Tony Vidler

Who is paying who for financial advice will become the biggest question in consumers minds as the industry stakeholders continually and very publicly debate fees, commissions and conflicts of interest in financial services.

For many advisers yet to experience it, full transparency on costs and fees is good for business. It is the right way forward because it builds trust on the part of the consumer, and it helps establish the value conversation which in turn helps correctly to position advisers in comparison to sales-people.  That’s a great thing for everyone except maybe the sales-people.

The who is paying who question is however a question that many advises in transition struggle to answer adequately when commission on products is part of their remuneration mix today (and maybe forever).  It does need to be answered honestly and professionally, and if done so it should help advisers get paid a fee for their expertise directly by the client while potentially still leaving the door open for being paid in a different way for other work with the same client.

I have no objection to commissions as a form of remuneration, and do in fact argue strongly for commissions as a form of financial adviser remuneration in many parts of the industry and advice process.  One should not assume that my comments to come are any sort of anti-commission bias.

But while I absolutely believe that professional advisers should charge the client directly in the form of a fee for planning and pure advice, I do also believe that advisers need to educate clients on the range of possible engagements and what work is required from each of them. Whether that advice is investment, debt, risk management, taxation advice or whatever is irrelevant.  A professional adviser specialising in any one of those fields (or any other) who provides their time and expertise to a consumer deserves to be paid for that given the adviser is trading time, reputational, legal and regulatory risk.  Traditionally the adviser has assumed the business risk of not charging the client directly for that expertise, and instead working on a “success fee” basis only.  That is, advisers have worked on the premise that if the consumer judges the advice to be good and we were able to get a recommended solution in place on terms the consumer was happy with, then we get paid a success fee in the form of a commission from the product placement.

A success fee in the form of a commission for successful implementation of advice recommendations seems reasonable to me, and actually presents good value to consumers generally.

However, prior to implementation of recommendations is the time consuming area of planning – or devising strategy for the client – which is where the advisers actual skill and expertise should be valued separately.

This should be valued separately and in addition to the time and effort that the adviser might be remunerated for if there is  implementation work to be done sometime after a strategy (or plan) has been developed and delivered.

The challenge for many advisers moving to this approach is how to introduce a fee for the planning element when the consumer is often comparing that adviser to a competitor promising to do the “planning” for nothing.

The answer is remarkably simple.  Say the following: “nobody is working for nothing.  Somebody is always paying, and whoever is paying is who that other adviser is working for.  If you are not paying them directly then they are not working for you.

Your question regarding the fee I charge is a good one, and the answer is straightforward: I charge you a fee because I am working for you.  The person who says their plan is free is being paid by someone else to deliver someone else’s agenda….not a plan to meet your goals.”

Then perhaps show them visually what is involved with each possible piece of work and talk to that…

Of course the adviser still needs to establish their value to the client, which will dictate what fee level is appropriate and fair and a good exchange of value.  However the question of whether a fee should be payable at all by an intelligent consumer is essentially addressed and dismissed with this approach.

End of issue really….it is that simple.  If they don’t get that, then you’re probably best not to work with them anyway.

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Tony Vidler

I attended a Rotary function as a guest and ‘discovered’ the best ethical test I’ve ever heard.

When I say ‘discovered’, I personally didn’t discover anything at all…but I was introduced to The Rotary Philosophy which was a discovery for me. It is hardly new, having been written in 1932, however amidst the recent discussion in the industry on how to apply ethical standards practically and consistently I was reminded of it and thought it worth repeating.
Their 4-step ethical test is:

1. Is it the truth?
2. Is it fair to all concerned?
3. Does it promote goodwill and better friendship?
4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

As financial services trundles towards becoming a profession we sometimes struggle to adapt academic or legal concepts into workable daily principles.  Applying the fiduciary responsibility of a professional into a simple and easy-to-remember set of guidelines that can be consistently applied regardless of your specialty area or business structure can be problematic.

How can one be sure that what you think is right stands up to ethical scrutiny?

I think Rotary has nailed it.  Perhaps in the strictest professional sense Number 3 is not necessarily a fit….but then, why not?  Certainly, the fiduciary concept is captured with the simple questions of truth, fairness and benefit to all concerned.  As an ethical test, they would apply to any profession.  The third may not apply to all professions, however, perhaps it is actually an excellent one for financial services.

