service and communication, your sales process and delivery; decide on why you are changing your brand.

The brand report card
Rate your existing brand on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 = extremely poor; 10 = extremely good) for each of the following characteristics. Create a similar report card for your competitors. Compare and contrast the results. Doing so should help you identify areas that need improvement. Be brutally honest when answering these questions, act like you are an outsider.

1. The team understand what the brand means to clients
– You have identified your ideal target client?
– You have a defined brand mantra?
– You have guidelines for all marketing collateral?

2. The brand is properly positioned
– You have established points of difference?

3. Clients receive superior delivery of the benefits they value most
– Have you attempted to uncover unmet client needs and wants?
– Do you constantly focus on maximising your client experience?

4. The brand takes advantage of the full repertoire of branding and marketing activities available to build brand equity
– Have you strategically chosen and designed your brand name, logo, symbol, signage and so forth to build brand awareness and image?

5. Marketing & Communications are seamlessly integrated. The brand communicates with one voice
– Have you considered all the alternative ways to create brand awareness and link associations?
– Have you ensured the common meaning is contained throughout all your marketing activities?

6. The brand’s pricing strategy is based on client perceptions of value
– Have you estimated the added value perceived by clients?
– Have you optimized price, cost and quality to meet or exceed client expectations?

7. The brand uses appropriate imagery to support its personality
– Have you established credibility by ensuring that the brand and the people behind it are seen as experts, trustworthy and likeable?
– Have you crafted the right personality?

8. The brand is innovative and relevant
– Have you stayed up to date with your industry and clients?

9. For a multiproduct, the brand hierarchy and portfolio are strategically sound
– Do the brands maximise market coverage while minimizing their overlap at the same time?

10. Your company has in place a system to monitor brand equity and performance
– Have you created a brand manual so employees are aware of how the brand should be treated?
– Do you conduct brand audits to assess the health of your brands and to set strategic direction?

(K.L.Keller Strategic Brand Management)

What next?
You need to establish goals and a clear vision of your desired future which is best taken from your business plan.

Define a goal by first asking WHY?  Are you re-branding to increase your client leads, inform prospects of your total service offering or to increase your revenue? Do you wish to sell the business? Perhaps push for greater growth. Or do you simply wish your existing clients to view your business as having greater value?

Without understanding the WHY of branding your business, how will you know where to direct your activities?

A value proposition should convey what your business does how it does it and why your prospects should care and if possible, what makes it different from other financial advisers.

Once you have begun implementation of your brand, make sure to test and measure the effectiveness of your activities through surveys, polls, customer feedback devices and key performance indicators. The measurement of real numbers is the only way to be sure of your success. The more you test, measure and adjust accordingly the more accurate your branding results will become.

To download a branding checklist, click here.

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7 mistakes advisers are making (as told by client’s of Financial Advisers) – don’t make them too!

1. As soon as an Adviser starts speaking I have a pretty good idea of what it will be like to have a long-term relationship with them by how well they listen to me. Unfortunately this particular adviser spent most of our first meeting talking about them and their business. How they have been in the industry for over 15 years and how they feel they are a leader in the industry amongst their peers. I was really bored, I couldn’t understand how that was relevant to me, and they didn’t explain it.  I have a financial problem that’s really keeping me awake at night and I wanted to hear how their business could help me, had they solved problems like mine before? Since the GFC we’re really nervous about who we pick.
2. Because I had been referred to this particular adviser he assumed that I would use his services, he didn’t ask if I was speaking with any other Advisers, if he had of done he would have learnt that I am speaking with two others who have also been referred to me. He treated the meeting as a ‘courtesy’ as though I was definitely going to give him my business but thought we should meet face to face. He didn’t make me feel important or different to any of his other clients. Telling me every five minutes that my friend was a client of his didn’t demonstrate how he could help me.
3. The Adviser I have chosen to manage my money made me feel welcome and had a genuine interest in my situation. They asked lots of questions to gain an understanding and demonstrated how they had helped others like me to solve their financial problems, giving me comfort that they can help me long term. The Adviser demonstrated that he wanted my business in a nice relaxed manner. I work hard for my money and I want to give it to those who deserve it!
4. The Adviser I chose recommended that I speak with other clients of theirs to gain an insight into how they operate whereas the Adviser I didn’t choose never offered such a service he just assumed I would use him because he had been referred.
5. The Adviser I chose explained to me that he would be responsible for my portfolio however, if I ever needed him and he wasn’t available for whatever reason, I could contact the Client Service Manager, Sam, who was also present in the room so she understood who I was and what my needs were  – gave me even more comfort that there are others in the business who can help me unlike the other Adviser where it was all about him.
6. All the Advisers I spoke with were pretty much charging the same fees and price wasn’t really a deciding factor for me and between you and I the Adviser I chose, could have charged more! He just came across as straight forward, he listened and made me feel as though I would also have say about what happens with my money, the others didn’t.
7. All the Advisers I met with had their own presentations that they went through but the difference between the Adviser I chose and the others is that they had interesting slides with lots of pictures rather than just numbers and they stopped at each slide and asked me if I had questions whereas the others just sped through them and didn’t stop! I kept thinking, “How does this relate to me?”

Rachel Staggs runs a series of seminars. Click here for more information.

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