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February 28, 2011 at 07:00 PM
Psst, can you keep a secret? If so, you may be one of the few people left who can.
Consider these trends:
- -The WikiLeaks phenomenon, in which a so-called nonprofit organization releases government documents by the truckload, unmindful of collateral damage to diplomats, soldiers and nongovernmental organization staff.
-Celebrities and former politicians publishing “kiss and tell” books and tweeting on Twitter, savaging former colleagues to generate buzz and cash.
-On Facebook, millions of Americans dishing dirt about their friends and family. And Facebook itself profiting by selling member data to third parties.
Result? A pervasive sense that keeping confidences no longer matters. Talk about a marketing revelation for financial advisors!
In the age of WikiLeaks, an advisor who can lock down a client’s data (both hard and soft) is an advisor who can be trusted. Since trusted advisors are what prospects are seeking, it follows that confidentiality should become a core element of any advisor’s marketing campaign.
This is already happening. At Forthright Financial Planning in Albuquerque, N.M., owner Jenny Migdal, CFP, made “privacy” one of her six main website menu items. When clients click on it, here’s what they see:
“The reason we value confidentiality is that financial and life planning is a deeply personal encounter. In order to facilitate open and honest communication, you need to know that your choices, your decision-making process and your future plans are kept confidential.”
