Last week I watched a presentation from Ben Self at the Australian Financial Planning Association’s national conference.  Ben was the man behind Obama’s marketing and social media strategy during the election period.  In his presentation he mentioned a number of ideas for marketing, but the comment that stuck out the most was “people like to hear great stories”.

He used a few examples from the Obama campaign where they focussed on an everyday person and told their story.  He challenged the financial planners to consider using stories more in their marketing.

I’ve also been reading a few articles online about marketing services, and they suggest the same thing.  Use examples of people to build ’social proof’.

This made me think about how I could do it in my financial planning business in Adelaide.  I’ve now made plans to use more case studies on our web site and blog.  In the past where I may have written about a strategy, I’m now trying to write about it using an example of a client.

I’ve also decided to ask some clients for some testimonials.  I haven’t done this much in the past, but I’m making a bigger effort now to make sure my clients can see the value of the advice I’m providing.  Last week I reminded one lady that we’d saved her around $4,000 in tax in the last financial year.  She’d forgotten that if she didn’t seek advice, she would have had a larger than expected tax bill.  She’s a great example of the type of work we do for people.  I need to blow my own trumpet a bit more.

I’m also looking to introduce some podcasts next year for the financial planning business where we can focus on one or two strategies and speak about some case studies.

I’m interested in other ideas.  How do you tell stories to your clients?  How can a financial planner tell stories that inspire their clients?

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Session 1 – It’s all about postcards

The adviser who spoke at this session has had a lot of success by using postcards to communicate with his client base.

He’s designed a couple of postcards with simple images on them and a quick message that may say something like “We haven’t seen you for a while. It’s time for a review”.  He posts these out to his clients at regular intervals.

He says he gets a reasonable response rate from his clients from the mailings.  His staff also make phone calls to those clients who don’t respond, and book extra appointments as a result.

He has a few different cards he uses, with some different messages.

Session 2 – Don’t write – just call

In this session I heard from an adviser who has been reviewing all his C and D class clients who he hasn’t had much contact with.  He meets with them to review their insurances and investments, and makes recommendations on how they can improve things.

This adviser doesn’t write to his clients.

He just calls them.

No letters.  No postcards.

He just picks up the phone and calls.  Cold.

And it works.

He made it very clear that he doesn’t see any benefit in writing to his clients asking for a review.  He believes it’s better to call them.

So which one is right?

I spoke with a few different advisers after these sessions.  Most advisers enjoyed the messages and were motivated to prospect more regularly when they returned to their offices.  Not many commented on the apparent contradictory nature of the two sessions.

The thing they both have in common is they’re getting in front of people they haven’t seen for a while, conducting a review and finding opportunities for new business. 

They differ in how they do it.

One swears there’s no point in writing.  Phoning is the most effective option to him.

The other believes that sending the postcards works and helps warm his clients up.

And they’re both right.  They’ve both found a method that works for them.  Importantly, they make sure they do the activity necessary to get results.  Whether it’s calling, or posting and then calling, they’re making the effort to get clients in.

I learnt a long time ago to take ideas that appeal to me and use them.  When I’m at conferences I’ll pick out ideas that I like.  I may not agree with 100% of some-one’s talk, but I can usually find something that I can use.

What about you?  What prospecting methods work for you and help you get more clients?

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He talks about how business is good at dealing with the symptoms of a problem rather than the cause of the problem.

I’m sure we all have examples of where this has occurred in our business experience.

This was reinforced to me today when one of Australia’s life insurance companies introduced their version of an electronic life insurance application.  Rather than completing a paper-based version, I can now sit with clients, ask them questions and the program will add or remove questions based on their answers.  At the end of the process the program can actually make an underwriting decision and approve the policy.

This is a great idea – think of the time it will save us.  In the old method we had to photocopy the application before we sent it.  It would have to be manually entered at the insurer’s end (with the potential for mistakes).  It was then placed in a queue for an underwriter to look at.  The process involved a lot of different people, and was time consuming.

An electronic application makes the process faster.  And that’s important in the financial planning world.  Once we have a client agree with our recommendations for insurance, we want to get the cover in place as quickly as possible.

So what’s the problem?

