A new approach to prospecting

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Recent conversations with investors and advisors have convinced me that we are in the midst of a significant shift in our business when it comes to how we attract new clients – something that will lead to the death of mass prospecting as we’ve historically known it.

Replacing that will be a fundamentally different approach that takes a more “prospect-friendly” approach to the client development process.

As an aside, this has little to do with the market decline of 2008 – and everything to do with the reality of a much more informed and skeptical consumer than in the past.

Tags: Brian Costello, Dram, Eighties, Free Seminars, Garth Turner, Hotel Rooms, Insurance Industry, Likelihood, Mail, Mail Drops, Mail Free, Market Decline, Mass Marketing, Mid Nineties, Midst, New Approach, Novelist, Precipitous Decline, Prospects, Response Rates, S E Hinton, Sixties
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Breakthrough research from the Harvard Business Review – The #1 way to stay motivated

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Every January, the Harvard Business Review publishes ten breakthrough ideas for the year ahead.

Number one on this year’s list was new research on what really drives motivation. That factor: A clear sense that progress is being made.

In a multi-year study, researchers at the Harvard Business School first asked 600 managers from dozens of different companies to rank the impact of five factors that are normally associated with motivation – recognition, incentives, support from managers and colleagues, clear goals and a sense of making progress.

In this first phase of the study, recognition for good work was ranked by managers as the most important factor in motivation.

Tags: Accomplishment, Breakthrough Ideas, Breakthrough Research, Compendium, Different Companies, Excerpt From, Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business School, Harvard Review, Headway, Knowledge Workers, Moods, Motivation Level, Obstacles, Respondents, Roadblocks, Spinning Their Wheels, Strong Feeling, Study Researchers, Target
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Five essential lessons from top advisors

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

This month, my column in Investment Executive highlights important takeaways  from ten successful advisor who spoke at the recent Top Advisor Summit.What was especially striking was how consistently these themes were repeated by advisors with disparate backgrounds and a broad range of firms.

Advisors looking to move through the current tough times could do far worse than focus on the five common messages that came out of the Summit

Lesson One: Deal with all of your clients’ financial issues

Many clients want and need more than investment advice alone and benefit from advisors who take a whole wealth approach.

Tags: Brother, Client Relationships, Concer, Cornerstone, Disparate Backgrounds, Investment Advice, Investment Executive, Market Turmoil, Negative Headlines, Peace Of Mind, Periods, Psychiatrist, Recurrent Theme, Referrals, Relationship, Speakers, Substantial Value, Summit, Takeaways, Tough Times
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A costly case of miscommunication

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

A recent conversation drove home how easy it is to cross wires when communicating with existing and prospective clients.

I was talking to a successful lawyer who I’ve known for many years. He has been managing his own money but markets over the past years persuaded him he should look at the possibility of working with a financial advisor.

He mentioned that he had sat down with one advisor (as it happens an advisor I know quite well) for ninety minutes, had enjoyed their conversation and been leaning to the possibility of working with him.

Tags: Agenda, Agendas, Coffee, Financial Advisor, Five Minutes, Junior Resource, Lawyer, Minute Conversation, Miscommunication, Money, Pasture, Prospective Client, Prospective Clients, Resource Stocks, Sixties
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Four ways to get maximum impact from client gifts

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

With Christmas around the corner, many advisors are thinking about how to get the most mileage from the dollars they spend on client gifts.

My column in November’s Investment Executive outlines four strategies to do exactly that:

• 1. Tap into positive experiences

Births, weddings and graduations all give you the chance to maximize the impact of the dollars you spend. One advisor sends clients who have children or grandchildren a blown up birth announcement in a silver plated frame -  this never fails to get a huge and immediate response.

• 2. Tailor the gift to client passions

Tags: Best Seller, Birth Announcement, Capital Gains, Charitable Contributions, Client Gifts, Cooking Wine, Grandchildren, Interested Clients, Investment Executive, Leading Authorities, Longevity, Malcolm Burrows, Maximum Impact, Passions, Time Clients, Travel Golf, Video Gifts, Wine Journal, Wine Lover, Wine Travel
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Three Articles You Can Send to Nervous Clients

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Despite the more positive tone to markets, anxiety is still high among many Canadians.

