Archive for the ‘Campaigns’ Category

Thanksgiving Season Campaign Part Deux … This Time Its Personal

November 7th, 2011

You can read Part One here if you missed it.

Thank you for all the feedback on our blog last week, we appreciate it. Look for an Advisor Profile later this week that you will enjoy.

This blog is about the next step of the Thanksgiving Season campaign where we are looking to uncover new opportunities within your own business. This isn’t hard to do, and with very little effort you can do this all the time.

Last week you were going to send everyone a card using this incredibly handy service, you were going to call your clients, beginning with your top client, and gather CLAN information (Career, Life Goals, Activities, Next of Kin).

You can get the campaign rolling in about 20 minutes by visiting here. If you need any help, email us info@moseleywilliams.com and someone will walk you through it.

The feedback so far is that the service is pretty straightforward.

How you can leverage the CLAN info that you gathered.

Lets agree that profiling clients is always important, and always a benefit. Undoubtedly sometimes you will walk right into new business, but I would encourage you to take a longer, more patient view. This work is important, necessary and will pay off.

Just by calling and profiling your clients you are building a wall around them – you are protecting your most valuable asset, a client who is onside. Think about what a single client is worth to you, year after year. What does a client pay you per year in fees, what does that client pay you every 5 or even 10 years? These numbers can be staggering.

So again – at the very least we are protecting this income, now let’s see how we can grow a little.

Look for family information – specifically parents.

When you ask about Thanksgiving dinner, and you find out who is going to be there, ask a few qualifying questions to flush out a better picture of the family dynamic.

Obviously you are going to want to know more about my parents – and it’s likely that most of your clients who are in their forties have parents who are at least in their mid sixties. In my case, my mother is in her late 70s, and my father is in his mid to late 80s and lives in a long term care facility.

 

If you called me and asked me what my plans were, you’d find out that I have 4 older brothers, that I will likely have dinner with two of them, and that most likely my mom will be there. My father isn’t very well, so you might find out that we are going to visit with him that day, probably in shifts, and that it’s unlikely he will join us that night.

My brothers are all married, they are all professionals and we are all friendly with each other. One of my brothers you would like to have as a client, and probably could if you lived in our town.

You might ask something about kids, and find out that there are enough Moseley-Williams grandkids to field a team, and that they range in age from 4 to 25. We are a family that goes to University and College, most of my nephews and nieces will graduate from post-secondary education. There are a lot of 529 plans (RESPs in Canada) to consider.

There are some great opportunities here to help me, to diversify your service and to further build a professional relationship. All you have to do is ask, and you have permission to do this.

Elder Care is an important issue, and a great opportunity.

In the cases where your client might have a similar situation to my own, consider sending out a letter after you make the call and offer to be a source of clarity and assistance as it relates to possible elder care issues.

“Dear Dennis,

You have been on my mind since I spoke with you the other day. I have been thinking about your parents, who I will assume are well taken care of. With that said, more and more I get questions from my clients whose parents are nearing, or already in retirement.

Obviously a proper will and estate plan is an essential piece of your financial planning puzzle. I am going to assume that all is well taken care of, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t reach out to you.

Please find enclosed a little information on the subject that highlights a few issues that you should be aware of. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Seminar for elder care? With a speaker? A Retirement Symposium?

One of our clients leveraged this simple campaign – a card, a call, and some profiling, into a seminar for retirees featuring a gerontologist as a speaker. The subject was retirement lifestyle planning, The New Retirement, and it was incredibly well received.

The audience was a mix of existing clients, their parents, and some prospects. It was an exceptional event, and the topic was timely, appropriate and appreciated.

A fistful of other ideas

What if you don’t have the elder care event as a possibility? Not to worry. There are all kinds of other opportunities. Remember, you are not trying to sell a product; you are trying to create a client.

Career – can you send anything out to a client who is thinking of changing careers, companies, or who is uncertain about long term job security?

Lifegoals – Are your clients planning any trips? This is usually an easy one.

Speaking personally I have already booked two ski getaways, January and February and I have a third “almost booked” for March – just need to finalize the dates.

What is significant in my case is that I am booking these trips as rewards for some heavy work I am doing now, so this is also related to CAREER stuff. Namely I am finishing a book, launching two products and I am currently in the midst of finishing a complete rebuild of my consulting program.

