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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Rachel Staggs

Many Advisers have recently asked me about the topic of client surveys, “How do we?” “Should we?” and so forth. As a passionate believer in client surveys, I was more than keen to put some proven tips on paper (so to speak!).

Mistakes I find many Advisers using are not planning beforehand and then, afterwards not actually doing anything with the findings – massive opportunity!

Below are eight tips to help you when you conduct your client surveys:

1. Plan

Decide on what you want to get out of the survey.  Don’t waste this golden opportunity. If there is something your business is considering introducing, for example, social media or a new service, this is the perfect opportunity to engage with your clients and get their feedback.

2. Who

At some stage every client should be asked their views about your business but perhaps not at every survey. This could be a good time to segment your database and target your client surveys. Remember people are buying you, a service not a product so views can be quite different.

3. What

Don’t go overboard with the number of questions you ask. The aim to get useful information from these surveys not interesting. Perhaps aim for 5 questions but 5 brilliant questions that will give you feedback about your business that you can act on rather than praise yourself for.

4. Simple

Write your questions in simple plain English – nothing too tricky – remembering that time is precious!

5. How

Your next decision is how to conduct these surveys. Typical chooses are 1) Adviser does it – no-one likes confrontation so responses might not be ‘true’ 2) Email survey – can be impersonal so ensure you have the correct client details and the email is addressed to the person 3) outsourced to a third party – best option for ‘true’ views

6. Next

Thank everyone who participated in the surveys. No gifts required just a nice sincere thank you. Feel free to share the common responses (without naming names) to those that took part.

7. Action

If you’ve asked useful questions you’ll receive useful comments that you can use to either grow your business or to make changes to. Make sure this gets done. If clients have participated in a survey and see no change – where’s the value?

8. Finally

Use any data you get back from the surveys in your marketing; your website, social media and so forth – extremely powerful.

Talking to your clients through client surveys, when done properly, can be one of the most effective actions you can take in your business. Surveys for survey sake are a waste of everyone’s time but surveys to engage and find out useful information are GOLD!

 By Rachel Staggs SRS Consulting

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SRS Consulting are hosting  a free webinar to learn more about how you can use client surveys in your Advise business effectively. Click here to register.

The post 8 Step Client Satisfaction Checklist appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Connecting and communicating with clients.

Typically when financial advisers talk to their clients, they talk in numbers and statistics, have pie charts, numerous PowerPoint slides and talk in industry jargon all very rational and left brain focused.

Left brained focused people are those that constantly seek more information making it very hard for them to make a decision. 80% of people buy with their emotions and reason with logic later.

Whilst the left brain people want the information and can’t make a decision, right brain focused people want to see the whole picture, get a feel for what it could be like and makes decisions easier then allowing the left brain to go ahead and plan. Once you can understand the importance of this point; of communicating to the right brain first, you will appreciate the power of story telling and why so many successful advisers are using this strategy all over the world.

Sharing facts and figures is always going to be important given this profession but when an adviser talks only about that and doesn’t engage with the context, the bigger picture for the client, they risk losing that potential client all together. I have witnessed presentations from advisers where they roll out their 50 slide PowerPoint and talk about every slide not once relating back to the client so that they can see how all this information sits in their world; “what does it have to do with me?” Is what many clients are left thinking. The right side of the brain wants to know how all the information that was shared, fits into their situation.

Help your clients see in their own minds what all this information means to them. Allowing your clients to create their own image in their minds is more powerful than any picture you could draw. You need to be tapping into the emotional right brain all the time to get the clients to see how this will help them in their quest for their future. Keep asking, “How do you feel about this?” because emotion precedes logic. Clients buy with their emotions and reason with logic later.

A great way to start engaging with a client’s right brain more is to use metaphors in presentations. A metaphor is a word picture that gives language power by involving our senses in the experience. For example, you may have a client who is a boat enthusiast. By using boating as your metaphor you will connect more with the right side of the brain. “Jack, we need to be selective when investing and find companies that won’t sink and drown. We want to be afloat and ready to set sail at anytime that suits you, no matter what the situation.” That statement followed up by some numbers and statistics will appeal to the whole brain making more of a connection, building trust and ultimately loyalty with that client. It’s about sharing wisdom and experience.

Another example may be around you persuading a potential client that they should engage you as their Adviser. “Jack, what if you were going on a trip and you were offered the opportunity to fly on one of two jet airplanes? The first is piloted by an experienced pilot who is being paid to pilot; the second has no pilot but you are allowed to fly it yourself. If you choose that plane without the pilot, a computer will be installed in the cockpit that hooks you up to an Internet site that will tell you everything you need to know about flying. Which plane do you want for your journey? What you’re paying for when you hire an adviser is not information – you can get that anywhere. You’re paying for experience. I’ve been there in bad weather and know how to make a safe landing.”  “How Top producers Sell” West & Anthony. Given the amount of advertising about online risk solutions, no medicals, easy sign up etc; this could be a great example to use.

When we hear the words, “let me tell you a story…” we instantly relax, let down our guards and open our minds to listen. If you can become a natural story teller who can also draw out what is happening, you will stand out from the crowd and give your clients no reason to go anywhere else because you will have connected with them on every level and informed them. As I speak with more and more advisers across Australia, I know that the successful ones are using these ‘persuasive techniques’.

Trust is an extremely popular word in this industry and research shows that if a client feels they can trust you there is little chance they will ever leave you, whatever happens in the markets. Having a trusted adviser is ranked as high, if not higher, than receiving excellent returns. In Australia we like to do business with people we connect with and have a good feeling about, which is why communicating to the right side of the brain is so important to business success.

Below is a checklist of some items that could help you in your next presentation:

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