The Marketing Mentor

Transcription

1 For advisers only. Not for use with customers. The Marketing Mentor Helping financial advisers find new clients, keep existing ones and increase profitability. Retirement Investments Insurance Health 1

2 Contents Introduction 3 Building a brand your clients will pay for 4 Using social media to build your brand 9 Getting value from your existing clients 15 Finding new profitable clients 21 2 The Marketing Mentor

3 Introduction As a financial adviser, you ll already know a thing or two about looking after your clients. But the environment is always changing. When rising prices and falling incomes combine to squeeze people s budgets, it s no surprise that long-term financial planning is often at the bottom of a very long list. At such a time it would be easy to see marketing as a costly and unnecessary part of your business. But, when approached correctly, that s certainly not the case. Marketing is much more than just advertising slogans and pretty pictures; it s a key part of how you find new clients, keep existing ones and increase your profitability. Who wouldn t want that? We ve created Marketing Mentor to give you useful ideas, exercises and tips that can help your business to stand out and really thrive in your chosen market. We hope you find it useful. Exercise: Understanding your current marketing activity Organise a meeting with your colleagues and list everything your firm does in a month to promote your business. Your time is money, so charge the time you spend at your hourly business rate to give you an estimated figure. Then add in everything you pay for, including things like drinks and travel. Multiply this by 12 and you ll have a rough idea of how much you spend a year on marketing. See how successful your marketing activity has been by mapping where your last 20 clients came from: current customer referral, web search, networking event or advertising. This can show you whether to concentrate more money or time on your successful activities or try something new. Show how each client reached you: Mr Campbell Searched for financial adviser York in Google. Listed five IFAs with offices in the city centre from the first page. He was looking for pension planning advice and liked your website. He called you to arrange an appointment. He met with you for an initial review and placed his business with you. 3

4 Building a brand your clients will pay for You may be tempted to skip this section, especially if you ve already got a company logo. But a brand is much more than having a recognisable symbol or colour scheme. It s what doing business with you feels like for your clients. In this section: A service clients will pay for 5 Getting feedback on your brand 6 Your brand personality 7 Getting your brand out there 8 Using social media to build your brand 9 4 The Marketing Mentor

5 A service clients will pay for You ve got the skills. You ve got the experience. You can help your clients become financially secure. So what s the problem? Well, quite simply, it s getting people to pay for the advice you give them. Your clients need to understand the services you offer and the value you can add. Exercise: Showing your worth To help make it easier for your clients to see what they re getting for their money, put together a customer proposition. In a nutshell, this should define what you do and put a value on the services you offer. So in around 200 words: l List the 10 clearest benefits you offer your clients, thinking about your experience and how what you offer is different from what they d get elsewhere. l Put these benefits in order of importance. l Use 100 words to explain the top three benefits and then the remaining 100 to cover the rest. Your customer proposition will keep evolving over time, so make sure you keep it up to date. As long as potential clients can see it, they ll know exactly what they re paying for, and they should be happy that it s money well spent. Working out how much to charge According to the Money Advice Service the average hourly fee charged is 150. This could be less or more than people are expecting to pay for advice, depending on their own financial circumstances and their own understanding of what a financial adviser does. So you ve got your work cut out to make your clients understand how much the advice you give really costs. 5

6 Getting feedback on your brand What do you want your business to be? Think about what characteristics you d use to describe one of your friends: fun, open, honest, reliable, outspoken and so on. Now think about your company. How would you describe it? How would you want other people to describe it? When you ve decided that, you re on your way to building a brand. What s your business like now? Ask your clients why they like to do business with you. What is it about the way you do things that they like? What would make them choose you? When you know what you re good at you can build all your marketing activity around it. It s easier to concentrate on what you do well instead of trying to be all things to all people. Exercise: Ask for feedback Choose your top 5 clients by value. Ask them why they choose to work with you. Do they know all of the services you offer and what your experience is? Do they know of any other financial advisers? If they do, what do they think of them? Marketing is all about differentiating yourself from your competitors. So when you find out why your customers chose you, see if the reasons link back to your brand, your great service or the fact that you re personable. Example of client feedback I can recommend AN Adviser as being a wholly honest and direct adviser who doesn t bluster sales with advice. If he can t do anything to help you, then he will say so and not direct you into alternatives that may not be the best fit. He comes highly recommended by me. Craig Ashley hired AN Adviser as a financial adviser in The Marketing Mentor

