Even in the rallying bull markets of recent years I rarely met anyone--a client, colleague, or family member--who truly enjoyed giving referrals to a financial adviser.
The bottom line is that people don't get all excited and jump up and down and start bragging about you. It just doesn't happen; at least not consistently. Let alone, that person actually volunteering your name, in an excited tone, when you asked them who can help them manage their portfolio.
And how about a client recommending you now--after a disastrous 2008? Is it possible?
Yes. And quite frankly, it should be happening, regardless of whether your assets under management have tanked.
So how you bridge the gap between poor performance and wanting referrals? Seems counterintuitive, but it's not.
1. Re-visit and re-confirm objectives and goals of clients. It goes without saying that as wealth has evaporated, goals and objectives have changed dramatically. Unfortunately, it hasn't been easy to discuss such as dramatic loss of wealth, especially being the overseer of that money. It causes feelings of pain and angst with clients and is no easy picnic for you, either. But it's a necessary part of being a professional advisor. Rather than think of yourself as a part-time psychologist, think of yourself as a professional active communicator. Retrieve past intake forms and profiles in your client files. Review the tolerances for risk and also time horizon. Make notes, and follow-up with a written letter re-confirming this.
2. Focus why clients originally selected you as their advisor and re-confirm their decision. This isn't an exercise in your own peace of mind. It's designed to reinforce why the client began the relationship with you in the first place. If you've been hiding out and ducking clients, it helps further flesh-out whether or not the client still is finding value in your professional competencies, or not. (Probably not, I'd say). You need to remain neutral about other financial advisors services, rather than form your own judgments and conclusions, especially if a client has threatened to take their wealth elsewhere.
3. Communicate value via entry points and LCEPs (low cost experience points). One of the simplest ways of doing this and creating those LCEPs is to get your web site updated - it's an online brochure and as important as any hard marketing materials you now own (or plan on creating in 2009.) Showcase core competencies, cloaked case studies, and other illustrations that allow a person to come to experience you and your work.Also, it still amazes me how most advisors see referral marketing and building referrals from clients starts as a means of offering forced inducements (rewards or otherwise) to that client to get those new "experiences." That's both flawed and foolish.
Above all, keep your attitude in check. Are you making it easy for your clients to recommend you? If not, understand that the problem is likely with you, not with the client. It's not easy for your clients to recommend you because they do not always know why they should refer business to you in the first place. And why is this?
Because they do not know how this will be in their own best interests.
And why is that? Because, as I just said, they can not translate Me- Giving-You-a-Referral equates to this-form-of-benefit for me, today, in my life, in the here-and-now.
So what is the answer to getting more referrals for yourself? Transparency. As in, showing the client, colleague or family member why giving referrals to you and recommending you to others truly is in their best interests.
They have been able to form an opinion of you based on their experiences, and have objectively (not by bribes or inducements) determined you are trustworthy professional who has earned their trust and counsel.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daryl_Logullo
No comments:
Post a Comment