Anyone can get on GOOGLE (it’s new) and wherever your clients tell you they are going, type in something like: Best restaurants in Location. Can’t-miss attractions in Location. Secrets-of Location.

You will get millions of possibilities, you need two. Check out the links, print what is appropriate and send the printed pages out to your clients with a little note:

“Dennis, I enjoyed speaking with you the other day, I love that you are always looking ahead and planning some fun. Keep it up. I have enclosed a little list of things to do when you are in Location skiing. I’m sure you are doing your own homework, but according to those who know, you don’t want to miss …”

That’s it. That’s all you have to do. All you are trying to do is demonstrate that you listen, and you care and that you are willing to bring a little value when you can, and maybe you will find out that it really helped them. You are buying your own space in their story.

Activities – Think hobbies, and what is going on closer to home. Do your clients have a boat or a cottage or lake house? When do they close it up? Are they an avid runner, biker or swimmer? Are they involved in a fund raiser or community activity that you could sponsor or in some way assist with?

Next of Kin – This is a huge opportunity. Imagine if you sent a book like The Richest Man in Babylon, or The Wealthy Barber to every teenage child of your top clients who has a job. To every kid who makes $216 every two weeks from working at her or his job at a retail store.

What would that say about your commitment to your clients as a Personal CFO? Write a note that says this:

“Ella, I was speaking with your father/mother the other day and they were telling me that you have joined the workforce. Congratulations! Your parents are understandably very proud of you and they should be. I have enclosed this book for your consideration, and encourage you to read it before you get too many pay cheques.”

Make sure you call your client and let them know that you have sent along the book, and then suggest that they bring in their son or daughter to meet you at their next review meeting.

Speaking very personally – nothing means more to me than my daughter. Anyone who makes any effort to help me be a good dad is an important ally in my life.

Become Indispensible

The bottom line is this – you have to stir the pot. You have to stay in touch. You have to remain top of mind and you have to add value.

Sending a statement isn’t adding value. Sending a market update isn’t market value either – frankly it’s your job.

Don’t measure your value by doing what you are hired to do. Measure your value by doing things that are nowhere in your job description.

Once again – if you want to get this campaign going, start with a card and you can get going here.

After the card is sent out, hop on the phone and gather your CLAN information then use a little imagination. The more you do it, the more easily you will manufacture runs.

Kick off Thanksgiving Day Campaign Part One

November 1st, 2011

Every year at this time I get my clients excited about the possibilities of the season. We all know that at this time of year friends and family members get together, visit, catch up, and share news.

Rather than write a great big long missive about this campaign and how it works, I am going to break it up into 3 parts.

This first post is all about reaching out and contacting, and profiling your clients. In the follow up posts, I’ll tell you how to further leverage this information. We have even provided a useful link to a site that can help you get this started right away.

STEP ONE – MAIL A CARD.

Begin by mailing all of your clients a Thanksgiving Day card. It’s a nice gesture, and while everyone sends out Holiday Cards, or Christmas Cards very few people send out Thanksgiving Day Cards.

Send everyone a card. We rely on this simple service that allows you to choose your card, put in a personal message, and then it handles the mailing for you.

STEP ONE – PART B.

Your top clients should receive a card, and a center piece for their table. It’s a great idea, one that I know works. Its not hard to imagine your best clients having a dinner party and having a guest comment on their table decoration. They may not say “my advisor sent it”, but that isn’t really important. What is important is that it is a good idea that stands out and every time someone mentions it they will think of you. If your name comes up, even better.

STEP TWO – PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL EVERYONE YOU SEND A CARD TO.

There are a few reasons that you are making this call.

  1. To book a financial appointment to discuss their investments leading up to, or just after the Holiday season. Get a date solidified.
  2. To profile your clients and insulate them from competitors.
  3. Uncovering hidden opportunities – as you will see in a moment, we want to capture as much CLAN information as possible, and see what sort of new opportunities we can stir up. This will be taken up in follow up blogs.

Call the clients that make the most sense to you and your business. Think ahead of time about what revenue they generate, and how ideally they match your ideal client profile. Everyone will get a card, but perhaps not every client merits a personal call?

GATHER C.L.A.N. INFORMATION.

