Marketing to Women –For Advisors

Marketing to women can be a profitable marketing niche for financial advisors as they tend to be one of the most underserved markets.  Think of it this way – during divorce, who gets the expert professionals? The CPA, the financial advisor, the property and casualty agent, the estate planning attorney, and the banker – they all go with the husband since he, more than likely, has maintained the relationship all those years.

Women come out of divorce seeking advisors in every area of their lives. For the most part, boomer women have not had a firm hold on their finances. They need you. They've got to figure out where they stand financially and then decide what to do with their assets.  

Provide Information

When marketing to women, it's very important to provide abundant information. This means that you must have a well written biography that talks about your expertise and the WIIFM. Don't just say who you are and what you do. Give examples of Case Studies of why your clients came to you how you have helped them.

Your Online Presence

Women will seek information from various sources and compare and contrast before making a decision. Often times they will do this anonymously through your website and social media sites. So make sure you have an impressive site that "sounds" good from a woman's perspective and that your social media is up to date. Be sure to say you work with women.

Simplify

The new woman investor doesn’t like be talked down to so make sure your copy is not condescending. Keep it free from industry jargon and complicated terms.

Understand Women

I usually recommend that my clients target one to three niche markets to position their practice apart from the crowd. If you are considering targeting women, here are two resources for marketing to women:

http://marketingtowomenonline.typepad.com/

http://smallbiztrends.com/2009/09/marketing-to-women.html

Suzanne Muusers

ICF-Credentialed Business Coach

Prosperity Coaching LLC

Are Cheap Clients Worth It?

An RIA client in Florida recently told me about a client situation that was really bugging him. This client had willingly transferred with him when he went independent from Schwab six months ago.   At Schwab he had paid less for a mutual fund than he was now paying on the new platform, however he is paying less in other fees and getting much more attention.  My client explained that overall he was actually paying less. The client just couldn't put his head around the concept and was doing far too much complaining.

Why do cheap clients want services for a lower price?  Do we shoot ourselves in the foot when we take on clients who don't value our expertise? Are cheap clients more work?

Cheap clients tend to want their "money's worth" which translated can mean working you ragged.  Many cheap clients don't feel satisfied until they've raked you over the coals because it's just in their nature.  They tend to be more work because they are never satisfied.  

Whether you're an advisor or small business owner, my advice is to always be up front about what you charge for a product or service. When billing issues are clear, there can be no dicey situations.  Clearly spell out what you provide and how much you charge. Don't let clients get away with getting more services, more time, and more effort. Because once they get more for less, you will be forever dancing around like a puppet trying to keep them happy.

Suzanne Muusers

Business Coach for superstar business owners

Prosperity Coaching LLC

Take Action to Reach Your Goals

"To guarantee success, act as if it were impossible to fail." - Dorothea Brande

Are you where you want to be with your business goals? In Lack of Progress on Your Goals I wrote about how to get a handle on your goals at this time of the year. The first point I made was about getting prospects in your pipeline. The second point I made is that we sometimes don't leverage our current clients to help us reach our goals. The third point I made is about taking action to reach your goals.

A Business Plan is no good without goals. Goals are no good without action. We can attend tons of seminars and workshops, conferences and classes, but if we don't take the knowledge we've gained and put it into action, then we've really wasted our time.

Get out your Business Plan and all the notes you took at the last conference you attended and decide the following:

What are the top 5 most important actions you need to take in order to achieve your goals?

Then start to chip away at each item on your list one by one in order of importance. Don't let the scary goals stop you from getting started. Do it today!

Also helpful: Success Ritual for Achieving Your Goals

Suzanne Muusers

Business Coach for Financial Advisors

Prosperity Coaching LLC

How Advisors Can Attract Wealthy Clients

Don't we all want to work with wealthy clients? More assets, less hassle, more income, and lots of wealthy friends. But do you know how to attract the rich? Many advisors think it's through the way they look or what they drive or the appearance of their offices. But it's really simpler than that.

You can attract wealthy clients by your business model. If you are paid solely via commissions, the wealthy client will not touch you with a ten foot pole.  They didn't accrue all that money by giving their business to someone who's going to push products at them.

Yes. You can attract wealthy clients by putting clients' needs first, way above your own and by focusing on long term strategies to accumulate wealth.