7 Your brand personality Deciding how you want your clients to feel when they deal with you is one thing. But getting them to actually feel it is another. To build a successful brand you need your company s brand personality to shine through in everything you do. That way you ll set expectations about the kind of service you ll provide. From the s you send to the logo on your business cards, everything needs to get the same message across. Consistency is the key to getting your clients on board with your brand. That doesn t mean you have to use the same words or the same imagery in everything you do. It means that when clients come to you, they have a particular set of expectations. And if you want your business to become a brand, you need to make sure that their experience lives up to these expectations. Exercise: Find inspiration for your brand With your colleagues or trusted contacts, look at the brands that excite you and ask yourself: How do they look? How do they make you feel? How do they treat you and why is it good? Use the answers to see if there are any values or service expectations they offer that you can incorporate into your own brand. 7

8 Getting your brand out there Being able to build your brand in your business community depends on the information that you put out into the world. And you ve probably got more opportunities than you think to show people what you stand for. With all the different ways you can get your brand out there, it s a bit of a balancing act to make sure that the promotional activity you do suits your business. Client meetings PR Friends and family Company website Advertising Social media Business partners Networking Referral groups Sponsorship Marketing Tip: Be the local expert Tailor what you do to your local area to maximise promotional opportunities for free or at minimal cost. Think PR in the local press or on local radio and make yourself available to comment on financial planning issues. Get in touch with your local editor and try to strike up a rapport. 8 The Marketing Mentor

9 Using social media to build your brand Social media is driven by its users. It s uncensored so it lets people create and drive opinion, comment on trends and, more importantly, hear a different point of view. You can use social media as a networking tool or as a way to build an online reputation. You ve probably worked very hard to build a reputation locally amongst your clients and your community. But nowadays you can also use social media to build your brand. You can use it as: l a way to differentiate yourself from your competitors l a potential source of new leads l a tool to build deeper client relationships l a cost effective marketing tool. Think about using social media to connect with your peers and other professional service people. Find opportunities to help them out. You can do anything from answering questions on financial issues or industry trends, to showing them where to find useful information to broaden their understanding of our industry. Try developing a profile on different social media sites and see which fits your business best. Your clients and peers won t be on them all but try and connect with the people and businesses which suit your needs. 9

10 Adviser social media Share information from your business, follow industry leaders and comment on industry trends. Build a personal profile and network with other like minded professionals. Show your personality and interests to build closer client relationships. Connect to industry peers and exchange knowledge, ideas and opportunities with other professionals. Create videos of seminars, case studies and presentations and host them on Youtube. Link them to other social media sites to create rich media content on your business and services. Tip: Connect with people Invite people to connect with you on social media sites by having an introduction which meets their needs. If you ve spotted a service that they need or think that they may be a useful business associate, include this information when you make contact. One of the best ways of connecting with people is to get an introduction from a contact you share. 10 The Marketing Mentor

11 It isn t just for kids Even if your clients are in their 60s or 70s, don t be too hasty in discounting how effective social media can be. Social networking site use by age group, The percentage of adult internet users in each age group who use social networking sites. = 2% of the age group Age 65+ Age Age Age Source: Pew Research Center s Internet & American Life Project surveys: It s no surprise that in % of young adults aged use social networking sites. However, the other age categories are seeing faster growth rates. The rate has more than tripled amongst users aged 65 and over, increasing from 2% in 2005 to 35% in

12 LinkedIn LinkedIn is an online network for professionals; a place where people can find other like-minded professionals, businesses and even potential clients. Unlike some other types of social media, people use it to find expertise, not friends. You can use LinkedIn to: l set up or join interest groups then get involved in conversations to demonstrate your knowledge l research new clients and check out other people s connections l promote your website l search for contacts by profession or location l identify opportunities for joint ventures and exchange leads l connect with your personal professional network l connect with others to expand your network. Tip: Join IFA Life Visit ifalife.com. As well as being a good place to share ideas with other advisers on industry best practice; the site also contains useful guidance to help you build a professional profile on LinkedIn. 12 The Marketing Mentor

