Practical and Accountable Marketing for Adviser Practices

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Practical and Accountable Marketing for Adviser
Practices

• Chair David IngramPartner, Threesixty Services
  
• David SheltonHead of IFA Consultancy Service

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Practical and Accountable Marketing for Adviser
Practices
David Shelton Head of IFA Consultancy Service PFS
Conference 10 November 2008
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How effective is your marketing?Marks out of 10

• One person has responsibility for making sure our
  marketing plan works
• Our marketing person is trained and has time to
  do the job
• We have a marketing plan that runs at least 6
  months ahead
• We measure the result of a majority of our
  marketing activity
• The marketing budget is sufficient for the task
  and well defined
• Our marketing budget is carefully split between
  profile, acquisition and retention
• We all share the responsibility for making
  marketing campaigns happen
• Our approach to marketing is well organised
• Clients complement us on our marketing
• Our marketing materials (brochures, website,
  business cards etc.) have the same design, style
  and colours it looks joined up

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THREE MAIN TASKS
THE BEST TECHNIQUES
PROFILE Raising the profile of your business
reminding people of your presence, creating the
right impression
Website Premises Public relations Sponsorship Corp
orate brochure
Professional Introducers Networking Client
seminars Direct marketing Advertising
ACQUISITION Acquiring new clients specifically
targeting a segment of the market
Newsletters Targeted e-mails Website client
area Service Calls Hospitality
RETENTION Retaining existing clients making
sure you keep clients that will sustain your
growth
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Marketing Family Tree
MARKETING PLAN Contains everything that will be
done over the next 6 12 months
MARKETING TASKS The three parts of the plan
Profile
Acquisition
Retention
MARKETING TECHNIQUES The actions to be taken
Specific Activities Mail-shots, seminars etc.
Marketing Materials Brochures, website,
newsletters
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Profile
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THREE MAIN TASKS
THE BEST TECHNIQUES
PROFILE Raising the profile of your business
reminding people of your presence, creating the
right impression
Website Premises Public relations Sponsorship Corp
orate brochure
Professional Introducers Networking Client
seminars Direct marketing Advertising
ACQUISITION Acquiring new clients specifically
targeting a segment of the market
Newsletters Targeted e-mails Website client
area Service Calls Hospitality
RETENTION Retaining existing clients making
sure you keep clients that will sustain your
growth
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Checklist for brand consistency

• Are the colours and logo on your website the same
  as your printed materials?
• If you placed all your marketing materials side
  by side would they look as if they came from the
  same firm?
• Do you have corporate standards for all
  personalised communications (e.g. letters,
  reports, valuations etc.) that everybody sticks
  to?
• Is the décor in your offices colour co-ordinated
  with your logo and other marketing materials?
• Do your staff all answer the telephone with the
  same welcome?
• Are you convinced that your advisers and other
  staff represent your brand in the way you want
  them to and is it consistent?

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Sarah Two Perspectives
SARAH As I see myself

• As an adviser I see myself as
• - a guide
• - someone who shows the way
• essential to my clients
• good at sorting out clients financial journey

SARAH As her clients see her

• As my adviser I see Sarah as
• asking lots of questions
• a bit difficult to understand
• technical
• somewhat distant

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Brand is very part of the business that touches
the customer
Offices
Fellow Advisers
You
Administrators
Para-Planners
Documents
Website
Communications politeness and efficiency
Cars
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Key Questions Market Position

• What do we do?
• Who do we do it for?
• How do we do it?
• Where do we do it?
• Do we do it consistently?

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Market Position
SOVEREIGN FINANCIAL CONSULTANTS What do we
do? Expert financial and tax planning to enable
the long term management of investments through a
detailed plan that is regularly reviewed Who do
we do it for? Private clients with over 500k How
do we do it? Working with other professional
advisers from a consultancy perspective to use
our in-house technical skills and expert software
to pro-actively manage clients affairs Where do
we do it? In traditional style offices in the
professional quarter
SIMPLICITY INSURANCE ADVISERS What do we
do? Streamlined advice in one meeting to make
sure people have the right policies for their
needs Who do we do it for? Families and working
people between the ages of 30 and 50 How do we do
it? Straight forward fact find and product/fund
selection software automated reports and other
documents Where do we do it? In our high street
shop-front office or in peoples homes
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Is the press right for your business?

