The Three BEs of Marketing

A survey of financial planners ranked the most productive strategies for marketing and promotion as follows: self-published newsletters, articles, books and columns, public or in-house seminars, speeches to civic and business groups, promotion of actively solicited referrals, newspaper and magazine advertising, cold calls. The revelation was that each activity could clearly be rated in terms of revenue generating ability, and firms applying primarily the latter techniques performed at less than 50 percent the revenue levels of those firms doing mostly the former practices.

This is all good information that should be heeded by financial planners. But what if the survey had not been done? How would those financial planning practices ever learn what marketing and promotional activities best generate the revenues they need in order to survive, grow and prosper? They probably wouldn't, except through their own experiences -- the "hunt, guess and cuss" method -- which might cause long suffering or failure.

There is a way, however, to get real value from your marketing and promotion efforts. It's called The Three BE's of Marketing & Promotion.

The Three BEs means that there are three things for you to be in order to demonstrate to your markets that you are those things. They want you to Be FIRST, to Be BEST and to Be DIFFERENT in appealing ways.

Be FIRST

To Be First means to innovate for your market. Whether or not you think an idea is old hat, it's your market's perception that counts. An actor playing Hamlet for the umpteenth time to an audience that has probably seen, heard and read this wonderful drama on several occasions, still must bring to dramatic life the question, "To be or not to be." Good directors and actors can innovate and still enthrall audiences with intriguing new perspectives without ever changing the original words.

Of course, innovating requires thinking. But you don't have to be a deep thinker. You just have to discipline yourself to seek opportunities to innovate.

Innovation does not require creativity, either. It simply means "to introduce as, or as if, new." Innovation -- like beauty -- is largely in the eyes of the beholder. Reorganization, revision and revival of old concepts in new packages forms the basis for much innovation. Example: take an old concept like family-business succession and say it with a cartoon.

Be BEST

To Be Best does not mean striving to produce work that is measurably superior to that of your competitors, although that is an important endeavor. The objective is to identify how it is that you are better than your competition and then communicate that with indelible certainty to your target markets. You don't have to make direct comparisons to your competition, either. You can clearly state your high standards for doing business and let your target audiences draw their own conclusions.

Why is demonstrating that you are best so important? First, people want to work with winners. Second, they like to be able to tell others why they have picked you as a winner. You need to help them do that.

Of course, people can't seek you out unless they know you exist. Consumers are bombarded with products and promises, and overwhelmed to the point of confusion, indecision or impulsive decisions. You must learn your target audiences' languages and speak them clearly and well, so you can be heard above the din. If your potential clients cannot see and hear you, they will pass you by.

Presenting your resume is one superb way you can promote yourself to your clients and centers as being the best (better than the rest) at what you do. When based on The Three Rs (resume, reputation and reality), it becomes a formidable tool.

The resume is your own statement of why you are good. Your reputation is what others say about you, primarily in testimonials and introductions (be very careful with SEC regulations about testimonials!). Reality is the actual quality of the work you do, seen, perhaps, in samples of your work.

To learn to demonstrate your Three Rs, write out your statement telling What I want you to know about me using three bullets citing the facts you want to convey. Next, write out What others say about me based on how your favorite supporters have told you this. Finally, write down Three recent examples of my work followed by where it may be seen, the names of three clients you helped or any other description of something you recently accomplished. Offering a prototype sample plan works well, here, but be careful not to overwhelm your prospect or client. This information on your letterhead should take no more than 12 lines, but it is a powerful tool in a presentation or left with a center of influence.

Be DIFFERENT - in an Appealing Way

To Be Different doesn't mean being funny or telling jokes. It means highlighting your unique behavior that people will remember well; getting people's attention in interesting, captivating ways and raising their curiosity enough to give you an appointment during which you can lead them into using your services.

Ask yourself: How do I show myself in my overt behavior, style of dress, the announcement on my answering machine; how do I ask questions and put my clients at ease; how do I manage the process by which I do business with my clients so they will see me as truly better than my competitors in every way? When your education, skills and competencies are essentially equal to your competition, your winning appeal will come from positive differences in these key areas.

Sometimes, style and spirit alone are enough to make you stand out in a crowd. A planner friend of mine is a great example. His strong values and go-get-'em approach to life are so engaging that most people find them hard to resist. His manner and approach send one, unmistakable message when he starts out by saying: "I am good; one of the best. I want to prove it to you, and I can!"

Summing Up...

Building a successful financial planning practice is not getting any easier. If you believe that doing it better beats giving up or continuing in an unproductive direction, then I hope the ideas described here will be useful to you. Knowing what it means to be first, best and different is not enough, however; you must be able to demonstrate that you are these things. Kurt Vonnegut said, "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be." Decide what your best really is. . . and show it!

© JHMCo. All rights reserved.