Five Tips for Uncovering More Business from Your Current Clients

We often focus so much time on prospecting for new relationships, we sometimes neglect the potential to increase wallet share within our existing book. On average, financial advisors manage only 40% of their client's assets. Many clients work with 2-5 financial professionals. Maximize the relationship and you can expect that 40% number to increase dramatically and look to become their most important or number one advisor.

We believe it is critical to capitalize on making the most out of your current relationships. This can be done through 5 areas: communications, profiling, advocacy, reciprocation and service. These skill-sets lead to bringing in new assets, uncovering cross-sell opportunities, increasing your client loyalty and retention and growing of referrals. 

1.      Communications: According to several client surveys, communication is the 1 problem in our industry; our clients don't hear from us as often as they'd like to. Building a communication strategy into your marketing plan can really help develop your current relationships and ultimately increase your business. 

2.      Profiling: Many advisors look at profiling as administrative or just an activity to stay in compliance, but in reality profiling can open the door to a lot more business from existing clientele. Digging beyond the basic questions will find more assets, different goals or ways you can help these clients. 

3.      Advocacy: Building advocacy is one of the best ways to capitalize on your existing clients from the standpoint of finding more clients who look just like them. Make your clients true advocates of your practice and they become your supporters, campaigners and promoters.  Advocacy will allow you to grow your business without sacrificing more time and effort on random prospecting.  You'll build stronger relationships with your existing clients by acknowledging their advocacy.

4.      Reciprocation: Finding meaningful ways to say thank you to your clients and letting them know how much you enjoy working with them and how important they are to your practice can go a long way to maximizing the relationship and exceeding expectations. Simple things you can do with your clients can make a big difference.  Whether through creative appreciation tokens or client appreciation events, you'll not only increase retention, you'll find your clients will talk more about you with friends and you gain business through increased referrals.

5.      Service: Make no mistake about it, service is a part of the sales process and makes a difference in both client acquisition and retention. Who better to help you in this arena than your assistant? The service he or she provides is key to your business. Whether sales, service, marketing or administrative, your assistant is touching your clients' everyday.  Get your assistant more involved in your practice and together, you can maximize your success. A scenario where a client is ready to leave can be turned around by an assistant's service level and attitude and the relationship is not only retained but maximized.

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A Low-Key Marketing Approach that Produces Surprising Results

Before you read this post, please answer my latest survey question on the right side of this page - "What is your marketing priority for the fall?"

One of my website members up in Canada recently sent me this message:

"I can't tell you how much insight I am getting from your website.  Specifically, I like the fact that I can email questions and you respond so quickly."

In another email she added:

"I have to share some great news. I started implementing your connections campaign a few weeks ago. I was pleasantly surprised.  Two people from my mini-list have already called for an appointment. I just can't believe it!  Thanks for your tremendous work."

Of course, I hope these testimonials encourage those of you who are not members of EncoreAdvisor.com to join.  (My summer 2008 membership special expires in three days.)  But more importantly, I want to highlight a low-key marketing strategy that produces surprising results.

Do your connections really understand what you do?

Your connections are people you know personally, socially, civically, or professionally.  You probably believe that some of these folks would be good clients for your practice, but you're not sure.  For some unexplained reason, you may even be reluctant to approach them about doing business.

This is where a low-key connections campaign comes into play.  You know what you do and how you do it, but your connections usually don't see the full picture.  In fact, the hesitation you may have in approaching them may be matched by their concern that they do not qualify to be one of your clients.

Let your connections know you're open for new business.

There are 5 elements to a successful connections marketing campaign; here is a quick description:

1. Brainstorm to Create Your Future Client Wish List - Build a list of people you know (or know of) and believe would be ideal clients, but haven't yet invited to be a client of your practice.  With my brainstorming activity, it will take you less than 30 minutes to come up with 25 to 50 names.

2. Send a Unique Introduction (or re-introduction) - In this step, through a simple letter (or email), you want to make sure your connections really know what you do.  They may know who you are and where you work, but this doesn't mean they understand the value you bring to your client relationships.

