The Guardian in April 2013, published an extract from an essay first published at dobelli.com an example of the work in The Art of Thinking Clearly: Better Thinking, Better Decisions by Rolf Dobelli is published by Sceptre.
In the Guardian extract, Dobelli posits that one of the biggest detractors to our cognitive processes ie: our thinking, is our consumption of "news".
He argues that daily we are fed "stories" in a manner which does not require us to critially analyse what it is we are reading and consequently we don't "think", when we think we are thinking!
What the media does is if we look purely from a financial planning / financial services point of view is publish stories that deal with the negatives of an issue. If we as consumers could recognise or be informed by the journalist what the relativities were, then we could assess the information and make a judgement on the entire situation. The current media reporting of FOFA as an example does not provide people with that opportunity. We are not rationale enough beings to rely on the press. For me the current reporting is a lot like what Dobelli says about the media reporting of a plane crash : "Watching an airplane crash on television is going to change your attitude toward that risk, regardless of its real probability"
The way our bodies react to "news" especially hyperbole, panicked, extreme news stories is powerful: "It constantly triggers the limbic system. Panicky stories spur the release of cascades of glucocorticoid (cortisol). This deregulates your immune system and inhibits the release of growth hormones. In other words, your body finds itself in a state of chronic stress. High glucocorticoid levels cause impaired digestion, lack of growth (cell, hair, bone), nervousness and susceptibility to infections. The other potential side-effects include fear, aggression, tunnel-vision and desensitisation." (Dobelli, 2013).
This all has a damaging impact on our decision making process and we find constantly that, people, make bad decisions. This has a lot to do with the way we think. It has a lot to do with the two systems we utilize in our thinking.
System 1 : is intuitive and automatic.
System 2 : is reflective and rational.
The automatic system is associated with one of the oldest parts of the brain, and unless we actively override our brain at times, we may lose perspective and make the wrong choices.
In the media reporting of FOFA, the bad decisions that "news" may lead to is the lessening of trust in the financial advice system and process. When balanced with facts : that decision is not rationale. Some of the basic facts around financial advice clearly spell this out and daily we see positive client experiences from the engagement with financial advisers:
•$5billion paid in claims to Australians in 2013
•If it wasn’t because of financial advisers: where else would these people get the money?
•NPS scores : a score in the 50’s for the average financial adviser (Health Insurers and Telco's score in the negatives) and this indicates that once Australians get advice from a trusted adviser they have positive experiences
So how can we engage clients and get them and their social and family circles to stop the ingestion of "news" and assist them to make better decisons?
This is where professional advisers, professional financial and insurance advisers can step in. We can organize the context in which people make decisions. We can influence peoples behavior in order to make their lives better.
Research on what makes up best practice financial advice has also uncovered detail on how clients feel before, during and after the advice process. What becomes apparent is that by tapping into the core motivators of clients, in regard to their values and their innate hardwired human needs, not only engenders the adviser to the client, demystifies the advice process and maximizes the possibility of the prospect becoming a client; but, that the well-being and sense of self of the person receiving the advice is markedly improved. Leading businesses have done this by truly engaging clients with:
•a concept of the types of clients they can specialize in and like working with
•capabilities to deliver needed specialized services and resources to their desired client set
•positioning of the typical outcomes these types of clients have in the messaging and value statements they make about the services they offer
•a process where client stories are illuminated so that the prospective client can associate and relate to the outcomes produced
•the resources for clients to participate and collaborate in the advice process
Increasingly then firms delivering best practice advice are utilizing techniques and tools such as mind maps, lifestyle questionnaires, wealth indices, personality profiles and wealth choices diagnostics, to engage clients, set benchmarks for communication, engagement and outcomes and in so doing are winning the hearts and minds of clients and delivering not only financial but psychological well being outcomes : they are helping their clients to "think".
Showing posts with label Client Engagement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Client Engagement. Show all posts
Monday, 14 July 2014
Monday, 9 December 2013
Getting Social : Social Media : are you forgetting the social and focussing on the media?
So tonight we are presenting for a group of financial service professionals about how can you build your brand, deepen client engagement and increase referrals and new business by listening and communicating with clients.
It's a topic we love, and love engaging and connecting with people on.
And there is the essence of what social media is....it is social.
Too often the "media" is the focus and old style marketing is thrust upon clients and prospects from a business that thinks it is getting social.
Too often the messages are not about the client, they are about the business.
Times have changed, in that no longer is the primary information that shapes our choices as consumers, coming from the business selling the goods or services.
We have as humans have always done but with accelerated power and scale made choices by consulting trusted sources, our social circle.
Now that social circle is no longer the people in a tiny village. Rather our social circle is global and instantaneous!
We have a bigger voice than the company and we are using it.
The way to get social and become the most interesting person in the room (or on the web) is as it has always been : to listen.
Can't wait to hear what people are saying and feeling tonight.
It's a topic we love, and love engaging and connecting with people on.
And there is the essence of what social media is....it is social.
Too often the "media" is the focus and old style marketing is thrust upon clients and prospects from a business that thinks it is getting social.
Too often the messages are not about the client, they are about the business.
Times have changed, in that no longer is the primary information that shapes our choices as consumers, coming from the business selling the goods or services.
We have as humans have always done but with accelerated power and scale made choices by consulting trusted sources, our social circle.
Now that social circle is no longer the people in a tiny village. Rather our social circle is global and instantaneous!
We have a bigger voice than the company and we are using it.
The way to get social and become the most interesting person in the room (or on the web) is as it has always been : to listen.
Can't wait to hear what people are saying and feeling tonight.
Saturday, 6 April 2013
Using mind maps in financial services
Monday, 1 April 2013
The Power of Persuasion : key components of social media marketing
Aristotle described rhetoric, the art of persuasive speaking as having several components those being the characteristics of the speaker : ethos, the power of the message : pathos, and the logic of what is being said : logos.
Aristotle may have been a social media guru in today's world.
A credible speaker, a relevant message, the way in which the message is delivered, being innovative with the message and importantly picking the right community to deliver your message to are the key ingredients for any marketing campaign but especially one which can get instant delivery and feedback such as social media.
So what are these components one by one and how do you maximise your cut through when using social media?
The Source
Credibility 101. So you want to say something. Just who do you think you are? What credibility can you muster?
First : know what you want to say and then determine if you actually can command the authority to say it with believability. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using other sources to quote. The key is to have an opinion on it.
Having an opinion brings with it the power of credibility of authority. If you can combine that with charisma and being real then you're on a winner.
That is why videos work so well.
If you haves something to say then deliver it on person : that is video yourself, staff and anyone that interacts with your clients and talk about what you do for your clients and why.
The best and most powerful source of the message is and should be you.
The Message
It is not the 1990's anymore or worse the 1980's. Fear and greed may work : but it is short term and transactional and if you truly want to engage design a positive message that speaks to the dreams hopes and desires of clients. They want to learn, they want to bond and they want to acquire a better life. Design your message so your clients can see that your services are accessible and let them bond with you.
The Distribution of the message
So what's it going to be : words, visuals, audio, pod cast, text messages, snail mail : in a social media world : video, visuals, pod cast, pictures, : enhance the message by reaching the audience in multiple forms that appeal to different learning styles and stay longer in short term memory. Reinforcement of the message by multiple means cements the proposition in the minds of your audience.
The Right Community
Who are you trying to recruit to your message? Are you crystal clear on who is your ideal client? Only if you have a picture and an understanding of what is important to your key market will you have success. This means that for a time you are going to have to listen to your target audience, where they congregate, understand what they are following and what messages they are consuming. Only then will you be able to construct your message to be relevant and real to your ideal clients.
Those are the main ingredients.....next time ....the how you can actually persuade people to make the right choice of using your services now that they are listening.
Aristotle may have been a social media guru in today's world.
A credible speaker, a relevant message, the way in which the message is delivered, being innovative with the message and importantly picking the right community to deliver your message to are the key ingredients for any marketing campaign but especially one which can get instant delivery and feedback such as social media.
So what are these components one by one and how do you maximise your cut through when using social media?
The Source
Credibility 101. So you want to say something. Just who do you think you are? What credibility can you muster?
First : know what you want to say and then determine if you actually can command the authority to say it with believability. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using other sources to quote. The key is to have an opinion on it.
Having an opinion brings with it the power of credibility of authority. If you can combine that with charisma and being real then you're on a winner.
That is why videos work so well.
If you haves something to say then deliver it on person : that is video yourself, staff and anyone that interacts with your clients and talk about what you do for your clients and why.
The best and most powerful source of the message is and should be you.
The Message
It is not the 1990's anymore or worse the 1980's. Fear and greed may work : but it is short term and transactional and if you truly want to engage design a positive message that speaks to the dreams hopes and desires of clients. They want to learn, they want to bond and they want to acquire a better life. Design your message so your clients can see that your services are accessible and let them bond with you.
The Distribution of the message
So what's it going to be : words, visuals, audio, pod cast, text messages, snail mail : in a social media world : video, visuals, pod cast, pictures, : enhance the message by reaching the audience in multiple forms that appeal to different learning styles and stay longer in short term memory. Reinforcement of the message by multiple means cements the proposition in the minds of your audience.
