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November 30, 2017 at 09:43 PM
Beginning when we’re young, we’re taught simple principles about how to treat others. The most well-known is probably The Golden Rule: Treat others like you want to be treated. In the world of financial advice, that archetype of how to treat others can be seen in the Fiduciary Rule.
While acting as a fiduciary is always top of mind for RIA firms, the idea has really caught on fire between the going…going…mostly gone DOL Fiduciary Rule and the many recent think-pieces coming from fintech CEOs about the role of technology in the advisor’s role as a fiduciary.
(Related: DOL Officially Delays Start of Fiduciary Rule)
Commonly, being a fiduciary has been understood as it relates to managing the financial well-being of a given client. I’d like to offer another area where advisors should act in a fiduciary manner: marketing. The way an advisor markets his firm can touch every aspect of his business, leaving clients and prospects alike feeling either valued or not.
Here are three areas of your business where you can become a marketing fiduciary:
1. Your Approach With Prospects
Managing finances for clients as a fiduciary means solely putting their best interest first. Marketing to prospects should also follow this “best interest” rule.
When a new lead comes in, firms often look at two things: assets and where the new lead falls in the sales funnel—do they need some validation to become a qualified lead, or are they ready to buy? A new prospect, though, is not just a deal to be added to the bottom line. That line of thinking doesn’t fall into the “best interest” category.
Exceptional marketing focuses on the prospect, not the advisor or the firm. When a firm is first beginning a discussion with a new lead, its staff should be figuring out what the prospect needs most, and then address how they serve that unique situation.
Even before a prospect is ever engaged, exceptional firms will operate with an open-handed, educational approach to marketing their services and expertise. Even if a website visitor never becomes a client, this approach aims to give them some valuable expert knowledge as a result of the marketing collateral offered.
2. Your Approach With Clients
Ah, clients. The too-often forgotten segment under the marketing biodome. Clients, like prospects, should expect and receive ongoing educational content to help them become more well-informed investors.
A relationship with a client extends beyond email questions, one-on-one conversations, and quarterly marketing commentary. Prospects aren’t the only people firms should be marketing to. If an advisor is producing content that benefits a prospect – like a white paper or case study – in most cases, it can also benefit a client’s understanding of the value that advisor brings to their lives.
