Here’s another article by Bob Hanson, Jr.
A Principal in the Client-Attraction Marketing System For Financial Advisors
A client who had been in business only a few years recognized that medical doctors were their “A” clients. We worked with them on a few specific strategies to get in front of small practices. Within a short period of time they added 4 Doctors in the same month - their best month ever.
This never would have happened without 80/20 Vision.
Let me explain. You have probably heard of the 80/20 Principle.
It describes a recurring pattern in society, wealth accumulation, and business where all actions do not create equal results. The minority (around 20%) of inputs, causes, or initiatives produce the majority (about 80%) of results.
Our experience and work has demonstrated that financial professionals are no exception to the pattern.
Eighty percent of your fees or commissions, for example, could come from 20% of your clients. Yet you may be spending 80% (or the majority) of your client time with the 80% (the majority) of clients who produce only a small part of your income.
Almost every one of your peers acknowledges the 80/20 principle, and many build their investment recommendations around working only with managers who perform at the top 20% in their catagory. But when I ask about the specific marketing strategies or actions they are taking today based on this principle, few can show me anything tangible.
Which means you can gain competitive advantage over your peers. The 80/20 Marketing Vision offers a big opportunity for you - for more prospects, better clients, and more income.
If you would like to start right away, here are three places to begin:
Three Steps to 80/20 Marketing Vision
1. Identify Your “A” Clients
A related 80/20 principle is that the top 20% of Americans (according to one measure) own more than 80% of our country’s wealth. So you might target a segment of this group in your area. In addition, it is usually much easier and more profitable to acquire one $500k client, for instance, than it is to acquire and manage 5 $100k clients.
2. Develop a Marketing Plan to Multiply Your “A” Clients
I can’t tell you how many financial professionals are all about adding the greatest number of clients, even if most contribute little to their overall income, waste a lot of set-up and management time, and never give them referrals.
Instead, consider a marketing plan to specifically attract, retain, and multiply your “A” clients.
This may not be as hard as you think. For example, a financial advisor who has been in business for 10+ years may have 100 clients and only 10 to 20 “A” clients.
So when we put in a plan to get one “A” client a month, this financial advisor can double income a lot quicker and easier than if they had to acquire another 100 clients most of whom contribute little or no profit.
3. Use What We Call 80/20 Marketing Strategies
In short, these are the ones which produce the most “A” clients and probably don’t require any more time or money than the losers.
So giving a course at a community college to people with little money, putting up a weak website with no traffic, or working with CPAs or Estate Attorneys who are not active referrers (and may not even understand your definition of your “A” client) could qualify as activities that need to be fixed or discontinued in favor of the few that can produce a stream of new “A” clients.
If you would like to see more strategies like this for your marketing plan, you can get free access to our special report “7 Client-Attraction Secrets of Highly Successful Financial Advisors” at http://www.marketingplanfinancialadvisor.com
September 19th, 2007
“The Secret” is out - or at least the “secret” revealed in the #1 “New York Times” best-selling book or DVD and also on Oprah and Larry King Live. Dr. Joe Vitale is eloquent, persuasive, and memorable in the book and DVD.
I knew him before he became a “superhero,” when I approached him (a cold call) and asked him to contribute to my ebook, “12 Million Dollars Worth of Web Marketing Mistakes And Solutions.”
What he revealed in our interview goes beyond the web to all marketing messages wherever they appear.
So I’d like to pass along this “Secret” from Joe Vitale: How to find the right words to “hypnotize” your prospects.
This is a special talent of Joe’s and one that’s at the core of his money-making success. He revealed where the power came from that propelled results such as a sales letter that attracted a 91% response. If you’d like to find out more about Joe go to www.mrfire.com
The Problem
It’s really about the ego - whether you are coming from your own ego or from your prospect’s ego.
Joe said, “And my rule of thumb, my little motto, the little slogan that’s carried me through all my copywriting, marketing, web sites, books, email, and sales letters, is simply this: “Get out of your ego and get into the customer’s ego.
“And I have found that to be the fundamental key to success, but it is also the fundamental problem that most marketers have.”
So far so good. But how do you spot a self-centered egotistic message?
It shows up in words like ‘we,’ ‘our’ and ‘us.’ You are talking about yourself, not your prospect or customers.
“Most people,” Joe said, “will not sit there very long if the copy is focused on the person who wrote the copy. The copy, the web site - all of it - has to be targeted to the person who is browsing.”
Liberate Your Site With Your Own “Copy Translation Service”
His solution is what he calls a “Copy Translation Service.”
That’s when you take self-centered words like “we,” “mine,” “my,” and “our” and convert them so that you are talking about you, the prospect. He’s also wary of “words that speak about The Company (most corporate web sites make this mistake, but most individual sites also make the same error of being self-absorbed).”
Here’s how the “Copy Translation Service” works.
First, in your mind translate the words just as if you are having a conversation with the person reading the web site.
Next, put this translation on paper, and
Finally, change the wayward web site.
The Solution
Here is the compass that directs you to “hypnotic” marketing.
“I want to be so in tune with whoever is coming to look at my web site so that I know what their pain is, I know what their concerns are, I know what their dreams are. I’m going to translate everything into their language.
“I’m NOT going to tell them all about myself. To a little tiny extent I might explain how I came across whatever it is I’m offering; but, by and large, my focus is on the person looking at the web site.
“In contrast, most self-centered web sites will just list the features of their product. They may say something like, ‘I have a book. It’s 300 plus pages long and it’ll teach you how to make money fast.’
“Calling my ‘Copy Translation Service’ into action, I’ll translate that into the benefits which might sound something like: ‘This is an ebook so that you can read it anywhere, anytime, and download it to your Palm Pilot, or print it out, and walk away with it. It is more convenient than buying a printed book.’
“Or I might say, ‘This book will make it a breeze for you to make money when everybody else is struggling in a bad economic situation.’”
The Secret Plain And Simple
The Secret is to slip into what’s going on in your prospect’s mind. Know their pain, their problems, and their dreams. That’s how you’ll discover the advantages they care about most.
Then, saturate your copy with their thoughts and words so that they see themselves in your words.
P.S. Free access to our own “7 Client-Attraction Secrets of Highly Successful Financial Advisors” is at http://www.marketingplanfinancialadvisor
September 6th, 2007