The Right Community
Who are you trying to recruit to your message? Are you crystal clear on who is your ideal client? Only if you have a picture and an understanding of what is important to your key market will you have success. This means that for a time you are going to have to listen to your target audience, where they congregate, understand what they are following and what messages they are consuming. Only then will you be able to construct your message to be relevant and real to your ideal clients.
Those are the main ingredients.....next time ....the how you can actually persuade people to make the right choice of using your services now that they are listening.
Wednesday, 23 January 2013
WOW factor client seminars - cutting through decision conflict
So we're going to digress a little from the next step in our journey : which was planned to be centre of influence / referral source education sessions.
Why?
Well something else took our fancy today during a discussion about connecting with clients. Seems there are some pretty good sales engagement courses out there that delve into and explore client motivations and values.
That is PCEs passion. Understanding how a client makes a decision and what their motivators are - are indeed critical components in understanding how a client makes decisions and how you can positively influence them to make a decision that maximises the possibility of them reaching their goals.
But how about we aim higher?
How about thinking less about client manipulation and more about client manifestation in that you become the coach that mentors a client to make real and meaningful change in all areas of their life?
So few clients let alone professional advisers understand and I mean truly understand how to manifest peak performance. What if you had the secrets to the step by step process of how a client could plan, audit, action, review and adjust all the components of real and meaningful change?
It's possible.
And it works most brilliantly in tailored client and prospect events.
So just as we have discussed previously referral source "mixers" then a client mixer of your existing ideal clients and their ideal client friends works equally well if not better.
Content?
You need to present on peak performance on making real change and just what that requires and on self reflection, self assessment and on setting a standard for your clients to aspire to making a real positive impact on other people during their day.
You need to present on just what characteristics such leadership requires and how you can model that behaviour. You need to present on how daily stressors and how people react to those stressors takes them into substandard performance. Substandard performance at work, in relationships, in their finances.
You need to present on how your clients can defend and protect themselves against those stressors and how they can reignite positive energy.
And if you think well PCE that's a bit left of centre....think again. The daily stressors that stop peak performance, the habitual negative stories people tell themselves, the lack of time to think, reflect, express gratitude to self assess and to grow are at the core of why people have trouble making real meaningful change in their lives and causes decision conflict.
And no sales training course is going to change your ability to cut through that.
For our Australian friends : for more information on client engagement seminars that WOW and delivery of same: contact PCE.
Till next time.
Why?
Well something else took our fancy today during a discussion about connecting with clients. Seems there are some pretty good sales engagement courses out there that delve into and explore client motivations and values.
That is PCEs passion. Understanding how a client makes a decision and what their motivators are - are indeed critical components in understanding how a client makes decisions and how you can positively influence them to make a decision that maximises the possibility of them reaching their goals.
But how about we aim higher?
How about thinking less about client manipulation and more about client manifestation in that you become the coach that mentors a client to make real and meaningful change in all areas of their life?
So few clients let alone professional advisers understand and I mean truly understand how to manifest peak performance. What if you had the secrets to the step by step process of how a client could plan, audit, action, review and adjust all the components of real and meaningful change?
It's possible.
And it works most brilliantly in tailored client and prospect events.
So just as we have discussed previously referral source "mixers" then a client mixer of your existing ideal clients and their ideal client friends works equally well if not better.
Content?
You need to present on peak performance on making real change and just what that requires and on self reflection, self assessment and on setting a standard for your clients to aspire to making a real positive impact on other people during their day.
You need to present on just what characteristics such leadership requires and how you can model that behaviour. You need to present on how daily stressors and how people react to those stressors takes them into substandard performance. Substandard performance at work, in relationships, in their finances.
You need to present on how your clients can defend and protect themselves against those stressors and how they can reignite positive energy.
And if you think well PCE that's a bit left of centre....think again. The daily stressors that stop peak performance, the habitual negative stories people tell themselves, the lack of time to think, reflect, express gratitude to self assess and to grow are at the core of why people have trouble making real meaningful change in their lives and causes decision conflict.
And no sales training course is going to change your ability to cut through that.
For our Australian friends : for more information on client engagement seminars that WOW and delivery of same: contact PCE.
Till next time.
Monday, 14 January 2013
6 Steps to Running a Networking Event
So in our last post we looked at how you can get refferals of the ideal client from an ideal referral source.
The idea at it's core was a meet and greet to determine which businesses have a similar raison d'etre to yours: that is a great client experience and true value and partnership and collaboration with clients. (stop reading now if you don't want that as an outcome!).
So who do you invite and how do you structure it?
Here are 6 steps that work!
1) Who to invite:
- existing referral contacts
- ask them to bring a peer
- ask them to bring key staff
Next layer of invitation:
- your local business networking group contacts : ask them to refer to the event their accountant / solicitor/ mortgage / general insurance broker
Next layer of invitation:
- any business contact who could add value in engaging on the night ie: they have a service that the attendees could utilise
Next layer of invitation:
- local businesses that you think could refer to you : check out websites to see if they offer in house services like yours
- then call them and see if they do lets say you make a discrete inquiry as if you were a potential client
Next layer of invitation:
- existing clients : who are their accountants etc? : ring your best 10 client and ask
2) Speaker: who are you going to get that will be free!!??
- local politician
- travel / lifestyle sourced from local business
Remember you are positioning yourself as a facilitator so getting a local memberof parliment is a great coup.
3) Invitation
- as per our previous post ......the key aim is "meet local businesses who face similar issues/challenges"......and secondary "our special guest(s)......."
4) Format
- no business pitch
- know who is coming
- strategically introduce people on the night
- let the evening flow
5) Location
- room / side room / adjoining area of bar/ local hotel - somewhere with atmosphere and sight and sound that does not drown you out but layers the senses
6) Follow up
- we can discuss that later in our next post
The idea at it's core was a meet and greet to determine which businesses have a similar raison d'etre to yours: that is a great client experience and true value and partnership and collaboration with clients. (stop reading now if you don't want that as an outcome!).
So who do you invite and how do you structure it?
Here are 6 steps that work!
1) Who to invite:
- existing referral contacts
- ask them to bring a peer
- ask them to bring key staff
Next layer of invitation:
- your local business networking group contacts : ask them to refer to the event their accountant / solicitor/ mortgage / general insurance broker
Next layer of invitation:
- any business contact who could add value in engaging on the night ie: they have a service that the attendees could utilise
Next layer of invitation:
- local businesses that you think could refer to you : check out websites to see if they offer in house services like yours
- then call them and see if they do lets say you make a discrete inquiry as if you were a potential client
Next layer of invitation:
- existing clients : who are their accountants etc? : ring your best 10 client and ask
2) Speaker: who are you going to get that will be free!!??
- local politician
- travel / lifestyle sourced from local business
Remember you are positioning yourself as a facilitator so getting a local memberof parliment is a great coup.
3) Invitation
- as per our previous post ......the key aim is "meet local businesses who face similar issues/challenges"......and secondary "our special guest(s)......."
4) Format
- no business pitch
- know who is coming
- strategically introduce people on the night
- let the evening flow
5) Location
- room / side room / adjoining area of bar/ local hotel - somewhere with atmosphere and sight and sound that does not drown you out but layers the senses
6) Follow up
- we can discuss that later in our next post
Saturday, 12 January 2013
More Referrals From People You Like
One of the key ideas that will drive referral and revenue success for you in 2013 is:
- holding a centre of influence engagement session
In other words break bread with all of your referral sources.
Regardless of how successful the referral relationship has been over the history of the relationship you need to invite them.
Who do you invite:
- anyone who has the possibility of being able to refer to you clients who fit you ideal client profile in 2013
The format:
- this is a social engagement : think of it like the TV show "The Bachelor" or "The Bachelorette"
- here they all are in one place, all the referral sources you and your business have ever previous dealt with
- even better there are some new names and faces : people drawn from your client base : ie ask your clients who their accountant / solicitor is and invite them
Are you selling anything? No.
This is an event for like minded financial services professionals to get together over a drink and a few canapés for the reason of engagement, connection, collaboration, networking.
The pitch: "With the issues facing us this year FOFA, APES......we all face a busy year ahead....Stepping out from our own businesses to listen to how others are approaching their year in a social and relaxed setting provides a great opportunity to find that new idea or reinforce your thinking......"
Now, you might think "oh they won't go for that". But here's this thing. Wouldn't you like to work with referral sources who would unreservedly respond "Yes, I'll be there" to an opportunity to share a drink amongst peers?
So invite anyone who can refer in the perfect clients for you.
On the night you will not pitch who your ideal clients are, what you do, or anything about your business.
On the night you are the host so play the perfect host:
- introduce people (no name tags please)
- do your research and introduce people to others who may actually add value to their business eg the auditor to the SMSF accountant
- work the room
- but generally just ensure people are connecting
- you can formalise this by offering a set piece ie: OK people the next 15 minutes : talk to someone you don't know and find out about them : women leave men for dead here....women are more genuinely curious in situations like these.
- consider a speaker : travel, positive psychology, small business success story, sporting identity ......this may also be a draw card for your event.
The aim:
- watch people in the room
- who are the genuinely nice people?
- who is having a good time?
- who interacts well and seems to thrive in the situation?
- who did you get on well with?
- who would you have no hesitation in inviting them back?
And answering those questions will mean you have just found the referrals sources that you should be working with this year.....and most likely the ones that you will have most success at adding value to as well.