Before you call each client, consider … Do they consider you a friend? Do they value your advice? Are you their primary financial advisor?  Do they have additional assets held at other institutions? Have they ever provided you with a referral?

Don’t mention the card that is in the mail, and in specific cases do not mention the center piece either. Let that be a surprise. There are so few anymore …

Simply call and ask this question and see where it leads: “What are your plans for Thanksgiving?” Remember your CLAN information that you want to gather and be ready with some paper to write on. Specifically you want to learn about:

Career news.

Life goals.

Activities & Interests.

Next of Kin.

When you ask “What are your plans for Thanksgiving?” you may find out about relatives in the area – specifically whose table your client is sitting around, and who else will be there. You might hear about siblings in the city that you have not been introduced too. “I didn’t know your brother lived in the city … are you close? What does your brother do?”

Remember that networking involves familiarity and take the long view. All you are trying to do on these calls is gather information.

Perhaps your clients are going to tell you that they are going on a holiday for Thanksgiving, a trip, or something related to their personal interests and hobbies. The value that you get from this exercise is completely related to what you do with the information.

Capture it all in your client profiles and then see our next blog on how you can leverage it.

TAKE ACTION …

This is how you can get these cards set up, and sent out today:

We have tried to make these instructions as thorough as possible, but if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask nick@moseleywilliams.com.

Go to www.sendoutcards.com/dmwfriends and click Join to sign up for a retail account. This will give you access to the standard system features such as a Contact Manager, PicturePlus 2.0 (Where you can create custom cards) and the ability to send Campaigns.

With sendoutcards.com you add Points to purchase cards and Expense to cover postage. One Point gets you a post card, 2 Points gets you a 2-panel card. Add more Points at a time to get them cheaper.

Share our custom campaigns

Once in your account, move your cursor over Account, and write down your Used ID.

Log out of your account

Login using “dmwfriends” and password “dmwfriends”

Put your cursor over Cards, and click on Campaigns

You can see each campaign by clicking Edit on the right of each one

If you like it Share and enter your user ID into any of the ones you want

Log out of my public account and log into yours again, go to Campaigns, Edit each with your business card and change as you desire.

Once again, if you need any help, shoot nick@moseleywilliams.com an email.

Watch for Part 2 coming soon!

Father’s Day Client Event Idea

May 31st, 2011

Here is a little timely imagination to stir into your coffee.

Just so you know, this has been a difficult year for me. My dad lives in a nursing home and he more or less became my grandfather. We don’t speak very often, and when we do I certainly miss my dad. He was my hero, and in my own way I do my own Gerald Moseley-Williams impersonation every day around my house.

This is how we honor our dads – we try to be like them or the very best version of them that we can imagine.

My father-in-law died a few days ago, even when you are expecting it, it’s always a terrible surprise.

June 19th is father’s day this year in Canada, the USA and the UK and it is a fantastic opportunity to make a statement about your personal commitment to your clients while conveniently reinforcing the long term nature of your relationship, health, and investments.

Why we host events …

When clients like you, they trust you and when they trust you they will more likely refer additional business to you. Hosting events for your clients will help you build more meaningful relationships quickly, and you will have some laughs along the way.

A series of events throughout the year that are topical and can be leveraged for financial education are most effective for keeping clients connected and engaged with you.

When clients feel fully engaged with you they invest more assets, remain loyal and agreeable during difficult times and are more likely to talk about you to friends and associates. Events are a great way to generate some buzz, and keep your clients thinking about you.

Father’s Day Event June 19th

Likely most of your male clients are fathers, and in many cases they may still have a father who is living.

Father’s Day is a great opportunity to host a breakfast or lunch meeting in a nice restaurant or a golf club with some of your top clients who have kids. This can be a good meeting with a slightly heavy topic – how about … will and estate planning? No joke, I have an advisor that I know who hosts a will and estate planning event every father’s day – she claims that getting people to laugh is the first step in many cases to bridging a difficult subject.

You could partner up with a legal professional or a tax specialist. You could present a tidy list of things that every father should be thinking about – insurance, savings, education and emergency planning.

You can’t invite everyone …

All of your father’s deserve some kind of recognition – a very affordable idea is to go to Esquire Magazine’s site and type “Fatherhood” into the search bar, this will result in 27 suggested articles including this one that is incredible.