• Do you have time to develop and sustain
  relationships with journalists?
• Are you prepared to spend as long cultivating a
  relationship with a journalist as you would a
  professional introducer?
• Are you flexible enough to adopt a "10 minute"
  rule for getting back to journalists if they call
  you?
• Are you prepared to take the chance that you will
  get mis-quoted?
• Have you got time to write a series of articles
  to a deadline on a monthly basis?
• Do the people you are trying to influence read
  the publications that you are likely to appear in?

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Client Acquisition
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THREE MAIN TASKS
THE BEST TECHNIQUES
PROFILE Raising the profile of your business
reminding people of your presence, creating the
right impression
Website Premises Public relations Sponsorship Corp
orate brochure
Professional Introducers Networking Client
seminars Direct marketing Advertising
ACQUISITION Acquiring new clients specifically
targeting a segment of the market
Newsletters Targeted e-mails Website client
area Service Calls Hospitality
RETENTION Retaining existing clients making
sure you keep clients that will sustain your
growth
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(No Transcript)
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Client Retention
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THREE MAIN TASKS
THE BEST TECHNIQUES
PROFILE Raising the profile of your business
reminding people of your presence, creating the
right impression
Website Premises Public relations Sponsorship Corp
orate brochure
Professional Introducers Networking Client
seminars Direct marketing Advertising
ACQUISITION Acquiring new clients specifically
targeting a segment of the market
Newsletters Targeted e-mails Website client
area Service Calls Hospitality
RETENTION Retaining existing clients making
sure you keep clients that will sustain your
growth
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Should retention be a priority?

• Do you have a lot of clients (say over 40 of
  your client base) who are of value to you, but
  you do not see or contact regularly?
• Do you find that clients you see less frequently
  have made their own financial decisions or seen
  another adviser or the bank since you last saw
  them?
• Are you concerned that you have not informed
  clients about important tax and legal changes?
• Do you find that clients do not recognise the
  full breadth of your expertise and services?
• Do you tend to never use hospitality as a means
  of sustaining relationships with the really top
  clients?

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Marketing Planning
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Effective Marketing Planning
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Checklist for marketing activities

• What are you trying to achieve?
• What is the activity about?
• Who are you trying to influence?
• What do you want them to know?
• How will you communicate?
• When will this happen?
• Who will do the work and what will it cost?
• How will you know if it has worked?

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Seminar Invitation
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Material DevelopmentCorporate Brochure
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Campaign Plan Practical Guide
Specific, measurable and achievable
OBJECTIVE
Exactly what the activity is
PROPOSITION
Be as precise as possible
TARGET
Maximum of three
KEY MESSAGES
Relevant and used by the target
MEDIA
Avoid obvious fixed calendar dates
TIMING
RESOURCE
Share the load and plan in advance
MEASUREMENT
Easy to forget essential to do
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Simplicity Marketing Plan
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Reality test for marketing plans

• Is the activity spread as best possible
  throughout the year?
• Are there any unrealistic demands upon specific
  individuals taking into account their other work?
• Have we made absolutely certain that we can run
  these campaigns (e.g. availability of data,
  lists, logistics of implementation etc.)?
• Do all of these campaigns contribute to our
  growth targets?
• Is the balance between profile, acquisition and
  retention right?
• Does the total budget and budget split look
  reasonable?
• Have we been specific on start and finish dates?
• Have we missed any critical dates that clash with
  national events?

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Benefits of a structured plan

• Everyone can see what is happening and when
• The overall plan made up of the individual
  campaigns can be reviewed against work loads
• The plan provides for a strategic and longer term
  approach and prevents the waste of a series of
  unrelated one-off tactical campaigns
• Future campaigns can be started in good time, as
  soon as they have been confirmed
• The overall structure of the plan and budget can
  be common sense tested to make sure it really
  does support the overall business objectives.

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Marketing Planning Day Agenda

• Purpose of day to develop a manageable rolling
  marketing plan that helps the business achieve
  its objectives
• Confirmation of objectives typically turnover
  for current and next 1 to 2 years
• Balance Debate on balance between profile,
  acquisition and retention
• Ideas Generation and Filtering
• Confirmation which campaigns to run
• Detail each campaign using the Checklists and
  the templates be rigorous and detailed (if you
  have sufficient people spit into groups to do
  this)
• Plan Map the proposed campaigns on a quarterly
  time-line and apply reality test
• Confirm campaigns to run in Q1 and to be
  prepared for Q2

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Practical and Accountable Marketing for Adviser
Practices
david.shelton_at_clericalmedical.co.uk
David Shelton Head of IFA Consultancy Service PFS
Conference 10 November 2008
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