13 Building an effective LinkedIn profile Setting up a profile is easy and it lets you build a portfolio of you and your business. Here s what a completed profile looks like: AN Adviser Pension planning and review specialist at AN Adviser Ltd York, United Kingdom Financial Services A picture paints a thousand words. Think about the impression you want to portray with an image. Is it right for your target audience and brand? AN Adviser In tonights Financial Planning York meeting we are debating how can small business owners build for their future in these uncertain economic times. Join us at Monk Bar Hotel and Conference Centre at 6:30pm. Unlike l Like l Comment l Share l See all activity l Post an update l 2 days ago Summary Current Chair at Financial Planning York Independent financial adviser Investment and pension planning specialist at AN Adviser Ltd Think about the language your audience will use when searching for your services. Use keywords in your profile to easily describe what you offer: I am an independent financial adviser specialising in helping business owners and senior management professionals. My services cover: financial planning, investment planning, pension planning and reviews and inheritance tax and estate planning. I am the founder and chair of Financial Planning York, a group of highly experienced financial advisers who meet on a monthly basis to discuss the financial services industry. We cover industry and lifestyle trends that affect our clients daily lives. We aim to develop best practice for our industry and ultimately help our clients achieve their goals and live the life they deserve. l financial planning expert l IFA/independent financial adviser l investment planning l pension planning and reviews l insurance/protection l inheritance tax. 13

14 Experience Chair Financial Planning York March 2002 to present York, United Kingdom Include what experience you have. A complete profile on LinkedIn needs three recent positions. Building peer to peer relationships with other financial advisers in the York area. We share best practice, debate lifestyle and industry issues and welcome speakers from all financial services backgrounds. Independent financial adviser Investment and pension planning specialist AN Adviser Ltd July 2001 to present York, United Kingdom I am a financial adviser who specialises in working with business owners and senior management professionals. My services cover: Financial planning Investment planning Pension planning and reviews Inheritance tax and estate planning. Recommendations for AN Adviser Independent financial adviser Investment and pension planning specialist AN Adviser Ltd I hired AN as a financial adviser a couple of years ago to review my financial position after I became concerned that I wasn t receiving particularly good advice in some areas. Recommendations are a great way of showing what you ve achieved for your customers. Encourage your customers and colleagues to recommend you. I can recommend AN as being a wholly honest and direct adviser who doesn t bluster sales with advice. If he can t do anything to help you, then he will say so and not direct you into alternatives that may not be best fit. He comes highly recommended by me. February 28, 2012 Top qualities: Expert, Good Value, High Integrity 1st Craig Ashley Hired AN as a financial adviser in 2008, and hired AN more than once. Tip: Improve your search engine ranking A complete LinkedIn profile can help with your personal and business search ranking on Google and other search engines. 14 The Marketing Mentor

15 Getting value from your existing clients Growing your business isn t all about winning new clients. Making sure you re getting the most out of your existing clients can make a big difference to your bottom line too. In this section: Building a database 16 Recognising life stages 17 Segmenting your clients 18 Building relationships 19 15

16 Building a database You ll already have a bank of clients who you ve helped before. But do you really know enough about them? If you don t, you can start by developing a database using the details you ve already got. Your database should include: l Personal details: name, address, age, income, marital status and home ownership status. l Contact details: , phone number, LinkedIn and Facebook profiles, how they want to be contacted (face to face, phone, post or ). l Product details: products/investments you have arranged for them, products/investments arranged by another adviser, the value of their existing products, renewal and review dates. Exercise: Get the right information Pick your top 25 clients by value. If your database has some holes in it, schedule a call or meeting with your client to find out more. Don t be afraid to ask for as much detail as possible. You ll get the information you need, giving you a picture of their financial requirements for the coming year. Once your database holds as much relevant information as possible, it should give you easy access to all your clients contact details. You should be able to use it to tell you when each client review is due and when each product ends. This is a useful way of maximising the opportunities from your existing clients. Your database could be as simple as using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Or, if you have more sophisticated requirements, you might want to think about using specialised CRM (customer relationship management) software. 16 The Marketing Mentor

17 Recognising life stages Using your database, you should be able to chart the life cycle of your clients. Then you can give them financial planning tips linked to their life stage. You can post these tips on your social media pages and start to direct specific clients to the content. If your clients like the tips, they can share the information easily with their contacts. Group clients into different life stages: Growing family Empty nest New baby New family home New partner Buying a home 17

