How well are you following up your events

Most of the financial planning businesses that we’re working with are busily reviewing their propositions as the country emerges from the shadow of covid lockdowns. For many firms this is simply a case of bringing forwards the benefits of remote meetings, identifying where they will fit in their offering going forwards and building remote meetings in as a core element of their proposition.

For other slightly more ambitious businesses, they have been running virtual client events over the last 15 months, mostly in the shape of regular webinars. These have been delivered by interesting and expert speakers, and by themselves too. Some of these businesses have seen their attendee numbers steadily increasing over the last few events, a real endorsement for their efforts. They rightly plan to continue delivering these webinars into the future.

These webinars have usually been excellent events, covering really interesting and valuable topics for their clients. However one area that can generally be improved is in the whole area of follow-ups – what happens after the event. Here are a few thoughts on maximising the impact of your webinar, to really ensure that it was worth all of the effort put into it.

 

Prepare in advance for afterwards

You know who your speakers are and you know the topics that they will be presenting. You may also have any presentation slides in advance.  So it’s relatively easy to have a few of the main follow-up assets fully or mostly prepared in advance. If these are left until after the event, they often get forgotten in the rush to get back to urgent client work. You can have the following prepared and ready to go,

  • A page or blog post on your website dedicated to the event. This should have a link to a recording of the event, that can be accessed via a completed form – this way you get to see who is downloading it and is interested in the topic. As part of this, encourage the user to sign up for your newsletter / other events so that you can then stay on their radar.
  • An email to attendees, thanking them for taking the time to attend and linking through to the event page on your website. Better still, prepare this in your newsletter software where you can track who opens and clicks on your email.
  • An email to people who couldn’t make it, advising them that there’s a recording available via the link to the event website page. As above, do this in your newsletter software.
  • If you happen to have any other relevant content on the topics covered on the webinar (whitepapers, blog articles, podcasts etc.), insert the links to these too.

When you prepare this in advance, you can be ready to go immediately after the webinar has finished and while it is still fresh in people’s minds.

 

Get active on social media

Then it’s time to get out and let the wider world know about the value you add to your clients. Publicise the success of your event on social media, leading people to the event page / blog on your website. Of course, once they are here, they may want to watch a recording of the event – to do so, they have to fill out your form, give you your email address and enable you to include them in your expert communications going forwards. Now you’re using your event to draw prospects to your business…

 

Review the analytics

After all of this, you’ll have pretty rich data. This will include,

  • How many people attended the event
  • Who they are
  • Who interacted with your emails
  • Who liked / commented on your social media posts
  • How many / who requested the recording
  • Some advisers have also sent out very brief post-event surveys, checking the pieces that people got most value from and seeking general feedback. This is more data to consider.

It’s one thing having all of this data, the important task is to use it. Block out an hour or two in your diary maybe a week after the event to go through the analytics. Was the event a success? What could be done better in the future? Most importantly, are their specific individuals who really engaged with the content and who might welcome a follow-up call?

 

Follow up

Where it makes sense, follow up with those individuals who were very interested in the topic. It’s quite possible that they are mulling over an issue in that space? Reach out with the offer of a remote follow-up conversation – this will enable each of you to see if there is something to explore a bit more, without investing much time in doing so. This might be where your event leads you into a wider planning conversation with a prospective client…

 

Next time you’re running a virtual event, invest a little time in post-event activity. It will be worth the effort.

 

 

 

 

 

Time to sharpen the saw again

I’m speaking to financial advisers every day, and at the moment a consistent theme is emerging in all of these conversations and that is a feeling of a “new beginning”. Advisers are talking really positively and excitedly about getting back out and meeting clients face-to-face again – just imagine in a few months’ time we might even be doing this without masks on!

It all feels a bit like a new era, and indeed for some it really is, as many lives have undergone huge upheaval in the last 15 months. This brings the need for insightful and valuable conversation with you, and a whole range of new avenues and opportunities to explore for both you and your clients. The question is, are you ready to embrace this new environment, or will you revert back to what you did before the pandemic hit?

The focus of this post is not on your client proposition, but instead it is about you and how you will work and interact with your clients in the months to come. There are a couple of areas to consider.

 

Be prepared

The chances are that you will be very busy in the months to come. While there’s no harm in clients seeing that you are busy and your expertise is in demand, you don’t want them to feel rushed and that the “next” client you’re going to see is more important. The key here is good preparation for your meetings and careful management of your diary. When a client comes to see you, they should feel at the centre of your universe and that your sole focus is on them and helping them achieve their financial goals.

 

Your approach to meetings

From the discussions I’ve had, so many of you have been re-evaluating your proposition and tweaking it for the future. You’re taking the good bits from working remotely over the last year or so and are building this in as part of a newly enhanced proposition. You will then deliver this, and clients will enjoy a greatly enhanced advice experience into the future. The key for you now is to engage clients in discussion about how you work and what you offer, and carefully walk them through the improvements you will be bringing to them. I strongly recommend that this deserves to be more than a chat, instead you should lay it out visually for your clients in the form of a presentation, short documents setting out your services or links to relevant sections on your website. Show off your proposition in the best light possible.

 

Keep your energy levels high

Everyone is emerging from a difficult period. We all want to be surrounded by people who are not gloomily reflecting on the last year, but instead by people who are positive and optimistic about the future. Be one of the “cup half full” people in your clients’ lives. Work hard at ensuring that clients feel better in themselves after meeting you, that you were the bright point in their day. This of course doesn’t mean just nattering on endlessly at meeting though. Of course you need to put as much of your energy into careful and active listening, and gentle but probing questioning of your clients in relation to their hopes, dreams and ambitions for the future.

 

What about the novice clients?

The lives of some people have been turned upside down by the pandemic. They may have suffered bereavement, serious illness, the loss of their job and/or their business and in some cases temporary but significant financial challenges. Many of these people may never have availed of the services of a financial adviser in the past, but now they need a lot of help in getting their financial lives back on track. They know they need help, they think they need it from a financial adviser. But they might be quite unsure whether the right adviser for them is you or someone else.

Think carefully about how you can build trust and rapport with these people. Your first meeting approach will be critical here, as will demonstrating your expertise through client testimonials, case studies and other endorsements of your skills. Your goal is to put these people at ease, help them to recognise that you have the skills and knowledge to help them with their affairs and hopefully start to build a valued relationship that will endure long into the future.

 

These are great days. The vaccination programme is starting to have a real impact and everyone is much more hopeful about the future. Now is the time to roll out your own A game.