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I recently gave a presentation focused on collaborative qualification and have included the slidedeck here. 

We all know that the web and inbound marketing has changed the buy-sell cycle and that buyers are  well educated before they engage with sales. As a result, some argue that sales lead qualification is now less relevant as prospects are self-qualified on the web before ever engage a sales representative.

We believe that qualification remains an important element of the sales and marketing operating model and requires a new more collaborative approach.

• Marketing must play a bigger role in deal qualification and provide better decision support for sales.
• Sales must use a more consultative approach to deal qualification in order focus time and resources and to build win strategies.

Traditional sales qualification models like BANT and SCOTSMAN can be adapted and applied effectively across the marketing and sales funnel.

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Social Media is about engaging your audience through conversation and conversion.  By offering great content, your followers are likely to download, share, or contact you to learn more.  However, to get the most out of your social media outlets it’s important that your message is directed at the appropriate audience.  Twitter offers you the ability to create and edit lists, but not an easy way of maintaining them.  Below, I discuss ways to segment and maintain your Twitter lists for better ROI.

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We have written several posts over the last few years on 1:1 engagement. We highlighted tools like XOBNI (for Outlook), Social CRM tools, and more recently Cloze and Newsie and even Plaxo to name a few. Now LinkedIn’s new LinkedIn Contacts is another powerful tool you can use.

LinkedIn Contacts is based on the Connected technology, the content management startup LinkedIn acquired in 2011.

Similar to tools we like such as Cloze, LinkedIn Contacts let’s you view  LinkedIn profiles and easily see the last time you contacted them (e.g. a recent email correspondence or a calendar entry). Try LinkedIn Contacts to:

• connect with people you want to stay in regular contact with.
• use reminders to keep in touch
• see details of your past conversations and meetings,
• Use suggestions to connect and use daily reminder emails

LinkedIn Contacts helps you brings your contacts together across address books, emails, and calendars, and keep them up to date (remember the Plaxo promise?). I am just starting out with LinkedIn Contacts, but eager to see how well it works to engage with my professional network.  If you have not seen it yet, look for your service invitation over the coming weeks.

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Revenue Architects continues as a volunteer for this year’s MIT Sloan CIO Symposium.  The theme is The Transformational CIO – Architecting the Enterprise of the Future. Great speakers and the innovative early stage  businesses in the Innovation Showcase will make this a compelling event.

“The MIT Sloan CIO Symposium is an annual one-day conference, held on the MIT campus, where CIOs and other senior business executives from around the world gather to explore how leading-edge academic research and innovative technologies can help address the practical challenges faced in today’s changing economy.”

We have a few Partner Tickets at a reduced rate, let me know if you might like to attend (first come, first serve)

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The Green Jacket. Source Golf Digest

For golfers, particularly in the northern and colder climates, this is a great time time of year. We immerse ourselves in the Masters experience. Non-golfing friends and partners hear The Golf Channel in the background and before long, they get to know the players and the shot strategies though subconscious listening.

As I look ahead to the weekend  - and in particular to the last 9 on Sunday (the best 3 hours in sports), I also think of the how incredible it is that Augusta National has created such a powerful and unique brand. Even Bubba Watson was brought to tears yesterday when talking about the importance of the “green Jacket”  There are lessons in here for any business and particularly for those offering a professional service experience.

I had a chance to be behind the ropes at Augusta National, explore the inside of the clubhouse, spend time in one the private cabins, and walk with players from the clubhouse to the practice facility.  I even stood right next to Phil Mickelson, Dave Pelz and Phil’s caddie, Bones, as they talked strategy on the Saturday morning. An incredible experience for me.

Can you incorporate  some of the experience ideas from Augusta National into your own brand positioning?

Consistency. Unlike the other major tournaments in golf, The Masters is always played at Augusta National. This is a private invitational event and it has been run in a highly consistent manner for decades. Improvements are made each year, but the fundamental experience is rooted in its founding principles and the legacy of Bobby Jones.

What would this mean at your company? Do you deliver a consistent experience? Is it rooted in core values that are enduring? Does it create an emotional connection?

Exclusivity.  Of course, is hard to get an invitation to play at the Masters – but it is also hard to get a ticket to go to the Masters. And, not all tickets are the same. Some tickets offer clubhouse access others are providing access only to the grounds.  People really want to go to the Masters – even more when it is a hard ticket to get. Yet, Augusta National, while exclusive, is also very focused on delivering a compelling experience.

Can you invite clients to get behind the ropes?  Are there “velvet rope” strategies that you can incorporate? How can you make your brand and service more desirable by being exclusive?

Experience.  OK I need to admit this. I actually ran at Augusta – only for about 10 yards, but I ran. There is no running at Augusta National. I wanted to get into position to see a player tee off at number 10. A gentleman from the club tapped me on the shoulder politely and said, “Sir, there is no running allowed at Augusta National”. Embarrassed.  Augusta National has thought of about everything. The TV experience is like no other – with very limited advertising and long term sponsorships. Sandwich wrappers and napkins are colored green so that, in the event a patron (that’s right Augusta has no “crowds” or “fans” we are “patrons”) drops a wrapper by accident, there will be no glaring white object set against the pristine green grass.

