I've just spent £45 on a box of tea bags

Marketing.

We’d probably all prefer the idea of not doing it, and just letting our product or service promote itself. I mean, who really wants to stoop to the tawdry depths of selling what they do? (And isn’t ‘tawdry’ a great word?)

Surely what we’re all doing is so marvellous that people will simply flock?

Well, no.

Certainly not when it comes to services like financial planning.

Not even when it comes to tangible products like tea.

I love tea. And so I was delighted to find a giant luxury shop dedicated to it in London’s Piccadilly this week.

I walked in to avoid the rain for a bit and came out £45 lighter and modest packet of Royal Darjeeling.

How did this happen?

Well in short, I was sold to

Not just directly by the personable shop assistant, but by the whole package: the shiny tins, the smell, the double-height space, the tea technician in her white coat and mahogany tea shelves. It felt desirable.

But something was nagging at me. And it wasn’t my upcoming credit card bill.

This tea felt familiar. And sure enough, when I got home, I opened my kitchen cupboard to find a big tin of the very same stuff already sitting there.

It turns out I’d been given it as a present a few years ago, but dumped it on the shelf with the old remote controls (the ultimate insult). Why? Well without any other context or ‘selling’ around it, I didn’t get it; I didn’t value it. And so I’d ignored it and gone back to the PG. What a waste.

It reminded me of another example of this

Years ago I knew someone whose wife was a Bafta judge. As such he had copies at home of DVDs that hadn’t been released yet with meaningless names on the spines: Billy Elliot, Erin Brockovich, Gladiator. He had no desire to watch them because they hadn’t been marketed to him yet.

Once they’d been released, he saw what an entertainment goldmine he’d been sitting on. But only then could he enjoy them.

The value of advice needs context too

We know the value of advice is difficult to communicate at the best of times. Even once someone’s experienced it, that value could quickly get forgotten. You don’t look at a financial plan in the same way as you do a physical object like a plaster and think ‘thank god for that, it’s holding my foot together’.

This is where using those opportunities to remind people becomes so valuable. Regular reviews are great for this (so it’s strange that there are still advisers who don’t do them).

But in between those meetings you have an ideal chance to reinforce that message through regular, engaging email newsletters.

Being proactive about it isn’t vulgar - it proves you really are committed to their satisfaction and wellbeing.

Clients want to feel informed and engaged in this way. It’s an opportunity for them to get to know you, and what they've bought from you, better from the comfort of their armchair. They feel informed, enlightened, and appreciate the touchpoint.

And by keeping at it, remaining top of mind, you start to foster a sense of community. It’s this that helps them to become ‘sticky’ clients – those that refer to others and come back with new business themselves, without you having to ‘ask’ for it.

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