CAIFA conference update: Find the right frequency, marketing expert says

Jennifer McLaughlin

(October 3, 2002) Advisors need to focus on the right clients with the right frequency, says Bill Gibson of Knowledge Brokers International in Vancouver. “In personal selling and personal marketing, it’s better to reach 50 of the right present and potential clients 20 times with the right methods and contact tools rather than 1000 present and potential clients once,” Gibson said during a seminar this week at the CAIFA conference in Ottawa.

An advisor’s personal assets — their time, energy, abilities, money and reputation — need to be carefully managed to ensure a good return on investment, Gibson said, adding that advisors need a business model that places clients and prospects into levels of proactive service.

Gibson illustrated how to break an overall client list into A, B and C lists. The “A” list comprises “Absolute” clients, while the “B” and “C” lists has “Beneficial” and “Convenient” clients. Gibson joked that some advisors may also have a “D” list of clients that they want to “Disengage” or “Dump.”

“Some people can really suck the energy right out of you,” he said.

All the “A” clients and prospects should receive the same level of service, Gibson said. The “A” list would receive the most contact and most of it would be primary contact. For example, if the “A” list received 12 contacts per year, the contact might include six visits, three phone calls, one VIP function, one lunch and one contact by the assistant.

Gibson stressed that the lists are meant for “proactive” communication. Reactive communication for all levels of service would be the same, he said. “If a ‘C’ client comes to you with a need, aren’t you going to address it as quickly and efficiently as possible?”

In sales, frequency works, said Gibson. Although 48% of all salespeople stop calling after the first call if the potential client gives a solid “No” to the product or service, 12% of salespeople will keep calling. “These people are responsible for 80% of all sales,” Gibson said.

“Get your frequency level right,” Gibson said. “If you go for too much reach you can dilute the impact.” When choosing who the potential clients should be, Gibson recommends advisors have at least seven to 10 criteria. These could include disposable income, income, profession, age, investment knowledge and proximity to the office.

Determining the right tools for communicating with clients is just as important as the level of frequency, Gibson said. An advisor’s primary tools include personal visits, lunches, telephone calls and thank-you gifts that are personally delivered. Contact by an advisor’s assistant and gifts sent by courier are examples of secondary contact tools. Greeting cards are another effective tool, Gibson added. “A lot of the time, they are overlooked,” he said. (For more client contact ideas, visit Advisor.ca’s Client Centre.)

As a final note of encouragement to the audience, Gibson added that by setting some realistic objectives, advisors can realize their goals. “There is no such thing as unrealistic goals,” he added, “just unrealistic deadlines.”

Filed by Jennifer McLaughlin, Advisor’s Edge, jmclaughlin@rmpublishing.com.

(10/03/02)