- holding a centre of influence engagement session
In other words break bread with all of your referral sources.
Regardless of how successful the referral relationship has been over the history of the relationship you need to invite them.
Who do you invite:
- anyone who has the possibility of being able to refer to you clients who fit you ideal client profile in 2013
The format:
- this is a social engagement : think of it like the TV show "The Bachelor" or "The Bachelorette"
- here they all are in one place, all the referral sources you and your business have ever previous dealt with
- even better there are some new names and faces : people drawn from your client base : ie ask your clients who their accountant / solicitor is and invite them
Are you selling anything? No.
This is an event for like minded financial services professionals to get together over a drink and a few canapés for the reason of engagement, connection, collaboration, networking.
The pitch: "With the issues facing us this year FOFA, APES......we all face a busy year ahead....Stepping out from our own businesses to listen to how others are approaching their year in a social and relaxed setting provides a great opportunity to find that new idea or reinforce your thinking......"
Now, you might think "oh they won't go for that". But here's this thing. Wouldn't you like to work with referral sources who would unreservedly respond "Yes, I'll be there" to an opportunity to share a drink amongst peers?
So invite anyone who can refer in the perfect clients for you.
On the night you will not pitch who your ideal clients are, what you do, or anything about your business.
On the night you are the host so play the perfect host:
- introduce people (no name tags please)
- do your research and introduce people to others who may actually add value to their business eg the auditor to the SMSF accountant
- work the room
- but generally just ensure people are connecting
- you can formalise this by offering a set piece ie: OK people the next 15 minutes : talk to someone you don't know and find out about them : women leave men for dead here....women are more genuinely curious in situations like these.
- consider a speaker : travel, positive psychology, small business success story, sporting identity ......this may also be a draw card for your event.
The aim:
- watch people in the room
- who are the genuinely nice people?
- who is having a good time?
- who interacts well and seems to thrive in the situation?
- who did you get on well with?
- who would you have no hesitation in inviting them back?
And answering those questions will mean you have just found the referrals sources that you should be working with this year.....and most likely the ones that you will have most success at adding value to as well.
Thursday, 27 December 2012
Business Plan Template : A Guide to Pro-Active Client Engagement
So the end of the year is nigh and if you are really serious about making 2013 a success, then it is highly likely that you have already thought about your key client engagement plans for next year and quite possibly planned out the first three months of 2013.
No?
What are you waiting for??!!!
Imagine ending 2012 knowing exactly what the next twelve months looked like from a client engagement point of view in regard to a series of set plays.
Activity and responsiveness are of course key, but having a structured plan to support your day to day, business as usual activity can provide a clarity and preparation that your competitors just have not got around to doing.
The attached template is not an answer to your client engagement dreams but what it is, is a simple yet powerful tool to illustrate just how well planned your year is, or conversely highlights that your client engagement planning is not up to scratch.
So in 2013 give yourself, your team and your clients the gift of leadership, pro-activity and positive client experiences that will should you be disciplined enough to follow through deliver success in 2013.
You can access the template from the attached link.
No?
What are you waiting for??!!!
Imagine ending 2012 knowing exactly what the next twelve months looked like from a client engagement point of view in regard to a series of set plays.
Activity and responsiveness are of course key, but having a structured plan to support your day to day, business as usual activity can provide a clarity and preparation that your competitors just have not got around to doing.
The attached template is not an answer to your client engagement dreams but what it is, is a simple yet powerful tool to illustrate just how well planned your year is, or conversely highlights that your client engagement planning is not up to scratch.
So in 2013 give yourself, your team and your clients the gift of leadership, pro-activity and positive client experiences that will should you be disciplined enough to follow through deliver success in 2013.
You can access the template from the attached link.
Tuesday, 4 December 2012
How to Sell Insurance For Children
Selling child trauma cover : an insurance option under a policy for a parent - that provides a payment should that child be diagnosed or suffer from a specific listed event must be a really hard thing to sell.
We have to believe that because we are told constantly by advisers that they find it a hard conversation to start with parents.
We have to believe that because when we look at the data : the number of policies that have child trauma attached is incredibly low : single digits in percentage terms.
Yet when we look at our own families surely we acknowledge that were anything to happen to our children we would as parents want to be there by their side.
We acknowledge that to be able to do that for however long their recovery takes will require financial adjustment.
We take out insurance on our children not to profit but to be able to fulfil the promise of parenthood - to be there for our children.
Why then is so little of it sold?
We have forgotten to share our values with our clients. And in doing so we have not connected to their values that are a mirror of ours. Of course they would want to be there for their children. It is the professional advisers job to facilitate that opportunity for them.
All that is required then is to share your values and beliefs and your action with a client.
An adviser dear to us, tells of how she sells child trauma insurance to every parent every time.
She tells them that if anything happened to her child she knows where she would rather be and she has arranged the method to allow that to happen.
Her clients acknowledge that choice as completely rational. They agree with it. They share that value and belief.
Why does this adviser do it? Because one day her daughter came home distraught that a school friend had been diagnosed with cancer. There was a physical and emotional battle about to start for that child and that family. There was also a financial battle.
For that reason this adviser tells her clients that she knows where she would want to be.
For that reason every recommendation includes child trauma. There is no need to go into micro detail about the policy.
The positioning is simply:
- tell the client what you have done for your own children and why
- they will agree with what you have done : sometimes with just a nod of agreement sometimes with an emphatic "oh yes, I'd want that too"
- then when you present your recommendation you simply say and I have included childrens trauma because I want you to be able to make the same choices I can make and so you can be there for your children too
At about $10 per $10,000 of cover, I do not know a parent who would opt out of covering their child for an appropriate level of cover at what amounts to essentially a cup of coffee a week per child.
We have to believe that because we are told constantly by advisers that they find it a hard conversation to start with parents.
We have to believe that because when we look at the data : the number of policies that have child trauma attached is incredibly low : single digits in percentage terms.
Yet when we look at our own families surely we acknowledge that were anything to happen to our children we would as parents want to be there by their side.
We acknowledge that to be able to do that for however long their recovery takes will require financial adjustment.
We take out insurance on our children not to profit but to be able to fulfil the promise of parenthood - to be there for our children.
Why then is so little of it sold?
We have forgotten to share our values with our clients. And in doing so we have not connected to their values that are a mirror of ours. Of course they would want to be there for their children. It is the professional advisers job to facilitate that opportunity for them.
All that is required then is to share your values and beliefs and your action with a client.
An adviser dear to us, tells of how she sells child trauma insurance to every parent every time.
She tells them that if anything happened to her child she knows where she would rather be and she has arranged the method to allow that to happen.
Her clients acknowledge that choice as completely rational. They agree with it. They share that value and belief.
Why does this adviser do it? Because one day her daughter came home distraught that a school friend had been diagnosed with cancer. There was a physical and emotional battle about to start for that child and that family. There was also a financial battle.
For that reason this adviser tells her clients that she knows where she would want to be.
For that reason every recommendation includes child trauma. There is no need to go into micro detail about the policy.
The positioning is simply:
- tell the client what you have done for your own children and why
- they will agree with what you have done : sometimes with just a nod of agreement sometimes with an emphatic "oh yes, I'd want that too"
- then when you present your recommendation you simply say and I have included childrens trauma because I want you to be able to make the same choices I can make and so you can be there for your children too
At about $10 per $10,000 of cover, I do not know a parent who would opt out of covering their child for an appropriate level of cover at what amounts to essentially a cup of coffee a week per child.
Friday, 2 November 2012
Believing in Unicorns - the power of purity of intent
The mythical unicorn. According to http://www.unicornleanmanufacturingchangemanagementservices.com/about-unicorns.htm
- unicorns are fierce yet good, a symbol of strength endurance and agility, perserverance, wisdom and playfulness, purity, love hope and majesty.
Further to find the unicorn again it is suggested we must unlearn old lessons, seek new paths, stop and listen to guidance and look deep within ourselves for the right answers.
For those in financial services, it is our role to guide our clients then to finding the unicorn meaning in their lives - to have our clients look at their journey, guide them along new paths to a desired destination and teach them to develop a vision that needs to come from deep within so that it satisfies their often unspoken needs.
Doing that ensures the connection between what a client really wants and what the design of the clients strategy to achieve needs to be. It provides our clients with the knowledge that empowers them to understand and recognise the effectiveness of the path that they choose.
Your advice in this process is then invaluable. Those advisers who connect with clients in this way are described by their clients in a way that transcends the advice piece itself. Clients of these advisers have the feeling that their advisers simply "get me" they understand them and their deep needs and motivations. These clients and the relationships they have with their advisers are ones of friendship, coach, guide, confidante.
This can't be delivered unless the adviser themselves embodies the unicorn spirit.
We talk now of "best interest" and what that means. More paperwork? A statement of intent? A promise? Best interest is a way of being.
Unicorn advisers are leaders who are fierce yet good, symbols of strength endurance and agility, perserverance, wisdom and playfulness, purity, love, hope and majesty.
These remarkable individuals have unlearnt old lessons, sought new paths, stopped and listened to guidance and have looked deep within themselves for the right answers.
They embody what it means to lead. They change people's lives for the better. And they reach far beyond their businesses into the wider community as they inspire and allow people to dream again.