3. Let Your Connections Know that You're not going to be Pushy - Keep this entire activity as low-key as possible.  Your introductory letter will clearly let your connections know you won't be a pest.   Make it easy for them to opt-out of your campaign.  In fact, you don't even need to make any telephone calls.

4. Maintain Steady and Professional Contact - Following your first letter, you will send a series of letters (or emails) and collateral material that continue to introduce your services.  Only use resources you would be willing to send your best clients.  You're not trying to get rid of outdates brochures or push the latest mutual fund offering.

5. Wait for Your Phone to Ring - I know it sounds too easy, but within 6 months of sending the intro letter about 40 to 60% of these connections will become clients of your practice.  They may call you or you may come in contact with them in some other way, but they now know what you do.  You will be considered a preferred advisor when they need help with financial decisions.  You're probably touching them more frequently and professionally than their current advisors.

 If you're looking for a way to bolster your current marketing efforts, give my connections campaign a try.  Many newer advisors use this campaign to supplement their other prospecting activities.  Veteran advisors, who may not have much time for prospecting, use this campaign as their exclusive marketing system.

Need more help? Members of EncoreAdvsor.com can access complete details, brainstorming tools and sample letters through my three-part coaching session on running an successful connections campaign.

Not a member?  Click here to join and take advantage of my Summer 2008 Membership Special.  You'll gain complete access to all of my connection campaign tools for only $99.00.

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Is your client newsletter a waste of money?

Before you read this post, please answer the latest survey question on the right side of this page - "When is the last time you conducted a client survey?"

Most advisor newsletters are terrible.  They look mass produced and they are filled with watered down commentary.  Nothing about them helps the advisor appear unique or professional.

Automating newsletters may make distribution easy, but most clients can easily see through the pseudo-personalization.  You may be better off not sending anything at all.  Bottom-line:  most pre-fabricated newsletters are a waste of money.

Now, stop for a minute and think about your own newsletter…

• What thoughts are going through your clients' minds as they drop your glossy flier into the trash can?
• Do they wonder if you could reduce your fees if you didn't waste your time and money on the newsletter?
• Are they thinking your newsletter looks like all the "stuff" they receive from other advisors and firms?
• Worst of all, do they view the random nature of your content as a sign that you don't truly understand their needs?

These questions may seem exaggerated, but they're closer to fact than fiction.  The newsletter you're sending your clients may be doing more harm than good.  The immediate effect could be subtle, but over time you may be creating an image of your practice that is far from flattering.

What's the alternative?

You still need to continue "touching" your clients on a frequent basis.  Clients, particularly high net worth clients, want to be educated and informed on issues that relate to their wants and needs.  They want a personalized experience that makes them feel like an important part of your business.

I call this "Delivering the Ultimate Client Experience".  Here's a simple game plan to get you started:

• Substitute a personalized letter for your monthly newsletter template.  A short 250 word letter (just a few paragraphs) aimed specifically at your target audience is miles ahead of a canned newsletter.  If necessary, reduce the frequency of your correspondence from monthly to bi-monthly, substituting quality for quantity.

• Keep a file with articles and quotes of interest.  When you're reading the newspaper or surfing the internet, keep your eyes out for material that is relevant to your clients.  When you find something, cut it out and stick it in a special file or save the webpage to your favorites.  This material can be used as an idea generator for your monthly letter or as a separate mailing to selected clients.

• Don't forget the value of an occasional handwritten note.  Each of your top clients deserves a couple handwritten notes per year.  If you break this task down into bite-sized pieces, it will become part of your routine and not an arduous chore.  If you have 60 key relationships and want to send each of them 2 notes per year, that's just 10 per month.

• Leverage the use of email.  The biggest challenge to using the internet to communicate with your clients is the collection of email addresses.  Stick a note to your phone or on your client review files reminding yourself to ask your clients for permission to send them timely emails.  Despite all the spam, email has become a mainstream form of communication.  Set your email addresses up properly and you will be able to touch your clients more often and with greater effect.

