Whites Of Their Eyes

What is the Difference Between a Good Lead and GREAT LEAD?

It’s as easy as:

“They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Great Leads contain the answer to:

• How does your Mother know that you care?

What is the #1 indicator to your Mother that you care?  Contact. Contact on her birthday. Contact on the Holidays.  Contact out of the blue just to check in with a story or a kind word.

Though we are not selling to our Mothers, Contact is the universal demonstration of caring:

• If you want your girl friend to marry you, you are going to need plenty of contact (Not that kind!  The notes, dates and phone call kind)
• If you want an acquaintance to turn into a friend it takes contact
• If you want any type of relationship to occur it takes contact

Great Leads are MADE not Born (good leads are born)

Good leads can be generated by coming up with a catchy headline or a neat idea.  A good lead will get people calling you about your nifty idea, they’ll want more information.

Great leads create a relationship with the receiver.  They will demonstrate that you care (saying you care is worthless, it must be shown.) That demonstration is in the universal show of caring…contact.

A Great Lead get clients…good leads get people seeking information only.

How do you know if something work?  I suggest the “Real Life Test.” Think of a real life situation…put the idea to work in that situation…see if it works.

10:1 Real Life Test—
“Straight to the point”–Let’s say you move into an office next to a Property/Casualty agent.  The very 1st week he comes over and introduces himself, hands you a card and says he can beat your current coverage.

What would you do?  I would politely tell him I already have a guy that I work with, thanks anyways.

“Hi ya neighbor!”—Let’s say instead of coming over to present his business in the first week, this Property/Casualty guy comes over and asks if you need anything.

Then he starts dropping by every week, just to say hi or talk about the weather, share a joke or ask about your family for a minute or two.

He does this for 3 or 4 months.  He has now had 10 friendly conversations with you.  You have built a relationship and have become comfortable with each other…

He then says, “Say, I saw you the other day with a boat behind your truck.  My company loves boaters!  We have a great boat protection program.  Would you mind if I gave you a quote on your boat?”

What would you do? I would feel obligated to say yes.  Why? Well, first he just simply asking for a quote.  He seems up to this point, nice and caring.  He has never pushed or bothered me before.  Heck, what could it hurt? And maybe I will be able to save some money.

10:1 Ratio WORKS!

If you contact your prospects with nice, friendly and NON-FINANCIAL handwritten notes 10 times they know that you are a caring person. (handwritten notes are even more powerful than conversations because of the perceived time it takes to send one.)

Then when you touch them with a helpful, financial (call to action) message, they know you are doing it to be caring, not doing it to sell them something.

How often can you send a selling message?  After every 10 NON-FINANCIAL or what I call caring contacts. (Why 10?  Because we tried more and less and 10 is the sweet spot)

So what type of leads are you going generate? Those that attract people that want to suck information from you or those that create relationships with your prospects.  Choose carefully because your choice will shape your future practice.

I’m always on the prowl for marketing techniques that are working for our clients. Those ideas may be new or maybe old with a new twist and sometimes even old and nearly forgotten as we’ve found lately.

It never ceases to amaze me how many successful people find something that works…AND THEN STOP DOING IT! (Yes, myself included). So let’s take a look at the top 6 trends in marketing in 2008:

6 Key factors to successful marketing in 2008

1. Having a Brand Matters
2. Know and dominate a niche within a niche
3. Integrate your marketing
4. It’s a lot easier with what you already have
5. Cold Calling Still works if…
6. Know the future of marketing and get there first

Having a brand matters – Being know by your target market is very important.

• Well known companies are 48% better at lead generation than “not very well known” companies. *
• 70% of firms say that they are not well known by their niche
• Contrary to common belief, traditional advertising like TV, radio and newspaper ads were ranked 33rd, 31st, and 29th out or 33 for effectiveness*

*”Future of Lead Generation” Benchmark report www.raintoday.com / leadgenerationreport.com

There are much better ways at reaching a target market that revolve around speaking to them directly.

Know and dominate your niche – You have to have a very clear picture of who and what you are going after. The shotgun approach of “I’ll get whatever I can,” will sentence you to mediocrity. You should have some basic research on them:

• Who are they? – age, income, hobbies, life’s experiences, etc.
• Who are the influence makers? – What are their trusted associations, organizations, etc. and who are the decision makers at those entities?
• What do they want? – What are their fears? What keeps them up at night?

If you cannot answer these questions in detail, you are going to have a problem marketing effectively

Integrate your marketing – Don’t just rely on one type of marketing. You should try to integrate several types into a cohesive strategy. The types of marketing that have proven most effective are (ranked by effectiveness):

• Referrals from clients
• Warm phone calls (to people that have received information from you)
• Seminars
• Referrals from professionals
• Newspaper ads
• Purchasing leads from lead companies

*Survey of Financial Advisors—Corona Research

It’s a lot easier to work with what you already have – It has been proven that it is over 14 times more profitable to attain new business from a current client than from a new client. Utilizing current client for referrals or new money is far easier than going after new people but sales people continue to make the mistake of ignoring the diamonds in their own backyard.

