I know for many of you, you’ve in vested the time to work out what your service offering is, the fees associated with those services and what you believe your value is. Some will even say, they know who their ideal client is too.
But this is where it gets tricky. How do you communicate all of that? How do you actually grab the attention of the ideal client and tell them how you can improve their lives and make them financially secure? How do you do that?
I can show you, but first I’m going to get you to do a little more work on that ideal client of yours. Why? Because I know from working with financial advisers every day that there is a lot more work to do to identify your ideal client and when you have completed the work – you will find it so much easier to:
A) Understand them;
B) Know where they hang out;
C) Be able to talk to them in plain English; and
D) Give them a reason to call you.
Most financial advisers will say that their ideal client is either thinking about retirement or a professional with a young family. Both categories I agree could benefit from financial advice. However, if you are trying to connect with these groups and give them a reason to contact you; I believe it could be tricky.
This is why…
Enough has been said about the importance of your website. It is widely known that 80 per cent of the people that meet you for the first time will have ‘Googled’ your name and checked out your website. Why? Because even if their trusted accountant has recommended they meet you, they just want to check you out and make sure you have a heart beat! They want to know that you have helped people just like them!
Knowing that hopefully means you understand the importance of really understanding your ideal client and by that, I mean knowing the following:
1. Hobbies;
2. Goals;
3. Frustrations;
4. Dreams;
5. Marital status;
6. Worries;
7. What they read/listen to and watch;
8. Where they like to travel;
9. Their fears;
10. Political affiliations; and
11. Assumptions about things.
Plus so much more depending on the client group.
Once you know all of those specific things about your ideal client, you can write a story about them. Again, enough has been written about the importance of story telling.
If your website, marketing collateral and social marketing can speak directly to your ideal client on an emotional level, you will not only get through to them and become the trusted professional; you will also differentiate yourself from all the other financial advisers in your area.
Identifying your ideal clients is not as simple as you may think and while I don’t like to make things complicated, I would like to suggest that a bit more work can be done!
The internet is cluttered with information; if you can get through all the ‘vanilla/general’ language and start to communicate about how your potential client is feeling right now and how you can help them solve that problem and get rid of their frustrations [by stating them], you will be on the right track.
Writing client personas is an ongoing project, and you may have more than one client persona to work on; the tip is to get started!
Perhaps you might like to take the list above and start to brainstorm with your team and see what you know about your ideal client. If you don’t know the answers yet, make sure you make it a priority to find out.
Rachel Staggs is director at SRS Coaching and Consulting