Some of the quotes are just fantastic – like this one:

“Don’t worry, your dad didn’t know what he was doing either.”

Why not mail your entire list of father’s a page of great quotes on fatherhood by various thinkers, politicians, or celebrities? It may not seem like much, but it’s better than a tie or a coffee mug. Challenge your father’s to reflect on what this day means to them, and why being a good father is so important.

Invite your top clients, and assorted centers of influence to your event – keep the numbers small, and try to add some entertainment to the education. I love the idea of a nutritionist, I would attend that.

The bottom line is this – no other professional alive is going to send your client anything to do with father’s day – stand out. Engage your clients on an emotional level.

You want people to talk about you? Do the unexpected – care.

Building a Campaign that works – Build Predisposition

November 22nd, 2010

A sure sign that The Holidays are on their way, is that somehow Christmas decorations show up out of nowhere, on or about the first of November.

I love the ads on TV though, great images of tables loaded with food, friends, and of course, all sorts of holiday “booze” that you don’t see at any other time of year. The gift that keeps on giving. When Baileys Coffee Liqueur is advertised on television, I do in fact wonder why every day can’t be Christmas?

To gain mind share, companies understand that you have to begin to build your case early – and it takes time. Over 80% of sales happen after the 5th or 6th contact – meaning, that many advisors fail because they stop marketing – they stop making their case before the prospect, or client, has had time to digest, and take action.

Getting the decorations up, and the ads running early is important – and its been proven that the sooner you get someone thinking, and the more often you imprint or remind them of your product or service – the better. It might look like a last minute purchase, on the 23rd of December, to run out and grab a bottle of Baileys because company is coming over – but its more likely that you have been thinking or meaning to get some for some time.

You were intending to take action, but you needed the urgency of the company coming over to make you take action – you needed a deadline, a fear of loss – we can’t have company come over, and not have anything to serve them.

Rule #1 – Campaigns are long, and you need to be organized, so leave yourself a lot of time.

You are going to have to get your name in front of a prospect a number of times before he or she will take action and call you. To have success – you have to design the best campaign possible.

Think about an election campaign – your candidate can be winning, then losing, then winning again. Your prospects might be interested, not interested, and then interested again. Don’t get faked out by that. Have some faith. Stick to your message, and keep on keeping on – the election is still months away!

Emotion – fear of loss is more persuasive – people are more afraid to lose money, than they are motivated to go and earn some money.

Here is an example: “Through proper diversification, you can avoid terrible, unnecessary losses that can cripple your retirement plans” is better than “Through Diversification, you can realize far more earning potential.” – both good, the first is better.

Rule #2 – Do it right, no half steps, no half measures. Host the best, most upscale event you can afford.

Pick a great venue – something people will notice. Where you choose to host your event says a lot about what your prospect or client can expect from you. Your prospect might not be able to attend this event, but if you host it at the right venue, they will want to attend the next one.

Rule # 3 – Build pre-disposition.

When you send invitations/letters early you allow your target more time to build up pre-disposition (think Bailies, or snow tires). Its difficult to get someone to get up and take action – you have to create a nagging feeling of doubt, worry, or bother about a specific issue.

In subsequent letters, you can update your prospect on the status of the event, and perhaps shed some more light on specific details about the evening.

Perhaps when you send your second letter, you could announce that you are filling up, and you could reference the menu, and the agenda – just give your reader a glimpse as to what he or she will be a part of should they attend.

Don’t ever forget what they fear – being stuck in a lousy room, with a lousy speaker, who is putting the squeeze on to do business. Instead – paint them a picture of a great night out, where they will benefit, enjoy some wine, and get something positive out of the event.

Rule #4 – Problem, Agitate, Solve.

Follow this simple formula when you write each letter – in the top 3rd, state the problem, in the middle of the letter, stir that problem up, agitate the reader by expanding on the related problems and concerns that people who have this problem share. Finally, in the bottom 3rd of the letter, offer the solution with a call to action.

Never tell a prospect or a client in a letter that you will phone them. Always ask them to call you.

Here is an example. The first paragraph is the ‘problem’.

