biggest mistake made in executing a financial services marketing plan
The biggest mistake made in executing a financial services marketing plan — and a reason that success can be so elusive — is not clearly explaining what you are selling. Specifically the benefits. Consumers rarely make buying decisions based on a product or service’s features; yet that’s what most businesses promote over and over again. People don’t buy features; they buy the benefits that those features offer. In fact, to make it even more clear: people buy results. Some businesses assume that their customers know what the benefits are, and exactly why to buy their product or service. They leave it up to the prospect to derive their benefits. And to take it one step further, in financial services, ultimately the buying decision is made about the person selling the product, NOT the product itself. Yes they want results from the products they buy, but as has been seen over and over again in the best and worst of times, client don’t leave you because the market goes down and their results go down with it. They leave you because you didn’t pay attention and communicate in a way that was meaningful to them. And you may say that of course you are selling you and your firm to your prospects. But how clearly? And are you focusing on features or benefits? So what is the difference between a feature and benefit? Oftentimes, there is a lot of confusion between the two. Definition of Features: Features are factual statements about — often distinctive characteristics of — a product or service. Features are a means of providing benefits to customers; for instance, “I have a ChFC designation” or “I complete 30 hours of continuing education each year” are features. Definition of Benefits: Benefits are value statements about the feature of a product or service, with an emphasis on what the customer gets. A benefit answers the question, ‘Why should I care?’ A benefit tells you that you should care because of the result. For instance, “The intense requirements of holding a ChFC designation are there to insure that I stay on top of my game as an agent and provide an elevated level of expertise to clients. It has been incredibly important as I’ve taken clients who want to protect and rebuild their assets through the turmoil of today’s economy.” Messaging is the key! When you create, define and refine the exact messaging, the first goal is to leave the prospect feeling that they might be making a mistake if they don’t at least schedule an appointment and find out more. Some top agents and advisors have spent literally weeks focusing on precise messaging to get the benefit statement s they use right and clear. Why? Because it makes a huge difference in ultimately closing more sales. Conduct a Message Strategy Session to Develop Compelling Benefits. Before you do any marketing, conduct your own Message Strategy Session with your team.











