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Why
Seminars Are Still The Best Way
To Build A Financial Practice
by
Jeff Franz
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Although the financial services industry continues to evolve, seminar marketing
is still the most effective way to attract new clients. The process allows you to
build relationships with attendees based on trust, confidence and value. It also
enables you to streamline your marketing process and leverage your time. So what's
the catch? It requires the right materials, marketing strategy, and implementation.
With all of the choices available to today's consumers, you must give people a compelling
reason to select you to assist them with financial planning. The key is to differentiate
yourself in the marketplace. Delivering non-commercial, financial education is a
great way to get in front of an audience in a safe setting, demonstrate your knowledge,
and build trust with your attendees.
Let's take a look at the seminar process. You get up in front of a group of people
and you educate them. You provide information that many of the attendees have never
received before. For many of them, you are the first financial professional who has
shared some worthwhile information without any strings attached. Since attendees
see you as their teacher, you elevate and position yourself as a financial educator
and advisor.
Seminar marketing not only provides a stronger bond between you and your clients,
it allows you to work more efficiently. There are several steps to building each
new client relationship: prospecting, education, data gathering, decision-making,
implementation, and client retention. Seminars allow you accomplish these steps and
build relationships with a group of people in one streamlined process.
While some financial professionals continue to work by meeting with one potential
client at a time, seminar marketers are meeting 30 or 40 prospects at once, saving
themselves time and making more money.
Why Some Fail At Seminar Marketing
If seminar marketing offers such opportunity, why do many financial professionals
fail at it? The answer is both complex and simple. The complexities have to do with
the different types of seminars available, the varied audiences you attract and the
environments in which you deliver seminars. These issues would take up an entire
book if discussed in detail.
The simple answer to the question is "marketing, marketing, marketing."
Filling the seats is what it is all about. How can you get qualified prospects to
attend your seminars? This of course is the million-dollar question, yet the answers
are within everyone's reach.
If you can keep your marketing expenses low and convert a reasonable number of attendees
into clients, you will achieve your goals. Unfortunately, many financial professionals
either spend too much money trying to fill the seats, or fill the seats at a high
cost but don't convert enough attendees into clients.
How does this occur? Many of the marketing strategies that worked in the early- to
mid-90's are no longer effective, yet seminar marketers continue to use them. At
the top of the list is marketing to the general public using direct mail pieces or
newspaper advertisements.
I do know financial professionals who still draw a crowd to their seminars through
advertising and direct marketing. The problem is they are few and far between. The
financial professional as well as some seminar vendors you rely on for marketing
advice have perpetuated this cycle.
Financial professionals share some of the blame by not discontinuing this approach
once it is clear they are not getting the results needed to generate a good return
on investment with their seminar practice.
Some vendors, many of whom produce wonderful and necessary materials, shoulder a
large responsibility in that they often direct financial professionals down ineffective
marketing roads. You might ask why this happens since their business is based on
your success. The answer is irrefutable; they make a lot of money by having you print
these promotional materials through them. If most financial professionals were to
cease using direct mail as a means of seminar promotion, they would take a tremendous
hit to their bottom line.
Another reason many people fail at seminar marketing is the materials themselves.
Here again, some vendors encourage the financial professional to take the easiest
route, rather than the most productive. An example of this is single topic seminars.
These seminars are usually 45 minutes to 1 hour in length. Many 1-hour seminars just
don't accomplish the objective of creating clients.
Let's take a closer look at this. I challenge you to ask yourself the following question;
"what would it take to convince me and my spouse or significant other to do
business with a financial professional I had never met before?" Can you see
yourself going to a 1-hour seminar on a topic such as annuities and immediately working
with the financial advisor who delivered the seminar to invest in annuities? If the
answer is no, why do you think someone else would react differently than you? Use
your good judgment when deciding on the type of seminar you deliver.
It is important to note that in some cases a single-topic approach is not only acceptable,
it is beneficial. A couple of examples are long-term care and 401-k seminars. In
both cases, the audience and venue these seminars are delivered in often dictate
a 1-hour approach. The results can be outstanding. A client appreciation seminar,
where the audience already has a relationship with you is also an excellent use of
the single topic seminar approach.
The Keys To Seminar Success
- So what are the keys
to building a successful seminar practice? In no particular order they are:
- Selecting the proper
seminar materials and format
- Selecting the proper
marketing approach to generate attendance
- Development of the
"sponsored seminar market"
- Learning how to transition
from educator to advisor
Selecting the proper
seminar materials can be a confusing task. With so many choices available to you,
what are the guidelines you should use when making this decision? The first is quality.
The look, design, and content reflect directly upon your professionalism. In addition,
make sure the materials are updated frequently (at least on an annual basis).
Decide on the type of prospect you are trying to attract and the type of business
you are trying to generate. This will help determine the type of format you want
to use. In some cases, the single topic seminar is a great choice. In other instances,
a comprehensive seminar (one that is at least 2 sessions 2 hours per session) is
the better choice.
Next is marketing your seminars. Look at all of the available options and investigate
the recent success rates of a particular marketing program. If you plan on using
direct mail or newspaper advertising, find out how it has worked recently in your
market. Just because someone in Madison, Wisconsin has success using direct mail,
it does not mean you will.
If you choose to feed people who attend your seminar, be sure that you will receive
a good return on your investment from the seminar. You may fill the room with people
who want to eat but are not necessarily going to do business with you. Consider this
when spending $6,000 to $8,000 for promotion and food.
The key to consistently filling the seats at your seminars is gaining sponsorship.
By learning how to get in the door and conduct seminars for an employer or association,
you will reduce your promotional expenses by up to 90% and attract a large audience.
After all, you receive an implied endorsement from the sponsor simply by allowing
you to deliver the seminar at their location. You are seen as someone with credibility
even before the seminar begins. The environment is a safe setting for the seminar
attendees and ultimately leads to a stronger conversion rate.
Developing this market is not easy but it can be done. Having set up over 500 of
these worksite sponsors myself, I know how the process works. You need to understand
how to position your practice and how to position the value of financial education.
Employers will not allow you in simply because it is a nice thing to do.
The language you use here is crucial. How you communicate and represent yourself
in this market makes all the difference in the world. Understanding the different
marketing methods available to penetrate this market and how to implement them are
also vital to your success. The seminar materials are important but understanding
the nuances to the marketing is even more crucial to opening doors and developing
relationships.
The final piece of the puzzle is making the transition from educator to advisor.
Often financial professionals have large audiences at a seminar but convert very
few attendees. How you entertain the audience, deliver the seminar, and demonstrate
your knowledge by answering questions are all factors. Above all, how you introduce
and position the fact finder is essential for getting attendees to request an appointment
with you. Once prospects are in your office, many people use the Values Based Selling
methods that Bill Bachrach teaches as a way to put people at ease. This approach
is a natural fit for seminar marketers, and a positive way to work.
Examine worksite seminar marketing as an option. Consider some of the things discussed
in this article. Get access to an organization that can provide you with direction
and help you avoid the mistakes many financial professionals make. When done correctly,
seminar marketing is still the best way to build your financial practice.
Jeff Franz
is the co-founder and President of FMT Solutions, Inc., a training and consulting
company that specializes in assisting the financial services community with seminar
marketing. He is a former Vice President of Seminar and Worksite Programs for both
Successful Money Management Seminars, Inc., and Emerald Publications. You can learn
more about FMT Solutions and how to contact Jeff at www.fmtsolutions.com.
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