18 Segmenting your clients Once you ve identified clients with similar traits, you can segment them into different groups. Then if you build a customer profile for each different segment, you ll know a bit more about where you should be focusing your marketing activity. You can segment your clients by: Age Income Where they live Attitude to risk Types of product 18 The Marketing Mentor

19 Building relationships It goes without saying that the better your relationship is with your clients, the better it will be for your business. Building a relationship is all about keeping in touch. But regular contact is not about hard sell. It s about being there for your clients with the advice they need, when they need it. Keeping in touch Before sending any communications, especially s, to your clients, you need to make sure that they re happy to receive them. You also have to make it clear how they can unsubscribe from future communications if they change their mind. To find out more about handling customer data check out Newsletters can be an effective way of communicating relevant information on your business direct to your clients. Once you ve collected addresses for your database, you can your newsletter to clients, removing any printing costs. Include content on lifestyle or industry news that your clients would be interested in. Tip: Get your information out there If you do print newsletters, include them in any written correspondence you send to your clients, such as yearly statements. Highlight a story covered in the newsletter that is relevant to their circumstances with a compliments slip or a sticky note. marketing use to tell your clients anything from product news to special offers and events going on locally. If you have more than 50 clients it might be worth looking at marketing software that will let you design your s from existing templates. There are many companies you could use. A few options are: Campaign Monitor campaignmonitor.com Constant Contact constantcontact.com Mail Chimp mailchimp.com These systems can help you organise your contacts, and send s to a large number of clients at once. 19

20 Company website tell your clients that they can go to your website for helpful information. Include industry news with some commentary to build your credibility. Link to blogs and post news items that are relevant to your customers. You may also be able to link your social media accounts to your website, so clients can see a live feed of what you re talking about. Tip: Tell people what you re doing Tell people when you post a new news item on your website. Post links on any social networking sites you use to engage with your clients, or simply the clients that you think the story is relevant to. Use content created by local news, radio programmes or even national television programmes for inspiration for your news stories or comment pieces. Social media build up your profile on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter and start to engage your clients. Ask your clients if they re on social media platforms and connect with them. But beware, Facebook is largely used for personal friends. Your clients might find it inappropriate to connect with you on Facebook. They may prefer to link with you in a professional capacity on LinkedIn. Tip: Tell people where you are Tell your clients on your website and in s that you have a presence on social media sites. Use web links and social media logos that link through to your social media page. Greeting cards highlight birthdays and special events on your database and send your clients birthday cards or Christmas cards to show you value them. It may seem superficial but it will remind them of your services and strengthen your relationship. Developing a contact strategy for your clients When you ve built a good relationship, it s much easier for you to get in touch with your clients. If you contact your clients out of the blue they may be a bit suspicious. And that s a sure-fire way to put them off. So right from the beginning, let your clients know that you ll be contacting them from time to time. A good way to start is to look at the key dates for your clients policies on your database. 20 The Marketing Mentor

21 Finding new profitable clients You ll have lots of opportunities to get new clients, just as soon as you ve worked out who you want to target and where you can find them. In this section: Making your website work 22 Working with a web developer 23 Search engine optimisation 25 Seminars 27 Creating your own publicity 28 Direct marketing 30 Writing a good prospecting letter 31 Creating your own business network 32 21

22 Making your website work Nowadays, one of the quickest and easiest ways for people to find what, or who, they re looking for is to use the web. So, are you confident that your website is working hard enough to make potential clients pick you? If you aren t, then try taking these simple steps: l Make a list of what you like and, more importantly, what you don t like about your site. l Look at other adviser websites and those of other financial service providers. How do they sell themselves? How easy is their site to navigate? Use the good examples as a benchmark for your own site. l Decide how you want your clients to use your site. Is a one page website with your contact details sufficient or will a website with lots of pages and features be more suitable? Exercise: Monitoring your site effectiveness To see how effectively users find and navigate their way around your site, go to google.com/analytics. After you ve done this, you may decide you need to develop your site. Finding the right web developer can be difficult, but it s like buying any other type of service. You need to do your homework so you can find the right developer who can meet your needs at the right price: l Look at adviser websites and find out who designed them. Web developers usually leave a link to their own website at the bottom of a homepage. l Get recommendations on web developers from your business contacts. Ask what they were like to work with. How did they manage the project from start to finish and how much did it cost? l Search web agency, digital agency or web design using Google and list the top ranked web developers in your local area. website design Manchester 22 The Marketing Mentor

