While the financial advice industry has suffered from the actions of a few, it is important not to sit back and allow yourself to be tarnished by the same brush as those who actually deserve a bad name. There are plenty of people out there willing to bad mouth financial advisers right now, but not many advisers who are sticking up for themselves.
Interestingly enough, those advisers actively promoting themselves are the ones who seem to be doing ok. Why is this you may ask? Well, these advisers are the ones who are differentiating themselves from all others and promoting themselves as a safe pair of hands.
You see the irony is that at a time when clients and the investing public are in desperate need for financial advice, they are equally unsure as to who they can trust. If you are able to promote yourself and your brand as worthy of their trust, you may well find that business will never be better. The following seven actions will assist you to restore your brand and differentiate yourself, in order to mount a personal comeback:
1. Maintain your personal and office appearance
It almost goes without saying, but you will be judged by how organised and well maintained you and your office are. If you don’t present a clean and tidy look across your business, clients will take note and some will question whether you are actually on top of things.
Take time to regularly tidy up the office, discarding waste material and actively archiving files you no longer refer to on a regular basis. Consider everything in your office to have a shelf life. It is inevitable that you accumulate things over time and so it is important to have a process of getting rid of things as well.
2. Project the right body language
It isn’t enough to be saying the right words alone. Whether we appreciate it or not, we all have the ability to read each other from our body language. By simply projecting the right look through actions such as smiling, giving a firm handshake, holding your chin while listening etc, you are promoting qualities of trustworthiness and confidence.
Maintaining eye contact with your clients, leaning slightly towards them and nodding at the appropriate times sends signals that you really do care and are listening. Avoid crossing your arms and leaning back too far in your chair, or tucking your legs under your chair as these actions can suggest a lack of confidence or trustworthiness.
3. Stay positive for your clients
You may well have lost some of the confidence clients had in you prior to the financial crisis and this is only a natural reaction to the losses they may have suffered. However, be careful not to take this too personally as you only stand to send yourself into a downward spiral. Clients require positivity from you and the last thing you can afford to have after all that has occurred across global financial markets is a negative attitude.
Actively keep yourself positive. For example, start each day by writing down a list of positive impacts you have had on your client’s lives over the past few days, weeks etc. Remind yourself that your clients need you more than ever, whether they fully appreciate it or not.
4. Stay top of mind
For all the talk of cost cutting and putting out day to day fires, the most important thing you can do in these tough times is be in front of
people. Time and time again, industry reports from around the globe are highlighting that clients are ready to leave their existing adviser. You need to improve your visibility and increase your marketing efforts. Are you positioned in the minds of clients and prospects as an expert in your field? For example, consider increasing your written contact and letting people know what is honestly going on in the markets. Giving good or bad news to people straight and in simple terminology they can understand will be appreciated and create goodwill for your business.
5. Seize the opportunity
Now is a good time to prospect for new clients. Simply put, most investors are scared. The media has whipped up the investing public into a panic and there is hardly one investor out there who couldn’t do with some assurance and assistance
Focus on your client reviews and helping clients with wider issues they may have, including tax or estate planning. Invite clients and their friends to economic updates. Consider buying a practice from a departing adviser. Read books that give you insights into the current market or your clients' needs. Put into action what you do best and follow the rules, adopting the perspective that, if you always take care of your clients, your clients will always take care of you.
6. Review client goals and objectives
Your job has not been easy of late. But no matter how tough it may have been for you, do not think you are alone and that it won’t get better. There has been almost no one across the world’s entire financial service industry who has escaped from any sort of pain and suffering as a result of the financial crisis. Neither has there been an investor who has not made a loss of some kind.
The facts of the matter are everyone has suffered and everyone’s trust has been challenged. However, investors have never been hungrier for advice from those who are willing to tell the truth about what happened and show that they have learned from their mistakes.
If you are able to front up to your clients and admit that you trusted others, just as they had trusted you and have learned some very hard lessons, you will help them to appreciate that the global financial crisis and their subsequent losses were not entirely your fault. Remind your clients of their long term goals and objectives and re-establish a controlled financial planning process that will help comfort your clients after all they have been through.
7. Think Independently
Nowadays, investors are looking for leadership and advisers who are articulating a set of core values. If you can show independence, then your brand value goes up even when the industry takes a hit. Pay careful attention to what you say and how you say it. Develop white papers and get them into the hands of your clients, and make sure that you have updated e-mail addresses for your clients so you can respond with your independent point of view to outside events in real time. As an independent, don’t be afraid to change the way you do business, if you find a particular approach is not working. After all, this is what makes you an independent, which is likely to be one of the major reasons your clients are with you.
By Jon Collier
This article has been adapted from: “7 Keys to Restoring Your Brand Image” By Nicole O. Coulter
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