Most Popular ArticlesNovember 24, 2009
This is not the first time I’ve heard a story like this. Financial advisors are, or at least should be, in the relationship business. So what better way to build a relationship than to interact with your clients and prospects outside the sphere of your business?
You may be asking yourself, “This is great, but how do I incorporate these types of activities into my marketing plan?” Obviously it’s not as easy to schedule hikes and dinners with your prospects as it is to schedule a workshop or a newsletter. But you can create monthly goals for yourself, such as having four clients or prospects over for dinner and two rounds of golf with your contacts each month. This will help ensure that you are paying attention to your relationships. You’ll also want to include the costs of these activities into your annual marketing budget to help reinforce them as legitimate marketing efforts.
To be effective at nurturing these relationships, utilize your CRM (Customer Relationship Management system) to keep you organized. Every time you interact with a prospect or client, set an alert to remind you to contact that person again next month, next quarter whenever you deem appropriate. If you don’t take the time to set a reminder, you’ll get busy and the next thing you know, a year will have passed since the last time you met socially with a client or prospect.
This approach will not work with every prospect or client. Some clients would rather not see you except for their annual reviews. Others, however, want to have a relationship with you. You are helping them achieve their goals in life and they want to feel like you understand them and their family. For these prospects and clients, don’t hesitate to get personal.
You have to be genuine when socializing with clients and prospects outside of the office. If you are walking through the motions because you think it will lead to new business, you will probably fail. However, if you are genuinely interested in specific clients and prospects, formalizing the process by setting goals and scheduling reminders will help the effectiveness of your efforts. As you start thinking about your marketing activities for next year, don’t be afraid to adapt the way you think about marketing and start getting personal!
Kristen Luke is the Principal of Wealth Management Marketing, a firm dedicated to providing marketing strategies and support for financial advisors. Kristen works with independent advisors to develop effective marketing plans and provides the back office support required to implement the strategies. For more information, visit www.wealthmanagementmarketing.net.
Display article as PDF for printing.
Would you like to send this article to a friend?
Remember, if you have a question or comment, send it to .
