Marketing is the life blood of business organisations, which is driven by customers. Marketing is a wide term and it includes all activities which ultimately will result in increasing your brand value and sales. Marketing, thus is not just about advertising or sales but it includes everything from acquisition to maintaining a customer.

The financial advisory / distribution business is one which needs to have a proper marketing plan. It is essential for any advisor to survive and grow in the present competitive market which is fast evolving. As advisors, marketing must be viewed as a must have strategic tool to grow business, and not a nice-to-have frill when you can afford it. If you feel you cannot afford spending much on marketing, perhaps that is exactly what your business needs!

In the financial advisory profession, one has to create a respectful 'image' in the minds of the customers. The customer too should feel that you are a 'premium' advisor who cares and works for them. Starting from client acquisition to client satisfaction, there are immense opportunities for the advisors to engage with the customer and create this brand / image for himself. Effective marketing also gives an opportunity to the advisor to retain, educate and update the client in the rapidly evolving industry. In this article, we are sharing a few essentials, which every advisor must be familiar with:

1. Message: One should be very clear and concise while conveying the idea or information about your product or your practice. The message should be in a format, medium, language, tone and form which is most suitable to your target customer. The message itself should be framed keeping in mind what appeals to the customer.
2. Clarity: You should be well versed with what you are talking about. Information backed by proper data and figures will help you better communicate and convince your clients. Always keep ready information and sales pitch and cases /examples handy when talking to the clients post marketing activity.
3. Storytelling: You can enhance your sales skills by quoting examples or narrating anecdotes of your clients, friends or relatives, who have made enormous returns by investing in mutual funds. Stories always have a better impact than simply reciting statements. However, one would need to be discreet / careful in sharing any confidential information.
4. Timely follow up: After any marketing activity, it is highly recommended that one does a follow up on the same. This will create importance of the message in the customer's mind and would also ensure higher success ratio. In absence of a proper follow up, marketing activities tend to fade away quickly in your customer's mind.
5. Selective: Do not market everything to every client. That would be a foolish strategy. Instead, try to create groups of customers having similar interests /profile and communicate ideas in a targeted manner. Keep a track of what you are marketing to which client. Clients would prefer and respond to communications which are timed / spaced adequately over time and are relevant to them. Do not repeatedly follow up or keep hammering any specific idea to clients.
6. Technology: Thankfully, technology has come to the rescue of the advisor in many ways, including marketing. Automated tools and solutions in CRM and many other modules have made life easy for advisors who are wiling to make use of it. Making technology your partner in marketing is something that every advisor must do to survive and grow in future.
7. Social Media: Having social media and digital presence is ubiquitous – all pervasive in the business today. It is where most of your existing clients are today and it would be wiser for you to use social media effectively to highlight your knowledge, services and also for promotion of new ideas. One has to be careful and alert though in managing social media accounts like Twitter and Facebook. Having a well managed and regularly updated website, is the first step in creating your digital existence.

Apart from the above seven essentials, one also has to ensure that the marketing activities are well directed to achieve something. Here is a list of some of the deliverables or results or benefits which one should aim for in any marketing activity...

• Branding: Creating a superior image / brand about you and your business. Helps create awareness about you and helps you differentiate from others.
• Creating Need: Creating a need /demand for your services and thus creating new clients and/or business opportunities in existing clients. This may include exploring clients for new sales opportunities.
• Communication: Important updates / information to clients on a regular basis to keep him informed. This will include regular operational updates as also business related alerts.
• Education: Helping spread information and awareness to educate clients on products, services, personal finance, etc.
• Seeking Information: Getting feedback /suggestions on your services /offerings or getting data / information from clients needed by you.
• Relationship building: Strengthening relationship with clients by expressing greetings, best wishes, etc. on events, festivals, etc.
• Gratification: Making the client feel happy and to express gratification on your behalf.

Conclusion:
Effective marketing will increasingly become more digital and essential in our industry. There are market forces which will make advisors focus on reducing costs and increasing volumes. On both fronts, effective use of technology will, to a large extent, determine how your business will survive and grow in future. Marketing, especially digital marketing, is slowly finding its way in the core planning equations of your business. The ones who are quick to respond are the ones who are standing in line to success.