Here are three articles from this past weekend’s Barron’s, New York Times and Wall Street Journal to reassure nervous clients.

On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal  wrote that “the U.S. economy’s natural healing tendencies are asserting themselves and the American economy is poised for a rebound.”

WSJ.com – Opinion: A Jobs Bottom

Also on Saturday, an article in the New York Times outlines how a recovery is underway, in large measure due to U.S. actions to forestall a more serious economic decline. 

Tags: American Economy, Baby Boomers, Bank Of America, Bidding Farewell, David Leonhardt, Economic Decline, Economic Scene, Email Clients, Finance Professors, Franklin Allen, Global Equity, Goldman Sachs, Jeremy Siegel, Merrill Lynch, Paul Sullivan, Positive Tone, Quarter Profits, S Real Estate, Sunshine State, Wall Street Journal
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Three ways to inspire clients

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

What’s your main goal when meeting with clients?Given the beating their portfolios have taken and the general mood of pessimism, often it’s to have them leave feeling more optimistic and upbeat about their future prospects and in particular about your role as their advisor.

After all, people shouldn’t see meeting with their advisor as a prescription for pain, similar to going to the dentist. Instead, your goal should be to have clients walk away from meetings feeling better than they did when they came in.

Here are three ways to do that, without pretending we aren’t facing real issues putting our credibility at risk.Help clients regain control

Tags: 2c, A6, Asset Mix, Conservative Estimate, Credibility, E2, Financial Future, Financial Futures, Financial Planning, Future Prospects, Gap, Going To The Dentist, Itt, Main Goal, Part Time Job, Pessimism, Pessimistic Outlook, Portfolios, Powerlessness, Three Ways, Tradeoffs, Work With Clients
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Getting a do-over on investing decisions

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

My March column in Investment Executive describes a talk one evening last fall in which I spoke to 200 investors, filling in at the last moment for a speaker who’d had to cancel because of a family emergency.

I asked the audience to imagine that it was January 1 of 1970, forty years ago – and they had $100 to invest. They could put that $100 in one of six stock markets  –  the United States, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, Canada and Australia. Further, they could divide it up in any way they wished – they could put it all into one market, divide it up evenly among the six or any combination in between.

Tags: Academics, Audience, Compendium, Exercise 1, Family Emergency, Forty Years, Hong Kong, Investment Executive, Investor, January 1, Last Moment, Market Bias, Phrase, Proximity, Recency Effect, Roller Coaster Ride, Stock Markets, Target, Tendency, Volatility
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Turning service problems into opportunities

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

No matter how hard we try to avoid them, it’s inevitable that on occasion clients will experience a service problem – a change of address doesn’t go through, something that was supposed to be sent slips through the cracks or a request wasn’t followed up on.

Even small mistakes can be costly – they can corrode client confidence, undermine goodwill and sometimes even cost you a client. A while back, I spoke to an investor who pulled his account because of a succession of irritating mistakes over an eighteen month period.

Tags: Advertisement, Change Of Address, Client Confidence, Cracks, Email, Face, Goodwill, Gritted Teeth, Investor, Relationships, Shoulders, Six Step, Slips, Succession
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A four step conversation to build confidence

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Last week, I talked to an advisor concerned that if he called clients too often, he might communicate that he is truly alarmed by what’s going on and raise their anxiety levels as a result.Consider advice on this topic from a recent interview with Rob Kaplan, former Vice Chair of Goldman Sachs and currently a professor at the Harvard Business School:

Tags: Anxiety Levels, Bad News, Confidence, Conversations, Downside, Economy, Goldman Sachs, Good Advice, Harvard Business School, Human Nature, Investors, Lot, Organization, Rob Kaplan, Tendency, Vice Chair
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More Articles to Send Anxious Clients

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Last week’s post with articles to send nervous clients got a great response.

In light of that, here are more articles from this weekend’s Barron’s , New York Times and Wall Street Journal that might reassure anxious clients.