From the insurer’s point of view, they’ve introduced a new process that speeds up the decision-making process and gets business approved faster.

But not everything can be underwritten electronically.  There are still some instances where we’ll need to use a paper-based application.  And that takes time.  The problems that previously existed are still there.  The inefficiencies haven’t changed.

Perhaps the positive outcome is that if more applications are being processed electronically, this actually frees up the administrative staff so they can process the paper-based applications faster.

Only time will tell.

I’m happy that they’ve introduced a system that makes my job easier.  And I’m happy that they’ve chosen an electronic solution (the more automated you can make a process, the lower the error rate).  I’m just not looking forward to the next time I need to lodge something manually.  It’s then that I’ll discover whether they’ve fixed the problem, or just shaved the bear.

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I had a think about who my competitors are in the financial planning industry in Adelaide, and listed out the differences between their businesses and mine.  I looked at things like pricing, service offers, how personal the service is, the investment philosophies etc.

I did a similar exercise a few years ago before I started this business.  In my old job, I managed a group of different financial planners, all of whom ran their own businesses.  I also met with a number of planners all over my city who ran different businesses that were not part of the group I worked for.

The thing that struck me this time was how difficult the task of producing a competitor analysis actually was. 

For almost two years I’ve been running my own business, and have been pretty detached from other planning groups.  I don’t meet with a lot of other planners so I’ve discovered I’m a little isolated from some of the things they’re doing.

I realised I don’t know how a lot of my competitors actually charge for their services and I don’t know what they offer.

I don’t really know who my major competitors are.  Sure, I know who some of the high-profile firms are, but they’re not necessarily my competitors.

I think it’s a very valuable exercise to do an analysis of your competitors.  It helps you understand how your business is positioned in relation to your peers, and helps you focus on the things you do that are unique to your business.

But it’s also important to make sure you do it well.

How well do you know what your competitors do?  Do you know what they offer and what they charge?  Do you know why some prospects use your competitors instead of using you?  Do you know how you’re different?

Have a think about this.  Then do your research and make sure decisions and assumptions you make are based on fact, not just your perception.

Comments are welcome – please let me know what you think.

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I’ve been a fan of Don Connelly for a while.  I’ve read a lot of his articles and he’s always got some great ideas about how to communicate with clients.  He’s not into pushy sales tactics (neither am I) – he’s very good at using analogies and stories to help clients understand what they’re doing.

I’ve just had a look at his You Tube channel and I found this video which is ideal for financial planners who have clients who still want to deal with a couple of planners rather than just one.

If you’re receiving this by email, you can view this blog article online here.

What do you think?  Leave your comments below.

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A couple of weeks ago she stayed in a hotel in Sydney.  A few days after checking out she received an email from the hotel asking her to complete a short survey to provide feedback about her stay.  The survey asked all the usual questions and asked her to rate various aspects of her experience.

She told me that she was happy with the stay at the hotel.  Nothing went wrong, nothing bad happened – it was just a ‘usual’ night at the hotel.  In the survey she rated all aspects of her stay highly except for one. 

She elected to have breakfast in the room and mentioned on the survey that the toast was a bit soggy and bent.  If you’ve ever ordered room service you’ll know this is a reasonably common experience, usually because of the time it takes from when your meal is prepared to when it is actually delivered.  Of course there can also be a further time lag from when it’s delivered to when it’s consumed.

The soggy toast wasn’t a big issue – she’s used to it happening and only mentioned it because they asked if there was anything they could improve on.

A few days later she received a letter from the hotel manager thanking her for the feedback, and apologising for the soggy toast.  It goes without saying that she was very impressed with the responsiveness of the hotel and the effort they took to respond to her feedback.

A few points we can learn from this story.