About NJ:
We at NJ, are making constant efforts to help you meet your growing and evolving marketing challenges. NJ offers many tools and solutions which can help you do almost all marketing related activities which you can plan in business. Solutions like NJ BizMall, NJ Web Nest, NJ CRM, etc. can help you greatly transform your business. We hope you can explore these services and make full use of same.

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When Indians think about investing, Mutual funds will never come into the investor's mind. The evident choices will be FD, PPF, even LIC, or if the budget is high, Real Estate. It is because we are brought up in a traditional investment vicinity, this is what we have been seeing our parents doing ever since, and we are following suit. Fixed Income Investments are so deeply rooted in an Indian Investor's blood that it can be indeed difficult for the advisor to be able to even talk to a fixed income investor about Mutual Funds. Although, an increasing number of investors are game for exploring the modern methods of investing, yet the category of traditional investors occupy the lion's share of total Indian investors. And concentrating on the modern ones only, means leaving a big business opportunity behind. So, what do we do? How do we target the skeptical ones?

The most crucial step is to convince such investors for a meeting. You must remember that you don't have to get too aggressive or too conservative. You don't have to talk about the investment products with the client right away, since the viewers under question are the suspicious ones. So, you may try to strike the chord with a line like “you know there are so many investment options, which can generate good returns, plus your investment will be safe”. So if he asks you about the options, you can ask him “Let's meet, and we'll discuss”. If in case the first line doesn't work, then you may say something like “Let's meet once, even if you don't want to invest, it'll be nice to have you over a cup of coffee”. Even if the client looks totally disinterested, then too a cup of coffee is worth the try. And once you get the meeting, it's your sales skills that will do the job.

When you get the opportunity to see that client, make sure you have done your homework and researched about the client's background. Do not rush into things, it is very important that you go slowly and enter into the comfort zone of the investor, before breaking the ice. So, to begin with let him do the talking, this will give you a better idea about his priorities and how strong is his conviction for traditional investments. So, you know how deep you need to dig to get business from the client.

If the investor is a naysayer, changing the mindset is a tough job, but isn't impossible. Straight away if you start with reciting the advantages of a mutual fund, it won't help. For the simple reason that the client is not willing to hear about it, he has built a fictional wall which will not let any modern investment product enter. He believes everything that is modern is risky, and he is too happy with the safe and low return yielding fd or ppf of his. So, you need to devise a strategy to break this imaginary wall.

Doctrine of Substitution: This, for the matter of fact, holds true for all kinds of investors. You need to virtually step into the client's shoes and think from his mind. So, if the investor is a typical Savings, FD and PPF investor for short, medium and long term investments respectively, he is definitely not looking forward to hearing about equities. So, you need to give him what he wants.

> For the investor, who is parking his money in savings account, he has two things in head; one, high level of liquidity so he can withdraw the money any time in the future whenever need arises, and two, safety of principal. So, you need to tell the investor about liquid funds. Ask him to invest a small amount like Rs 10,000 for a month. After 30 days, redeem his investment, and show him a comparison of the liquid fund returns with savings account. Explain to him that the liquid fund is a combination of the liquidity of a saving account and returns of a fixed deposit, and there is no threat to the principal amount.

> An investor whose all time favourite is Fixed income investments is not seeking any criticism on his ways of investing. So, now you need to counter the FD or PPF with a debt mutual fund or a bond by carefully choosing your words. You may say, “it's great you have been investing in FD, it is a wonderful product which offers good returns. I also have a product which offers the same safety of principal with slightly better returns. If you have invested a lac in FD, try investing 10,000 in this product too. I am sure you won't be disappointed.” Remember safety of principal is paramount for the investor, so you should restrict yourself to short term debt fund or a fixed maturity plan or a bond, depending upon the investment period he is comfortable with.

Impart knowledge. Share articles, insights from experts, Mutual Funds investment stats in developed countries, news, updates, etc., with the investor on a regular basis. Simple facts printed on a piece of paper will help you weaken the wall gradually. These will develop curiosity in the investor's mind leading to questions. These questions will give you a platform where you can exhibit the various investment products you offer, their advantages and how they are better than their traditional investment counterparts. You need to explain to them the concept of aligning investments with their life goals, that equity is the best product for long term goals and any volatility is neutralized over a long horizons.

These are your hard earned investors, and you need to be careful with them and not introduce them to super high risk products in the initial stages. Once the investor is comfortable with you, and has developed conviction in his new investment, you shall begin with something like SIP in a Balanced Fund. Tell him about it's unique structure, tax benefits, the debt component protecting the principal and the equity component working for growth. Show him the performance charts of a balanced fund over the years.

