The power of personal promotion

The following is based on one of The Covenant Group’s clients. All of the names and telling details have been changed.

Advisors have seldom been accused of keeping their “candle under a bushel basket” yet many are far less effective at promoting themselves than they could be. Given the wide social and business network of the typical financial professional, the possibilities for creating “top of mind” awareness are virtually boundless. The key to success, however, is choosing the right vehicles for promotion and employing them consistently over an extended period of time.

As you think about your promotional plan, look at it from two perspectives; a) Internal activities – those that are directed at people who already know you, so you can take advantage of the client and relationship capital you have previously created, and b) External activities – those intended to attract the attention of people you would like to get to know. One of your early decisions will have to be how much weighting to apply to internal vs. external activities.

The answer is found by looking at your current situation and the intent of your promotion. One advisor whom I work with illustrates the decision-making process vividly. Jerry is the 3rd generation in a financial planning practice in Hawaii. He followed his father into the business; who followed his father, so as you might expect, the firm is very well-established and virtually all their business comes from existing clients and referrals. Consequently, most of their promotional budget is allocated internally — to client appreciation events, golfing at a prestigious country club, working on community causes and maintaining relationships with other professionals such as lawyers, accountants and bankers. Jerry, however, has ambitions that extend beyond Hawaii. He is opening an office, in fact, in Oregon. He attended university there and loves the ruggedness of the state compared to the tropics of Hawaii. Jerry intends to “commute” between the two offices as required but the bigger challenge is obviously going to be to establish a presence in the new location where he does not have the same business heritage or client base. He will have to replace that legacy with solid promotion to build a profile in his new chosen location. Whereas in Hawaii, 90% of the firm’s marketing resources were directed internally; in Oregon, it will be the reverse with 90% being externally-focused.

Some of the promotional activities Jerry might consider include:

Media/Advertising
Well-designed advertising can be useful to create awareness of your brand or to promote a specific product, service or event, such as the opening of a new office (e.g. One of the USA’s Most Prominent Financial Planning Firms Comes to Oregon!). Jerry could consider advertising via media outlets that are directed at his new target market.

Association marketing
Becoming well-known within a professional or business association is an excellent way to focus on your target market. One advisor I know, who has an engineering background, directs much of his marketing activities towards members of the Society of Professional Engineers and has become recognized as the "go to guy" for financial advice within the local chapter.

Working with collateral professionals
Working with lawyers, accountants, bankers and P & C agents can be effective in establishing profile. Joint activities can range from cross-introductions to each other's clients to conducting seminars together with clients from both practices attending. The most powerful relationship is where professionals work directly with each other to jointly solve client problems.

Website
Increasing use of Internet technology by clients of every description makes it essential for advisors to provide clients and potential clients access to an effective website. To be effective, however, the website must be more than a "brochure" of people, products and services. In an ideal world, it would allow clients to view their accounts, use calculators to help with their "what if" thinking, provide answers to FAQ's and have links to other useful sites. Communicate its availability to your clients as well as incorporating it into the approach you use with centers-of-influence and potential new clients.

Seminars
While traditional "seminar marketing" has been played out in many locales, there continue to be many advisors for whom it is a valuable part of their promotional strategy. Current best practices for seminars are characterized by smaller scale in terms of size and promotion, more focused topics directed at a specific audience and less reliance on outside speakers. Existing client "bring a friend" invitations are common.
Some topics that have recently met with success include:

• Preparing Your Kids for University or College
• Caring for Dependent Parents
• Long Term Care and Critical Illness
• Planning Your Retirement Lifestyle
• Insulating Personal Assets from Your Business
• Making Second Marriages Work Financially
• Financial Realities after Divorce or Death
• Financial Planning for Single Parents
• Media interviews

Newspaper and broadcast journalists are often looking for qualified people to provide background to stories they are presenting. Becoming known among the media as a person who can comment intelligently on financial matters is an effective way to build profile in your community. To develop relationships with the media, begin by contacting them with an insightful (and unbiased) comment on something they have written or broadcast. After a few such contacts, you will find they will be calling you in advance of the news item for your input.

Many advisors have positioned themselves as "experts" by writing a regular column for a newspaper or magazine. The major publications usually have their own "financial columnists"; however, smaller ones often rely on "free-lancers" for content. To minimize the work involved in producing a regular column, you can use "ghost written" articles available through your Head Office or commercially. Ensure that all articles have been compliance-approved.

Radio/TV show or sponsorship

A number of successful advisors have been able to build credibility in their community through the broadcast media of radio and television. In the best-case scenario, they act as host and "resident authority" on a show specifically focused on financial matters. Opportunities are often found at smaller radio and TV stations and on cable channels rather than on the major media outlets in a large metropolitan area.

A second promotional opportunity exists in sponsoring a 60-second "spot" that deals with finances whereby, ideally, the advisor responds to a specific question in simple generic terms e.g. "What factors should someone consider when planning for retirement?" Where licensing and compliance permit, some advisors provide daily commentary of the day's market activities.

We know that people normally make financial decisions around some “trigger event” in their personal or business lives. We can’t always be there when that happens so we want, as noted previously, to create "top of mind" awareness with both our internal and external promotion. If advisors are guilty of anything with respect to promoting themselves, it is either having too few, varied tactics or trying everything once and if results are not immediate, abandoning the strategy. Our recommendation is to have 6-8 promotional activities on the go at all times and give them at least 6 – 12 months to prove their worth. The chosen strategies must be appropriate for your target market and before launching any program, ask “What message am I trying to communicate?” and “How will I know this activity has paid-off?”

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The Covenant Group is referred to by many as the place entrepreneurs go to become Business Builders. They are considered to be thought leaders and have authored the best-selling books, The 8 Best Practices of High-Performing Salespeople, The Entrepreneurial Journey, and The Business Builder.