- unicorns are fierce yet good, a symbol of strength endurance and agility, perserverance, wisdom and playfulness, purity, love hope and majesty.
Further to find the unicorn again it is suggested we must unlearn old lessons, seek new paths, stop and listen to guidance and look deep within ourselves for the right answers.
For those in financial services, it is our role to guide our clients then to finding the unicorn meaning in their lives - to have our clients look at their journey, guide them along new paths to a desired destination and teach them to develop a vision that needs to come from deep within so that it satisfies their often unspoken needs.
Doing that ensures the connection between what a client really wants and what the design of the clients strategy to achieve needs to be. It provides our clients with the knowledge that empowers them to understand and recognise the effectiveness of the path that they choose.
Your advice in this process is then invaluable. Those advisers who connect with clients in this way are described by their clients in a way that transcends the advice piece itself. Clients of these advisers have the feeling that their advisers simply "get me" they understand them and their deep needs and motivations. These clients and the relationships they have with their advisers are ones of friendship, coach, guide, confidante.
This can't be delivered unless the adviser themselves embodies the unicorn spirit.
We talk now of "best interest" and what that means. More paperwork? A statement of intent? A promise? Best interest is a way of being.
Unicorn advisers are leaders who are fierce yet good, symbols of strength endurance and agility, perserverance, wisdom and playfulness, purity, love, hope and majesty.
These remarkable individuals have unlearnt old lessons, sought new paths, stopped and listened to guidance and have looked deep within themselves for the right answers.
They embody what it means to lead. They change people's lives for the better. And they reach far beyond their businesses into the wider community as they inspire and allow people to dream again.
Friday, 26 October 2012
I love financial advisers - but my mum would only do business with less than 5% of you
What?? Surely we're not discounting the service proposition and value of 95% of the industry.
No, not at all, but we are just reporting back why some clients don't do business with some of your industry peers.
Here's some reasons why.
1) She couldn't find you.
You didn't stand out in any search she made via : yellow pages, local business directories, online or word of mouth in her social circle. Just what social circle is that? Could be anything. Don't make assumptions, but rather what social circle would you want to be a topic of conversation within?
2) After making an appointment, the collateral you sent her (did you send any) was generic.
3) When she looked on your website (do you have one) she did not feel engaged or that you demonstrated that your proposition was exactly what she needed.
4) When she arrived at your office it just did not feel right. What does your office say about you?
5) Upon meeting you she did not get an understanding of why you do what you do and how you do it.
6) You didn't explain the process you use in an articulate, believable and professional manner.
7) She didn't understand what happens next.
8) The information gathering process was such that she didn't feel you understood her or that she understood you.
9) After the meeting she felt she'd agreed to something which she didn't really comprehend.
10) You didn't follow up with anything to reassure her in between the time from the first appointment to the date set for the next.
11) When she came back for the second meeting, your front of house staff did not make her feel like they realised this potential start of a significant advice relationship was a big deal for her. In fact she felt they did not remember Her at all.
12) The statement of advice looked impressive. It was in a folder! Her name was in it like maybe 40 times. She's pretty sure she knows who she is. Do you know who she is or is her name in it a lot to remind you?
13) She did not understand the statement of advice.
14) She could not make the connection between your recommendations and what she wanted to achieve.
She told you she needed to think about it.
No, not at all, but we are just reporting back why some clients don't do business with some of your industry peers.
Here's some reasons why.
1) She couldn't find you.
You didn't stand out in any search she made via : yellow pages, local business directories, online or word of mouth in her social circle. Just what social circle is that? Could be anything. Don't make assumptions, but rather what social circle would you want to be a topic of conversation within?
2) After making an appointment, the collateral you sent her (did you send any) was generic.
3) When she looked on your website (do you have one) she did not feel engaged or that you demonstrated that your proposition was exactly what she needed.
4) When she arrived at your office it just did not feel right. What does your office say about you?
5) Upon meeting you she did not get an understanding of why you do what you do and how you do it.
6) You didn't explain the process you use in an articulate, believable and professional manner.
7) She didn't understand what happens next.
8) The information gathering process was such that she didn't feel you understood her or that she understood you.
9) After the meeting she felt she'd agreed to something which she didn't really comprehend.
10) You didn't follow up with anything to reassure her in between the time from the first appointment to the date set for the next.
11) When she came back for the second meeting, your front of house staff did not make her feel like they realised this potential start of a significant advice relationship was a big deal for her. In fact she felt they did not remember Her at all.
12) The statement of advice looked impressive. It was in a folder! Her name was in it like maybe 40 times. She's pretty sure she knows who she is. Do you know who she is or is her name in it a lot to remind you?
13) She did not understand the statement of advice.
14) She could not make the connection between your recommendations and what she wanted to achieve.
She told you she needed to think about it.
Saturday, 20 October 2012
Great Questions For Your Client Discovery Meeting
So recently we've written about initial client engagement and in particular how to engage clients with a difference even before you sit down with them.
We've also posted on YouTube at http://m.youtube.com/user/positiveclientengage
- a couple of videos about using mind maps with clients in the discovery process.
The key outcomes of course that we are looking for are:
- depth of knowledge of the clients circumstances that transcends pure numbers and data of the clients financial situation but leads you to truly understand the clients world
- which then allows you to become involved in that world and play your part
- that part is to assist the client live out what is important to them
If you can do that then that is true client engagement and service delivery. Clients will utilise your solutions and advice and pay for it and proudly refer you to their social circle because simply you have delivered with difference.
But to properly engage even using a mind map technique you need to be asking great questions.
Many people do this naturally - there is an innate and genuine curiosity that demonstrates respect and the understanding of another's point of view.
It's basic conversation. It's about the way you were brought up. It's about how you engaged your family around the dinner table. (do people do that anymore as a family??).
And therein lies the problem. Since 1992 as the internet began, we have started communicating differently.
There are some advice professionals who no nothing other than communicating via a portal rather than face to face.
So great conversations are not so natural today.
So what are the great questions?
It depends on you and if you have some of the ingredients of the above great listeners and communicators.
But essentially you need to be asking:
- what's the clients thought process around planning for their future
- what has that thought process brought up
- how do they feel about it
- how do they feel about areas of their life such as family, health, interests, hobbies, relationships, philanthropy, community, education, living circumstances, travel, over all well being, social circle, work,
- what's a life that is full look like to them
- what dreams are they missing out on
- what dreams are they living
- what dreams are they fearful of chasing
- what would they have missed out on if they don't take action
- how would they live if money was plentiful
- what would they change
- what if circumstances meant they needed to fast track plans for providing for their family
- have they done enough
- what does success look, feel, sound like
- how do you know when you're there
Great questions can not be forced or read out like a script. They need to evolve. It's a journey. Great questions are a great conversation. Great conversations start with a willingness to share and a great listener.
We've also posted on YouTube at http://m.youtube.com/user/positiveclientengage
- a couple of videos about using mind maps with clients in the discovery process.
The key outcomes of course that we are looking for are:
- depth of knowledge of the clients circumstances that transcends pure numbers and data of the clients financial situation but leads you to truly understand the clients world
- which then allows you to become involved in that world and play your part
- that part is to assist the client live out what is important to them
If you can do that then that is true client engagement and service delivery. Clients will utilise your solutions and advice and pay for it and proudly refer you to their social circle because simply you have delivered with difference.
But to properly engage even using a mind map technique you need to be asking great questions.
Many people do this naturally - there is an innate and genuine curiosity that demonstrates respect and the understanding of another's point of view.
It's basic conversation. It's about the way you were brought up. It's about how you engaged your family around the dinner table. (do people do that anymore as a family??).
And therein lies the problem. Since 1992 as the internet began, we have started communicating differently.
There are some advice professionals who no nothing other than communicating via a portal rather than face to face.
So great conversations are not so natural today.
So what are the great questions?
It depends on you and if you have some of the ingredients of the above great listeners and communicators.
But essentially you need to be asking:
- what's the clients thought process around planning for their future
- what has that thought process brought up
- how do they feel about it
- how do they feel about areas of their life such as family, health, interests, hobbies, relationships, philanthropy, community, education, living circumstances, travel, over all well being, social circle, work,
- what's a life that is full look like to them
- what dreams are they missing out on
- what dreams are they living
- what dreams are they fearful of chasing
- what would they have missed out on if they don't take action
- how would they live if money was plentiful
- what would they change
- what if circumstances meant they needed to fast track plans for providing for their family
- have they done enough
- what does success look, feel, sound like
- how do you know when you're there
Great questions can not be forced or read out like a script. They need to evolve. It's a journey. Great questions are a great conversation. Great conversations start with a willingness to share and a great listener.
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
The Five Step Client Interview Process for Insurance and Financial Planning
So you have dazzled your prospective client with the customer experience they have just encountered when first entering your business. Now they are sitting across from you and the fun begins. What do the best businesses do to ensure what happens next: is fun, is differentiated, is highly engaging (for the client and the adviser) leads to 100% conversion from prospect to client and leads to obtaining client referrals at a rate of above 70%?
Essentially there are 5 things that these businesses do. They do them in sequence and as a part of a deliberate well thought out process. Further they advise their prospective clients sometimes well before the meeting itself that there is a defined process that they are going to take them through. Further these businesses have developed collateral be it corporate brochures or web site applications or information that defines what this process is.