Given the level of consumer distrust of financial services, it would seem to be an excellent inclusion into our ethical standards.  Does what we do also create and promote goodwill?  Given the intergenerational family impact together with the community benefits of economic self-sufficiency that come from good financial planning advice this “test” is perhaps the essential missing element required to achieve consumer acceptance of financial advice as a profession.

Whether that step is or is not required though, this is an excellent 4 step test that any professional can apply to determine whether their advice, service standards and behaviour meet the ethical standards that could be expected of a professional.

——

Disclosure:  I am not, and have never been, a member of Rotary International and am not promoting or endorsing membership of this or any other similar organisation.  I can, and do, admire their stated aspirations and purpose however.

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Tony Vidler

How many times do we hear a professional claiming that a client should trust them and deal with them because they have X number of years experience?  Does this “years of experience” thing really translate into professional credibility?

Increasingly cynical consumers ask themselves “do you really have 20 years experience, or just 1 years experience 20 times over?“

Or worse; “do you just have 20 years of not being caught out..?“

In previous decades there was perhaps a credibility link between the number of successful years of practice and the consumers ability to place faith in the professional.  However, with increasing cynicism generally driven by increased public knowledge and scrutiny of every industrys’ business practices, together with conflicted advice issues and negative headlines, the “years of experience” argument does not carry the weight that many professionals in the industry might think.

If we are really honest marketing your expertise on the basis of (say) having been in the career for 30 years just gives them an indication of your age in reality doesn’t it?  It doesn’t give consumers any specific information about your capability, or specialty, or areas of excellence.  It gives no sense of whether it has been 30 years of staying just on the right side of the rules, or 30 years of building a stellar reputation as a world leader in your discipline.  It is just a number without context.  30 years.

In the continual search for meaningful differentiators which prospective customers can understand and use when weighing up their professional advice choices, merely expressing the number of years you’ve “survived” in the business doesn’t really cut it.

It is far more relevant for a customer if you highlight numbers that give them an insight into how those years have been used, and how ones professional competency has grown.  That carries the potential be be a potential point of difference.  So instead of merely claiming X years of experience, it becomes far more relevant to cite specifics.

For example:

• I have been a Certified Financial Planner for the last 12 years of my 15 years in the business.  I began studying for my CFP designation when entering the industry, and qualified within 3 years at first attempt, which less than 40% of CFP applicants achieve.  Since achieving this professional designation I have been committed to improving my professional competency with a minimum of 30 hours ongoing technical learning each year….that means that I’ve put in over a thousand hours of technical training to be classed amongst the best financial planners in the world.
• I entered the business in 1986, and immediately learned how to work in the most incredible bull market of all time, followed by the most intense bear market of all time. MY apprenticeship through those years has resulted in me subsequently safely steering more than 500 clients to achieving their retirement goals since that time.
• As a CFA I have undergone XX hours of formal learning, passed XX exams and have been a practicing member of the Institute for 14 years. I am an acknowledged expert in technical  investment analysis and portfolio construction

Each of these simple examples conveys significantly more credibility than a bald claim of how many years one has earned a living in the industry or profession.

To create credibility professionally one has to be prepared to explain what the professional experience means, or what you have achieved during that time which translates into a desirable benefit for prospective clients.  This is not crass self-promotion – it is about creating meaningful context for potential clients to help them understand the relevance of your experience for them.

This approach will be far more meaningful to potential clients than  “trust me… I have X years experience” and it will result in greater success.

Try it.

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In addition to all the technical expertise and commercial knowledge that any professional needs today, there is clearly a requirement for strong soft skills.

Technical knowledge will only take you so far, and sometimes (like when the world is in lockdown and there are no rational markets) it won’t take you anywhere at all.

There are times when what you know just doesn’t matter.  Knowing how to deal with people is all that matters sometimes.  They are the two extremes though, and the reality in normal times you need both to some degree.

So soft skills need to accompany all the technical smarts if you want to really succeed as a professional adviser.  That means having a bit more than just a firm handshake and a nice smile.  But how much more? Or rather, what else?

Well these are the ones that I consider to be THE essential soft skills that are required for success in today’s consumer-focused fast-moving digital environment.

