The New Rules of Client Acquisition Part 3 – It's a Two Way Street

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As promised, we are getting all touchy feely in this article… but before we do let’s review what you should have accomplished thus far from articles one and two …

Checklist for the New Rules of Client Acquisition Resource1. Own your brand by creating a killer value prop Ironstone or Bob Andersfor full copywriting services2. Ensure your advisor website is buttoned up and optimized for mobile Blue Ocean Global Tech 3. Your LinkedIn profile is rockin’ and all key elements are in place Key Elements Guide

Now it’s time to get personal – this is where the touchy/feely comes in.

People do business with people they know, like and trust. Take a step back and think about that for a second… your clients and prospects should KNOW you (we covered that in part one). Hopefully they LIKE you, but above all do they TRUST you? Trust doesn’t happen automatically and trust is fragile.Trust is built when you prove that you actually care. How? Facebook! When you take the time to put your social listening ears on and review your Facebook newsfeed you will discover people share all kinds of personal info;
  • Relationship changes (engaged/married/divorced)
  • Travel
  • Moving or buying a 2 nd home
  • Family additions; baby/grandchild, don’t forget pets (they’re like children!)
  • Loss of a family member/friend
    • As you know many of these experiences have financial implications, but one thing they all have in common is the ability for you to deepen relationships – make them stickier and build trust by acknowledgingtheir ‘Facebook shares’ thru a phone call, email, lunch/dinner or you simply send a small gift (with a hand written note and/or personalized message).But don’t make it a one way street. Allow clients to get to know you, too, thru a personal Facebook account that is notused to market your practice. Share just the right amount of personal info such as family vacation photos, hobbies and interests. Rule of thumb, when sharing keep in mind you are potentially being judged, strike the right balance and keep religion and politics out of it.Note: Most advisors are allowed to have a strictly personal Facebook account, however abide by your firm’s compliance guidelines. Best Practices for Using Facebook:Your Account:
  • If you don’t have a personal Facebook account, establish one
  • If you have one, run an audit of posts/pictures, remove anything you feel is inappropriate. Be sure to check your privacy settings!
  • Connect with clients, prospects and COIs that you have a great rapport with
  • Start gathering useful info on your key relationships by reviewing their ‘likes’ to uncover passions, hobbies and interests, and add the info to your CRM. Refer back to this info when sending gifts, having conversations, inviting them to intimate events around a hobby they’ve listed, etc. The possibilities are endless!
  • Create custom ‘Lists’ for Clients, Prospects and COIs (click on Friends > Create List from left-hand menu) then place the appropriate people into each list so that you can stay focused on just their updates and not get distracted by all the Facebook noise.
  • Act on life events. For example, if a client has a baby, send a unique baby gift
    • Social media enables advisors to find out more about clients and prospects in a matter of minutes, where historically it used to take YEARS. Get your social on because next time we’ll be talking tweeting!