Continually finding new leads is exhausting work. It will make a producer wonder where their best target market is located and sometimes the frustration of it all will distract agents from focusing on the local community market. The benefits to marketing directly to your local community as a financial advisor are extraordinary. People in the community are proven to be more loyal to their community businesses where they can meet face to face than with firms outside of their environment.
By using the natural market an agent can merge their knowledge of the community’s social and environmental psychology with knowledge from the field of social marketing to find daily leads. An agent’s natural market will have fewer barriers because people have confidence in their neighbor to deliver good financial advice and services. Each community has its gatekeepers and by being a member of that natural market there is direct access to customers who need financial services.
The consultative services that the agent initiates should be focused on a community based conversation to gain the client’s sense of local participation and empowerment when they are involved in the conversation and process. These prospects are loyal customers that come into the office and want to meet their financial advisor personally. If they are willing to fill out a personal information form it is very likely that they will also identify the financial services that they need. This information provides leverage to managing their wealth and accessing the relationships that they have with their friends, family, and coworkers.
An open door to the community is rewarding, even when unhappy clients can come in to complain and criticize the business. Don’t think of it as a bad thing, but rather an opportunity to access free marketing research to understand the true concerns of the community. The feedback will assist in enhancing the business marketing plan and services that are provided. Make it a norm in the community to work with the local financial advisor to manage community member’s wealth and investments. To find and attract financial advisors with a large natural market and access to your surrounding communities, allow Financial Service Consultants to provide recruiting and consulting assistance to your agency. Contact us today if you need recruiting assistance for your growing agency at (608) 277-2010 or at www.finserviceconsultants.com.