1. Always ask for feedback.  I’ve stayed at the same hotel and received the same survey.  It’s not something they do sometimes, it’s something that happens automatically, all of the time.
2. If you worked in the hotel and knew that every guest would have the opportunity to rate their experience, you’d make sure your customer service was as good as it could be.  What gets measured gets done!
3. When you receive feedback, show the customer that you’re listening.  They did this by sending my friend a personalised letter acknowledging her feedback.  She made it clear that the soggy toast wasn’t a big issue, but the hotel has shown that if it was important enough for her to comment on, then it’s important enough to apologise for.
4. Always ask customers about things you can improve on.  She likes staying in the hotel and was happy with her experience.  If she was upset about the toast she would have said something.  By asking the question in the survey the hotel is finding out about things that are less than ideal, but aren’t bad enough to make guests complain.
5. Poor experiences are a good opportunity to exceed client’s expectations.  I’ve said it before on this blog that if there’s a breakdown in service, it provides you with an excellent opportunity to exceed your client’s expectations by fixing things.

My friend is looking forward to staying at this hotel again.  She’ll make sure she orders room service and I’m sure she’ll check the toast!

What can we learn from this?

• Do you have a formal client survey program?
• Does it ask the right questions?
• What happens when you receive bad feedback?

Let me know what you think.

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I blogged about the Ultimate Entrepreneur Toolkit a couple of days ago.  It’s available for sale again on the 8th and 9th of July.  Click here to go to the web site.  In this article I’d like to give you my review of the Ultimate Entrepreneur Toolkit.

Ultimate Entrepreneur Toolkit Review – What Is It?

The Ultimate Entrepreneur Toolkit has been put together by Bill Barren.  It contains 20 business building products from a range of experts in their fields.  The idea is that each person submitted one of their products to be included in the toolkit.  It’s a bit like a sampler of different material.

The combined value of the products is over $4,000 and it sells for only $195.  I see this as a low risk way to buy a stack of different products that can help me in my business.  I don’t expect I’ll love all the material, but as long as a couple give me value, I’ll be happy.

One thing to highlight here – when you purchase you receive a link to Bill Barren’s website which then links you to the download sites for the various products.  You’re not buying hard copies – you won’t get any books or CD’s posted to you – everything is strictly download only.

Ultimate Entrepreneur Toolkit Review – Who Is Included?

 I was familiar with some of the names included in the package, but many were new to me.

The main attraction for me was the inclusion of Robert Middleton’s InfoGuru Manual.  The hard copy version sells on his site for around $100 and includes access to a library of recorded teleseminars that expand on the topics in the book.  I figured if I bought it as part of the toolkit, for an extra $100 I was getting a lot of extra stuff.  For anyone involved in selling professional services, Robert Middleton’s InfoGuru Manual is a must-have.

Some of the other products included are:

• Andrea Lee’s Pink Spoon Marketing gives you a detailed step-by-step roadmap for creating multiple revenue streams and marketing funnels that attract paying customers to your business
• Nancy Marmolejo’s Quick and Easy Social Networkingis a proven 3-Part System to boost your visibility and expand your network using Facebook and Twitter
• David Wood’s Explode Your Practice(6 CDs of material) is chock full of essential strategies and practical how-to information for building a 6-figure coaching practice
• Brad Fallon’s “Stomping the Search Engines 2″ is a cutting-edge video training program that will teach you how to use Search Engine Optimization to bring free traffic to your web site
• Patricia Fripp’s “Become a Masterful Speaker” includes 4 audio training products that will teach you how to become a masterful speaker with superior sales and presentation skills
• Brad Smart’s “World-Class Interviewing and Hiring” video training course will show you how you can identify hire superstar talent for your business
• Ken McArthur’s “Information Product Blueprint Workbook and Action Plan” (an incredibly comprehensive, 674-page manual) will show you the step-by-step process for creating your own information product

 There’s a few others as well.  Once it’s the 8th or 9th of July, head on over to the web site to check out all the people.

Ultimate Entrepreneur Toolkit Review – My Thoughts?

Firstly, I’m very happy with Robert Middleton’s InfoGuru Manual.  I’ve spent some time over the past week going over the first few chapters and I’ve already got some great ideas from it.  It alone has 23 chapters / over 280 pages.

I’ve also been enjoying the Heart Centred Websites book by Mark Silver.  This also comes with some audio where he expands on some of the ideas in the book.

Another book I’ve looked at is Pink Spoon Marketing by Andrea J Lee and Tina Forsyth.  They talk about ways to grow your business by giving things away.  I’ve only read a bit so far, but it seems very interesting.