They are:

1.  THE number 1 skill in the Google-Search-Era I believe is reputation management.  Naturally all of the things everyone already knows about building, maintaining and guarding a personal reputation are included, and there is no point repeating them here.  Just creating and maintaining a good reputation in itself however is not enough.

You have to learn how to actively manage that brand.  Your professional reputation is in fact a brand.   Your brand.

It is essential for today’s professional to become their own reputation, or brand, manager. It cannot be contracted out entirely, and it cannot be ignored, because any consumer can google your brand on their smartphones from their car.  Anywhere…. anytime.

Having zero presence online is the same now as having no reputation to speak of, and basically no professional credibility of any consequence.  Having a poor brand is arguably worse.  I say “aguable” because there is some evidence to suggest that consumers trust ratings and reviews more when there are actually some poor reviews in there…just not too many.

But how you “look” online and how people talk about you in your community make a massive difference to your success.

It is critical to take charge of how your own reputation is presented and perceived.  Either you manage it or you leave it to all the others out there plroviding reviews and talking about you to create your brand for you.  One way or another you will get a reputation…you will have a brand. The question is really just “who is managing it?”

You.

You must manage your personal brand, and that is why reputation management skills become essential.

2.  The second of the key skills is managing transparency.  This goes beyond mere compliance, or disclosure of conflicts of interest and the likes.  Those issues are a part of managing transparency – but only a minor part in reality.  Effective transparency is not triggered by customer request or a law…it is an attitude that couples compassion with great ethical behaviour.

It is about being open as a human….being something more than a dry, detached, technical wizard. Being able to show feeling, and passion, and empathy…..being able to connect to other humans at an emotional level is an expectation of most savvy consumers – especially when they are considering working with someone for a decade or more.  It is a key element of establishing the “know, like, trust” components of professional relationships.

Open-ness is not natural for most of us – we don’t want the world to know everything about us (and I am not suggesting that as the goal here either).  But beyond the limits of our own privacy we must learn how to be more open and transparent as humans.  That takes work.  It is a skill.

3.  One of the essentials that still sends shivers down the spines of many professionals is the concept of “Persuasiveness”.  This is more than having an armoury of great sales techniques; it is the ability to shape thinking and change behaviours in others.  To do that you have to be persuasive.

Being persuasive involves being a salesperson as well as a coach as well as a great facilitator.  Being able to influence clients to react positively to new information and strategies, and to change behaviour and attitudes requires all of the skills of all 3 of those roles – selling, coaching, & facilitating.  Only then can a professional be completely equipped to create the necessary positive changes that clients need.

Without our active intervention clients would change very little would they?  We must be able to persuade them to do so.

4.  Like the chameleon we must be rapidly adaptable, and able to blend in quickly with the environment we find ourselves in.  Embracing new thinking, new technology, new professional standards, new research, new trends in behaviour or society….”new” things are the new normality.

Adaptability is the key to thriving in the new normal.

Never has adaptability as a core skill been more evident than in the middle of global lock-downs.

5.  The final one of the 5 essentials is about understanding.  Being perceptive is understanding without necessarily needing an explanation.  It is something more sophisticated than mere intuition.  It is about developing the skill to hear what was not said, and to see what was not readily apparent.

Determining motives and attitudes and personality traits and drivers of behaviour…without needing a 40 page fact-finding document to do so…is a highly developed skill.  That is “Perception”….being able to perceive and understand that which others do not necessarily express.

In addition to all the technical expertise and commercial knowledge that any professional needs today, there is clearly a requirement for strong soft skills as well.  Out of all the possible soft skills that a professional might invest effort into developing and enhancing, these are the 5 that will make the biggest difference to success I believe.  They are the essentials.

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High performers are focused on what matters to the client.

Advisers frequently settle for being average, and it is definitely not because they want to be average, but because they don’t really know what it takes to elevate their performance exponentially.

They often ask how one professional can be so much more successful than they are and assume that there is some magic at work.

The differences between the high performers and the average ones are not magic, and nor are they unachievable.  In fact, they are mostly about being better organised, being more transparent, and communicating better.  These are elements that any adviser can work on immediately.

