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1 Six social media tips for financial advisers Page 1 of 5 Become a member Login Home News FOFA Insurance Accounting Appointments Investment Management Financial Planning Superannuation Profit and Losses Taxation Professional Development Toolbox Register for CPD Points SMSF Essentials 2012 Asset Allocation TV Analysis Top 100 Dealer Groups Fund Manager of the Year Adviser Choice Risk Awards Boutique Fund Managers Tools and Guides Research Review Rate the Raters Salary Survey Careers News Client Stories Planner Profiles Career Development Jobs Subscribe Events for ipad Super Review Super Review for ipad SMSF Essentials SMSF Essentials for ipad Women in Financial Services Home/ Analysis/ Financial Planning/ 2013/ Six social media tips for financial advisers Six social media tips for financial advisers 17 September, 2013 Richard Dunkerley 0comments Enter your address... to get delivered to your inbox Go

2 Six social media tips for financial advisers Page 2 of 5 Tweet 31 2 Like 12 Latest from Analysis Finding the right inflation-plus products for your clients Australia defying global index funds trend for now Matching clients' risk insurance needs with solutions The retirement conundrum: challenging investment convention The regulatory obligations that impact your planning business For those advisers aspiring to greater things, two recent pieces of research may contain the insights they need to drive their business further, according to Zurich s Richard Dunkerley. A week after we revealed the extent to which advisers were adopting mobile technology and social media at a rate much faster than the overall community, we were excited when our latest partnership with the AFA and the Beddoes Institute bore fruit in the form of the Trusted Adviser whitepaper. This whitepaper, based on over 500 client interviews, quantified the extent to which Australia s leading advisers are trusted by their clients, and more importantly quantified the business benefits of achieving such status. The whitepaper also found that technical expertise, qualifications and experience are mere hygiene factors these days, and what clients truly value most in their adviser are their interpersonal skills; sometimes called soft skills but in a modern context defined as emotional intelligence (or EQ). These superior interpersonal skills, identified by 82 per cent of clients surveyed as the attributes they most value in their adviser, comprise: communication, rapport building, caring, understanding needs, listening and empathy. Although these two studies were independent of each other, combining the insights from both makes for an extremely powerful competitive advantage. Like 936 Biiiiig congratulations to the finalists in the Women in Financial Services Awards - we're very proud of you all! Put simply, these advisers who are able to harness the power of new media to exhibit their EQ may well grab a head-start over their peers as we head into a new era of consumer empowerment. So how exactly can you demonstrate your EQ through social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter and through the latest mobile technology such as smart phones and tablets? 1. Put yourself in your clients shoes from the outset and think mobile first Facebook social plugin 7 November at 20:58 The Yellow Pages is a product of a bygone era; today your prospects will find out about you via Google, and then in turn via your website and your social media presence. We are almost at the tipping point of more online activity being done via mobile devices than via desktops and laptops.

