In this week's Practice Power Audiocast (turn on your speakers), Joe Lukacs explains that most advisory practices need four marketing legs—four distinct ways to drive business.
Two of these are constants, Joe says: referrals (subscribe to our free Automatic Referrals newsletter to cover that angle) and client upgrades. By client upgrades, Joe means getting more business and assets (free registration required) from existing clients.
What should your other two marketing legs be? Whatever works for you, says Joe. Work your strengths. If you're a good public speaker, he suggests, it would make sense to try seminars or workshops. If the thought of speaking in front of an audience makes you hide under the dining room table, on the other hand, but you're a great writer, maybe writing a column for a niche publication would be a better approach.
Joe's point is that while getting more referrals and optimizing your existing clients are non-negotiable, marketing is not one-size-fits-all. And in a nice case of synchronicity, I found confirmation of these ideas in this post on Jim Hassett's Law Firm Business Development blog yesterday:
When the Gallup organization studied 250,000 sales representatives over 40 years, they found.... that each successful salesperson develops a unique selling style based upon their particular personality strengths. ...Think about the the top rainmakers you know. Chances are, some of them have succeeded through public speaking, some through community involvement, some by becoming active in professional groups, and some by playing golf. Each has found how to apply their personal strengths (free registration required).
Jim goes on to suggest the book Discover Your Sales Strengths as a way to figure out what your strengths are and which sales and marketing avenues to pursue.
While you should be open to a variety of marketing tactics, you should limit yourself to just four, according to Joe's audiocast—because often, he explains, advisors get spread too thin and fail to be consistent with their marketing. Patience and consistency are key once you find something that works. He also discusses the importance of tracking your results (using a tool like the Referral Tracking Sheet included in Automatic Referrals). More on this topic in a future post.
Are you working a four-legged marketing strategy? Are you optimizing your strengths? Do you have a marketing plan? If not, here's a good place to start: How to Build a Marketing Plan That Works (free registration required).
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