High performers are better at understanding their clients key expectations:

• Listening and understanding their needs
• Being continually trustworthy
• Depth and breadth of industry information the adviser can provide
• Being a problem solver
• Timely and personal, not mechanical, communication
• Overseeing the family’s financial affairs – not marketing products to them
• Delivering high level personal service

They get more information and know their clients better.

They listen better.

High performers also focus on the financial factors that their clients care most about, which are:

• Meeting investment performance expectations
• Protecting investments from downside risk
• Making them fully aware of fees all the time
• Helping create a financial plan and keeping it current
• Using current technology for access and reporting
• Coordinating and organising their financial documents
• Providing appropriate insurance solutions – and only for as long as they actually need them

They are focused on what matters to the client.

They put the clients’ interests first.

The high performers core business attributes?

1. Their team works as a unit and practices effective delegation
2. Everyone in the business has clear roles and responsibilities
3. They deliver a consistent client experience
4. They do not try to be the experts in everything, but bring in the right experts their clients need
5. Achievement focussed, with high energy levels and high job satisfaction
6. They focus on face-to-face communications wherever possible.  The telephone or email is a secondary preference.
7. They are proactive in tough times – and raise the communication levels.

They play to other people’s strengths.

They have high expectations.

Compare this to the attributes of the less-than-average adviser:

• It is all about me, the adviser.  “What is in it for me” is the dominant mindset
• Minimal delegation, and adviser tries to be the “main man”
• Blurry roles and responsibilities within the firm, if indeed there is actually a “firm”
• Non cohesive and inconsistent client experiences
• Adviser tries to do, and be, everything.
• They project their own value based on market movements
• There is a strong transactional approach, coupled with a “follow what’s hot” mindset
• Opinionated, and with a narrower knowledge base
• Tend to be sedentary, often on the phone or at the desk for bulk of the day
• Status consciousness, with accompanying money focussed
• High stress and angst, accompanying relatively low job satisfaction

As the two types of adviser are compared it becomes obvious quite quickly that the difference between the high performers and others largely begins within the advisers own mindset and attitude.  Particularly the attitude towards clients.  The approach they take to their clients would appear to be the primary point of difference when you get right down to it.

Combining that attitude with some sound commercial and management skill and a willingness to invest in building a business rather than executing transactions is the “magic” if there is any.

Building leverage within the business and the customer experience with a great support team that plays to individuals strengths then leads to exponential growth.  Add in constant quality communications and a client service focus which improves account retention and you have a winning business model.

It begs the question:  If that is all it takes, why would anyone settle for average?

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A clear role description will lead to higher levels of engagement and performance from your people.

Pretty much everyone running a business hates having to come up with job descriptions for their staff. A statement which may have been correct at a moment in time to describe a role, and the role is subject to constant change … they are pretty much a waste of time as means of managing your people well.

The key problem with job descriptions is that we try to accurately capture the key tasks and functions of a staff members position without necessarily having clarity to begin with about how we are going to measure their success.  Hence there is uncertainty about what it is you truly want from your people, and they in turn are naturally just as uncertain about what it is you want.

This uncertainty is then complicated by us having to measure performance against that initial static job description.  As time goes by and we adopt new technology and new practices within our business then people’s tasks and perhaps entire roles change so the job description has a tendency to become increasingly irrelevant over time.

Then we are told that best practice in HR requires us to use what really amounts to a quite ridiculous performance appraisal process….something convoluted and incredibly time consuming which is little more than a function designed by bureaucrats to reinforce the need for the bureaucrats themselves.  These appraisal systems more often than not create tensions and confrontations which would otherwise not need to exist between co-workers and management who were otherwise happy with each other.  They largely then become demotivating for everyone involved in the process other than the bureaucrats who suddenly see a purpose for their own existence because there are now unhappy people in their own workplace. An entire industry has been created around this process, which says plenty about the usefulness of the process itself inside a typical business.

Sure there is employment law in abundance that dictates how contracts must be structured, and there is a “compliance” need for an accurate employment contract with an accurate Job Description.  Sound management would also suggest we should have a process of checking in with the staff and communicating regularly about how everyone and everything is going too.

