Last week, I presented to a firm of IFA's about the benefits of social media. The IFA's in question were all lovely chaps with a clear commitment to professionalism and working hard on behalf of their clients, but I'm sure they won't mind me saying this, didn't tend to engage or build connections online. Actually, that's probably an understatement...many of them didn't have a Linkedin account, let alone Twitter or Facebook. Whilst many of them run their respective businesses well, look after their clients well and possibly think that they didn't need online engagement in their "kitbag". I believe that choosing to ignore online engagement is a risk to any business of any size, but is especially dangerous to the small financial planning businesses. Let me explain why...Let's assume you've got an individual financial planner, lets call him Andy. Andy has a portfolio of 80 clients he has looked after for a number of years and has a robust system in place to see his clients annually. Andy is comfortable with his lot, but wants to work for another 5 - 7 years before he retires and sells his business. He believes that his clients are pretty loyal as he provides a decent service to his clients. Andy also sends out a 3 monthly newsletter both through the post and via email.
Many of Andy's clients are now on Twitter, Facebook and have been on Linkedin for a while and some of them have been following another locally based financial planner, Steve. Steve provides a similar face to face service to his clients, although some of his clients are seen 6 monthly as opposed to annually. He sends out a monthly newsletter (as opposed to Andy's Quarterly newsletter).Thee main difference between the two advisers is that Andy believes that 'social media' is a fad and has decided that he "hasn't got the time" to worry about engaging with any of these platforms. Steve on the other hand sees working with social media as an opportunity to build relationships, pick up useful tips, communicate with employers as well as other financial planners, provide high quality content to his clients, and share client experiences which might benefit his online connections (which will contain existing clients, prospective clients and fellow professionals). Steve also isn't expecting any immediate benefits, but sees it as an opportunity to build his personal and professional brand.
Andy's not concerned about this, I mean after all....he has looked after his clients for some time and why would they shift elsewhere? However, one aspect that Andy is ignoring is that whilst he communicates with his clients every quarter at the most, Steve is engaging with both his own, and Andy's clients every day via social media. Andy's response to this is that his clients are loyal and will stay with him....and this might be true for some of his clients. However, some of Andy's clients are looking at Steve's commitment to constant communication and delivering high quality content and thinking the "grass might be greener". So, the question is....even if you are not looking to grow your business but just want to continue looking after your clients - is it worth ignoring the chance to constantly communicate with your clients to continue to show the service you provide is the place to be?Andy might also state that you can't build trusted personal and professional relationships online, whereas Steve believes you can. At one point I might have sided with Andy on this one....however a recent experience changed my mind...and you can read about this experience here.
I know I'm probably preaching to the converted if you're reading this blog....so I'm conscious that many of you are more like Steve than Andy. However, if you're more like Andy, are you prepared to take the risk of not engaging online?
As ever, this blog provides me with an opportunity to share my thoughts and I'm always comfortable with a healthy debate....so, am I right or wrong?
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