The brilliance in what they are doing is first and foremost is that it is simple, second by doing this they tap into a vast array of positive client psychology techniques, third, because it is a defined process it can be taught to emerging advisers and front of house staff, fourth it can be articulated clearly and succinctly and best of all despite the simplicity the fifth point to note is that it is rare that a business works through all 5 elements and consequently it is highly differentiated.
The 5 step client interview process:
1) Engage your clients in the data collection process
This does not mean running laboriously through the fact find or similar data collection forms. This means a highly engaged genuinely curious inquisition into the clients world. This is best done using a formulaic method. Ideally visual, participative and a means to get the client talking about themselves. It's "going deep" with a client.
Best techniques and practitioners utilise mind map diagrams that go further than just assets and liabilities but cover much broader areas of a clients world.
How do you get clients to share that much information? Show them your mind map or family tree but the best practitioners start by outlining what it is that they have incorporated for themselves and then ask the prospect to reciprocate.
2) Ask great questions and set a benchmark for where the client is now and what the possibilities may be.
These are questions about lifestyle and other aspects that are non financial. It's about where else they have obtained advice and what was their experience. It's about hard questions about how they would live their life if time was limited or if money was no object.
Great questions take practice and take time to construct. PCE has created 4 questionnaires available via PCE for those interested. (yes website still under construction)
Further PCE have a benchmark tool to assess where a client sits now and where they will be after your advice.
3) Describe your methodology, for insurance sales, for choosing the right levels of cover. There are plenty of applications that work through clients scenarios, even i pad applications provided by life risk houses, and worksheets that PCE have developed. What's important is to highlight that there is a method and that all your clients go through this process and have positive results as a consequence : this is where the power of story telling about your clients comes into its own. And story telling is a critical element of step 3.
4) Use visuals to explain your suggested course of action. Be it words on a slide. A diagram about how it all fits together, what you need to do here is imprint in a clients mind the solidity of your solution. Flow charts work very well and if you can for example explain how packing insurance options works and will work for the client sitting in front of you by a visual method what stays with the client is not so much the product names and intracacies but rather that you have constructed (or will construct) something cohesive, relevant and understandable for them.
5) Describe the next steps : what is the application process / when will your recommendations be ready / what is the underwriting process and in doing so define the outcome that they will have which should be in the clients words and aligned to the objective that they want to achieve or that you have identified is a necessary component of their well being. Further provide them with an engagement pack that reassures them that they have made the right decision in choosing you. This will certainly have relevance when natural buyers remorse sets in. By having managed the psychology of the sale process during the appointment you have mitigated the natural thought process of the client and reassured them that what they experienced in your waiting room was genuine and that in a very short space of time the feeling that you understand them and are genuinely concerned about their well being. The WHY you are in business is powerful here. Make sure you tell them at this point why it is you do what you do.
Essentially there are 5 things that these businesses do. They do them in sequence and as a part of a deliberate well thought out process. Further they advise their prospective clients sometimes well before the meeting itself that there is a defined process that they are going to take them through. Further these businesses have developed collateral be it corporate brochures or web site applications or information that defines what this process is.
The brilliance in what they are doing is first and foremost is that it is simple, second by doing this they tap into a vast array of positive client psychology techniques, third, because it is a defined process it can be taught to emerging advisers and front of house staff, fourth it can be articulated clearly and succinctly and best of all despite the simplicity the fifth point to note is that it is rare that a business works through all 5 elements and consequently it is highly differentiated.
The 5 step client interview process:
1) Engage your clients in the data collection process
This does not mean running laboriously through the fact find or similar data collection forms. This means a highly engaged genuinely curious inquisition into the clients world. This is best done using a formulaic method. Ideally visual, participative and a means to get the client talking about themselves. It's "going deep" with a client.
Best techniques and practitioners utilise mind map diagrams that go further than just assets and liabilities but cover much broader areas of a clients world.
How do you get clients to share that much information? Show them your mind map or family tree but the best practitioners start by outlining what it is that they have incorporated for themselves and then ask the prospect to reciprocate.
2) Ask great questions and set a benchmark for where the client is now and what the possibilities may be.
These are questions about lifestyle and other aspects that are non financial. It's about where else they have obtained advice and what was their experience. It's about hard questions about how they would live their life if time was limited or if money was no object.
Great questions take practice and take time to construct. PCE has created 4 questionnaires available via PCE for those interested. (yes website still under construction)
Further PCE have a benchmark tool to assess where a client sits now and where they will be after your advice.
3) Describe your methodology, for insurance sales, for choosing the right levels of cover. There are plenty of applications that work through clients scenarios, even i pad applications provided by life risk houses, and worksheets that PCE have developed. What's important is to highlight that there is a method and that all your clients go through this process and have positive results as a consequence : this is where the power of story telling about your clients comes into its own. And story telling is a critical element of step 3.
4) Use visuals to explain your suggested course of action. Be it words on a slide. A diagram about how it all fits together, what you need to do here is imprint in a clients mind the solidity of your solution. Flow charts work very well and if you can for example explain how packing insurance options works and will work for the client sitting in front of you by a visual method what stays with the client is not so much the product names and intracacies but rather that you have constructed (or will construct) something cohesive, relevant and understandable for them.
5) Describe the next steps : what is the application process / when will your recommendations be ready / what is the underwriting process and in doing so define the outcome that they will have which should be in the clients words and aligned to the objective that they want to achieve or that you have identified is a necessary component of their well being. Further provide them with an engagement pack that reassures them that they have made the right decision in choosing you. This will certainly have relevance when natural buyers remorse sets in. By having managed the psychology of the sale process during the appointment you have mitigated the natural thought process of the client and reassured them that what they experienced in your waiting room was genuine and that in a very short space of time the feeling that you understand them and are genuinely concerned about their well being. The WHY you are in business is powerful here. Make sure you tell them at this point why it is you do what you do.
Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Five Ways to Engage Clients Before They Sit Down In The Office
What do great businesses do to engage and educate clients before they have actually started the client discovery meeting?
They have at their disposal waiting room excellence.
In other words the client experience begins as the client enters the business premises. And by design rather than default these great businesses tap into client behaviour and emotion to educate and inform before the formal interview has even commenced.
How?
Follow these five steps and start your transformation.
Create a welcoming environment.
Like the PCE Assurance Letters, the waiting room environment is all about confirming to the client that they have made the right choice. This means that it needs to speak to the client needs that are in play. If you are pitching to senior executive clients a waiting room needs to evoke the environment they are accustomed to. The details right down to the magazine selection needs to be appropriate. If pitching to families a waiting room that is child friendly is a winner.
Your pitch to your prospective client that you understand them, starts in the waiting room. Create an environment that loud and clear announces that you know your market.
Have great front of house staff that can engage your clients.
This works because you can find out vital information about a clients decision making internal influences such as ...attitude, motivation, how they learn (do they watch the video screens, read the magazine, look at pictures in a brochure, read your business collateral?). Recently PCE were strongly engaged in two adviser waiting rooms. Once by a dynamic receptionist who was also studying law. PCE were quite put on their heels and certainly discovered there were some issues over and above what PCE were there to discuss that it was suddenly illuminated that this particular business could assist with. The second occasion PCE was struck by the smiles, the welcome, the conversation of two front of house staff.
Start educating and leading your clients.
Create and use focused and targeted collateral be it brochures, case studies, video that provides information about your business and what it is you do and why.
Importantly what is your process and what sort of clients have been through your process and succeeded. There are many ways to do this. Video, flow charts, client storyboards. What you are doing here is creating credibility that positive results happen for people who work with you.
Demonstrate the value you provide.
With the pressure you face from an ever increasing Competitive environment, differentiating your offer has never been as vital as it is now. To win you need to demonstrate that your offer transcends what else in out there. Easily done. Simply create a map/ a process/ a visual of all the things you do for clients and how broad your network is, in a way that clearly identifies that you can provide and facilitate a multi faceted solution for your clients and that you are the vital hub of their world.
Let them bond with you before they meet you.
How? Let them know you and who you are and who are the clients you've helped. You, your staff, your clients should be on display. This means visuals, photos, a library and other items that can make an emotional connection with your clients. What community contribution do you make? What about charity? What do you stand for and what is valued in your world that you are willing to share? By opening yourself up and displaying your values you will have as a result like attracting like and people bonding with you or at the worst people understanding and respecting your values and giving you the opportunity to reciprocate.
Waiting rooms.......not just for waiting.
They have at their disposal waiting room excellence.
In other words the client experience begins as the client enters the business premises. And by design rather than default these great businesses tap into client behaviour and emotion to educate and inform before the formal interview has even commenced.
How?
Follow these five steps and start your transformation.
Create a welcoming environment.
Like the PCE Assurance Letters, the waiting room environment is all about confirming to the client that they have made the right choice. This means that it needs to speak to the client needs that are in play. If you are pitching to senior executive clients a waiting room needs to evoke the environment they are accustomed to. The details right down to the magazine selection needs to be appropriate. If pitching to families a waiting room that is child friendly is a winner.
Your pitch to your prospective client that you understand them, starts in the waiting room. Create an environment that loud and clear announces that you know your market.
Have great front of house staff that can engage your clients.