The problem with job descriptions though is they capture the minutiae…the daily humdrum tasks of a position….without providing clarity on what is most important.  Often when hiring advisers (as opposed to support staff) to work with your firm there isn’t even a job description – there is simply a legal contract for service.  It is little wonder that there is often a gap between the principal of the firm’s expectations, and those of their people.

Most modern performance appraisal systems suck. And most people in the workplace dread them.  Avoid them if you can get away with it…and if you can’t, then get rid of the damned things as fast as you can.

You can manage your people better than that.  Your people want a better working relationship than that.

Give them the certainty that they need.  And that certainty is created back at the start….before any job description is designed.

A fabulous mantra to remember when hiring anyone and then trying to work out how to remunerate and motivate them is “you will get the behaviour you reward”.  It is logical therefore to first identify what those behaviours are if you are going to reward them as part of your contract with staff.

So what is the behaviour you want? How can that be captured in about 3-5 bullet points?

If you can capture your thoughts on what behaviour you want it becomes very simple to write a “Role Description”  which is VERY different to a job description. A role description gives guidance and clarity about what the big and important things are. The Job Description really only provides explanation and guidance about how a staff member might go about executing those key objectives.

An example of a very very long Role Description for an employed Financial Adviser might look like this

• To secure (or exceed) $XXX in revenue per allocated client on average in a calendar year
• Maintain (or exceed) 90% persistency level on the book.
• Complete all service, sales and advice documentation to OUR minimum standards 100% of the time.
• Deliver service – not just advice – to clients daily.
• Run your part of the business as a business.
• Enjoy yourself, and be a positive contributing member of the team

The point in having a clear role description that can be captured in a relatively small number of bullet points is that it creates clarity for everyone.

There is no doubt what is valued.  There is no doubt how success will be measured.  There is no doubt about what elements of the role are the most important things.  Most importantly though it empowers your people to find creative ways to achieve the objectives. It liberates them to a degree from the detailed tasks of a Job Description.

To achieve higher levels of engagement and performance from your people give them a clear role description.  If nothing else, they will be totally clear about you as a business owner want.  And THAT alone will make it easier for you to achieve your business objectives.

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A great value prop can help you stand out from the crowd.

Creating a value proposition that truly differentiates a professional and resonates with the target market audience is one of the hardest things to create, and one of the most important.

It is THE thing which sits at the centre of all your marketing if you get it right.  It becomes embedded in tag lines or positioning statements, referral and networking conversations, marketing collateral – both physical and digital – and extends through to introductory conversations with new prospects.

Professionals can (and do!) get through an entire career without ever truly understanding what makes them different to their peers, let alone being able to express that difference succinctly.  For them, their career is one where they are continually competing on price and convenience and struggling to be valued to the extent they should be.  To break away from the competition based on price or convenience and to maximise the value that prospective clients place upon you there must be a clear point of difference which is desired.    It has to result in an outcome that the target market clients want.

When struggling to define the point of difference it is helpful to map out possible areas of differentiation, such as the ones following:

This is essentially a brainstorming exercise to begin with, and there are 6 “big” areas provided to start the thinking. These are more strategic or thematic as beginning points.  You might for instance believe that your ability to differentiate is going to be built around how you deliver your advice, or perhaps in the post-engagement area of the ongoing experiences that clients have with you and your firm. (I have chosen these 2 as examples because they are quite different, yet often confused as being the same thing).

If you were choosing to differentiate based upon “delivery”, then a little bit of further thinking might suggest that price or terms that reduce barriers or beat market expectations could be a competitive point.  Equally, how you package and deliver the advice may be done quite differently to the mainstream.  Perhaps the standard or quality of the advice might be where you are best in creating a value proposition – and that quality might be deliberately higher or lower than the standard in the marketplace.  An actual example of how this type of approach works is the financial advisory firm which does not meet clients in person….re-defining the accepted standard for delivery of advice.  I know of advice models where the advisers do not physically meet clients at all, choosing instead to engage electronically with a transactional approach, or choosing to engage electronically with a highly personalized advice process that simply minimises travel and meeting time and delivers higher levels of convenience because clients can be sitting at home in their pyjama’s.  For these advisory firms they have created a clear and compelling value proposition by choosing to deliver advice differently.