All advisors have their unique ways of handling traditional only clients, these tips may help you in the process. Because “Sometimes a slow gradual approach does more good than a large gesture” ~ Craig Newmark.

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"The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them."

Listening is a very important skill, for the survival and growth of any business, especially in industries where there is a lot of client interaction, since it is a vital part of communication. Ours is a line of business, where client communication dominates the scene. So, among the assortment of soft skills that we need to excel in, financial advisors must also be ace listeners. That's also one of the most prominent aspects of human touch and an unparalleled edge that you have over robo advisors. Yet we don't come across much material on the subject. It doesn't get enough weight in our degree courses or vocational trainings. Even in B-schools, students are taught presentation skills, reading skills, Group Discussion skills, Interview skills, but not listening skills.

So, how do we go about finessing our listening skills is the centerpoint of this passage. We have listed down few techniques that you can apply in the normal course of your practice to effectuate the same:

1. Negative Feedback: It's human nature that we only listen to what we want to hear. Until the time the conversation is neutral or is pro the listener, the listener will lend his ears to the speaker, but the moment the dialogue goes against his/her views, there will be a mental blockade, he/she will hear only to retaliate, rather listen to the speaker's viewpoint. Often our reaction to a negative feedback is also similar. When a client is unhappy, there will be two possible reactions: 1. He/She will communicate the discontent to you or 2. Sulk for the time being and will eventually disassociate from you. If the client chooses the former, i.e. gives a negative feedback to you, it is an opportunity that's thrown in your lap to be aware of your flaws, so that you can work upon them and progress to be a better advisor. If you hear the negative comments, only to give a counter response, you are not only ruining the opportunity but also hurting the client's sentiments who has taken the initiative to convey his displeasure. So, the first step to being a good listener is be receptive to negative feedback. It will display your commitment to client servicing and thus will develop the client's confidence in you.

2. Maintain eye contact: The second rule of effective listening is also a pivotal element of your body language, to look into the eye. It sounds simple, but this is a tricky one. If you are looking down, or here and there, while the other person is speaking, it conveys your lack of interest. Staring too hard is also not a good sign either, it's itchy and may make the speaker conscious. You need to maintain a balance between being too aggressive and too timid. So, how do look into the eyes yet not stare?

• Hang Around on the face: Look into one eye for five seconds then the second eye, then forehead, repeat.
• Take Breaks: Take occasional breaks from seeing eye to eye, you can look around at a plant or a glass or run your hands into your hair at the end of a particular topic, or after may be a 20 second gaze, etc.
• Acknowledgment: To break the ice and keep the mood of the conversation light, an intermittent nod, a hmmmm, a yes; can be a great way to display your interest in the talk, while leaving space for small intermissions from the constant look.

3. Seek Clarifications: It is very important, that all the parties in a dialogue, are on the same page, at all times. So if you happen to lose track of the conversation, you must prompt the speaker to seek clarification, or ask questions for clarity of understanding. So, if you are talking to a client, and you are not able to comprehend the context, ask what does he/she mean exactly, ask additional questions to assure understanding the full implication of the argument. Your efforts to seek clarity depicts your genuineness. However, you must note that you must interrupt the client only when he's done speaking, don't interrupt the flow of the speech, it may irritate the speaker.

4. Distance yourself from gadgets: In our field, more than half the business is carried through mobile phones, so constant sounds of the phone is an incessant process and is almost inevitable. However, when you are with a client, keep your mobile phone aside, either switched off or on silent mode, so that you don't bug him/her by frequent ringing or constant tinging of WhatsApp. Because despite your best efforts to pay utmost attention to the client, you may not be able to concentrate and may even end up irritating the client.

5. Don't jump on to conclusions: The last element of effective listening is, do not assume what's coming ahead. Listen to the speaker's argument in full, and not judge without knowing all the facts. There may be some very important facts coming up, which may change the shape of the discussion altogether. Respond only after listening carefully, completely and after giving a thorough thought.

To conclude, When we speak, we repeat what we already know, listening to people gives us an opportunity to learn something new. So, listen with an open mind, be all ears to the speaker, maintain eye contact, let no stone unturned in creating an environment for the client to speak his heart out. Our success in the venture lies in our ability to control our sensations.

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