23 Working with a web developer When briefing a web developer, specify everything you need. Try to describe how you want your clients to navigate your site and how you want them to find information about you, and the services you offer. Strategy What do you want to achieve. Who will use it. Plan Sitemap and layout design. First proof and client sign off. Promote SEO. Build into marketing activity. Build Build site. Populate with content. Test and implement. 23

24 In your brief, you need to include: Your aims tell the developer what you offer, who your clients are and what you want your site to do. Design criteria show the developer your marketing material, your logo and any websites you like so they understand exactly what you want. Don t just focus on the sites of other advisers, include any sites you like from other service providers or industries. Timescales make sure the developer knows if there s a fixed launch date. If there isn t, a rough timeline will help make sure things keep moving. A good website takes time to build, so liaise with your developer on schedules. Costs decide on a budget, tell the developer what it is and make sure you both stick to it. You get what you pay for For a small firm it s tempting to scrimp on things when times are hard. But paying for a bargain basement website may not be the best idea, as it may not meet your brand and client perceptions. It s better to make sure your website is right, meeting all your requirements so it helps generate awareness of your business. To get you up and running, you can expect to pay between 400 and 4,000 for a good quality website. The final cost depends on how big your site is, how much content you have on the site, what features you choose and how long the designer will take to build it. Tip: Optimise your website The world is moving to browsing the web on mobile phones and tablet PCs. Make sure your site is optimised to look good and work well on these too, as more and more people will be looking at your site on these devices. Updating your site with a content management system Once built, your site will need to be maintained, not to mention updated. So you ll need to decide what kind of ongoing support you ll need from your developer. As part of the briefing stage you should ask what you can do yourself. Your developer should give you access to a content management system (CMS) for your site. This will let you update certain elements of the site at no extra charge. You ll need to allocate a budget of around a month for ongoing costs such as web and hosting. 24 The Marketing Mentor

25 Search engine optimisation Search engine optimisation, or SEO, sounds like a very grand endeavour. But really it s just designing your website to make sure it comes somewhere near the top when people search on the internet. The reason why businesses do this is quite simple. It s because 80% of people use search engines to find local businesses, and the higher you rank, the more clicks you ll get. To make sure your business is up there with the best of them, you need to think about what you re trying to achieve. Odds are that you re not going to be in the top three, or even on the first page, when people do a Google search on financial services in the UK. So why not focus on building your profile in your local area? Talk to your developer about how you can improve your local search rankings. Exercise: Be the customer Type financial adviser and your area into Google and see where you rank. This will be a good benchmark of how much work you need to do and also what keywords are most effective. Getting in the top three 1. Keywords are search terms people frequently search for on search engines. Include lots of keywords on your site, so when clients are searching, the content on your site will be picked up. Use words that are relevant to your brand, the services you offer and location: l IFA in Bristol l Financial adviser in Bristol l Pension planning and pension reviews Bristol l Investment advice Bristol l Insurance and protection for you and your family Bristol l Inheritance tax and estate planning Bristol The trick with keywords is to picture your clients. What terms and products would they search to find your business? The simplest terms might be the most effective. 25

26 Where keywords should be found in a webpage URL Webpage title Heading Navigation tabs Saved image name Body text Bold and Italic text in body copy 2. Get other sites to mention and, if possible, link to your website. Post on blogs and forums like IFA Life and get involved in the debates going on. And, of course, the odd comment on relevant news articles will get you out there as long as you always mention your company and web address. 3. Create LinkedIn and Twitter accounts for your business and have links to drive traffic to your website. Because millions of people use the sites, they perform well on Google. So link all the content you post on LinkedIn and Twitter to your own website. 4. Link to any preferred partners by creating reciprocal links, where you agree with another webmaster to link to their website, and they link to yours in return. 5. Ask for trade associations or local community websites to contain a link to your site. For example register your company on and 6. Give your website an address that describes what you do, for example JohnWatsonIFA.co.uk. Tip: Google AdWords Improving your ranking on Google takes time. It certainly won t happen overnight. So, while SEO starts to kick in, think about putting some money behind paid-search or AdWords to drive traffic to your site. Visit AdWords.google.co.uk for more information. 26 The Marketing Mentor

