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Friends,
I have been involved in sales and marketing of financial products for 18 years, since I began my career in 1998 selling retail asset products as part of Citi Shelters. From home loans, I moved to ICICI Capital, selling bonds, mutual funds and online trading, which then led me to ICICI Bank's Private Banking unit. I then had a long stint with Reliance MF in Hyderabad and Bangalore and then moved to set up Reliance Money's South India business before moving to Mumbai to head its institutional business, products, business development and development of Tier 3 markets. My career path then took me to Dhanalaxmi Bank where I was responsible for 3rd party products (mutual funds, insurance), forex and online stock broking. I then took a brief break from financial services before returning back, in March 2015, as CMO of Ultimate Wealth Managers in Bangalore.
3 words that sum up my learnings: activities drive business
In all my stints across the spectrum of financial services, there is one common learning that was pivotal in my success in sales and marketing, which can be summed up in 3 words - activities drive business. It doesn't matter what product you are selling - activities are required at the ground level for you to build awareness of your proposition, for you to generate leads which you can then take forward to close sales.
I have had the privilege of interacting extensively with IFAs in some of my earlier assignments. There are many positives about the way IFAs conduct their business, but if there is one key failing among most, it is the lack of focus on doing local activities to drive awareness about themselves.
Many IFAs think marketing is costly and therefore refrain from marketing activities. You miss tremendous opportunities to grow your business as a result. Let me share with you some simple activities that you can conduct in your own neighbourhood, which I am sure will help you generate a lot of leads. These are ideas that I have personally implemented in the past in my various assignments, some of which I have already begun executing at Ultimate as well.
"Own" your territory
At the heart of all these activities is a clear target to "own" your territory - a 5 km radius around your office should be "owned" by you. Your brand should be well known to all investors who live or work within 5 kms radius of your office. Once you achieve this, you will never have any dearth of leads.
Area combing exercise
The first activity to help you achieve this target of "owning" your territory is to conduct an area combing exercise. Set up a mobile display van which will go into every lane within your territory, promoting your brand and a key proposition like SIPs. You can partner with one of your AMCs to help defray the costs of this exercise.
The Ultimate mobile display van - step one towards retail domination in its territory
Let everybody in your locality know about the existence of your firm, your office address and what you can do for them, when they visit your office. Keep your office open on weekends and on holidays during this campaign period. Ensure you have good educational videos to show them when they come into your office. Offer a range of propositions - from full service financial planning to simple vehicle insurance. Not every prospect may be interested in a financial plan on day 1 - but you need to find ways to engage them, begin a relationship and then look to deepen it over time. I have found one simple proposition becoming a major customer acquisition source: vehicle insurance with policies being issued across the table. When a client walks into your office for the first time, and gets an instant convenient solution, it creates a powerful first impression which you can then leverage to deepen the relationship.
Round Two
Once you have done two rounds of the area combing exercise spread over two 15 day periods, you are now ready to get into the next level of activities. By now, your brand has some recall in your locality - even among those who haven't yet visited your office. Here are some simple activities you can conduct:
Playschools
Many people target playschools and schools, so you need to think differently. One idea that works is a tie up with a psychiatrist, who will conduct sessions for parents on effective parenting. Parents of young children are eager to learn about this subject, and will come for these sessions. You now have created many leads that you can then follow up on for business.
Free vehicle check-up camp
Tie up with a general insurance company and a local garage to offer free vehicle check-up camps in residential societies around your office. Offer a standard 5 point check-up for vehicles on a Sunday for all residents of the society. A number of residents will come to avail of this free check-up. While the car is being checked, you have an opportunity to at least talk about vehicle insurance and where possible, get the person interested in more than just that from your firm. The idea is to find ways to meet and engage prospects, and then build from there.
Other activities
There are many more activities you can try out. You can conduct free eye check-up camps in schools. You can do a free BMI (body mass index) check-up for morning walkers. You can conduct "an apple a day" campaign. Give an apple to all morning walkers, with a simple message that suggests that just as an apple a day keeps the doctor away, a SIP every month keeps financial troubles at bay. For more information on how to keep financial troubles at bay, contact…..
The bottom line
The list of activities can go on and on. The point is you need to commit to doing activities regularly. You need to believe in activities. Don't try something half-hearted. Plunge in with full conviction and enthusiasm, maintain a tempo of at least one activity every month for 6 months, and then take stock of results. You will definitely see a huge spike in leads, which is then upto you and your team to convert into clients.
Make a beginning at "owing" your territory through a series of on-ground marketing initiatives, and you will not find growth a challenge at all.
All content in Marketing Wiz is created by Wealth Forum and should not be construed as views of Kotak MF.
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