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Hold a luncheon seminar with accountants, lawyers and other centers of
influence such as mortgage brokers, realtors and business associates.
The primary objective is to gain valuable referrals from a network of
accountants, lawyers and other centers of influence. The secondary
objective is to build a team network of professionals to support clients
in all areas of financial planning. You always want to build relationships
with a team of professionals. In order to educate other professionals
about valuable client planning ideas.
In turn they will be able to share these ideas with their clients. Set the
agenda to use real client examples and case studies to apply ideas in and
informative and practical way to create true-life scenarios. Also, to
communicate and work with a team of professionals to further enhance your
clients overall tax, estate and financial plans.
Strategy: Bring in a guest speaker such as a mutual fund wholesaler or
insurance expert to share different tax and estate planning ideas. Topics
include insurance planning, estate planning, retirement planning, tax or
your area of expertise. (See agenda)
You can do special seminars just for accountants or lawyers only. One such
seminar is having a trust officer come out and speak about estate planning
experiences and advanced techniques to organize affairs through trusts,
estate freezes and other planning vehicles.
Another theme is to set up an educational series and have a schedule to
send to your centers of influence along with a survey of topics that they
are interested in hearing about. Another variation is having a dinner. A
dinner may be more formal way to build the relationship. A breakfast is
also very convenient for most professionals.
Grant’s Tip: When you do these types of seminars, plan for 1 hour and buy
lunch for them. All invites should be followed up by phone and confirmed
the day before the seminar. Try to target eight in total, which may
include, accountants, lawyers, realtor, mortgage broker, insurance broker
or other members of your professional team or network.
Show these
professionals that you have tremendous resources within your company and
industry and that they can tap into these resources as
a member of your team. The key is your presentations.
Make sure your
presentations are in a case study format where you take an example of work
you have done to help someone and illustrate the example of the kinds of
problems you face and can solve. It will also show that you need your help
in completing the case and that the next case may be a referral to them.
Another case study you can do is an example of a client who is an
accountant. You may end up with some accountants in the room as clients.
That isn’t the objective, but you identified with their own situation and
became their problem solver too.
The uniqueness of the center of influence meeting idea is that the
investment or insurance company can share their company’s view on tax
reduction and what they try to do for the investor in developing their
products for the marketplace. For example, you can use their company
materials to explain what they are doing about taxation, how they help
clients solve problems through case study examples using their products.
The attendees now have a better understanding of the company’s position on
taxation. Ask people to stay after the presentation to ask the wholesaler
specific questions on taxation and estate issues which can be addressed in
further meetings. The participants usually agree that they now have a
clearer understanding of the mutual funds company’s position towards tax
and estate planning.
Potential Results: The benefit of ongoing relationships and referrals from
these professionals in the future and positions the financial advisor to
be known for ideas and education. Referrals from other professionals will
be triggered by case study examples of where they can help their clients
and enhance their professionalism. A secondary benefit is to get the
professionals as clients as well. These professionals may also be
referring additional business to each other as a result of this meeting.
The key to making it successful is follow up, feedback, additional
seminars and referrals.
Additional tips: Don’t call it a seminar, call it a case study meeting or
peer group case study meeting. Plan to do this on a regular basis and set
up a regular time that is flexible for all attendees. Print a schedule of
meetings. Let them participate and be future presenters. Have them design
future topics of interest to keep them coming out. Ask them to bring their
clients out to the meetings to learn more and enhance their relationship
with top clients. Have some of your clients attend the meetings to show
them you have a powerful networking group to help them. You may be able to
use co-op marketing dollars from companies you work with. Check your
compliance department for more information.
Cost: The cost for lunch for 10 people approximately $100-200 including 8 centers of influence, yourself and the wholesaler.
Meeting room costs. Invitation costs Total $100-300
Additional information
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Read Strategies13, 15 and 16 ,
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Ask your centers of influence and or peer group about doing this seminar
and find mutual topics of interest.
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Ask your regional wholesalers or company marketing directors of available
speakers and topics of interest. They will have libraries of topics of
interest, including case studies.
Copyright 2003 By: Jay Conrad Levinson and Grant W. Hicks, C.I.M.,FCSI - Co-author of "Guerrilla
Marketing For Financial Advisors
", Trafford Publishing 2003.
You may use these articles in your
marketing, newsletters and web sites as long as you retain the copyright
information at the bottom, including the link to our web
site and inform us where it is being used as well as sending us a copy of
the publication.
Always check with
your compliance office and or branch manager before implementing any
marketing idea. The information does not constitute a recommendation for
the sale or purchase of any securities or insurance. |