27 Seminars Seminars can be a cost effective way of reaching an audience with a targeted message. The success of your seminars will depend on how relevant it is to the audience. By planning what your seminar will cover in advance, you ll be able to develop the right messages for the audience. People who go to seminars tend to see them as a good way to find out about the services you offer. So make sure you concentrate on the solutions you can deliver and how they could benefit the audience. Tip: Inviting the right people Find attendees for your seminar by identifying people from your client database. Ask your best/ high net worth clients to attend and ask them to bring a friend or business contact. Contact attendees by or phone before the seminar to ask if there s any topic they would like you to cover. Tip: IFA Life offers some great tips on how to dramatically increase sales and profits by hosting your own seminars, workshops and networking events. Register today at ifalife.com/avivaoffer and receive a free PDF copy of Successful Seminar Selling by IFA Life founder Philip Calvert. Choosing a venue It goes without saying that you ll need to select a venue that is both professional and comfortable. Your company training room or large conference room may be suitable but why not give your event some prestige by hiring a conference room at an upmarket hotel or interesting venue such as an art gallery? Think about the venue in relation to your brand. The venue can set expectations about the type of adviser you are to your prospective clients. If your target audience are professional business owners think about an upmarket hotel close to their offices. If your target market is families, think about somewhere which can be a relaxing get away from the kids or somewhere which can cater for the whole family. Tip: Find the right venue Most venue finding services get paid by commission from the venue and will not charge you for their services. Search for a venue finding service or events company in your local area. When hosting a seminar keep focused on what you want to achieve. Do you have a clear message you want to communicate? Do you know what success will look like? How will you measure the effectiveness of the time and money you spent on the seminar? If you take any details or requests during the seminar, make sure you follow up after the event. Send your presentation to attendees by and say you re available if they ve got any questions. 27

28 Creating your own publicity Putting pen to paper and writing your own press releases can be a good way of generating all-important publicity. After all, people won t come to you if they don t know you re there. PR is different to advertising in that you don t get the final say on what s written. Instead a journalist will use what you ve sent to write an article themselves. Like you, journalists are busy people so you need to get them to notice you to stand any chance of getting into their publication. Get to know the journalists Finding the right journalists to talk to is important. Once you know which ones report on financial services, get in touch to introduce yourself and discuss potential stories. Whenever they sound interested in something, send them a press release. This proactive approach will put you at the top of their list when they need a story or they need an industry expert to comment on a story. Make it easy for them Local journalists receive dozens of press releases every day that they will have to read through and try and find a story. By putting the need-to-know information in the first couple of paragraphs, you make it easier for a journalist to do their job, and they might choose your press release over someone else s. Make it relevant to their audience Dealing with local press means that you should make your stories relevant to the people in the community. Think about stories around financial planning that concern local people and use case studies to emphasise your success with helping people. Timing is everything There s no point sending in a story which happened months ago. Instead time your press releases to coincide with upcoming events. Be creative Journalists need stories as much as you need positive PR. So why not carry out a piece of customer research and give the results to a journalist to publish? Just make sure that your company is included somewhere in the article. And, if you can, provide some expert tips that can also be quoted, next to your name of course. 28 The Marketing Mentor

29 Become a known expert If you position yourself as an expert in the financial services industry, journalists may come to you whenever they need a quote. If they mention your company name as well then you ve got yourself some free PR. Keep it brief Keep your press releases brief and to the point as journalists will more likely read it. After all, they can always contact you if they need more information. Tip: Putting together a press release How you present your news can be as important as the content so: l Keep your press release to one page. l Headlines should be short, interesting and hook the reader. l Your opening paragraph should summarise your story. Think how you can best convey your story by who, what, where, when and why. l Keep your press release to short sentences and don t use technical industry terms. Think about your audience and how they will relate to your story. l In the body of the press release go into more detail of how your services have helped your clients or your local community. l Include Notes to the editor at the end of your press release to cover: - Your personal experience and brief description on your company. Include a link to your website and LinkedIn profile. - Your contact details, and that you re available for interviews and photo calls. - The date of the release. 29