This works because you can find out vital information about a clients decision making internal influences such as ...attitude, motivation, how they learn (do they watch the video screens, read the magazine, look at pictures in a brochure, read your business collateral?). Recently PCE were strongly engaged in two adviser waiting rooms. Once by a dynamic receptionist who was also studying law. PCE were quite put on their heels and certainly discovered there were some issues over and above what PCE were there to discuss that it was suddenly illuminated that this particular business could assist with. The second occasion PCE was struck by the smiles, the welcome, the conversation of two front of house staff.
Start educating and leading your clients.
Create and use focused and targeted collateral be it brochures, case studies, video that provides information about your business and what it is you do and why.
Importantly what is your process and what sort of clients have been through your process and succeeded. There are many ways to do this. Video, flow charts, client storyboards. What you are doing here is creating credibility that positive results happen for people who work with you.
Demonstrate the value you provide.
With the pressure you face from an ever increasing Competitive environment, differentiating your offer has never been as vital as it is now. To win you need to demonstrate that your offer transcends what else in out there. Easily done. Simply create a map/ a process/ a visual of all the things you do for clients and how broad your network is, in a way that clearly identifies that you can provide and facilitate a multi faceted solution for your clients and that you are the vital hub of their world.
Let them bond with you before they meet you.
How? Let them know you and who you are and who are the clients you've helped. You, your staff, your clients should be on display. This means visuals, photos, a library and other items that can make an emotional connection with your clients. What community contribution do you make? What about charity? What do you stand for and what is valued in your world that you are willing to share? By opening yourself up and displaying your values you will have as a result like attracting like and people bonding with you or at the worst people understanding and respecting your values and giving you the opportunity to reciprocate.
Waiting rooms.......not just for waiting.
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Gen Y Clients and Staff - Gen Y bother?
There is something different about the Gen Y's.
They communicate in a different way compared to X'rs and Boomers.
Growing up in a post internet world they have adapted and adopted a different mode of communication that often does not translate to the workplace or in dealing with service professionals.
Rapport can be a series of abbreviations in a text message and not the rules of etiquette that PCE were taught.
The way Gen Y's have been brought also lends itself to them in general having a different view of how they should be treated in the workplace or in an advice relationship. Having had parents who during a period of increased wealth and productivity provided opportunity beyond that which they had experienced has led to a Gen Y stereotype of entitlement and neediness. How that translates into the workplace or in advice relationships is a need to be praised for doing what is expected and tailor made solutions.
What this leads to is from a Gen Y perspective is constant disappointment that the lofty expectations can not be met and this is observed as a lack of loyalty as a mobile thought process adopted by many Gen Y's leads them to believe that they can do it better sometimes simply because they know where to find the information and how to connect without regard for whether they actually have the skills to implement.
Is it all about them?
To a degree yes.
The expectations they have for success, for career, for remuneration and ongoing reward, for service are lofty and perhaps unrealistic in that they do not fit with defined structures and the operation of a corporate let alone a mutually beneficial long term advice relationship.
So are they worth the trouble?
They can be. But what PCE belives is that you need to look at it from a different angle. Forget age forget Gen Y, Gen X, Boomers.
Rather look at it from the perspective of how has this individual been brought up? What a their motives, their perceptions, their attitude and how do they learn.
From that you essentially find yourself with two groups - traditionalists and new age.
Traditionalists have been brought up with discipline and work ethic. New age can be seen as self centred but really it's a consequence of them being taught that there is an entitlement that their very being demands. The impact of this can be dramatically varied in our broad generalisation of Western humankind into two groups.
But what is true is that traditionalist will
- cooperate
- collaborate
- seek advice
- deliver on promises
- are true their word
- will accentuate the positives
- work hard
- are driven by intrinsic motivation
The new age will
- challenge
- seek autonomy
- seek information
- deliver on what they see as priorities
- are often non committal and seek contracts and written agreements
- look for shortcomings
- seek flexible work arrangements that fit in with their lifestyle
- driven by extrinsic motivation
What you need for your business culture if employing them and if seeking them as clients how you go about charging them appropriately without factoring in a long term relationship - are critical elements to consider.
They communicate in a different way compared to X'rs and Boomers.
Growing up in a post internet world they have adapted and adopted a different mode of communication that often does not translate to the workplace or in dealing with service professionals.
Rapport can be a series of abbreviations in a text message and not the rules of etiquette that PCE were taught.
The way Gen Y's have been brought also lends itself to them in general having a different view of how they should be treated in the workplace or in an advice relationship. Having had parents who during a period of increased wealth and productivity provided opportunity beyond that which they had experienced has led to a Gen Y stereotype of entitlement and neediness. How that translates into the workplace or in advice relationships is a need to be praised for doing what is expected and tailor made solutions.
What this leads to is from a Gen Y perspective is constant disappointment that the lofty expectations can not be met and this is observed as a lack of loyalty as a mobile thought process adopted by many Gen Y's leads them to believe that they can do it better sometimes simply because they know where to find the information and how to connect without regard for whether they actually have the skills to implement.
Is it all about them?
To a degree yes.
The expectations they have for success, for career, for remuneration and ongoing reward, for service are lofty and perhaps unrealistic in that they do not fit with defined structures and the operation of a corporate let alone a mutually beneficial long term advice relationship.
So are they worth the trouble?
They can be. But what PCE belives is that you need to look at it from a different angle. Forget age forget Gen Y, Gen X, Boomers.
Rather look at it from the perspective of how has this individual been brought up? What a their motives, their perceptions, their attitude and how do they learn.
From that you essentially find yourself with two groups - traditionalists and new age.
Traditionalists have been brought up with discipline and work ethic. New age can be seen as self centred but really it's a consequence of them being taught that there is an entitlement that their very being demands. The impact of this can be dramatically varied in our broad generalisation of Western humankind into two groups.
But what is true is that traditionalist will
- cooperate
- collaborate
- seek advice
- deliver on promises
- are true their word
- will accentuate the positives
- work hard
- are driven by intrinsic motivation
The new age will
- challenge
- seek autonomy
- seek information
- deliver on what they see as priorities
- are often non committal and seek contracts and written agreements
- look for shortcomings
- seek flexible work arrangements that fit in with their lifestyle
- driven by extrinsic motivation
What you need for your business culture if employing them and if seeking them as clients how you go about charging them appropriately without factoring in a long term relationship - are critical elements to consider.
Wednesday, 12 September 2012
How our clients brains stop them making rational decisions
So you've written a great plan, an insurance strategy that is relevant, appropriate and desperately needed by your prospect and yet.....the response is...I'm not sure, I need to think about it.
Maslow offers us some great guidance on motivation and drive.
We at PCE would love to accept that positive view of people that analogy that cream rises to the top that people really do try to be the best that they can be.
For us the one of the greatest examples of Maslow's hierarchy working is Chris Gardner;think Will Smith in the Pursuit of Happyness.
Chris's journey and struggle to be the best he could be was Maslow personified.
But Maslow does not fit when you think of a client walking away from a sound financial plan. Maslow does not explain why someone who has it all still wants more. Maslow can't explain why your COI having engaged you does not continue to provide referrals. Maslow does not explain why people make decisions that appear and probably are totally irrational.
How you understand what is going on in someone's mind and why they make the decisions they do is really the key to positive client engagement.
It's what this website/blog is all about. It's about being the best you can be and being self aware enough that you can engage clients with honesty and genuine curiosity and sincerity.
It's about emotional intelligence and it's application.
As Golemon writes in his groundbreaking work, in 1995, it's about knowing yourself, managing yours and your clients emotions, motivation and understanding motivation, recognising emotions and motivations in your clients, building relationships, maintaining relationships.
People's ability to do this differs and PCE is about developing tools to assist.
But heres the big tip. Ready?
If you want a client to go through a process with you.......do it yourself first.
Go through the PDS and full out your own application. Do a fact find on yourself. Mind map your world on a single page. Get underwritten. Walk through your business with your clients eyes. How do you feel about that policy loading, about some of the personal questions on the application....did you answer the honestly ...really?
What about that fact find process.....how'd it feel.....fake, false, like you were a number.
Draw your family tree......
Examine the way you shop. The last holiday you went on ....did you use a travel agent ...or did you go online......do you value advice when it's your business but diminish the value of advice when it's someone's elses business.
Do you walk the talk?
Do you believe in what you sell? Can you state why you do what you do? Do you know who it is that you help, what problems they have and what you do about it and what your clients feel about what it is that you do?
Our brains have evolved from a brain stem that kept us alive and to this day still regulates all that is automatic.
The other systems that evolved have at their core an emotional centre, the limbic system that receives all the information that bombards us each day and attaches emotional markers to it before our pre frontal cortex makes that decision that we hope is rational but that is driven by experience and acquired knowledge.
What is key here is the emotions that we assign to things, that drive us that shut down rationale thought when the feelings are strong enough.
So how well do you engage your clients on an emotional level? Really? A fact find? What are you doing in your business to really connect with clients?
If you can answer and articulate and demonstrate that then you are well ahead of the curve. And on the way to positive client engagement.
Maslow offers us some great guidance on motivation and drive.
We at PCE would love to accept that positive view of people that analogy that cream rises to the top that people really do try to be the best that they can be.
For us the one of the greatest examples of Maslow's hierarchy working is Chris Gardner;think Will Smith in the Pursuit of Happyness.