Some firms of course choose (or are forced to choose by compliance departments!) to deliver advice precisely the same way as everybody else.  For such a firm they may form the view that their best opportunity to differentiate meaningfully for clients is to provide unparalleled client experiences.  Make the professional experience so superlative that clients are continually wowed!  Or at least sufficiently wowed that they don’t consider ever switching to some other firm that promises to be more convenient, or perhaps have better pricing….

If the “client experiences” was an area of competitive difference, there are once again a number of ways one might look build the offer.  It may be in the form of an outstanding rewards or loyalty offer….perhaps the functions and social aspects of the ongoing service are the wow factors…..maybe it is the professional positioning and ongoing business-building opportunities that your firm can create for your clients which is the differentiator.

Ultimately what matters in creating a great value proposition is that it explains a desirable outcome that your target market wants.  Any professional can expect that any other competent professional is able to compete with them based on the simple behavioural standards or generic technical knowledge – so common knowledge and common standards within the profession are…well…”common”.  They are not points of difference at all, let alone something upon which to build the business reputation and become the centre piece of future marketing efforts.

To define and then refine your value proposition begin by figuring out the possible thematic areas of differentiation.  Then from those figure out the different ways within each of those themes that differentiation could be pursued.  Then settle on your desired strategy.  Once that is done it is simply a matter of putting that difference into words – and then executing the strategy.

The first step in creating a value proposition which will resonate with prospects and work for you is to brainstorm and figure out the possibilities first. It really is that simple  – to begin with.  But then the hard work will start, because you have to be able to deliver and live up to the promise you made to the market.

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Important client or COI? Which do you prioritise?

The classic urgent AND important dilemma: your best client is on the phone talking to you.  An incoming call from your top Centre-of-Influence comes in while talking to your best client.

Do you “end and accept” – hanging up on your best client?  Do you ignore your COI?

Are you going to upset either of them, or both of them?

Maybe you don’t have to upset either.  In fact, maybe you can have both of them feeling that you are great to deal with!

There is no absolute right or wrong answer of course, but my own answer to the question intrigued some of my peers when this happened last week, and they suggested that it was worth sharing because I hung up on my best client.   (“Hung up” wasn’t quite as rude as it sounds – it was a quick but polite termination of the call to take the other.)

Here’s the rationale:

1.  What great clients want most when they are talking to you is personal focus.
2.  What great Centres-Of-Influence want most when they are talking to you is priority access and speed.

By promising as much time and attention as they need, and as soon s possible – but not just at this moment in time – the client is appeased.   By giving the COI priority and working into their timing and task management dilemma’s -which are the same as ours usually – they are encouraged to never hesitate to call.

Handling the COI call with speed and urgency builds confidence in your professionalism, efficiency, service focus…and the list of positive attributes could go on.  ALL of those positive attributes are achieved or reinforced through the simple act of always answering that COI’s call as rapidly as possible and giving them priority.

Acknowledging the importance of the client’s call and immediately promising them whatever time it takes to discuss their matter as soon as you are the conditions are right strengthens their confidence in the level of attention and concern you have for them and their business.  My experience is they generally are grateful

As soon as the conditions are right?  The conditions I am referring to are your ability to focus your attention and time upon their matter whilst maintaining absolute confidentiality and privacy.  I have never had a client upset yet with me saying something along the lines of:

“Sorry to interrupt, but can we just pause this chat until I can talk to you without being overheard?”  Usually that is followed up with a brief explanation (e.g.  “you are on speaker phone in my car”, or, “I am sitting with a group of people who can probably hear much of what we are talking about“).  Typically clients cannot stop the conversation quickly enough when there is a suggestion that their confidentiality could be jeopardised….and if we round it out with”I should be able to talk freely in about 10 minutes” then the client is happy.

That typically takes about 10 seconds to deliver…or not much more.  And that is enough time to answer the other call without losing it usually.  Worst case scenario is you don’t quite catch the call from the COI but call them back seconds later with “sorry, I couldn’t get off another call quickly enough….”

While both callers feel that their call is both urgent and important, and both are treated as if it is, the reality is we have just taken “immediate” urgency for  the client out of play and bought the time required, while conveying that them getting our personal focus and attention while safeguarding their interests ins paramount.  At the same time we have introduced a sense of urgency where we want it, which is with the relationship that values speed and priority access.