30 Direct Marketing With the emergence of s and social media tools such as LinkedIn, the traditional ways of contacting clients by post are becoming less popular. However, there will still be clients who will respond to a well-written and timely letter. Done well, direct marketing can be a very cost effective way of getting new customers. You can target specific people with products or services that you think will suit their needs. To start with, draw up a list of potential leads based on your current client database. Using the data, pick out segments that might be useful. For example, if you ve got high net worth clients, look where they live and target the area with a prospecting letter addressed to them. Tip: Look at what direct mail you ve received and analyse what s good and what s bad. Be realistic. It doesn t sound much but a one percent response rate is generally considered a job well done. Decide what you want your direct marketing activity to achieve. Do you want to raise awareness of your business and expertise? Do you want to promote a special offer? Or do you want to highlight something that s hitting the headlines? Whatever your aim, make it clear right from the off in any communication you send to potential clients. Tip: Keep your direct marketing out of the bin l Make the right first impression with a professional presentation. l Personalise the letter by addressing the individual you re writing to. l Keep the letter simple with no financial jargon. l Include a time limit on when the reader should get in touch with you. l Make it clear what the reader needs to do next and give them reasons to do it. l Have a call to action which asks the reader to book an appointment with you. IMPORTANT: If you re planning a direct marketing campaign you will need to make sure that you comply with the relevant laws and regulations. Find out more information about direct marketing regulations relating to messages sent by telephone, fax, and post at 30 The Marketing Mentor

31 Writing a good prospecting letter A good letter is short, concise and works on a three paragraph rule: 1. Introduce your company and explain why you re contacting them. 2. Explain how the services you offer could meet their needs and what experience you have in delivering financial planning solutions. 3. Ask for a meeting and give your contact details. If you re going to follow up with a phone call, make sure you give them an idea of when you ll be calling. Dear Mr Sample, Are you thinking about retiring? If you are, you won t just have to decide how you re going to spend all that extra time you ll have on your hands; you ll also have to think carefully about how you re going to use your pension fund to provide you with an income for the rest of your life. Financing your retirement If you don t already know, you won t automatically get an income from your pension fund when you retire. Instead, you ll need to use your pension fund to buy another product that will provide you with an income. This is one of the biggest financial decisions you ll ever make, so you owe it to yourself to make sure you find out what your options are. You ll have a range of different retirement plans to choose from so it s important that you think about your options carefully. From locking yourself into an income for life to keeping control of your pension fund for longer, there s a plan for you. You just need to find it and that s where I can help. Arranging a meeting I m a financial adviser and I could help you find a retirement plan that s right for you. I can send you more information or, if you d prefer, we can arrange an informal meeting to discuss your needs. You ll be under absolutely no obligation to buy anything, but it may help you get a full picture of your financial situation and what your options are. You can contact me by phone or by at ANAdviser@domainname.com Yours sincerely A N Adviser 31

32 Creating your own business network If you don t already, think about generating referrals through your business contacts and other professionals in your business community. Local solicitors, estate agents, accountants and even other financial advisers can give you a steady flow of referrals. And, because they offer a similar kind of service to you, the people who they refer could be more open to your service. You may need to offer some kind of reward, or finder s fee, when one of your contacts refers someone to you. Maybe a bottle of wine will suffice or you could give a commission fee based on the potential value of the business. To find like-minded businesses, join your local chambers of commerce. Not only will you be able to network with other professionals, you ll also get access to an up-to-date member directory. So you ve got a ready made contact list which you can use to target, and make, new contacts. You could also join a referral group. These are formal groups of successful business people who get together on a regular basis to exchange leads. Be it over breakfast or in a more social setting, each member is expected to bring in leads for the others. And you probably won t have to worry about any competition. Most groups only invite one person from each profession. To find out more, visit BNI at or Business for Breakfast at Tip: Work the crowd As long as you re clear about what you want to achieve, joining a network group can be really useful. So before you start mingling, think about what you re aiming for. Are you there to make new contacts, to learn, or to win new business? Networking is about l Building relationships use the opportunity to see how you can help others. l Being able to explain what you do keep it simple. l Asking open-ended questions you ll get more useful information if you ask questions that identify who, what, where, when? l Being a resource for others becoming a good source of information for others means people will turn to you for suggestions and contacts. Above all, networking is expensive. It s not just the cost of your time; there will be membership and attendance fees to pay. So do your homework and find out about any free opportunities or introductory offers. Once you ve got an idea of who may benefit you (and vice versa), get in touch and arrange to meet. 32 The Marketing Mentor

33 Aviva Life Services UK Limited. Registered in England No Aviva, Wellington Row, York, YO90 1WR. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm Reference Number aviva.co.uk/adviser 36 The Marketing Mentor TR /2016 Aviva plc