• Always ask yourself, "Who cares?"  Before you hit the send button on an email or drop a letter in the mail, be sure the information truly useful.  Put yourself in your clients' place, if the material is too generic or just something to make you feel like you're busy, skip it.  The goal of your communication plan should always be to enhance your relationships with your clients.

Need more help?  Members of EncoreAdvisor.com can access my Client Communication Planning Tool with links to a library of highly customizable letters and campaigns.

Not a member?  Click here to join and take advantage of my Summer 2008 Membership Special.  You'll get complete access to all of my client communication tools for only $99.00.

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Listen as Peter Lantos interviews Rob Brown of EncoreAdvisor.com

I was recently interviewed by Peter Lantos of the Elite Advisor website.  During this rapid-fire session, Peter and I covered a lot of ground.

Given the rugged investment climate we're currently experiencing, our conversation is very timely.  Here's a quick list of the topics we discussed during this 17 minute interview:

§         Six strategies for delivering superior client service.

§         How to improve your marketing results in 4 simple steps and in just a few hours.

§         A simple campaign for turning your connections into clients.

§         A referral technique that helped one of my coaching clients pick-up 25 referrals in about 2 weeks.

Just click the start button below to begin listening right away.

Need more help?  Members can click on the bullet points above to login to EncoreAdvisor.com and further explore each of these topics.

Not a member?  Click here to join and take advantage of my Summer 2008 Membership Special.  For the next six months, you'll get complete access to EncoreAdvisor.com for only $99.00.

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Attracting New Clients in a Bear Market

(Special note:  Members of EncoreAdvisor.com may download a copy of this entire campaign including letters and scripts.  If you're not a member, click here for our Summer 2008 Membership Special -- only $99.00 for your first six months of membership.  You will gain immediate access to this campaign.)

According to the survey question that's posted on the front page of my website, 88 percent of financial advisors believe we are in a bear market.  While I know this is not a scientific sampling; it does reflect the predominate sentiment caused by recent events.

But this is not the time to bury your head in the sand.  Today's volatile market presents a unique opportunity.

Remember, you are a financial professional!!!

While competitors may shy away from phone calls and meetings, they are actually setting you up to take over their businesses.  Simple handholding messages designed to deliver proactive communication during turbulent times gives your clients and prospects the information they are so urgently seeking.

If you're looking for new clients, the key is to treat your prospects like they're already clients of your practice.  Treat them better than their current advisors.  They need to know what they're missing by not having a relationship with you and your team.

With this concept in mind, here's a "bear market" campaign you could run over the next few weeks:

First, get organized.  You've probably already identified the best prospects for this campaign.  They're in your contact management system, on a yellow pad in your desk drawer or in a spreadsheet you've saved on your computer.  If you need help pulling your list together, go to our quick coaching session on getting your prospect database under control.

Next, demonstrate your client care strategies.  In other words, look at what you've been doing for your clients and modify it for your prospects:

1. Send a handholding letter that sets you apart from the crowd
2. Give your prospects a tool that will help them plan for the rest of 2008
3. Personally show your sincerity with a well-scripted call
4. Gain commitment for ongoing dialogue

Finally, stay in regular contact with these prospects.  Don't drop the ball.  This may seem obvious, but it's easy to let these prospects fall through the cracks.  Be sure to organize your ongoing activities to allow for an appropriate level of contact.  Your contact management system (CMS) will be your most important tool.

Nobody enjoys bear markets, but it can be a great time to add new clients to your practice.  When times are tough, a lot of folks really need your help.

Get organized and let your professionalism shine!

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Selling You, Creating a Story that Sells

Before you read this post, please answer the latest survey question on the right side of this page - "Are we in a bear market?"

Your marketing material should tell a story.  Whether you tell it verbally, like an elevator speech, or in writing (and by the way you should do it both ways), you need to constantly articulate your value.  Why do your clients do business with you?

