Chances are that your firm falls into one of two camps;  1) Build it and they will come or 2) Building the firm requires an ongoing investment in practice development.  The question, while it seems obvious is; “Which philosophy will most likely to lead to success?”   Surely the correct answer is the need to continually invest in practice development.   

Hence you can imagine my surprise when I came across an April, 2011 “Advisor Benchmark” study conducted by Business Health in conjunction with Multi-Financial Securities Corporation.  There were two findings that stood out in my mind.  Firstly, financial advisor firms that contacted their best clients 12 or more times over the course of a year generated 68% more revenue per principal than those who engaged their best clients 6 or fewer times.  Secondly, fewer than one-in-three firms contacted their clients 12 or more times on an annual basis.  Is there a more basic element of a firm’s practice development efforts than client contact management?    

This is where a well conceived advisor marketing plan can yield significant dividends for a firm.  Let’s start with the premise that clients want to hear from their advisors, which is a fact that has been borne out across numerous industry surveys.  There are three marketing activities that a firm can employ to augment their one-on-one client calls, periodic meetings and annual portfolio review to boost the number of quality “contacts” between a firm and its clients: 

eMail Marketing Program – A quarterly newsletter which accompanies client statements when they’re mailed out doesn’t cut it in today’s environment.  The combination of market volatility and investor inquisitiveness drives clients to seek relevant financial information on regular basis.  An FA firm can satisfy a client’s pursuit of knowledge through the use of well conceived email program which relies on a combination of monthly eNewsletters and topical mailings tied to market driven events.  Using an HTML template and email service providers such as Constant Contact, Campaign Monitor or Mail Chimp makes it easy to create mail pieces, manage your mailing list and evaluate the performance of your email program… for less than two-cents per email address.  eMail is an excellent relationship building tool that can aid a firm in nurturing prospects and strengthening its bond with current clients.   

Blog and social media posts – At this stage, I am assuming that you are among the 70%+ of financial advisors that have begun utilizing social networking as part of their practice marketing efforts.  If so, than I would really encourage you to use the social networking sites on which you’re active to share relevant investor focused information along with firm updates and perspectives.  Please know that both high net worth and mass affluent investors are using social media and the overwhelming majority of investors are open to hearing from their advisor in that forum.  This is an incredibly efficient means of maintaining visibility with your stakeholders while leveraging the viral nature of social media to efficiently extend your message reach.  Integrate compelling content and firm insights and the opportunity to distinguish your firm is greatly enhanced.   

Events – Whether hosting an open-house at the firm, a presentation at public forum or utilizing the internet to present your story, events create an opportunity to add value to the stakeholder relationships which you’ve formed.  In addition, they represent an excellent showcase for the firm’s principals to communicate with a large number of clients and prospects at once.  Leverage the firm’s website, email marketing program and social networking efforts to promote these events and you will see participation levels rise over time. 

The investment in these three marketing activities in nominal, both in terms of out-of-pocket expense and the time required to implement them.  Used in combination with the firm’s other client outreach activities they serve to build both contact frequency and to reinforce the firm’s “brand voice” and market position with clients, prospects and alliance partners alike.  Communication plays a vital role in client satisfaction, which in turn contributes to a client’s willingness to provide referrals.  There is one factoid from Business Health and their CATScan customer satisfaction survey that bears noting… for those firms who scored highly on the “Client Communication” portion of the survey, 95% of their clients indicated that they “would be willing to refer their advisor to a family member, friend or associate.”  Are you ready to make the commitment to growing your firm?  If you are interested in a complimentary advisor marketing consultation please contact Cliff Campeau at cliffc@evolutionizeMYpractice.com today to schedule your session.