First, the Chief Investment Officer of Harris Private Bank in Chicago looks at valuation, the economy, liquidity, psychology and momentum to make a strong case for U.S. equities.

Barrons.com – For Stocks, the Signs Point Up

And the cover story in today’s Barron’s outlines how the highest quality stocks have lagged in the recent run up – but are positioned to outperform going forward.

Tags: August 15, Barron, Board Business, Business Economy, Chief Investment Officer, Email Clients, Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve Board, Global Trade Business, Inflation Pressures, Liquidity, New York Times, Nine Months, Positive Outlook, Private Bank, Quality Stocks, Recession, Upturn, Wall Street Journal, Wsj
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A template for a year end letter

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Many advisors have told me they’ve got a positive response from the quarterly review letters they’ve sent based on the templates I’ve provided.

Here’s a template that can be a starting point for a year end review letter – just remember that to be effective, a letter such as this one needs to feel:

1.       substantive

2.       candid

3.       backed up by facts

4.       easy to read

5.       that it reflects the personality of the advisor writing it.

That means you need to take the time to personalize the letter to language and examples you’d use and to reflect your point of view.

Tags: Collapse, Consensus, Economic Forecasters, Economic Recovery, Economic Stagnation, Global Financial Markets, Global Markets, Governments, Personality, Point Of View, Profit Growth, Prospects, Reminder, Roller Coaster, Sentiment, Stimulus, Stock Market, Stock Markets, Substantive, Year End
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Tell Your Story to Prospects

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

When meeting with prospects, many advisors grapple with how to talk about their approach without it sounding like a sales pitch and how to move the conversation forward without having prospects feel pressured.

Earlier this week, I got an email from an advisor who had read the June 29 post on this blog, based on a Globe and Mail article about 25 questions that investors might ask an advisor they are thinking about working with.

Tags: Adviser, Blog, Circumstances, Email, Globe And Mail, Globe Article, Globe Investor, Globe Mail, Honesty, Hour And A Half, Instances, Investment Ideas, Investor Investment, Investors, June 29, Mail Article, Openness, Podium, Prospects, Sales Pitch, Taking Time
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Extraordinary measures for extraordinary times

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

By any measure, the last six months has been an extraordinary period for markets around the world. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, requiring advisors to rethink and revisit every aspect of the way they operate.

Among the items that some advisors need to review is their stance on taking holidays. Over the past decade, there has been a dramatic escalation in the amount of time some successful advisors have taken off, well beyond what would normally be seen as necessary to recharge batteries. In some offices and some firms, a competition has developed to see who can take the most holidays – twelve weeks, fifteen weeks, even twenty weeks of vacation has not been unusual.

Tags: Amount Of Time, Batteries, Brea, Decade, Difficult Period, Discipline And Desire, Dramatic Growth, Escalation, Extraordinary Times, Good Times, Growth Opportunities, Holidays, Little Time, Measures, Mistake, Occasional Breaks, Period Of Time, Priority, Six Months
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New Research on the Science of Persuasion

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Robert Cialdini is a psychologist who has devoted his career to researching what makes people decide to buy. For many years a professor of marketing at Arizona State University, his book “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” was a New York Times best-seller and cited in both Fortune Magazine and the Harvard Business Review.

Cialdini’s research identifies six “lessons of influence” when interacting with existing or prospective clients.

The first three have limited relevance to financial advisors:

Commitment and consistency

Tags: Arizona State University, Bystanders, Confederates, Fortune Magazine, Harvard Business Review, Influence The Psychology Of Persuasion, Last Moment, Likeable, Manias, New York Times, New York Times Best Seller, Prospective Clients, Psychology Of Persuasion, Recent Article, Robert Cialdini, Scarcity, Sense Of Urgency, Social Proof, Target, Tupperware Parties
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Business planning for 2009: Lessons from a climb up Kilimanjaro

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Four years ago this past summer, I did the trek up Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (popular misconceptions aside, there are no ropes or technical climbing entailed in scaling Kilimanjaro – all that’s involved is a steady uphill walk).