Chris's journey and struggle to be the best he could be was Maslow personified.
But Maslow does not fit when you think of a client walking away from a sound financial plan. Maslow does not explain why someone who has it all still wants more. Maslow can't explain why your COI having engaged you does not continue to provide referrals. Maslow does not explain why people make decisions that appear and probably are totally irrational.
How you understand what is going on in someone's mind and why they make the decisions they do is really the key to positive client engagement.
It's what this website/blog is all about. It's about being the best you can be and being self aware enough that you can engage clients with honesty and genuine curiosity and sincerity.
It's about emotional intelligence and it's application.
As Golemon writes in his groundbreaking work, in 1995, it's about knowing yourself, managing yours and your clients emotions, motivation and understanding motivation, recognising emotions and motivations in your clients, building relationships, maintaining relationships.
People's ability to do this differs and PCE is about developing tools to assist.
But heres the big tip. Ready?
If you want a client to go through a process with you.......do it yourself first.
Go through the PDS and full out your own application. Do a fact find on yourself. Mind map your world on a single page. Get underwritten. Walk through your business with your clients eyes. How do you feel about that policy loading, about some of the personal questions on the application....did you answer the honestly ...really?
What about that fact find process.....how'd it feel.....fake, false, like you were a number.
Draw your family tree......
Examine the way you shop. The last holiday you went on ....did you use a travel agent ...or did you go online......do you value advice when it's your business but diminish the value of advice when it's someone's elses business.
Do you walk the talk?
Do you believe in what you sell? Can you state why you do what you do? Do you know who it is that you help, what problems they have and what you do about it and what your clients feel about what it is that you do?
Our brains have evolved from a brain stem that kept us alive and to this day still regulates all that is automatic.
The other systems that evolved have at their core an emotional centre, the limbic system that receives all the information that bombards us each day and attaches emotional markers to it before our pre frontal cortex makes that decision that we hope is rational but that is driven by experience and acquired knowledge.
What is key here is the emotions that we assign to things, that drive us that shut down rationale thought when the feelings are strong enough.
So how well do you engage your clients on an emotional level? Really? A fact find? What are you doing in your business to really connect with clients?
If you can answer and articulate and demonstrate that then you are well ahead of the curve. And on the way to positive client engagement.
Friday, 7 September 2012
Social Media For Financial Services - What You Need To Know
With the Financial Standard launching a scholarship to support financial advisers who are taking the lead in social media, http://www.financialstandard.com.au/smileys
PCE thought it worthwhile to look at some of the aspects of success in social media community building.
As fans of Gossieuax and Moran and others such as Iggy Pintado, looking at their research and writings makes sense for any one grappling with how and what they should be doing to engage clients via social media.
1) People trust people in their tribe.
As humans we have simply not evolved to engage with businesses who deliver to us content embedded with jargon and that is positioned to us in a way that portrays why dealing with said businesses is a good choice for us. What really matters are stories shared with us around the campfire. In other words we look to people we know and we trust to give us green light signals about our purchasing options and choices.
2) Building relationships is predicated and successful only when there is reciprocity.
A bond between people or indeed between people and a corporation is only successful if the bond is mutual which means there needs to be some give and take. In a social media sense this means that in order to engage a community you as the business need to bring something of value to the conversation / to the community.
3) People want to hear, read, see, experience what other people say about you, your services, your service encounters that you deliver.
It however is more than the what you do. People want to know and understand the why. Why is it that others have chosen to work with you. Testimonials are not enough. True engagement that is required is the power of the open forum. In essence an ongoing and virtual conversation about why you do what you do.
4)Forget traditional segmenting.
The financial planning business who talks to us about A,B,C and D segmenting based on revenue should forget about social media marketing.
What needs to occur is a mind shift in your business so that you explore and think about your clients in terms of the communities or using Gossieaux and Morans language the tribes you have in your client base and which tribes within your client base and beyond you would like to engage with.
5) Become truly customer focussed.
This means you need to assess your client service encounters and reshape them so that It speaks to the interests of your core identified communities.
6) To do that you need to listen.
Where is the community that your business can engage with value congregating? What interests do they have? What forums do they engage in? What are they saying?
7) Throw out the rule book.
Easier said than done. This means getting the people in your business to allocate time, budget and resources to placing emphasis on social media strategies. This requires a single dedicated and senior person in you business (senior in regard to hierarchy not necessarily age!) responsible for the strategy. It requires time to spend in forums to respond in a consistent customer focussed manner with alignment to the goal of the business that is importantly something the business can deliver on.
But let's make it clear that you can't do any of the above without the business knowing who it is they want to deal with, what problems those people and people in that community have, what it is that the business does for those people and the results that are provided. This is essentially your raison d'être.
Without that you will sadly get lost in the socia media clouds.
PCE thought it worthwhile to look at some of the aspects of success in social media community building.
As fans of Gossieuax and Moran and others such as Iggy Pintado, looking at their research and writings makes sense for any one grappling with how and what they should be doing to engage clients via social media.
1) People trust people in their tribe.
As humans we have simply not evolved to engage with businesses who deliver to us content embedded with jargon and that is positioned to us in a way that portrays why dealing with said businesses is a good choice for us. What really matters are stories shared with us around the campfire. In other words we look to people we know and we trust to give us green light signals about our purchasing options and choices.
2) Building relationships is predicated and successful only when there is reciprocity.
A bond between people or indeed between people and a corporation is only successful if the bond is mutual which means there needs to be some give and take. In a social media sense this means that in order to engage a community you as the business need to bring something of value to the conversation / to the community.
3) People want to hear, read, see, experience what other people say about you, your services, your service encounters that you deliver.
It however is more than the what you do. People want to know and understand the why. Why is it that others have chosen to work with you. Testimonials are not enough. True engagement that is required is the power of the open forum. In essence an ongoing and virtual conversation about why you do what you do.
4)Forget traditional segmenting.
The financial planning business who talks to us about A,B,C and D segmenting based on revenue should forget about social media marketing.
What needs to occur is a mind shift in your business so that you explore and think about your clients in terms of the communities or using Gossieaux and Morans language the tribes you have in your client base and which tribes within your client base and beyond you would like to engage with.
5) Become truly customer focussed.
This means you need to assess your client service encounters and reshape them so that It speaks to the interests of your core identified communities.
6) To do that you need to listen.
Where is the community that your business can engage with value congregating? What interests do they have? What forums do they engage in? What are they saying?
7) Throw out the rule book.
Easier said than done. This means getting the people in your business to allocate time, budget and resources to placing emphasis on social media strategies. This requires a single dedicated and senior person in you business (senior in regard to hierarchy not necessarily age!) responsible for the strategy. It requires time to spend in forums to respond in a consistent customer focussed manner with alignment to the goal of the business that is importantly something the business can deliver on.
But let's make it clear that you can't do any of the above without the business knowing who it is they want to deal with, what problems those people and people in that community have, what it is that the business does for those people and the results that are provided. This is essentially your raison d'être.
Without that you will sadly get lost in the socia media clouds.
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Why marketing campaigns don't work and what to do about it
What response rate are you getting from your financial services / life insurance mail out campaigns?
Be it letters, perhaps flyers, brochures, snazzy postcards with eye catching imagery - what is the success rate you get from either your existing client base or from leads from your centre of influence or even better your centre of influences client base that you are strategically attempting to tap into?
30% success?!!! 20%!? Not less than 15%? Less than 10? Don't tell me less than 5?
In PCEs experience businesses who use generic marketing material, perhaps sourced of he shelf from their product providers, experience a response rate of less than 5%. And this response rate is only the response of calls into the business or requests for more information. The actual real response rate and that is the conversion amounts to less than 2.5% of the original marketing sample.
At this response rate is it little wonder that most small business and even large financial planning firm baulk at the offer from product providers to run a marketing campaign. And the BDM with little else in their kit bag finds it difficult to continue the conversation.
What's wrong here is the misalignment of the marketing material and the client base. The generic messages in the content do not match the need of the prospects.
The analysis of the client base has just simply not been done.
The problem with this equation is the lack of knowledge about what to do about it.
The key is in the message and whether the message is framed to connect with the prospect in a certain way. Advocates of 4 drive theory understand that the curiosity of human beings is heightened enough to cause investigation of a new concept when the gap between the current understanding of an issue and the new information is of a medium variance.
That causes the prospect to drive towards finding more.
In other words we are talking about upwards of 30% response rates.
But most marketing material utilised either does one of two things : one : it does not identify the gap to be large enough and consequently there is no impetus for change OR two: the statement of the issue to be considered is so different to the prospects current situation or made to be so complex that it causes a fear reaction or a complete rejection on either theses grounds or on complexity.
What then is the answer?
It's all about:
- better data mining of the client bases
- smaller subsets
- tailored messages
- better information about the clients that enable the messages to be shaped accordingly
- more creativity with then message
- ultimately closing the gap between the clients current situation and the proposed solution to a point where it is large enough to drive curiosity and small enough for it to appear achievable
For now, think about the messages and material you send to your clients and prospects in your marketing campaigns.
Is it generic of the shelf material that you have sent to a broad set of clients and prospects?
If so .......don't expect a return on your postage spend.
If you want great results....contact PCE.