Cold Calling still works if you… — Cold calling has actually become more effective since the Do-Not-Call list made it unpopular. However, it has to have a purpose. The most effective purpose is to follow-up with a phone call on information that you have sent to someone. If you follow-up with a phone call within 72 hours of them receiving that information, you have an over 30% higher chance of setting an appointment.

Know the future of marketing – The future of marketing is NO MARKETING!
The future of marketing is finding ways to talk to the prospect one-on-one. People do not respond to marketing anymore. They do not want to be one of the masses. They want to be treated as a person. One of the best ways to accomplish this is through hand written notes.

Hey everyone!  Horsesmouth.com, which in my opinion should be one of the top resources of every financial adviser, had a great article about the power of handwritten notes by Jim Domanski.  It’s great to see so many top consultants like Jim Domanski and Sean Bailey are touting the handwritten note as both a client retention and referral generating tool.

Why should we worry about client retention? Man oh man, if you have to ask that question you need to pull your head out of the sand!!  Study after study has shown that less than 20% of an adviser’s clients are loyal!  That means only 20% are going to give you referrals, are going to give you more money or are not looking from something better.

80% of you clients are satisfied and that is dangerous!  Yes, you heard me, DANGEROUS!   I have always been told that you should have satisfied clients, but what I didn’t know was the mindset of satisfied clients.  Satisfied clients are simply biding their time until they find something better.  That means they are reading, listening and attending your competitor’s seminars and when they find something better, they are going to leave.

Thank God that 99.9% of our competitors don’t take much of an interest in their business or we could be in for some stormy times with our merely satisfied clients!  But that also opens up a huge opportunity!  What is it?

Over 80% of our competitor’s clients are also merely satisfied.  That means if their clients find something better, they will leave.  Our best prospect is our competitor’s best clients and they are ripe for the picking.  We just have to give their clients something that would cause them to think that we were “something better.”  What is that?

We have all experienced the onslaught of junk mail, but is direct mail dead?  Dead?  No.  Ailing?  Maybe.

Still according to the Direct Marketing Association, each $1 spent on Direct Mail made on average $11.65.  Now there’s the catch…”on average.”  That means some people’s Direct Mail made them nothing and others made them $30 per $1 dollar spent.

What makes direct mail successful?

1. I know Mr. Spok from Star Trek is going to turn in his grave but writing emotionally instead of logically will make your Direct Mail more successful.  Too many advisers write their direct mail pieces logically.  We all know people buy emotionally and then validate the purchase with logic.  It is no different with Direct Mail.
2. Make sure it has a call to action!  If you don’t ask, you don’t get.  You should absolutely have some nice personal touches like holiday and birthday cards but you also need to ask them to call or contact you.  No Direct Mail piece is complete with out a call to action.
3. The absolute best results always occur when the Direct Mail piece is personalized.  The best way to personalize a piece is to handwrite a note to them using their name.

We have seen a typical response rate of over 10% with a direct mail piece that contains all 3 items above.  We have advisers that have received 52%, 25%, 12%, 18% on individual mailings.

Is Direct Mail dead?  Only if you mail out tired, old financial newsletters and such.  Be smart and be rich.

Understanding the handwritten note  as a marketing and direct mail tool is the first step to using them effectively in your business.  Instead of just jotting a note and mailing it to a client or prospect (which is better than 99.9% of other professionals that don’t bother), why not put together a strategic, coordinated marketing plan leveraging their marketing power?

Why Should you send handwritten notes?

People buy from people they know like and trust.

Unfortunately, the 3,000 or so marketing messages that the average American gets hit with everyday has dehumanized the consumer.  They are treated as just one of the masses.  Your message is no louder, no brighter and no better than your competitors unless you do something special.

To build the credibility necessary for someone to turn over their life’s savings to you takes time.  Unless you have a fortune 500 brand it’s unlikely your prospects have heard of you before they hear from you the first time.

Numerous direct marketing studies have shown it takes 7 or more exposures of a marketing message before a consumer makes a decision to buy. (Exposure means that the message has been seen and read.  If you send a mass mailer piece or form letter that is trashed and not read, that does not count as an exposure.)

What’s happening during those 7 exposures?  They are building credibility, authority, likability and consistency.  4 of the 6 Principles of Influence Dr. Cialdini talks about in his ground breaking research on how people are affected by influence.

It’s not rocket science, but it’s a key concept that many advisers miss.  You’re are extremely smart for utilizing the handwritten method to increase the effectiveness of your marketing.