In other words, you story needs to sell YOU.

In my coaching and training work, I teach five simple rules to help advisors do a better job of telling their stories:

First, you must understand it.  This sounds almost silly but you truly must understand who you are and what you're trying to do or else your prospects and clients never will. You can't say you're a stock broker today and a life planner tomorrow. You have to understand your role and your expertise and deliver accordingly. 

 

Second, you have to believe it. It cannot just be some warm and fuzzy phrase or paragraph with industry buzz words that just sound good. You have to believe in your story, have a passion for it and live it each day with all interactions with prospects and clients.

 

Third, you must be able to repeat it. Stick with your story and ensure it is consistent. Don't try to be one thing to one group of clients and something else to another. Again you can't change your story from one day to the next. You need to build consistency and credibility into your story. Be able to repeat it.

 

Fourth, make sure you advocates know it.  We all have advocates of our practice -- people who truly support our business and what we are trying to accomplish. They can be great promoters and marketers; make sure they know and understand your story.

 

And finally, you must tell it or show it often.  Make sure everyone knows your story - your advocates, your prospects, your clients, your connections, friends and family.  They should all have a copy of your written story and should obviously hear the verbal version too!

A well told story is part of the foundation of your success.  Put is to work with consistency and watch your business grow.

Do you need to improve the way you tell your story?  One of the most popular coaching series on EncoreAdvisor.com helps our members develop their stories.  This three-part series includes campaigns that can be used with clients, connections and prospects.

Need more help?  Members can login to view these coaching sessions:

• Part One:  11 Crucial Questions that will Help you Differentiate your Practice
• Part Two:  Giving your Words More Meaning
• Part Three:  Putting your Marketing Material to Work
• Web Class: Set Yourself Apart from the Crowd, How to Deliver your USP with Confidence and Clarity

Not a member?  Click here to join and gain immediate access to our entire library of practice management and marketing tools.

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Three Quick Sales Tips to Give your Business a Mid-year Boost

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Don't Forget to Thank Your Team

A couple weeks ago, I shared a simple idea to thank your best clients for their business as summer vacation season gets under way. This is also a great time to thank your team members. You typically know where they are heading for their summer holiday so choose a thank you that will create a memory and make their vacation all the more special.

Here are just a few ideas:

• Host a simple mid-year event, lunch, dinner, or drinks, before their vacation. Present a small gift of appreciation at that time!
• Make a small donation to their favorite charity.
• Gift certificates: From dining to spa treatments, chose a gift certificate you know they will enjoy.
• Small gifts: A basket of golf stuff, beach supplies, camping goodies or travel necessities can make a big difference depending on their destination.
• Give them a good book to read for their holiday (as suggested for your top clients a couple weeks ago).
• Leave a thank you card or small gift on their desk welcoming them back.
• Leave a thank you card or small gift on their desk before you leave for vacation, thanking them for holding up the fort in your absence.

Your team members need to know how important they are to you, your clients, your practice and your ultimate success. They will appreciate your summer time gesture and return to work all the more rested and ready to move ahead.

Need some help building your team?  Members of EncoreAdvisor.com have access to all of my teaming tools -- coaching sessions designed to help you build a wining team.

Want to join?  Take a test-drive with our special trial membership offer and gain immediate access to all of our client and prospect letters.

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Don't Let Negativity Creep into Your Practice

It's easy to be negative….

• Yesterday, the temperature here in Williamsburg flirted with 100 degrees; that's too hot for June in Virginia.

• The Dow industrials took another big tumble; the on-again, off-again stack market we've experienced this year definitely feels off-again.

• The headlines tell us that GM's stock price hit a 53 year low; even if you don't own GM, this has to leave you scratching your head.

• Most advisors I speak with have had at least a few tough calls with clients who are worried about their portfolios and financial plans.

But, I have to ask:  Does it pay to be negative?  Is their an upside to worrying?

