By Martin R. Baird, President, Advisor Marketing
Financial advisors who want to grow their business and help more people turn their financial dreams into reality often struggle to do so because they have fallen victim to a variety of marketing sins.
My book, “The 7 Deadly Sins of Advisor Marketing,” helps advisors identify those sins and overcome them. One of those sins is what I call Reinventing the Wheel. This is basically doing what others have already done so you can waste your time, energy and money doing it over again. Advisors who excel at marketing see what is working, then model it and improve it. They do not reinvent it!
Following is an excerpt from my book concerning the sin of Reinventing the Wheel. Those interested may order a copy of the book at my Web site, www.Advisormarketing.com, on the More Resources page. The link for ordering information is next to the first book listed on that page.
Excerpt:
As a financial planner, would you start your own insurance company just so you can offer life insurance to your clients? Would you buy a group of individual stocks so you could have your own mutual fund? Would you hire a software developer so you could keep track of your clients’ information in your computers?
The answer to these questions is, of course, NO! Why would you waste your time and money reinventing the wheel? So if you wouldn’t do it in these areas, why are so many advisors reinventing the wheel with marketing?
I’ve been to conferences or industry meetings and heard presenters from mutual fund companies say they “modeled” a fund after a successful competitor. We know that means copied. If that is good enough for a multibillion-dollar mutual fund company, why shouldn’t you do it?
Your life will be easier if you find marketing methods that are effective in your industry or others and use them to help more people. The sin is not in trying something new; that is a good thing! The bad part is when you spend precious resources trying to find the answer to a problem that other people have already solved. By learning from others, you save in a variety of very important ways!
Details Create Effective Marketing
In real estate, they always say it’s
location, location, location. I think it’s details, details, details. I’ve
seen a number of companies with terrible locations, but they did a great
job with the details, and they grew and survived.
When it comes to marketing, I think most people forget about the details.
Here are a few you need to focus on. First, zero in on the client, not on
you or the product. It’s not about annuities, it’s about what annuities do
for the client. That could be tax benefits or a never-ending revenue
stream. The key detail, though, is to know what your client wants and
needs.
Second, make it easy for your client. This could mean longer hours or more
ways to contact you. The most important detail is that you make it easy
for them to do business with you. We went to pay our payroll taxes on a
Monday at 4:15 p.m., and our bank was closed. Maybe it’s time to look at
an Internet bank that’s open 24/7 and doesn’t charge a fee to have an
account.
Finally, what can you do to stand out? How can you make doing business
with you such a great experience that a client would love to tell their
friends about you and never want to leave?
By focusing on the details, you are positioning yourself as a leader.
Here’s an example. In southern California, there are two companies that
are only 10 minutes apart by car. One company was started five years
before the other and has been successful. The other company’s name is
known around the world.
Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm are only a few miles apart physically
but worlds apart when it comes to details. My wife and I visited both
once. What a difference between the two! At Disneyland, we had the time of
our lives. They make it a great experience for the guest.
We had breakfast the next morning at Knott’s Berry Farm, and it was very
disappointing. The food was good, but the service was very slow. We had to
ask for items three and four times. If I was asked by someone which one
they should visit, there would be no choice. Simple details can make you
the leader if you want to be.
Keep track of your marketing details.
Do you know if your marketing is working? Do you know if the money you’re
investing is generating a good return? Could it be improved?
People that excel in marketing keep track of the details. It’s not the
pasta principle…throw it against the wall and see what sticks. You waste
too much time doing things that way.
A simple way to start is by keeping track of where your new clients come
from. It can be as simple as a tick sheet at the front desk so when a
client comes in or calls, they are asked how they found out about you.
You will discover that most of your new clients come from one marketing
effort. (Probably referrals if you’re like many people. They get most of
their clients from referrals because that’s the only way they market their
business.) Once you know where your clients are coming from, you can start
to tweak that marketing tool so you are getting the best possible
response.
You’ll find that by changing a single word, you can double your response
rate. Just think, after you know where most of your new business is coming
from, you may be able to double it by improving the marketing just a
little.
In the book Guerrilla Marketing, they have an excellent form for tracking
your marketing effectiveness. It’s a simple but very effective document.
One last thought about tracking. Make sure you’re tracking the right
information. A marketing effort may only generate one new client. But that
client could also pay for the marketing effort in the first year and
generate profit each year after that. It’s important that you spend the
time to look for the right information.
You wouldn’t have a client invest in a product and have no idea about the
return would you? Why would you spend money on marketing and not know how
it’s working? You need to track your marketing details!
Marketing is an investment; please invest wisely!
