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Client-Focused Marketing

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Integrating technology with traditional marketing and communication strategies will help you strengthen your client relationships.

Articles

By Kirk Lowe, President
Freedomarketing

Building strong relationships with your clients does more than just keep them happy and loyal. It opens the doors for you gain a greater share of their assets, presents cross-selling opportunities and increases your referability. By building strong relationships with your clients you are essentially building a wall around them. Actually it's more like a cocoon; and as your clients' life stages change, so too must the cocoon.

From Customer to Client

A customer is based on a transactional business and a client is based on a relationship and the perceived value they get from the relationship.

Of course the value of a customer versus client relationship is also based on the perceived value one gets from such distinction. If someone believes there is little value in having a relationship with him or her, they will most likely remain a customer. If they perceive greater value in having a strong relationship with you then they are more likely to welcome and pursue having a strong relationship with you.

There are a number of factors clients look at when determining the value of such relationship, and they will differ depending on the client and their needs. In order for you to effectively strengthen your relationship with each of your clients you need to fully understand what is most important to them. What is it that you can provide them that will add the most value to your relationship with them as they see it?

To fully understand your client's wants, needs, dreams and concerns focus on the discovery process, which includes listening, questioning and caring. In communicating with your client it is important to cover four key areas of their lives and how you might be able to better understand them. These include:

1.	Family - size, relationships, values, dynamics
2.	Interests - leisure, philanthropy, views
3.	Finances - investments, salary, needs, attitudes, philosophy
4.	Career - stage, goals, salary

Uncovering these four areas will help determine their life stage and financial situation as well as their wants, needs, dreams and concerns. It is difficult to build a long-lasting relationship if you don't have success going through this process.

Cross-Selling Opportunities

One of the spin-off benefits to gaining in-depth knowledge of your clients' lives is that you are able to fully understand and their needs and views which presents opportunities to sell products or services which you wouldn't otherwise have known about.

Upon further developing your relationship through the above mentioned four focus areas, you might gain insight into products or services that may better meet their needs and concerns. Suppose you discover that the reason your client has not bought into Estate Planning is because they don't feel comfortable leaving their estate to their two children because they're worried that such an influx in wealth will negatively influence the lives they currently lead. This presents an opportunity to re-introduce estate planning as having control over how their assets are passed on versus how to effectively transfer as much wealth as possible. Had you not gone through the discovery process, you wouldn't have known the dynamics, values and concerns they hold.

Increasing Asset Share

It is a well-documented fact that many financial advisors mistakenly assume that they are managing all of their clients' assets. The truth is that most of your clients have money, assets and most importantly relationships elsewhere.

Increasing your wallet share is about taking the extra time and resources to build your relationship with them in such a way that they don't just want to maintain their relationship with you (loyalty), they want to give you more assets (growth). When you ask them for more assets they can't say no, because you have clearly built such a strong relationship with them, it far exceeds any efforts or professionalism their other advisors have shown.

If you are going to ask, then wait until you feel your relationship with them has reached certain closeness. Otherwise they'll likely lie to you, as many clients do (remember it's okay to lie to a salesperson). Wait until you have shown them how committed you are to their success. When you decide the time is right to ask, don't phrase your question as a question. Phrase your question as a statement. "Obviously you have assets with other advisors, most prudent investors like yourself do. In order for me to effectively create and manage your financial plan I need to fully understand your entire financial situation. I admit that I don't necessarily need to manage all of your assets, provided I at least know about them, to ensure a complete and successful financial plan. However I would like the opportunity to manage all of your assets and would like to earn the right to do so."

Growing Your Business

Imagine you walk into your doctor's office with a sore throat. They sit you down in their waiting room, offer you a coffee and cookie, and then within five minutes lead you to the doctor's office. Your doctor greets you as if you were their best client. They begin to sincerely ask you what the problem is and continue questioning you until they have a clear idea of exactly what is wrong and what your concerns are. After establishing what is wrong and your concerns they then ask you how you would like to resolve these symptoms and what future actions you can take to avoid similar problems. They propose a solution, thank you for your business and send you off as a very satisfied client, not just a customer.

