Stranger danger
Among the British Film Institute’s amazing archive of public information films - including how to use the telephone and be a good cyclist - is one on how to resist the techniques of door-to-door salesman.
High-pressure salesmen are slick, persistent and tricky, we’re told. He’ll “use impressive figures and technical terms”. He may make you feel inferior.
We may laugh at the heavy-handed approach, and the Watch with Mother diction, but messages like this are likely rooted in many peoples' psyche. (Why else would I still shiver at the sight of an electricity pylon?)
Unfortunately, this plays against us when it comes to trust in financial planning, as the high-pressure salesman trope is often still associated with it. Financial services still comes out top in surveys of the least trusted professions. Clients I speak to always talk of the relief and surprise that their planner wasn’t a flash Harry who “bamboozles you with jargon”.
It’s not just the clarity message
That would be one thing. But what we’re also trying to say that advice isn’t just about products either. And this is where things about setting goals and enjoying your wealth, can seem downright incompatible.
It’s a subtle message that it requires more than a website or a one-off email. It’s a story that needs gradually playing out across regular communications. Communications that do justice to the value you provide.
So if you’re not already sending an email newsletter with a blog then why not start? And end of year message is the perfect opportunity to set up this more regular dialogue. Please get in touch to have a chat.
After that, why not spend the next 60 seconds perusing this short film about how to behave duringChristmas party season?
In short, don’t ask a man to drink and drive.
Shameless plug
If you're after a soundtrack for the weekend, take a look at this piece on 'Storytelling secrets from 3 classic pop hits' And for details on how public in formation films of the 70s and 80s made me who I am, take a look at 'Coughs and sneezes spread diseases'.
Exceedingly good Wills
A court has ruled that a Will written on the back of a Mr Kipling box of mince pies and a box of Young’s frozen fish is legally binding, meaning a diabetes charity stands to inherit £180,00.
Stat of the week
One in four Gen Zers have brought a parent to a job interview over the past year.
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