Dear Business Owner,

Like many of my clients who run their own business, I’m sure that you work very hard, and you are proud of what you have accomplished so far. You know that investing is important, and you do your best to save as much as you can, although you accept that really, you should sit down and make sure everything is set up as well as possible.

So many business owners that I meet tell me the same thing, “my business is my retirement plan.” I can relate. I will one day sell my business as well – but it the meantime, I ensure that I am protected, and positioned to capitalize on my investments in the years ahead.

Agitate.

Finding the time to deal with finances is of critical importance – especially when you run your own business. Managing your own enterprise can be a great reward, but it takes time and commitment to succeed. You always have to be thinking one or two steps ahead, or you can lose thousands in unnecessary taxes, not to mention lost opportunity.

Solution.

I am writing to invite you to reach out to me. My financial planning practice specializes in working with entrepreneurs, and business owners who are looking for a Personal CFO to manage all of their money concerns, so that they can focus on running their business.

Every CEO has a CFO, I run a small practice that caters to business owners. I am well aware of all of the challenges, and solutions available to a business owner who is interested in strategies to minimize taxes, shelter income, and of course maximize returns in the markets. If you are interested, please call me at the number below, mornings are often best as we have appointments beginning at 930 AM.

Yours,

DMW

PS.  I will be hosting a special dinner for business owners later next month, this event will be open to individuals who are not clients of XYZ Financial.

Did you know that the PS is the first thing anyone reads on a letter? This is why keeping your letters on one page is such a great idea – because the reader will quickly scan the letter, and if there is a PS, they will read that first. A call to action, or in the case above, the first mention of the advisor’s dinner is mentioned.

What is Dual-Readership Path, and what does it say about DMW?

There are two kinds of readers in the world – those who read every word, and those who skim for details, or a summary. I am a skimmer – my wife, she is more into the details. A match made in heaven! So long as Sherri sticks around, I will never buy anything for “10 easy payments”.

When I receive a letter, I open it, and I scan it. There are often bold lines that divide paragraphs – these bold lines will help direct the thoughts of the reader. Really quickly, I am going to re-post the letter I just wrote – only I am going to change “agitate”, and “solution” with a more leading statement.

Dear Business Owner,

Like many of my clients who run their own business, I’m sure that you work very hard, and you are proud of what you have accomplished so far. You know that investing is important, and you do your best to save as much as you can, although you accept that really, you should sit down and make sure everything is set up as well as possible.

So many business owners that I meet tell me the same thing, “my business is my retirement plan.” I can relate. I will one day sell my business as well – but it the meantime, I ensure that I am protected, and positioned to capitalize on my investments in the years ahead.

Are you the CEO, or the CFO … and what should you be doing?

Finding the time to deal with finances is of critical importance – especially when you run your own business. Managing your own enterprise can be a great reward, but it takes time and commitment to succeed. You always have to be thinking one or two steps ahead, or you can lose thousands in unnecessary taxes, not to mention lost opportunity.

You can protect your business, I can protect you.

Every CEO has a CFO, I run a small practice that caters to business owners. I am well aware of all of the challenges, and solutions available to a business owner who is interested in strategies to minimize taxes, shelter income, and of course maximize returns in the markets. If you are interested, please call me at the number below, mornings are often best as I have appointments beginning at 930 AM.

Yours,

DMW

PS.  I will be hosting a special dinner for business owners later next month,  this event will be open to individuals who are not clients of XYZ Financial.

Should a letter like that arrive at my house, I would scan it. I would know this instantly – I probably don’t focus on what I should focus on, and that the letter writer can protect me, and that there is a dinner. Right now, I make a decision – do I keep this, and re-read it, or do I delegate it to Sherri, or do I throw it out.

Lets say I sit it down in a pile of papers, and think about getting to it later … This is usually what happens. Rarely does a person mean “no” when they don’t respond – what they are often saying is “not yet”. Like the example of running out to buy Bailieys at Christmas, its not that you were not thinking about it – its that you needed the urgency of company to go and get it.

You can never know, for certain, what is going on in the life of the person reading your marketing material. Don’t take it personally – they are not out to get you, they are just looking out for themselves.

Pay attention to all advertising – there is always a limited number, a limited time, or sometimes a limited number for a limited time at this exclusive price so please call now ….operators are standing by.

