What happens if we don't market ourselves?

Nobody denies that 2009 (and to be realistic, probably 2010) is going to be a tough year for financial-planners and intermediaries.  Even if we ignore the whole world of grief created for mortgage advisers by the imploding banking system, the knock-on impact on the rest of us is simply enormous.

There's no denying the harsh reality: we are unlikely to see a queue of potential investors, knocking on our door, begging us to help them invest, or start a pension.  But, to be perfectly clear - if this was our business model, then it was always destined for failure.

In the present market, those intermediaries who are predominantly dependent upon the next transaction will fail.  And, frighteningly, there's still quite a few of these ageing dinosaurs around.

This year - perhaps more so than in recent time - our success as financial-planners will be dependent entirely upon how effectively we communicate with existing and potential clients.  Traditionally, this has not been a skill that accountants and IFAs excel at.  At 2020 Financial Services, we have spent the last few years trying to get this message across to our own Members, and have provided a series of quick and easy marketing resources (the '2009 Instant Marketing Kit' has been updated with new material again).

Clearly, a marketing strategy can involve all sorts of activity.  There's a lot we can help our Members with, in terms of effective planning, but here is a quick checklist of the kinds of issues you should be working through:

Have you worked out the kinds of marketing activity which you do the best, enjoy the most, and are best suited to your business?	Y/N
Have you picked a maximum of five activities you would like to focus on over a defined period of time?	Y/N
Are you now putting these activities into practice, at a frequency that depends upon your business targets?	Y/N
Do you have systems in place to ensure follow-up?	Y/N
Do you keep track of your results, so you have a clear picture of what is effective and what is not?	Y/N
Do you need to do something differently?	Y/N
How much do referrals from satisfied clients mean to you?	Y/N

Financial-planners have a message which is unique, distinctive, compelling and delivers real value to clients who are aware that they have real financial needs.  What are you doing to get that message across?