	How likely is it that you will remain a client of this doctor? Quite.
	How likely is it that you will seek their advice on all health matters? Quite.
	How likely is it that you will refer your family, friends and colleagues to their services? Quite

Simply put, focusing on building strong relationships with clients alone, will not only maintain your business, it will help grow your business.

The keys here are to provide quality and timely advice based on fully understanding your client's wants, needs, dreams and concerns. You present recommendations that show you understand and care then explain how much you appreciate their business and especially the trust you've placed in them. From time to time, gestures of appreciation work well and help solidify your relationship by not just saying how much you appreciate their business but by showing them as well. Both work well and complement each other.

Client-Focused Marketing Ideas

There are a number of marketing and communication campaigns that will help strengthen your relationship with your clients. The main goal however is always constant and consistent communication and there is no better way than the integration of technology with traditional marketing and communication strategies.

Technology presents several opportunities to make your communications and marketing strategies more effective and efficient. More effective means you will be more likely to implement, sustain and succeed, as well as reach your audience with more impact and greater convenience. More efficient means more affordable and less time consuming for you and your staff.

Integrating technology (the internet and software) won't strengthen relationships with your clients and prospects all by itself, email won't replace one-on-one contact (phone calls, meetings and seminars) between you and your clients and your web site won't be your sole marketing strategy. Clients have new, higher expectations and that there are new ways to meet these expectations. If you try and meet their new expectations solely with traditional methods you will have less time to focus on doing what you do best, working and communicating with your clients directly. You'll have less time to devote to relationship building - revenue-generating activities.

The following table outlines several effective and efficient marketing and communications initiatives for you to consider.

Initiative	Description
Internet	The Internet provides an effective, efficient and convenient medium.
Website	A website should be the HUB of all your marketing efforts - everything should lead back to it. It inherit qualities make it perfect for this: accessibility, dynamic, impacting, convenient, etc.
Email	Email provides and effective, efficient, convenient and affordable communication vehicle.
eNewsletter	An eNewsletter is a great medium to stay in touch on a regular basis with important information about financial planning, your practice, upcoming events, and so much more. It is highly effective, efficient and works well with a website and other initiatives including traditional methods.
eCards - Personal	Sending a personal eCard for a special occasion or greeting can be powerful; as powerful as a letter or a phone call. Birthdays, Anniversaries, Thanks for your Business to name a few.
eCards - Business	You can also use eCards for business reasons. RRSP/401K reminders are a good example. They can also be used as seminar invitations or even new investment opportunities.
eReferrals	You can use your strong relationships to grow your business through referrals. Getting eReferrals is a great way to build your eNewsletter and prospect list.
Referrals	Referrals are a great way to build your business and are a sign of happy clients who have put their trust and confidence in you.
COI's	Centre's of Influence (COI) are a great way to build relationships with clients. It can be an exercise in ensuring they have advisors for other key areas of their lives, which presents other opportunities for you to refer other professionals if they aren't being adequately serviced.
eReferrals	You can use your strong relationships to grow your business through referrals. Getting eReferrals is a great way to build your eNewsletter and prospect list.
Seminars	Seminars are a great way to meet with clients and referrals to introduce them to concepts and /or products that may be appropriate for them.
Product & Service Focus	Seminars aimed at promoting a service (strategy) or product.
Lifestyle & General Interest Focus	Seminars aimed at general interests of the client - not financial related. (i.e. Health or How To Use The Internet Seminar)
Client Appreciation	Letting your clients know you appreciate their business is always good business.
Events	Hosting client appreciation events is a long-standing practice. It doesn't have to be ritzy, but it should be nice and appropriate.
Words of Appreciation	Simply saying you appreciate their business goes a long way. You can say it in person or in a letter, greeting card or eCard.
Gifts of Appreciation	Sending a gift as a sign of appreciation works well also. Anything from concert tickets to a gift certificate to flowers are all hits.

Kirk Lowe is President of Freedomarketing, a marketing consulting firm that specializes in helping financial services professionals build their businesses through integrating technology with traditional marketing and communications. He can be reached at (888) 677-8946 or kirk@freedomarketing.ca.