How does your brand deliver an experience? Are you thinking of the details?

Enjoy the golf this weekend and, while you are watching the play,  take a minute to consider how you might enhance your brand and deliver your clients an experience that is more like getting behind the ropes at Augusta National!

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With a solid digital marketing foundation, Financial Advisors can run effective, targeted campaigns to build reputation and generate qualified client leads that can be nurtured and won.

Digital Marketing Foundation

• Target Market Strategy
• Overall Content Marketing Plan
• Quality eMail Marketing List & Tools
• The Right Sponsorship, COIs & Affinity Groups

Two simple approaches to Launch Campaigns:

• Use your “Premium” Content in as PDF format for download (e.g., white paper or “RIA Stands For You Content” {RIAS4U} if you are a Schwab RIA).

This could simply be a widget on your website for visitors to click and download the content

• Run an email campaign with content and landing page for lead development

For example take a timely topic that could effect long term asset management or perhaps one that all high-net worth clients face, such as an estate planning or retirement planning. It could also be one on the wealth management process itself. Divide into a series of  digestible parts, and include a “call to action” (e.g., for a complimentary consultation) within each email that brings up a landing page for the lead to provide contact information. Schwab RIAs can leverage premium RIAS4U Campaign Content – customized from the RIA Benefits PPT and campaign website content.

Another approach is to do Webinars, Podcasts and/or Meetups

• Run webinars with your COI partners to nurture a new extended, shared prospect database 
• Run quarterly Meetups in collaboration with COIs using the same content to facilitate an open discussion and draw in more prospects
• Consider a Podcast to reach a more mobile and connected audience.  These can be developed for say tips or strategies you are using in your email campaign.

Whatever campaign approach is taken, it is essential that the content be of value to the target audience, reflect your expertise and draw in qualified prospects that you can nurture on a one-to-one basis with traditional outbound (phone call, meeting, Skype) and/or inbound methods (e.g., social media, webinars,  email drip campaign).  Great efficiency can be gained by having a content marketing calendar and packaging/positioning the same basic content for different target audiences and channels.   All content should be amplified in social media.

Are you ready for the “new marketing”?  We can get you up and running with smart digital strategies. Here are two options:

1. Register for a Revenue Performance Diagnostic
2. Schedule a 1/2 hour complimentary consultation here!

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This is Part V, the final part in our Wealth Advisor Marketing series: “Digital is the New Marketing.” Links to the first four in the series provided below.

• Part I:     Establish an Effective Website Hub 
• Part II:   Schwab Advisors: Leverage “RiA Stands for You” in Branding
• Part III:  Filter & Target 1:1 with Social Media
• Part IV:  Enhance Your Social Media Impact

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This post is for fun, but as I write it I can’t help but see parallels between fishing for “bones” and inbound marketing. The equipment, tactics, strategies and execution needed to catch a bonefish are similar to those required for effective marketing.

I just returned from a great trip to Belize and Turneffe Flats – a premier and beautiful destination to fish for bonefish, permit and tarpon as well as go diving or eco-touring.

I am very much an amateur at bonefishing and this was my second attempt. This time, I was able to work a bit on techniques like the “double haul” – thanks to my guide, Michael, and lessons from Jad! I was also able to target specific fish (instead of just casting to a school of fish) as well as “hunting” and casting for permit for the first time. I think I caught about 20-25 bonefish over the course of the week. Nothing compared with the real pros that visit the flats.

The connections to marketing are clear when you think about some of the bonefishing activities:

• Equipment = Revenue Systems
• Spotting = Market Targeting
• Fly Selection = Content
• Casting = Creative Programs
• Placement = Placement
• Stripping = Drip Campaigns
• Playing = Nurturing
• Landing = Closing

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HNW Investors are Social

For financial advisors, social media represents a powerful addition to traditional marketing. Indeed high net worth investors are active on social media and expect their advisors to be also.  To wit,

1. 87% use social media
2. 52% of investors want to connect with advisors on LinkedIn
3. 50% of high-net-worth investors want market, trend, and product information via social media

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With all the focus on digital and inbound marketing, many of our clients look for ambitious results from their inbound marketing programs – and they should!

Over time, as reputation and ‘Klout’ builds with effective social engagement and content marketing, the inbound machine will pay off. However, an effective revenue strategy involves more than inbound marketing – especially for complex and considered sales and higher-end professional services.  Inbound marketing is critical, but smarter outbound selling strategies, in most cases, will continue to drive the largest share of revenue performance.

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LinkedIn is continuously changing and it is now far more of an interactive platform. We used to think about LinkedIn as the online resume, and while it remains an important tool for job seekers and recruiters, it is clearly here to stay as a solid business social network. LinkedIn’s has a profitable revenue model that does not rely entirely on advertising and this helps promote a more unified user experience then some of the other social networks.

At the same time, changes happen quickly and it can be hard to keep up. We often assist our clients in taking advantage of LinkedIn and enhancing the team’s professional profile and networking strategies.  The following is a quick checklist of items to consider in setting up an effective LinkedIn profile and better leveraging the LinkedIn platform with advanced tools for automated prospecting.

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