I’m currently in the process of finalizing my own business plan for 2009. In reading the journal from my trek up Kili, I was reminded of a number of key takeaways that apply to my business and that might apply to yours.1 Set stretch goals

Doing the trek up Kilimanjaro was a stretch goal for me – I could certainly have embarked on something less ambitious, but would have missed the satisfaction and reward of a substantial challenge.

Tags: Assets Under Management, Base Case, Business Plan, Business Planning, Climb Kilimanjaro, Ele, Leap, Little Bit, Misconceptions, Momentum, Mount Kilimanjaro, Own Business, Pipeline, Prospects, Reading Journal, Ropes, Simple Exercise, Stretch Goals, Substantial Challenge, Takeaways, Tanzania, Trek, Visions
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Must read articles to send clients

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Given today’s uncertain markets, many investors are looking to their advisors for guidance and direction, as well as useful insights.One way to help provide those insights is by forwarding articles from credible publications that shed light on markets, in the process helping educate clients, providing support for your advice and reinforcing your own professionalism.

Below are nine articles from eight different sources.  Among them, these articles address concerns about another depression, highlight some of the positives underneath the bad news and make the case for being in the market.

Tags: Address Concerns, Bad News, Barrons Online, Consumer Spending, Cx, Depression, Economy Recession, Financial Institutions, Forbes, Fortitude, Great Depression, Guidance, Insights, Investors, Joe Nocera, Mismanagement, Morgan Stanley, Morganstanley, New York Times, Optimism, Professionalism, Roach, U S Stock Market, York Times Magazine
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Today’s Most Important Client Conversation

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Canadians today have lots of financial concerns – some are worried about the prospects for the economy and their jobs, others about whether they can rely on their company pension to be there for them.For  those Canadians who aren’t in pension plans, the number one concern often relates to their retirement – and what effect have recent markets had on their retirement plans.

Where this is a client’s pressing issue, it’s essential that advisors address this directly. Unless you do that, clients will not fully listen to your recommendations – and will also be more open to talking to another advisor who offers to take them through the process of revisiting where they stand. Concerns about revisiting where clients stand

Tags: Answer Questions, Canadians, Company Pension, Conversations, Core Questions, Economy, Exercise, Financial Concerns, Investment Advice, Investment Strategies, Investors, Jobs, Pension Plans, Prospects, Retirement Planning, S Market, Software Packages
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Bringing discipline to client portfolios

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

In light of the events of the last nine months, investors and advisors alike are reexamining the process used to build portfolios.

A May 25 in the Globe and Mail highlighted two tools to overcome investors’ (and some advisors’) emotional reactions to market movements, creating the impulse to buy and sell at exactly the wrong times. The article quoted  the words of Walt Kelly’s 1950’s cartoon character Pogo:  “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

Tags: Advertisement, Buy And Sell, Buy Sell, Cartoon Character, Client Portfolios, Emotional Reactions, Globe And Mail, Globe Investor, Globe Mail, Impulse, Institutional Investors, Investing, Investment Ideas, Investor Investment, Lt, Mail Tools, Nine Months, Podium, Pogo, Portfolio, Strict Discipline, Target, Two Tools, Walt Kelly, Warren Buffett
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Four steps to effective written communication

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Recently, a successful advisor asked me for my comments on a brochure designed to capitalize on growing interest in charitable giving. This marketing piece’s good and bad points offer some useful insights about how to communicate with clients effectively in general.

There were a number of things to like about the brochure which was 8 ½ by 11 inches in dimension, printed in full colour and ran 8 pages.

1. The overall look and feel of the brochure was very high end and reinforced this advisor’s high quality positioning.

2. There was consistent visual imagery across the brochure and it was very well designed.

Tags: Bottom Line, Brochure, Case Studies, Compendium, Core Message, Developing Marketing, Effective Communication, Effective Written Communication, Emotional Punch, Face To Face, Flip Side, Four Steps, High Quality, Insights, Marketing, Marketing Material, More Than Words, Photo, Photos, Prospects, Target, Telephone Conversations, Typeface, Visual Imagery
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