The other product I’ve had time to look at has been Brad Fallon’s Stomping the Search Engines 2.0.  This consists of a series of videos (all online) that walk you through the process of good SEO.  At this stage I’ve only watched module 1 and, whilst some parts have seemed a bit boring, I’m grateful that it doesn’t try and overload you with too much information in one go.  I’ve got some great ideas so far and the presenters certainly know what they’re talking about.

I haven’t had time to have a good look at some of the other products.  A couple (at first glance) seem to just be recordings of teleseminars or coaching calls.  I’m sure there’s some good content in there, but I’d prefer a manual or something with a bit more structure.  The rest seem to consist of manuals in pdf format and mp3’s that can be downloaded.  There’s enough stuff in there to keep me busy for a long time!

Ultimate Entrepreneur Toolkit Review – Conclusion

Is it worth $195?  I think it is.  Whatever industry you operate in, if you’re interested in sales and marketing, there’s plenty of content in these various courses that you’ll find valuable.  I’ve already got some great ideas that I’m sure will more than pay for the $195 I spent.

Sure, you’re not going to love everything in the toolkit – I don’t.  But then again you’re not spending $4,000 buying it all individually.  For $195 you’re going to get a range of ideas and tools you can begin using.

So on the 8th and 9th July, have a look at the web site.  There’s a money back guarantee on the product from Bill.  If it interests you, buy it.  Within a day you’ll be very thankful you did.

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I’ve been working through Middleton’s InfoGuru Manual this past week and he’s got one section about creating your core marketing message.  This article gives some great examples.  You can find out more about Robert Middleton and Action Plan Marketing on this page.

So, from February 2007, here’s Robert Middleton with Marketing Messages That Work.

In my current Fast Track To More Clients Program, this week’s assignment was to create an effective marketing message based on the following four steps:

1. Your target market or ideal client.
You need to identify who you work with so that your prospect will know immediately if your message is for them or not.

2. The problem this client is dealing with.
This gets the prospect’s attention by hitting a nerve and letting them know you understand their situation.

3. The outcome that resolves this problem.
Declaring the kind of outcome they can expect makes them want to know more about your services.

4. Story or example that proves you can do it.
Telling a story makes your services real to the prospect. If you helped someone else, you can help them as well.

I’d like to share some of the better messages with you. Use them as a template to help you create your own messages. Stick to the four steps and you’ll have a much more powerful and attention-getting message.

Example #1 – Healthcare Consultant

We work with healthcare organizations, who struggle with hiring and keeping really good people.We help them reduce turnover by up to 70% and hire employees that are more productive.

A good example is one client that was really disappointed by the work ethic of new employees and struggled with 65% turnover. We were able to significantly raise the bar on employee work ethic and reduce turnover by 70%.

Example #2 – Financial Planner

I help people with a six figure incomes who are getting clobbered by taxes, staring at college and retirement and wondering how in the world they’re going to pay for it all.I show them how to send their kids to private college for about the same cost as public colleges, maintain their lifestyles at the same time and fund retirement.

A typical example is a couple that came to me who have two children that will attend college. They didn’t know how much college would cost, how much they should save and how much they were going to need to retire. I showed them how to save over $18,000 in taxes oriented around college funding by finding new ways to save on income taxes. I call these savings a “Tax Scholarship.” That might mean an additional $200,000 for retirement or a more expensive college for their kids.

Example #3 – Management Consultant

I work with CEOS of small to medium sized businesses who are experiencing a steady decline in productivity with their management teams and employees and are finding training programs ineffective. Lack of personal accountability and self-management skills has led to something that looks like procrastination and productivity loss.We increase self-management and personal accountability through practical, easy-to-administer tools that develop leadership growth not only in a local setting, but with remote team members.

One of my clients was a commercial construction firm that had tried several times (and several years) to implement a strategic planning process. However, the CEO had difficulty following up with the many goals that were set and holding the executive team accountable for all the steps and due dates. We implemented an online solution that gave the CEO a bigger picture of what was happening with the strategic plan and gave him the means to follow up quickly with team players that were falling behind. I advised him to move more into a coaching role with the team through this process. It resulted in the company implementing for the first time in 10 years all the goals they had set in their strategic plan. This had a very important impact on the bottom line in a depressed commercial construction market. While their competitors were struggling, they were doing well and did not have to lay off any employees.

