“Coach’s Forum” is a place in which you can ask your questions, tell your stories or give your opinions on any aspect of practice management. For each column, George selects the most interesting and relevant comments from readers and offers his advice. Our objective is to build a community of people with a common interest in making their financial advisory practices as effective as possible.
Advisor says: This past week i spent some time working with my executive assistant on the plans for our annual Christmas client event – choosing a date, location, etc. It is something we have been doing for years. I am a big believer in client events and host several of them each year. In addition to the Christmas dinner, I organize a client golf tournament, a kids’ picnic, a skating party and several seminars. I know these events have contributed to the success of my business in the past, even though I have never really looked upon them as prospecting activities, but more as relationship-deepening opportunities.
I think most people who attend these events enjoy them. However, I have noticed over the past couple of years that fewer and fewer of my clients are showing up. There seems to be a lot of competition for everyone’s time and interest. I am reluctant to give up on these events, even though they cost a fair bit of money. But in this world of declining margins, I also have to be sensible about how I spend my promotional budget.
What’s your view? Are these types of events still worthwhile?
Coach says: First of all, congrat- ulations on planning your event months in advance. Too few financial advisors seem able to be that far-sighted regarding things such as their promotional activities. I advocate setting out a rolling 12-month calendar with everything laid out on it (right down to your weekly blog or tweet, if you are active in those areas) and reviewing it every quarter. Doing so really helps with editorial organization, budgeting and assigning responsibilities.
In response to your question about the value of large-scale client events, there is no definitive answer. Some advisors continue to have great success with them and feel clients would really miss those events if they weren’t held. Others, like you, are finding that justifying the cost and effort is increasingly difficult.
Here is what I have observed: more and more advisors are opting for smaller, more intimate events that include specifically selected clients, either as a reward or to aim business-development activities toward areas in which these advisors think the events will have the best impact. By focusing on deepening existing relationships with key clients, these advisors feel those clients become more connected and interested in the advisor’s success. Consequently, the clients are more likely to advocate on the advisor’s behalf through referrals and endorsements.
Success, however, does not come from simply reducing the number of people you invite to your smaller event. What appears to work best is structuring activities in which you share a common interest with the clients with whom you’d like to connect on a more intimate level. To make doing so fun, choose activities that you enjoy and, ideally, that your clients are unlikely to arrange on their own.
For example, instead of hosting a golf tournament that is open to all clients, choose a couple of avid golfers and arrange for a golf pro to conduct a “playing lesson” for nine holes, so he or she can coach you and your playing partners through actual on-course situations. Do this four or five times throughout the golf season and you’ll not only develop closer relationships with eight to 10 key clients, you’ll probably improve your game.
Some other “small event” activities that advisors I know are using successfully are:
– Special interest “clubs”
The affinity aspect can be anything that you feel would interest a few of your important clients. It could be something outdoorsy, such as hiking or cycling; something cultural, such as a certain kind of theatre or music; something intellectual, such as chess or political debate.
The event also can be just about having fun. For example, one of my U.S.-based advisor-coaching clients started a cigar- and scotch-tasting club, which he calls “Ashes with Attitude.” Four to eight of his clients meet once a month to enjoy their “vices.” Members are allowed to invite no more than one guest every quarter, which seems to guarantee that there is always a steady flow of new people for the advisor to meet.
If you are short of ideas, go to a networking site such as www.meetup.com to see what others are doing to organize groups of people with shared interests. I just did a quick search and found that there are 2,184 “meet-ups” within 15 kilometres of my office, covering such diverse passions as classic movies, chocolate, rock ‘n’ roll, photography and board games. You don’t have to start a large networking group; just choose something that excites you and several of your clients, then let it be known that you are going to be hosting an event built around that special interest.
– Unique skill development
Unlike the clubs described above, these skill-development events are usually one-offs, although there could be followup sessions if the skill being developed requires further instruction or practice. Again, the idea is do something your clients are less likely to organize for themselves. You still want to keep the number of people down to an intimate group. However, you can always repeat the event if you want to include additional clients.
Some successful events that advisors I know have arranged include:
– Advanced driving skills. Learning how to handle high-performance cars on an water-soaked track is not only fun, it also develops invaluable skills for emergencies that could come about in everyday driving.
– Proper use and care of knives. For the gourmet cooks among your clients, nothing makes them look or feel more like a professional chef than knowing how to handle high-quality knives with confidence and safety.
– Specialty cooking. Tired of the same old charbroiled (burnt) steak? How about a lesson from a barbecue specialist and some new menu ideas? This concept works for the pasta or sushi lovers among your clients, too.
– CPR and defibrillators. With many clients approaching old age, the risk of heart attack among them and their friends is increasing steadily. Why not host a session on the proper technique and tools that could save a life? Same thing for the Heimlich manoeuvre.
– The art of negotiation. Whether it’s haggling with a vendor in a bazaar in a foreign country or trying to convince a spouse that deep red would be a great colour for the bedroom, knowing how to negotiate effectively, yet respectfully, is one of those life skills that will show its value many times.
None of this advice is to suggest that you should abandon all of your large-scale client events completely. You could rank these events in order of which ones you feel have the best to lowest cost/benefit ratio. My suggestion would be then to consider replacing one or two of the least valuable events with some smaller-scale activities designed to deepen relationships with specific clients.
Most long-term marketing plans take a year or more to prove themselves fully, so I encourage you to run with the new activities for 12 months, keeping track of results and your gut feeling about their effectiveness. Then, re-evaluate and refine as needed for the next 12 months.
Regardless of the outcome, you’ll have fun with your best clients and create new relationships among them. Some participants will, in fact, become good friends as a result of your initiatives. What could be better than that for the value they place on their relationship with you?
George Hartman is managing partner with Elite Advisors Canada Inc. in Toronto. Send questions and comments regarding this column to ghartman@eliteadvisors.ca. George’s practice-management videos can be viewed on www.investmentexecutive.com.
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