Note from DMW … Hi. You may have noticed that you are only receiving one blog per week in your inbox. We have slowly been migrating all our blogs and communication to our community, www.seriousshift.com. You can read my blogs in our free community, along with some other items Tom and I post for our members. I look forward to seeing you there. Now on with the blog …
For the month of October, I’ll be blogging and posting about Business Development, so stay tuned. These next blogs might run a little long because it’s an important subject.
In your mind, attracting great clients should be easy, right?
Literally, everyone needs what you are offering, which is financial independence and freedom from worry, and everyone is everywhere. You’re going to walk past 100 people today who would love to have you as their advisor.
Not only that, you love the subject, and most people who need it don’t. In fact, it makes them uncomfortable. You helping them seems like a match made in heaven. You love it, they need it but are afraid of it, and you’re willing to help make the monsters go away.
Wonderful!!
And if all of this isn’t already good enough, you’re also a wonderful person who is grateful to do this work, and really does take a personal interest in the well-being of your clients.
You. Can’t. Lose!
Except you’re losing, and if not losing then certainly not winning.
Your clients are happy, but not referring.
You can’t be found. You are lost in the noise of everything else. You have started some conversations with potential clients, but they are not exactly rushing to get in the door to meet you and get this done.
Good news …
All of this can be fixed by making some easy enough adjustments, one at a time. I’ve been doing this for a long time. I didn’t say “easy” – I said “easy enough,” providing you make some of the shifts that are required.
1. Narrow your focus.
Today, on your way to work, you will walk past 100 people who could be your client, but you really only want 10 of them. “Anyone with $X in investments” isn’t enough of a profile.
I work with retirees who frustrate their children. My clients do not act their age. They take their health, happiness and financial planning seriously. They want to learn new things, meet new people and live a life less ordinary. Their biggest fear isn’t a lack of funds, it’s a lack of connection and a genuine fear of boredom.
Litmus test for those of you who work with retirees … What are their least favorite days of the week? If you know, you know. If you don’t, then go join our community, and post this: “Dennis, what are retirees’ least favorite days of the week and why?” And I’ll tell you.
2. Persona, not Person.
Don’t mistake what people NEED with what people WANT. Consider the retiree I just described above. Does that person want to hear about CDs or GICs or Retirement Income Protection? Not really. They need it but that doesn’t mean you should lead with it. When you lead with products and services, you’re sending a signal, and that signal is “You’ve heard this before.”
Get on the right frequency.
The signal you’re wanting to send is “You have never heard this before.” And good news again – everyone is so bored that when something actually gets through and connects with us, we notice and take action. We click, read, follow or share it.
3. Get social.
If you just felt a gut punch, I’m your guy. I hate social media. I reluctantly participate, and only do so for my work. This is a big one, and I’ll dedicate a short blog to it this month.
When someone wants to know more about you, they google you. What do they see? When they survey all the available information, what kind of story about you can they put together?
Think impressions and cues or signals.
People want to know who you are as much as they want to know what you do. Your webpage, your LinkedIn profile, then the other social media platforms have to be considered. Don’t worry, I’ve been there and if you feel overwhelmed, you’re doing it wrong. It’s easy. Kids do it all day long, and I messed it up for so long I have made every single error possible. I can tell you where the potholes are because I’ve rolled my ankle, twice, in each of them.
For this moment, do this. Choose 3 businesses that you love and visit their social media stuff. This is a 30-minute job tops. Go look, and see if you can figure out what story they are telling. You can pick an advisor you admire, a place you love, a business or a thing you would like to own, and see if you can figure out what story they are telling.
What if the 3 businesses you love have nothing to do with financial planning? Even better.
I hope to see you in our community. The next blog comes out Thursday along with some other community things relating to business development.
Reminder: I’ll be talking business development all month. See you in the community, www.seriousshift.com