How do you feel when a client tells you that all of a sudden she’s decided she’s splitting her portfolio between you and the son of a friend from book club? Or that you have to work with her brother-in-law who just got his insurance license? Now you have to suffer through every semi-annual review listening to their dumb grandstanding on whether or not the Fed is going to raise rates. You have to spend 20 conference calls convincing your client that it’s a wrong move to sell all the large caps and invest in whole-life insurance.

I will kill my own revenue and tell my accountant I had a bad 2020 if it means avoiding these situations. Yes, I am uncooperative, but life is just too short.

What to do if you hate marketing

If you hate marketing, you will be better off not doing it at all. I know advisors who enjoy a nice practice consisting of a small number of very loyal clients who they met through word of mouth.

But if you want a bit more control over who you work with, here’s a process you can use. No grandiose gestures, no cold calls, no dinner seminars. You won’t have to put on the marketing mask.

I came up with an acronym for it: OATS.

O is for observe

Let’s say you want to use social media, but you’re self-conscious and fear that by posting you’ll be perceived as a pushy salesperson. Listen, social platforms can be valuable to a person who is wants to understand how other people think. Just lurk around and observe what other people are doing.

One of the biggest causes of marketing anxiety is the question of what to say to the audience. Here’s a simple fix. Make it about them, not about you, by using your observations.

Example, “I saw you’re a contributor to Veterinarian’s Monthly Magazine. Love your column.”

See how easy that was?

A is for assess

Once you observe the person, take a minute and reflect upon what you have observed. Would the audience appreciate hearing from you on this subject? Should you take action with this person or on this topic? The answer is not always “yes.” But if so, what is the best approach?

Here’s an example of a recent pitch where the assessment stage was missing and it led to, “Bye, boy!”

An advisor approached me about being a guest on my podcast to talk about his new book. His PR person sent over a generic pitch containing zero information about how his book could have meaning to my specific audience. There was literally no connection between what I usually talk about and what he wanted to talk about.

He didn’t do the assessment. He thought I would just lap up the pitch because of how great he is. He left it to me to do the assessment and figure out how to connect it to what my show is about.

I decided to give the person another chance before obliterating his email. I contacted the person and asked him if he had ever listened to my podcast. He got really defensive and from his curt response I knew he hadn’t.

Bye, boy!

T and S are for two sentences

Good marketing creates the space for the prospect to breathe. But most pitches and content are completely one-sided and choke the life out of the prospect. My simple advice is to keep your communications (voicemails, emails, social media messages) to two sentences or less. I’ve covered this at length in this podcast here.

The greatest thing about speaking in two sentence clips is that it shows other people you are willing to shut up.

Oxygen, please!

Examples of easy, low-risk marketing

Here are some methods ways to implement the OATS process on social media.

Like, share, and comment genuinely

Isn’t being listened to one of the most blissful feelings in the world?

Consistently liking the content that a prospect posts is a good way to show them you’re listening to them. Rare, I know, to have someone listen to you silently. Just don’t overdo it and creep them out. You want them to feel paid attention to, but not “watched.”

Eventually they’ll post something that you’ll want to respond to. Send a simple, understated message (two sentences only) over LinkedIn messenger. No pitch, no solicitation. Just show sincere interest in what they posted about. You will be surprised where this goes.

Example:

I really loved your posting about ADHD medication alternatives. Hit home for me and thanks for bringing this to light.

Authenticity is very attractive to people.

The old friend

Trace back your path in life to past associations. These are safer bets because there’s some semblance of trust there. Remember that person you distantly remember from college, who used to live across the hall in your dorm?

Think about it. If you connect with five old (hopefully rich) friends consistently over a period of months, that’s more than enough people. If you have your LinkedIn set up right, eventually somebody will come to you with a father-in-law who just retired.

Example:

Contact five old friends a week and send a modest LinkedIn message such as, “I can’t believe it’s been 20 years. You remember me from Thayer House, right?” (two sentences)

The community loud mouth

There’s one in every professional community. This is Mr. or Mrs. Loud, the person who knows everybody in the industry. You know that real estate agent that organizes your local business networking group? Check out their LinkedIn page. They’ve got tons of likes and comments on their postings. And they can’t keep a secret about anything they are involved with – it’s always posted. They went to a conference, they read a news article, they got a new office – their whole life is on Facebook (and so is everyone else’s they’re associated with).

Emphasize the O in the OATS process with this loudmouth. They’ve probably got a ton of normal people following them who are not loudmouths. Assess (use step A in the OATS process) which ones it makes sense to reach out to, and then start asking them to connect (use step T in the OATS process).

Let Mr. or Mrs. Loud do the dirty work of getting everyone’s attention – and then in your quiet, understated way, you capitalize off of it.

Sara’s upshot

Do you still hate marketing? You don’t have to. Try joining my membership – it will allow you to learn the practical skills you need to implement the OATS process, whether your style is loud, quiet, or somewhere in between.

Sara Grillo, CFA, is a marketing consultant who helps investment management, financial planning, and RIA firms fight the tendency to scatter meaningless clichés on their prospects and bore them as a result. Prior to launching her own firm, she was a financial advisor.

Read more articles by Sara Grillo