Example #4 – Life and Relationship Coach

I work with individuals who have been unsuccessful in finding their ideal partner and with couples who struggle to keep their marriage intact.I help them to understand themselves more fully as individuals and I introduce them to concepts, exercises and skills that will increase their chances for a meaningful and lasting partnership.

I worked with a couple who was planning to get married but they argued incessantly. One of the partners had serious doubts about moving forward. I helped them identify the real underlying problems and taught them to see “the relationship” as a priority. They learned many things such as how to create a mutually satisfying partnership through respect, responsibility, and good communication. Their fighting stopped and they were able to resolve their stuck areas. They ended up getting married and three years later they are happy and expecting their first child.

Example #5 – Retail Consultant

I work with independent retailers who are frustrated with trying to get shoppers to buy.I help them create the kind of shopping experience that gets people to come inside AND buy.

A used music store that I worked with that was struggling to get people to stop and come in the store instead of just walking by. I helped them transform their dark, unappealing window, into a dynamic storefront that would get their customers’ attention.

Example #6 – Management Consultant

We work with busy entrepreneurs and business owners of successful small and medium companies who are frustrated because they are leaving money on the table because they are not getting important back-burner projects completed.We help them get a laser beam focus on what will move their business off the plateau and get those key projects completed and producing results for them, not gathering dust on the shelf.

We recently worked with a 150 year old manufacturing company. In order to bid bigger projects, they needed a higher level of certification in their industry. They had a history of knowing what they needed to do but failing to execute it because they were so busy manufacturing their product. We helped them develop an easy, step-by-step plan so they could see how it was possible. Now they are certified and able to track their inventory, bid more profitable projects and keep their customers happy. Just as important for them was the pride and accomplishment of working together as a team as achieving the goal.

 You’ll note that all of these marketing messages have adhered to the four steps. It’s clear who the service is for, why the service is needed in the first place, what the service actually delivers and proof that they have achieved tangible results with clients.

It doesn’t get much more complicated than that. If your marketing message is not getting results for you, use this formula to increase its impact.

The More Clients Bottom Line: Your marketing message is the foundation of your business. Create a good one and reap the rewards for years to come!

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I’ve been working through a couple of the books that form part of the toolkit, and I haven’t been dissappointed.  There’s some great material in the Toolkit, and it was well worth the price.

The good news is, they’re re-opening the offer for a limited time only later this week, on the 8th and 9th of July.  All the information is below – this is a great offer and I encourage you to have a look at the web site and buy it.  Even if only a couple of the products are useful, you’ve save a lot of money.

If you could get your hands on 20 business-building products for a fraction of the cost, would you leap at the opportunity?

Later this week, 20 business-building experts are coming together in a “radical experiment.” They’re practically giving away their premium products and programs to help you grow your business and increase your personal mastery.

It’s called the Ultimate Entrepreneur Toolkit, and you can find out more here:

Take a look at what’s included:

- Andrea Lee’s Pink Spoon Marketing gives you a detailed step-by-step roadmap for creating multiple revenue streams and marketing funnels that attract paying customers to your business
- Nancy Marmolejo’s Quick and Easy Social Networking is a proven 3-Part System to boost your visibility and expand your network using Facebook and Twitter
- David Wood’s Explode Your Practice (6 CDs of material) is chock full of essential strategies and practical how-to information for building a 6-figure coaching practice
- Brad Fallon’s “Stomping the Search Engines 2″ is a cutting-edge video training program that will teach you how to use Search Engine Optimization to bring free traffic to your web site
- Patricia Fripp’s “Become a Masterful Speaker” includes 4 audio training products that will teach you how to become a masterful speaker with superior sales and presentation skills
- Brad Smart’s “World-Class Interviewing and Hiring” video training course will show you how you can identify hire superstar talent for your business
- Ken McArthur’s “Information Product Blueprint Workbook and Action Plan” (an incredibly comprehensive, 674-page manual) will show you the step-by-step process for creating your own information product

… and that’s just a sampler of what you’ll get!