What else? This may come as a surprise, but a great website really helps too. The new way to find anything is via the internet. Yellow pages books are being tossed into recycle bins by the ton. Wealthy clients can investigate you on the internet anonymously without any pressure.  They look for hints regarding how you get paid, your asset minimums, your credentials, and your brand.  Here's a hint: a custom website is the way to go. Template websites are fine for your first three years, but later on, you'll need to spruce up your brand with a custom site.

Wealthy clients are out there right now shopping for an advisor. What are you going to do to attract them?

Suzanne Muusers

Marketing Coach for Financial Advisors

Prosperity Coaching LLC
Branding Packages

Are You Leveraging Current Clients?

Are you where you want to be with your business goals? In Lack of Progress on Your Goals I wrote about how to get a handle on your goals at this time of the year. The first point I made was about getting prospects in your pipeline. The second point I made is that we sometimes don't leverage our current clients to help us reach our goals.

Sometime ago, I asked a client to look into his book and see how he could leverage the relationships he has with current clients. He said something strange in return "I've had these clients for awhile. I don't want to go down this path."

Of course what he really meant was "I don't think I'm worthy of receiving referrals."  Your current clients are a gold mine if you handle the relationships the right way. If all you've ever done is invite them into your office once a year, then you may not be worthy of referrals. If you pick up the phone and call your clients routinely to ask how they are and if they have any questions, you will be worthy of referrals.

If you take your client relationships deeper and take them out to lunch or to events then you will become the trusted advisor.  Jim (not his real name) has been attending a golfing event each day this week. He's taken a different A client to the event each day.  Do you think these five clients will think about Jim in a more favorable light from here on out?

How can you leverage your current clients to help you achieve your goals? I have no doubt that if you do, you will be better off.

Suzanne Muusers

Coach for Financial Advisors

Prosperity Coaching LLC

Got Prospects in Your Pipeline?

Are you where you want to be with your business goals? I'm referring to a post about Lack of Progress on Your Goals I wrote in September. Summer is long gone and you've got about four to six weeks to aggressively promote your business. If you don't have enough prospects in your pipeline, you may want to set up an Outbound Calling Program.

Here's an example of an Outbound Calling Program:

Follow up on all your leads consistently by planning when you will pick up the phone –one hour a day or one day a week – schedule time. Follow up with those you meet at networking events, referrals given to you by your clients, and friends and family – research shows that close to 80% of leads are never followed up!!

Persistence Pays – research further shows that we tend to give up on prospects far too early. It can take between 4-10 contacts to book an appointment, so follow up consistently.

Use a Contact Management Program – You need to be keeping track of prospects – what they say, when they want you to call again, what they asked you to send them. I've heard good things about RedTail Technology.

Prospector - If your budget allows, use a non sales person to do the prospecting for you – hire a prospector who does nothing but make phone calls and book appointments. There are services that do this. These folks are accustomed to rejection and let it fall off their backs like water off a duck.

Many advisors are opposed to cold calling, warm calling, or any calling. The fact is that it's good for business growth to shake the bushes and get new clients through prospecting via phone. If you get a handle on getting more prospects in your pipeline, you'll be far better off than most.

Suzanne Muusers

Business Coach for Financial Advisors

Helping Independent Advisors Build Wealth

Success Coaching For Women Entrepreneurs

I'm starting a second October coaching group for women business owners and there's space for three to four gutsy go-getters. The group runs six months from October 2009 through March 2010. Our itinerary includes creating a BIG VISION of the life want for yourself, getting rid of unfinished business, learning success tools to create the income you want, and writing a mini business plan.

Freedom is cited as one of the main reasons women go into business for themselves. But that same freedom can hold us back because we may not have the knowledge or skills to create a financially successful business and we may avoid seeking help.

That's what this group is all about. Women Seeking Success is group coaching for women who want to learn Effortless Marketing – the skill of drawing business to you via marketing and branding.

In this group you will:

TAKE MORE RISKS!!

GET A MENTOR

CREATE A SUCCESS PLAN

Read a post I wrote last year about Women Seeking Success.

Add your name to the list

Suzanne Muusers

Prosperity Coaching LLC

Million Dollar Advisor Personality Success Traits

Do you think Donald Trump has overcome the fear of public speaking? Do you think he spends money to improve himself? Do you think he's persistent?

Of course the answer to all three is yes. But how about successful financial advisors? What personality traits do million dollar financial advisors have that contribute to their success? I was asked to answer this question yesterday which caused me to think about it deeply. So I wrote an article that explains what I think are the top three personality success traits advisors need to build a million dollar practice.

Suzanne Muusers

Financial Advisor Coach

Prosperity Coaching LLC