Assuming we are sending this letter to a business owner – we can’t expect him to drop everything and call us right away. We can hope that we caught his or her eye – and we can hope that she or he will tuck it aside. You can hope – but count on them forgetting.

Second Verse … Point to the first.

Of course before you ever wrote or mailed the first letter, you knew when you would write and mail the second. You knew that when you sent that first letter, likely nothing would happen. At least, I hope you were expecting that? You didn’t really think that a bunch of people would run to the phone did you? I’m good – but I’m not that good

What is the difference between ‘Impression’ and ‘engagement’

Marketing was about getting your name, your company, your logo in front of a prospective client as many times as possible – the thinking was that if they saw your name enough, they would call you, or at least recognize your name when you called them and introduced yourself.

Things have changed a lot. For starters, everything is for sale all the time – so we are always being asked by someone, somewhere, to buy something. We can have it for free, and pay for it later. If we don’t like it, we can send it back.

When I walk through airports, I almost feel sorry for the vendors who are trying to give away flights to get travellers to sign up for credit cards, or reward programs. Nobody pays any attention to them – we are turning our noses up at free flights – not really – we are turning away from being sold.

The TV has ads, the radio has ads, the browser has ads – everything is for sale. And you probably don’t need any of it.

Then your letter shows up …

How do you make sure you don’t get lost in the pack? Easy. Bring value, and educate. Engage with the client. Team tehm something they didn’t know – make them think “well, if I didn’t know that, what else don’t I know” or “Well, if she knows that, what else does she know?”

Lumpy Mail will surprise you. I have a client who sends mail constantly – in one case, he put small bags of instant tea in each letter – he said “a deal is a deal, I have asked you to do a lot of reading, this one is on me” – I know for a fact that when Starbucks came out with instant coffee, he was thrilled because it was going right into his direct mail.

By appearing professional – educating, and adding just a little value you stand out. Now send another letter. Continue to peel back layers to make your prospect comfortable – they need to feel like they know you, or at least know what it would feel like to be your client.

When is it over? Its (almost) never over.

After you have sent 3 or 4 good letters, all linked. Feel free to hop on the phone, and tell your prospect that you hope they are getting some value – and that if they want, they can get off your mailing list. You will respect that. However, if your letters are good, and if you teach them something specific, in each letter, they may opt to remain on your list. There is nothing wrong with that – it takes a long time sometimes to get someone to take action.

The Best Follow Up …

The greatest mistakes we make are that we give up just before our breakthrough – and the second, is that that we take “rejection” personally when we shouldn’t.

The smartest thing you can do – using the example of an event – is to send follow up notes, and if possible, a picture of the event.

Tell your prospect about the event – tell them you were happy – tell them you were impressed with the quality of the dialogue, and the questions and answers.

Tell them you understand they were busy – but that “this information will help any business owner, so please review”. Then call them.

You want to create this nagging sense inside that prospect that they missed something – hurt them just a little – then heal them by saying that because you had so many people who wanted attend, but couldn’t, that you are going to plan a second event, and that your prospect should let you know right away if they want to pre-reserve a seat.

“I expect that demand for this additional session will exceed available seating – I like to purposely keep these events small to ensure proper dialogue – so if you would like to be on the short list, call Nick at my office right away to reserve a seat.”

Application Demonstration Video 3 – Campaigns

September 21st, 2010

Here is the third in the series of videos outlining our test script for our Beta testers. This one gives you a full walk-though on creating a campaign. Using salesforce.com, bundled with our application, creating campaigns is a breeze. Ensuring you complete the right tasks (i.e. hiring the caterer, inviting guests and following up) at the right time will result in the best possible event for you, and your clients.

Script:
Create an Event (dinner with a group of clients) that will take place near your office on DECEMBER 15 2010.
Go to your CAMPAIGNS tab Make a new list of 10 clients – 5 from your top tier, and 5 from your middle tier.
Name this group IDEAL CLIENTS.
Send each of these 10 clients an email letting them know the date, time, place and subject to be discussed.
Schedule the following pre-dinner events:
October 15 – Hire and guarantee the caterer
October 20 – Write and mail invitations
November 10th – Send reminder note to clients who have not responded (5 of 10)
Send menu and agenda to all 10 clients
December 1st – Follow up call to those on the fence
December 10th – Email reminder and directions