Be it letters, perhaps flyers, brochures, snazzy postcards with eye catching imagery - what is the success rate you get from either your existing client base or from leads from your centre of influence or even better your centre of influences client base that you are strategically attempting to tap into?
30% success?!!! 20%!? Not less than 15%? Less than 10? Don't tell me less than 5?
In PCEs experience businesses who use generic marketing material, perhaps sourced of he shelf from their product providers, experience a response rate of less than 5%. And this response rate is only the response of calls into the business or requests for more information. The actual real response rate and that is the conversion amounts to less than 2.5% of the original marketing sample.
At this response rate is it little wonder that most small business and even large financial planning firm baulk at the offer from product providers to run a marketing campaign. And the BDM with little else in their kit bag finds it difficult to continue the conversation.
What's wrong here is the misalignment of the marketing material and the client base. The generic messages in the content do not match the need of the prospects.
The analysis of the client base has just simply not been done.
The problem with this equation is the lack of knowledge about what to do about it.
The key is in the message and whether the message is framed to connect with the prospect in a certain way. Advocates of 4 drive theory understand that the curiosity of human beings is heightened enough to cause investigation of a new concept when the gap between the current understanding of an issue and the new information is of a medium variance.
That causes the prospect to drive towards finding more.
In other words we are talking about upwards of 30% response rates.
But most marketing material utilised either does one of two things : one : it does not identify the gap to be large enough and consequently there is no impetus for change OR two: the statement of the issue to be considered is so different to the prospects current situation or made to be so complex that it causes a fear reaction or a complete rejection on either theses grounds or on complexity.
What then is the answer?
It's all about:
- better data mining of the client bases
- smaller subsets
- tailored messages
- better information about the clients that enable the messages to be shaped accordingly
- more creativity with then message
- ultimately closing the gap between the clients current situation and the proposed solution to a point where it is large enough to drive curiosity and small enough for it to appear achievable
For now, think about the messages and material you send to your clients and prospects in your marketing campaigns.
Is it generic of the shelf material that you have sent to a broad set of clients and prospects?
If so .......don't expect a return on your postage spend.
If you want great results....contact PCE.
Sunday, 5 August 2012
Techniques to get more information to win the sale
So the collected posts from PCE have at their core one objective and that is to have professional advisers in financial services engage more people with better skills and in doing so deliver solutions to more clients.
Those solutions take the form of insurance that provides peace of mind and money to families when it is needed most. Those solutions revolve around maximising the possibility that people live well and look after their families.
The key and the lessons of all of our posts is that in order to do this you need to gather more and better information about your prospects, your referral sources and your existing clients.
We at PCE have talked about and demonstrated how revisiting or discovering the theories of Maslow, Jung, Rogers, Nohria, Dilts, and building the learnings into your business in processes and engagement techniques can take you and your clients on the journey towards meeting the objective of positive client engagement and all the success and rewards that come with that.
How do you build it?
We have described in a lot of our posts methods of implementing techniques into your business and we have received feedback of how well it has worked for many businesses.
But to be truthful, these have just been snippets, ideas and conversations like proverbial paper napkin diagrams over coffee or better still a red or two.
The next step for PCE is packaging this for you. Making available the questions, the pro forma questionnaires that can take your business to another level and of course packaging all of the techniques into one cohesive flowing document.
That's exciting for PCE and we hope for you.
Till then as a teaser, how do you engage someone on their values and beliefs?
It's about great questions, centred around what Lawrence and Nohria’s theory focusses on that explains what humans want, as well as why they want those things.
We know from this that people love to:
Acquire
Bond
Learn
Defend
What questions can you design to find out what people want in these 4 areas and why?
2. If you want to succeed in business, it pays to understand what people want. Markets form around core human drives.
Those solutions take the form of insurance that provides peace of mind and money to families when it is needed most. Those solutions revolve around maximising the possibility that people live well and look after their families.
The key and the lessons of all of our posts is that in order to do this you need to gather more and better information about your prospects, your referral sources and your existing clients.
We at PCE have talked about and demonstrated how revisiting or discovering the theories of Maslow, Jung, Rogers, Nohria, Dilts, and building the learnings into your business in processes and engagement techniques can take you and your clients on the journey towards meeting the objective of positive client engagement and all the success and rewards that come with that.
How do you build it?
We have described in a lot of our posts methods of implementing techniques into your business and we have received feedback of how well it has worked for many businesses.
But to be truthful, these have just been snippets, ideas and conversations like proverbial paper napkin diagrams over coffee or better still a red or two.
The next step for PCE is packaging this for you. Making available the questions, the pro forma questionnaires that can take your business to another level and of course packaging all of the techniques into one cohesive flowing document.
That's exciting for PCE and we hope for you.
Till then as a teaser, how do you engage someone on their values and beliefs?
It's about great questions, centred around what Lawrence and Nohria’s theory focusses on that explains what humans want, as well as why they want those things.
We know from this that people love to:
Acquire
Bond
Learn
Defend
What questions can you design to find out what people want in these 4 areas and why?
2. If you want to succeed in business, it pays to understand what people want. Markets form around core human drives.
Thursday, 26 July 2012
Doing the Placido Domingo - The things you can't take back : why first impressions count
I played chess with my son tonight. He's just learning so I let him get away with things. He makes a move, I say "really....you sure about that....take a moment...look around ...what might happen?". He stops, he thinks, he sees the potential outcomes and he says "oh I take it back, I take it back". And of course I let him. He rethinks and makes another, better move.
If only life was like that. If we got to see and live out the consequences of our actions but then be able to press the rewind button and "take it back" would we make better decisions? Would our learning be augmented?
Translating this into the world of financial services, our clients experience us making that first move. That move stays with them and it is something that we can't take back.
Sometimes that first move takes placed before we have even met our clients. The first move is they way the receptionist answered the phone when they first made their inquiry.
The first move is the look of our website, the information pack that arrives in the mail, the look of the carpark, the front door, the waiting area, the smile at the front desk, the coffee, the ornaments, the client testimonial book, the photos, the awards, the uniform, the music playing or not, the channel on the TV, the magazines in the stand, the flowers be they artificial or real.
It's the first handshake, the first words we utter.
What PCE are talking about here is because you do not get a second chance at a first impression then preparation matters. When Paul Keating in his address to the Canberra press gallery on 7 December 1990, talked about doing the Placido Domingo, his message was widely misconstrued and misquoted.
In paying tribute to Chris Higgins, Prime Minister Keating spoke about those people who when really serious about what it is that they are doing then they truly are a participant.
And to be a participant you need to master what it is that you do and be a performer. Each first impression is that opportunity to be on stage and shine knowing that because you can't "take it back" that you don't get second chances that you get up on stage prepared, polished, with experience with practice and with belief.
It is PCE's belief that there are unfortunately in this industry and many other service industries a few too many as Mr Keating pointed out "voyeurs".
For financial services this extends from financial planners, insurance agents, BDMs, executives and underwriters.
People who daily go through the motions. Who never replay back the moves, the decisions they have made, the way they have engaged with people and realise that they could have done it better and that yes indeed there is room for growth and improvement.
These people damage relationships irreparably and damage brands and the most important brand they damage is their own.
Go back to that chess board, have a look at the moves you've made. Reset the board. Try again, think ahead, practice, practice excellence, look at things from another's perspective and change those first moves into ones that are lasting positive impressions that build brands, build relationships and in this industry change lives.
If only life was like that. If we got to see and live out the consequences of our actions but then be able to press the rewind button and "take it back" would we make better decisions? Would our learning be augmented?
Translating this into the world of financial services, our clients experience us making that first move. That move stays with them and it is something that we can't take back.
Sometimes that first move takes placed before we have even met our clients. The first move is they way the receptionist answered the phone when they first made their inquiry.
The first move is the look of our website, the information pack that arrives in the mail, the look of the carpark, the front door, the waiting area, the smile at the front desk, the coffee, the ornaments, the client testimonial book, the photos, the awards, the uniform, the music playing or not, the channel on the TV, the magazines in the stand, the flowers be they artificial or real.
It's the first handshake, the first words we utter.
What PCE are talking about here is because you do not get a second chance at a first impression then preparation matters. When Paul Keating in his address to the Canberra press gallery on 7 December 1990, talked about doing the Placido Domingo, his message was widely misconstrued and misquoted.
In paying tribute to Chris Higgins, Prime Minister Keating spoke about those people who when really serious about what it is that they are doing then they truly are a participant.
And to be a participant you need to master what it is that you do and be a performer. Each first impression is that opportunity to be on stage and shine knowing that because you can't "take it back" that you don't get second chances that you get up on stage prepared, polished, with experience with practice and with belief.
It is PCE's belief that there are unfortunately in this industry and many other service industries a few too many as Mr Keating pointed out "voyeurs".
For financial services this extends from financial planners, insurance agents, BDMs, executives and underwriters.
People who daily go through the motions. Who never replay back the moves, the decisions they have made, the way they have engaged with people and realise that they could have done it better and that yes indeed there is room for growth and improvement.
These people damage relationships irreparably and damage brands and the most important brand they damage is their own.
Go back to that chess board, have a look at the moves you've made. Reset the board. Try again, think ahead, practice, practice excellence, look at things from another's perspective and change those first moves into ones that are lasting positive impressions that build brands, build relationships and in this industry change lives.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)