Don’t Be Cheap or Lazy with Client Communications

As the old saying goes, “you only get one chance to make a first impression.” By the same token, you only get one chance to leave a lasting impression. At a time when four out five of high-net-worth individuals are considering leaving their advisors at any given time, can you afford to take a chance with your hard-won clients?

According to our recent Wealth Advisor Confidence Survey™ conducted in association with The Financial Awareness Foundation, webinars, and low-cost, low-effort social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat are among the least most effective communication channels used by surveyed financial planners, wealth advisors, estate planners and CPAs.

% of Respondents Finding Channels “Very” or “Extremely” Valuable

CHANNEL	Advisors expecting to grow by double-digits in 2018	All other Advisors	Gap
Public speaking	75%	59%	+16%
Writing articles for publication	69%	48%	+21%
Writing books/eBooks	54%	48%	+6%
Being quoted in the press	54%	30%	+24%
Blogging	48%	29%	+19%
Producing videos	48%	17%	+31%
Hosting client events	44%	35%	+9%
Publishing on LinkedIn	32%	20%	+12%
Webinars	22%	23%	-1%
Tweeting	4%	13%	-9%
Facebook	7%	13%	-6%
Instragram, Pinterest, Snapchat	4%	6%	-2%

Source: HB Publishing & Marketing CO, LLC and The Financial Awareness Foundation,2017

Last week’s post has more about the most effective channels for advisors.

Further, advisors that expected to grow by double digits over the next 12 months were less likely to use these low-cost channels than their less confident peers

By contrast, advisors who expect to grow by double digits over the next year are MORE likely than other advisors to blog, write articles for publication, produce videos and publish on LinkedIn.

In other words, the channels that require the most time and thought are the ones that high-performing advisors are most likely to use….we didn’t say most expensive. We just said the ones requiring the most mental “heavy lifting.”

Sure, but won’t social media endear you to Millennial clients, prospects and workers? Not exactly. Turns out that advisors in their 30s and 40s are generally less likely than their older peers to find webinars and social media effective forms of client communication (see table below).

% of Respondents Finding Channels “Very” or “Extremely” Valuable

CHANNEL	Advisors age 30-39	Advisors age 40-49	Advisors age 50+	Under 50 vs over 50*
Webinars	0%	22%	29%	16% less likely
Tweeting	0%	11%	10%	1% more likely
Facebook	0%	0%	14%	14% less likely
Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat	0%	0%	7%	7% less likely

Source: HB Publishing & Marketing CO, LLC and The Financial Awareness Foundation,2017
* Age 30-49 combined vs. Age 50-70+ combined

*** Is this what you’re finding among your own clients? Take the Wealth Advisor Confidence Survey™ and see how you stack up to your peers (5 minutes, rapid results).

Conclusion

As my grandfather always said, “you get what you pay for.” Don’t cut corners when it comes to communicating clients. Be timely and be relevant. But unless you’re the President, take the time to put some thought into what you are saying, before you post, Tweet or publish. Or, as they say in academic circles, “publish or perish!”

TAGS: Client communication, Wealth Advisor Confidence Survey 2017, best client communication tools