3 Six social media tips for financial advisers Page 3 of 5 The implications of this? Think about employing the mobile first philosophy when designing your online presence. At the time of writing, very few advisers have optimised their website for smartphones. Doing so makes a massive positive difference to your accessibility and user experience. The first advisers to do this will steal a march on their peers. 2. Remember what is important to clients, every step of the way Leading advisers all rate highly on technical expertise and experience. It s why clients decide they need advice, but it s not how they choose an adviser. As the whitepaper proved, clients are interested in the real you, the person behind the desk. And yet the landing pages of most adviser websites focus on all the technical detail (qualifications, experience, services offered). This misses the point of what clients are looking for. Think about this as your opportunity to speed date, and share content that focuses on the real you; why you do what you do, your interests outside of your business, your philosophy on life. Tweets The Govt looks to be moving to make changes to FOFA sooner rather than later # ausbiz # finance ow.ly/qbpm3 Congrats to the finalists in the Women in Financial Services Awards - we're very proud of you all! ow.ly/qbusc Expand smsfessentials: Changing # SMSF trustees can be tricky. Here's how to get it right # invest ow.ly/qbotq Tweet Follow Not all clients will suit all advisers (and vice versa). We're on Follow Cutting to the chase and focusing on what s important can make relationship building much more efficient If you are one of the 70 per cent of advisers already using LinkedIn, this point is particularly crucial, as it has implications for the way you maintain your LinkedIn profile. What s important to clients informs the way they search, meaning your profile should be keywordfriendly and exhibit the real you, rather than just a laundry list of your job titles and qualifications. 3. How to show you care The massive uptake in usage of social media has undoubtedly been fuelled by the growth in mobile technology which has made it easier than ever before to connect. But beware, many mobile versions of these social platforms cut out some of the niceties. On LinkedIn for example, an invitation to connect sent from the mobile app will automatically use the default message I d like to connect, which is about as personal as a bucket of cold water. If you care enough to connect, you should care enough to craft a personalised message about why you want to connect, which means using the full version of LinkedIn. Similarly, thank every new twitter follower you accumulate (at least every genuine one!), and open up your website to comment to show the value you place on your client s feedback. 4. Prove you are listening One of the most basic listening skills involves playing back a conversation, perhaps asking questions that demonstrate you have been paying attention and are interested in what the other person has said. In a social media context this means engaging in two-way conversation, rather than simply using social as a one-way broadcast channel. Think of it as a legitimate communication platform, the same as or the telephone. Participate in group discussions, share content, share opinions. When social media guru and author Scott Stratten spoke at this year s MDRT meeting in Philadelphia he said the only metric that mattered to him was that 75 per cent of his tweets were actually replies to tweets from his thousands of followers. It shows he s listening, and cares enough to carry on the conversation. 5. Empathy Empathy can mean a lot of things; in a social media context it can mean tailoring your content to your audience. Latest comments Most read Tony Hi Guys, I would not be surprised if Pez is also Olive. It appears that the Unions/ISA have a team of bloggers that are employed to write... internet 37 minutes ago It's a shame you're not willing to be open minded about your own industry and are willing to... internet 1 hour ago Yogi 2 Olive, I'd go see your accountant. The accountant could of done the same appointment in 15 minutes based on hourly rate, saving you internet 1 hour ago Latest Jobs Experienced Para Planner - Melbourne/Sydney Anne Street Partners Melbourne 3 weeks ago

4 Six social media tips for financial advisers Page 4 of 5 In an ideal world, content would be totally personalised to an individual level and certainly the quality of smartphone video cameras these days makes it entirely practical to produce video content personalised to individual clients. Of course depending on your business this isn t always practical, but thinking in terms of your client segments may well be. 6. Be there when you are needed One of the most powerful case studies to come out of last year s SMILEYS awards for social media best practice involved an adviser who followed his clients on social media, and through monitoring a conversation stream between his client and an airline, determined his client s child was seriously ill. The adviser was able to get on the front foot and put the wheels in motion for a child trauma insurance claim, a demonstration of caring which was undoubtedly appreciated by his client who would have had other things on his mind at such a stressful time. There is much skepticism about the business value of social media, but one way to break down the barrier to acceptance is to show how the secrets to success in this new world are actually the same fundamental soft skills that have always driven success in the advice profession. Indeed, as the famous New York Yankees pitcher Peter Yogi Berra put it, it s déjà vu, all over again. Servicing Financial Adviser - Existing complex clients Terrington Consulting Adelaide 14 hours ago Senior Business Financial Adviser - CBD Terrington Consulting Perth 14 hours ago Insurance Professionals Terrington Consulting Adelaide 14 hours ago Mortgage Broker Business Banking Manager - SA Loan Writer - North Adelaide View more jobs» Richard Dunkerley is head of marketing for Zurich s life and investments business. Read more about: Association of Financial Advisers, financial advisers, Twitter, Zurich, LinkedIn, Beddoes Institute, Yellow Pages «Previous Next» Related articles How financial planners can make social media work for Advisers told not to overstep the mark on social media 0 Top tips for financial advice businesses 0 Ensuring the longterm success of your financial advice them 0 practice 0

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