Everyone’s happy and feels that you are giving them what matters most.  So it is possible to deal with both the urgent and important calls of others while establishing your own priorities and controlling the use of your own time to a large degree.

The post …so, which urgent and important person comes first? appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Clever use of social media can get you noticed.

Advisers keep saying that they struggle to get noticed by their ideal prospects. Advisers also keep saying that they can’t see the point of social media.

Uhhhmmm….maybe the thing they can’t see the point of is the very thing that will fix the other thing?

Let’s say you want to target some business owners, or the CEO’s of certain types of business as an example.  There is a pretty good chance these days that those people are using social media in some manner to promote themselves or their businesses.  So they are out there in social media land in some capacity.  Almost certainly they are on LinkedIn.  They probably have a Twitter account.  Maybe a blog as well.  Quite possibly a YouTube channel….You get the point: there is an example group of great prospects who are using social media in some capacity to promote their own venture or reputation.

And advisers keep wondering how to get the attention of these ideal prospects…..

Here’s a home truth:  Unless your ideal prospect is the unusual character like Seth Godin who seems to basically follow nobody else, these ideal prospects will be watching who is following them, or engaging with them and their brand, and who is sharing their content and helping spread their brand message.

There is the cue for getting noticed by your ideal prospect!

Simple actions can, and do, lead to them noticing you and then engaging with you, and ultimately being willing to take that engagement offline and into the real world.  But it starts with simple actions, such as:

1. Follow them on Twitter, or follow them on LinkedIn.

2. Pay attention to when they post their content, and share it amongst your networks.

3. Make comments on their blogs and content.

4. Ask them questions which highlight their expertise or give them an opportunity to showcase their value proposition, on Twitter, or LinkedIn groups, or their blog or YouTube channel

5. Subscribe to their blog feeds or YouTube channels, or joinLinkedIn groups

The post 5 easy ways to use social media to get noticed by your prospects appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Understanding your clients’ problems can be key to your marketing success.

Every practice needs to be pitching their marketing efforts at the ideal point in the target market’s buying process, because no practice has enough money and time to cover every possibility.

Today’s consumers go through a process of engaging with professionals which is a little different to the consumers of 20 years ago.  The service or advice proposition of an adviser can be ideal for them, and the consumer could be perfectly willing in time to engage that professional, but the consumer doesn’t yet know what the problem is.  Our marketing efforts getting them to “act now” are lost if they do not know they that the message applies to them.  Equally, if we are spending all of our efforts trying to shape opinion in the marketplace, yet our business model is one that is structured for simple transactions, then there is a real risk that we are talking to consumer at the wrong time in their buying journey.

In marketing professional services we have to try and focus the bulk of our effort on pitching to our target market at a particular point in their buying journey.  The right point to pitch at depends on our value proposition, particular strengths and business model.  Some professionals are strongest when they are “educating”, and some stronger on simply facilitating transactions , some have built a business focussed on providing broking services.

Any of the different business models and offerings to the market place are valuable and viable IF we are getting the right messaging into the right forums and channels at the right time.

The key to getting all of those “IF’s” right is to figure out what the burning question is that is being asked by the consumers at any given stage.  At one extreme there are those who are blissfully unaware that they even have a problem, so beginning to engage with prospects at that point requires us to help them understand that a problem actually exists.  Out at the other extreme there are consumers who are convinced that the problem exists, and are also confident that the correct solution to the problem has been found, so they are ready to take action.  Their burning question is simply “how do I get this sorted?”

We can map out the levels of awareness and engagement, identify the “burning question” for each and then start to figure out where those consumers go to for answers and what type of information or service they are looking for.  It looks like this:

Understanding “where” consumers are going to for their information at each stage helps us to identify which platforms or media we should be spending money and effort on to engage with our target market.  Understanding “what” they want or care about at that point enables us to create or provide information which is relevant to them, and which will help them engage with our practice for the rest of the buying journey.

Building a marketing strategy that aligns the firms resources with the right content and platforms for the target market at any particular stage does however require a clear understanding of our own strengths and business model.   When a professional services firm does have an innate understanding of its own position and offering, and understands which stage it is aiming to engage with prospects, then it gives itself a much better chance of pitching the marketing message to the right people at the right time, and in the right place.

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