Who really makes the first impression on your clients?

It sounds funny, but it’s not. A wedding ring doesn’t provide a lifetime supply of romance. It’s up to the partners to do that.

For advisors, it’s the same thing.  It’s up to them to make their clients feel respected, needed and desired — the same things people want from their spouses. I’m not suggesting sending chocolates and flowers, but actually, that might be a lot more effective than mass emails of white papers about laddering bonds.  (Bor-ing!)

Technology (websites, social media, online newsletters) traps us into believing that automation trumps the human touch. Obviously you’ve got to have an attractive, well-designed, informative website that casts you in the best possible light. But most advisors wrongly believe that websites create the first impression.

Advisors are competitive people, and most enjoy the thrill of the chase. It’s more exciting, and more easily measurable, to land new clients than to maintain great service for your current clients. We can be seduced by statistics — how many new clients did we bring in this month? How many more dollars have come under management?

It’s just as hard to quantify the souring of a current client relationship as it is to pinpoint the day when a marriage begins to fall apart.

The funny thing is that it doesn’t take all that much effort to keep the relationship between financial advisors and their clients strong. And many of the same tools that work in marriage work for advisors.

Call your client out of the blue, just to say that you were thinking of them.

If you see an article that they might enjoy, forward it to them. Or better still, print out a copy and mail it to them. We still have a Postal Service; the power of an envelope with a stamp on it is immeasurable in today’s email- and text-driven world.

Read a good book lately? Perhaps one on the future of the economy, or investing? For a couple of thousand dollars, you could buy a few hundred copies at bulk rate and send them off, with a personalized note, to your client list. “I read this, and I thought you’d find it interesting. Let’s have lunch and talk about it.”

You could also hire my company and we could write a book for you.

Or just pick up the phone and invite them to lunch. Or golf. Or anything.

Marketing via technology is fantastic — it extends our reach and is an amazing force multiplier. But it’s also impersonal and, quite frankly, becomes the tool of a lazy person. It takes little effort to send an email blast to 2,000 people. It does take a little bit of consciousness and thoughtfulness to pick up the phone.

So the easiest way to make a great first impression on your prospects is to recognize that you aren’t the one making that first impression. For better or worse, your current clients do that for you. So when you strengthen the bond with them, you’re putting yourself top-of-mind as they communicate about you to others.

And while you’re at it, why not stop off and pick up a dozen roses on your way home? Or a box of chocolates? After all, what’s the point of creating financial success if your spouse isn’t there to enjoy it with you?