Alan Greenspan Saves The Day
My favorite true story of direct marketing success
revolves around the man who at the time was a hero to many financial
advisors: Alan Greenspan
This direct marketing tale has a heroine, too – young
artist Erin Crowe. Almost fresh out of college, she wanted
to make money to travel to Europe.
In a nutshell, here’s what happened . . . .
Erin Crowe painted 18 expressionist oil portraits of Alan
Greenspan and sold all 18 for as much as $4000 for one.
She put them on sale at The Gallery in Sag Harbor on Long
Island, NY. Major Wall Street and hedge fund players vacation
there, and they snapped up her paintings.
Why was she so successful? She nailed
the 5 R’s of Direct Marketing:
The Five R's Of Direct Marketing
For Financial Advisors
1. The First Direct Marketing “R” for
Financial Advisors: Start with the Right People (your ideal
prospects)
The Right People for Erin Crowe’s were the Wall Street
players who benefited from the Greenspan era from 1987 through
January, 2006.
Financial advisors, home in on the people you
most want to work with and the ones who give
you the greatest emotional satisfaction. They can be people
facing retirement, owners of family businesses, or families
with more than $1 million dollars to invest.
2. The Second Direct Marketing “R”
for Financial Advisors: Craft the Right Message (to reach
their hearts and minds)
In Erin’s case it was her oil portraits of a dominating
figure (Alan Greenspan) for their homes or offices.
As a financial advisor, you are an artist, too, but your
art is to create a message that zings to the hearts of
your Ideal Prospects. And, remember, your deliberate
stand-out-from-the-pack differentiation
can reinforce your message.
3. The Third Direct Marketing “R”
for Financial Advisors: Call on the Right Medium
The right medium for Erin’s portraits was the art
gallery in Sag Harbor where she easily caught the attention
of the prosperous Wall crowd on vacation, when they had
time to browse and shop.
What’s the Right Medium for financial advisors?
What’s your equivalent of a Sag Harbor art gallery?
The answer is wherever your Ideal Prospects hang
out and where you can reach them.
It will be a lot easier for you if you don’t have
to track them down one by one, but can uncover them in a
crowd.
Does someone in a complementary business
have a mailing list you could use for a targeted mailing?
Are there CPA’s, attorneys, or other professionals
who has a practice with a throng of your favorite
prospects? How can you form a strategic alliance with
them for your mutual benefit.
Can you rent a mailing list that holds your choice
prospects? For instance, you may be looking to
specialize in financial advisory services for women. And
suppose you discover that many of them read Real Simple
magazine.
Renting a list of Real Simple subscribers in
your region could be a profitable direct marketing tactic.
4. The Fourth Direct Marketing “R”
for Financial Advisors: Act at the Right Time
The peak time for Erin was just before Alan Greenspan’s
retirement, when he was incessantly in the news. The right
time also included leisure vacation time for her target
buyers.
The right time for you depends on your understanding
of the Right People for you. A simple example
is if you learned that a plant is closing in your city
and you are a 401k expert, then you would take steps to
get in front of plant employees at once with your financial
advisory expertise.
Sometimes the Right Time is seeing your target market
as a moving parade. That says that you
must be visible when the parade is passing by. And that
means that a one-time direct marketing appeal is insufficient.
And I’d like to talk about one more aspect of timing.
And that is what happens to be in the news right
now. An example is the recent press given to social
security woes. You may be able to use the bad news as a
reason to call on you, the financial planner who can ease
your prospects’ fears.
5. The Fifth Direct Marketing “R” for
Financial Advisors: Attract the Right (Your Desired) Response.
Erin Crowe sold all her paintings for enough money for
a very long, even luxurious vacation in Europe.
Erin’s lesson for financial advisors is that she
knew exactly what she wanted to achieve with her painting.
And she had a definite marketing plan to gain
the outcome she was after.
For financial advisors the first step in your
marketing plan is to be precise about the results you
want to see from your plan.
For direct marketing
for your financial advisory practice that is as successful
as Erin's please see . ..
