If you’re a financial advisor seeking to do more business in your local community, then increase community awareness about your firm by optimizing your office location. How? Be a drop-off location for items needed year-round within your community. By opening your office up to your local community, you’re now welcome to repeatedly post to your town’s community Facebook page and other free social channels regarding your drop-off location and the respective cause you support. Remember, it’s repetition that keeps your firm top-of-mind and, therefore, available for when a community member realizes they need financial guidance. (See related post describing...
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I’ve had two shopping experiences recently that can be adapted to help financial advisors increase investor email response rates. For this post, I focus on how advisors can increase investor email response rates from their weekly or monthly email newsletters. I also provide examples of call-to-actions that’ll likely pull well for you. 2 Strategies to Increase Investor Email Response Rates FIRST EXPERIENCE My first experience was with Amazon. There were three sellers for the product I wanted. The prices were essentially the same. However, one was able to deliver it to me that day. I chose the latter and...
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Recently, I’ve watched several advisors provide financial advice via video. Much of the information was helpful. However, at times I was distracted by an advisor’s speaking approach, ultimately minimizing their credibility and preventing me from capturing recommendations. If you’re seeking to gain more business from video marketing or if you frequently video conference with clients and prospects, be sure to fix the following viewer irritations: Video Conferencing Mistakes – Rocking or twisting in your chair, projecting a lack of self-awareness. – Fiddling with pens, pencils, hair, chin, etc., projecting insecurity or anxiety. – Saying “you guys.” Not everyone watching...
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I just read The Art of Dying Well; A Practical Guide to a Good End of Life by Katy Butler. Hands down, it’s the most resourceful book I’ve read this year in regard to end-of-life planning. Specifically, it’ll help advisors guide clients as they navigate health care systems, disabilities, terminal illnesses, emotions and choices surrounding downsizing, sustaining physical independence, preparing end-of-life directives (beyond traditional paperwork lawyers suggest), and much more. Practical and easy to read, Katy provides well researched and actionable advice describing how individuals can thrive during their later years, ultimately achieving a more peaceful path to death. Her recommendations apply...
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Many financial services firms are doing a nice job maintaining a professional website and social presence. However, most are overlooking the impact of gender and genderless diversification within their marketing copy. For Example: Are you unconsciously communicating with one gender more than another, ultimately isolating prospects? Or, are you effectively communicating in order to retain assets transitioning to younger generations, those that in particular prefer genderless marketing? Male & Female Often when facilitating a website review for an advisor, I find their marketing copy tends to speak to one gender more than another. Therefore, when you add content to your...
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Credibility and trust are key components that make or break a financial advisory business. To help financial advisors build more trust, I provide three examples below. Recently, I watched a TED talk by Simon Sinek and was captivated by one particular comment: Trust is a feeling. His remark got me thinking about how to frame words that create feelings. Words financial advisors and other types of financial consultants can use on websites and social media channels to build credibility, ultimately creating feelings of trust. What are feelings? The Merriam-Webster dictionary offers several definitions, including: an emotional state or reaction, often...
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Are you losing clients or not closing business at your usual rate? Perhaps the following is why… Times are changing, particularly in regard to your prospects’ environmental opinions. If you haven’t considered the environment recently, then you may be losing clients to a perceived lack of concern regarding the environment and its sustainability. The easiest way to explore if you’re losing clients to lack of environmental concern is to simply walk through your office and ask yourself the following question: Does what you see reflect your target audiences’ environmental values? More and more Americans are becoming concerned with their...
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