Financial planning businesses want to provide more advice, to more clients, and increase their revenue. One of the most common conversations I have with our firms is around the frustration with ‘conventional marketing’ techniques.
Most businesses try everything – direct mail campaigns, cold calling, sponsorship, social media, advertising, seminars, PR, white papers, referral programs… The list goes on! Although these marketing activities yield varying degrees of success, the vast majority seem to fail the expectations of the adviser.
So why don’t these tactics work? I think it has a lot to do with the fact that advisers sell something that you can’t touch or experience. These traditional marketing tactics work best when selling a financial product, when what advisers are really selling is the product called ‘advice.’
Advice is all about relationships – trust, commitment and an understanding of the client’s hopes, fears and aspirations. As one of my colleagues puts it: ‘Advisers need to help their client hold the map and suggest the best way to navigate to their destination, no matter what the weather… They also need to be able to help their client change course if the weather changes, as it often does!’
Advisers can’t rest their revenue hopes on conventional marketing – they need to put themselves front and centre, focussing building and deepening their relationships.
Good licensees focus attention and resources into helping advisers develop soft skills that trigger the emotional connection to buy advice.
What do you think about conventional marketing tools and theories – do they work for today’s consumer? How do you approach gaining new clients and retaining old ones in your business?