The Ultimate Entrepreneur Toolkit is only available on July 8th and 9th, because of the massive discount involved. Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to get some of the best courses, programs, and tools for business building available anywhere – and save 95%.

I was impressed by the value offered in this unique product, and I’m confident that it’ll be worth it to you and your business.

To get all the details, go to the website

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What we learn from Apple

I have a Creative MP3 player, and I recently bought a Samsung player for my son.  I bought my Creative a few years ago.  It was priced at a similar price point to the comparable iPod, but had a couple of extra features the iPod didn’t – FM radio and a voice recorder.  It had the same memory capacity, better video display and these two extra features.  Yet the iPod outsold it.

You see, when you buy an iPod, you’re not just committing to the player.  You also commit to the iTunes store.  And once you commit to the iTunes store, you’re locked in.  Because up until this year, the songs sold through iTunes had digital rights management (DRM) restrictions which were designed to stop these songs being shared.  But because the songs were encoded in a format unique to Apple, it made it difficult for an iPod user to replace their iPod with anything but an iPod.  Why?  Because the songs won’t play on the new player unless it’s an iPod.

When I buy songs through iTunes, I have to burn them to disc and then rip them to the MP3 format before I can add them to my MP3 player.  But if I had an iPod, they’d be ready to play immediately.

The restrictions have been relaxed now, but if I have a library of DRM music, I need to pay extra to upgrade each track if I want to remove the DRM restrictions.

By creating a complete system of buying and then playing music, Apple has created some barriers around its customers that make it difficult for them to move elsewhere.  The simple fact is this…if I have an iPod and it needs to be replaced, it’s too hard to look to any other players, even if they have better features.

This is an example of switching costs.  It costs me too much in time, money or some other commodity to change.  Because of this, I stay.

Creating Switching Costs

When I did my MBA I was introduce to Porter’s Five Forces analysis.  Within this framework was this concept of switching costs. 

Where there is little diversification, and a product is seen as a commodity, then the buying decision is primarily based on price and service.  The sellers embark on price cutting strategies, or offer higher levels of service to win the sale.  Both these strategies could end up costing more over the long term.

Where a product is differentiated and there is little perceived competition, it can command a higher price.  Because it appears different to its competition, consumers are less likely to move elsewhere because they’re not convinced they’re going to receive the same value somewhere else.

Porter, in his book Competitive Strategy outlines some major sources of switching costs:

• Costs of modifying products to match a new supplier’s product;
• Costs of testing or certifying a new supplier’s product to ensure substituability;
• Investments in retraining employees;
• Investments required in new ancillary equipment that is necessary to use a new supplier’s products (tools, test equipment, etc);
• Cost of establishing new logistical arrangements;
• Psychic costs of severing a relationship.

                                           Porter, Competitive Strategy pg 114

This blog is aimed at people who sell services.  If you’re good at selling your product, you should be aware of the relevant switching costs for your product.  This can be helpful if you’re trying to win a new client (so you can understand possible impediments to the sale proceeding) and it can also help you keep clients.

For many clients, the depth of the relationship is a huge switching cost.  Consider the client of an accountant.  They’ve probably spent years with the one accountant, and that accountant probably knows a lot about their personal and financial affairs.  If they switched to a cheaper accountant, whilst they may save some money, they’d see a massive cost in having to build a relationship with someone new.  There’s also the fear of making a mistake – ‘what if we move to this new accountant and we don’t like them?’.

In the above example we can see that in a service environment, cost may not be the deciding factor.  The important thing is to understand what is.

What Are Your Switching Costs?

Have a think about your product or service.  What are some of the switching costs that may inhibit a client moving to you from somewhere else.  How can you reduce the perceived level of pain of those costs?

What about your existing clients?  What are some things you can do to make yourself invaluable to them so they won’t leave you and go elsewhere?

In many cases, switching costs are not financial in nature.  They may be intangible, they may be time-based and they may be relational-based.

I’m not advocating being dishonest and locking clients in to service agreements that stop them from going elsewhere.  This is about respecting your clients, but also respecting yourself and having enough faith in your services that you’re confident in differentiating yourself from the crowd.

What do you think about switching costs?  Do you have any examples to share?  Leave a comment below.

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