But who has time for writing handwritten notes?  I spent 6 hours a week writing handwritten notes when I was making over a $1 million a year in my financial planning practice.  Why 6 hours?  Because that’s how I built the $1 million a year income!  But I know few people would be able to put that kind of time aside which is why I’m so excited about all the fantastic auto handwriting technology to you like that being offered by Quantum Enterprises.

If you know and understand just this one thing you will be able to pluck your competitor’s best clients at will.  And you want your competitor’s best clients for two reasons:

1. They have money.  That’s why they’re your competitor’s best clients!
2. They like advisers.  They aren’t do-it-yourselfers since they currently have an adviser

What is it you need to know?

In 4 different studies, the number one reason given for clients leaving their current adviser was “lack of contact.”  It was mentioned over 80% of the time.  Lack of service was mentioned about 40% of the time but listen to this!  Lack of return was only mentioned between 13% and 18% of the time.

People assume that if you are an advisor that you are competent. What they do not assume is that you care about them.  We all know the old sales adage:

People don’t care how much you know…
Until they know how much you care

In CEG Worldwide’s study of 512 advisors and their 1,417 clients they found that, on average, in order to receive more than 10 referrals from your client in a year you need to contact them 24.1 times a year about NON-FINANCIAL things. What does non-financial mean?

If all you talk about is sex on a date,
What does the girl think you are interested in?

If all your contacts with your clients are about money, what does the client think you are only interested in?  That’s right, their money.  If however, most of your contacts are about them and how they are doing, what does the client think you are interested in?  That’s right, them!

The key to the treasure trove

• If clients want contact
• Their guy only contacts them once or twice a year
• When he/she does contact their client it is always about their money
• Client knows they are not valued as people but as a paycheck
• Client not getting the amount or type of contact they want from their adviser
• #1 reason people leave current adviser is lack of contact
• You are contacting them in ways that show that you care about them as people
• You inherit your competitor’s best client
• You laugh all the way to the bank

Soon I’ll share with you the exact type of messages I used to write $33 million in new money in two years.

It costs a lot of money to advertise whether you are using newspaper ads, direct mail or postcards.  You want to make sure it gets read or it’s like throwing money in the garbage can.  That’s why we use your handwriting on our postcards.

But how do you get a free ad in the newspaper that get read?

No it’s not a guest column, though that is a great gig if you can get it.  It has just become very difficult to get a column now that everyone is begging the paper to give them one.  However, there is a great, free way to get your name, expertise, knowledge and morality featured in the paper once a quarter.

The “letter to the editor”.  It is the third most read part of the paper, after the obits and sports.  It’s simple, easy and carries a big stick.  It will not get you immediate business but I cannot tell you how many times people will tell me, when they are signing paperwork, that they saw my letter to the editor and liked it.  And my best referring clients are also the clients that will call me to comment on my letter to the editor.

When I recommend using “letters to the editor” to advisers they always ask, “But what do I write?”

Simply, pick a topic that will allow you to advocate for your target market.  If your target market is Seniors then advocate changes in Medicare or Social Security in the letter.  If your target market is college funding then talk about the inequities of how college is being funded by government.  If your target market is home loans, comment about the dangers of loans and the direction of interest rates.

Always be looking and listening to the news for an opportunity or topic to comment on in the “letter to the editor.”  Send them about every 3 or 4 months. Any more and the paper may get annoyed.  If your first letter doesn’t get accepted don’t worry about it, about 1/2 of mine are accepted in a large city newspaper.  It just depends on what’s going on in the news and how much it is stirring up opinions.  Still, 50% placement of free “ads” that trumpet your expertise, authority and advocacy for you target market, that’s worth 20 minutes writing a quick “letter to the editor” isn’t it?

A veteran planner had been using direct mail and postcards to generate leads for his practice. He had tried all sorts of product offers. He had expounded on how happy his clients were. He had tried listing all of the reasons people should work with his firm. Yet after spending thousands he had barely broken even…until he stumbled on these 3 questions.

He simply created a direct mail letter that utilized a question format. In the letter he asked the recipient:

1. Does your adviser keep in contact with you, in someway, monthly?
2. Are you confident that you have explored every tax saving technique developed in the last 12 months?
3. Has your adviser set up and explained your financial plan so that you could easily and simply explain it to someone in a 2 minute time period?
4. If you answered no to two or more of these questions, you should give us a call.

This letter generated over a 5% response rate and has paid for his direct mailing and postcards for the whole next year.

When you are creating or sending direct mail or postcards, always make sure that you put yourself in the recipients shoes. Ask yourself, “If I received this card in the mail today, what would I do with it? Would I throw it? Would I think about it? Or would I act on it?”

If you wouldn’t hold on to the direct mail or postcard long enough to at least think about it, if not act on it, save yourself the considerable postage you are just about to spend.