I think not!

Albert Einstein said, "Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character."  A bad attitude can lead to poor decisions; it clouds your judgment.

Sure, you have to be realistic.  If you manage portfolios, you have to be concerned by the current confluence of economic events.  But you only control what you control.  The way you choose to deal with it is totally in your hands.

In times like these you need to stick with your disciplines.  You need to remember the foundations of your client planning process.  A solid system will withstand even the craziest of markets.

Plus, as a financial professional, your attitude influences others. If you enter your office confidently, your team will feed on your confidence; they will pass it along to your clients. On the other hand, if you call your top clients while you're in a rotten mood, even your very best ideas will be poorly received.

As a professional, you owe it to yourself and everyone around you to stay constructive and upbeat.  When you do, you'll set yourself apart from the crowd.  You won't look like the ever-circling cadre of whiners and doomsayers. 

Of course, in this environment, your professionalism should also lead to more regular contact with your clients and prospects.  Let them know what you're thinking.  Leverage your confidence to strengthen client loyalty, uncover referrals and capture new assets.

Negativity casts a wide net.  Don't get trapped.  Keep focused on the things that matter most to your team and clients.  You'll all be glad you did!

Need some help?  Members of EncoreAdvisor.com can download updated client and prospect handholding letters.

1. 4 Client and Prospect Letters -- Summer 2008
2. Client Communication Planning Calendar
3. Attitude Matters: 7 Tips for Getting More Out of Each Day

Want to join?  Take a test-drive with our special trial membership offer and gain immediate access to all of our client and prospect letters.

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Top Wealth Managers have a Clear Definition of their Ideal Client Relationship

Before you read this post, please answer the latest survey question on the right side of this page.

I was in Boston a couple weeks ago speaking at a major broker-dealer's Wealth Management conference.  My topic was "Defining Your Ideal Client Relationship".  Fortunately, I was able to listen to several panels of top advisors.  As usual, it felt like I came away with as many ideas as I shared.

In fact, here a few quick stories from successful advisors that I'm sure I'll be adding to future presentations:

Have you trained your ideal clients how to react during difficult markets? - One top advisor was asked how he deals with clients who come into his office to complain when the markets are down.  Basically, he doesn't. Why not?  Let me paraphrase his short answer:  "These folks don't get it; they are not ideal clients.  Life is too short to deal with people who don't see me as indispensable."

By the way, he rarely has to have these conversations.  His $250,000,000 practice is filled with ideal clients.

Why do so many advisors settle for less than ideal clients? - A second advisor talked about the way he has added life planning to his client offerings; it allows him to more fully care for his clients.  He mentioned a question he uses during his initial life planning interviews:  "Would you manage your affairs differently if money were NOT an issue?"  The answer to this question helps his clients honestly think about their lifestyle goals.

During my presentation, I decided to turn this question around.  I asked the audience if they would manage their practices differently if they were filled with ideal clients.  Just about everyone agreed that they would.  Why do so many advisors settle for less than ideal clients?

Have you put your definition of an ideal client in writing? -- A third advisor talked about the way he has put his definition of an ideal client in writing.  He uses this written description in brochures, letters, proposals and seminars.  This simple tool helps his clients and prospects more clearly understand the type of client he is seeking for his practice.  It's a form of education that leads to more business and better quality referrals.

Can you clearly articulate your definition of an ideal client?  Do you have it in writing?

One of my core strategies is to help my coaching clients (and website members) develop their definition of an ideal client.  It's the foundation for stronger relationships, asset growth and increased referrals.

Need more details?  Members of EncoreAdvisor.com can access:

1. Web Class: How to Define Your Ideal Client Relationship
2. Is it time to update your definition of an Ideal Client?
3. Focus on Prospects Who Resemble Your Ideal Clients

Both of these coaching sessions contain links to worksheets and related articles.

Want to join?  Take a test-drive with our special trial membership offer.

Need one-on-one help?  Click here to "Consult with Rob Brown".

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