us to address these two things that are core to our existence. Business will be smart to learn to leverage this natural expression to increase productivity and employee retention. I would argue that the ability to write and share (responsibly of course) actually improve the quality of people’s lives. These are not merely fads, but an introduction of a platform that allows us to be more. They allow us to better manifest who we are. They give us a clearer understanding of ourselves, and others.
As you know, business, like much in life, is built on relationships. Sales as a profession is based on the ability to create relationships that are valuable to both parties, and to do that over and over again. The more the better. The salesperson who can do this most effectively is rewarded financially, as well as with the quality of their life. Those that fail at this task, live a life that is much harder as a salesperson. This particular profession has a big standard deviation.
Salespeople today, specifically financial advisors, are still in the business of creating relationships though methods by which they do that are becoming problematic. The consumer, in general, is becoming increasingly numb to previously used sales methodologies, as I have mentioned. Advertising and sales messages are everywhere. Here is an excerpt from a piece by William C. Taylor from Fast Company, in December of 2007, where he talks about ”Permission Marketing,” and Seth Godin, Internet Marketing Pioneer.
“Marketing is a contest for people’s attention. Thirty years ago, people gave you their attention if you simply asked for it. You’d interrupt their TV program, and they’d listen to what you had to say. You’d put a billboard on the highway, and they’d look at it. That’s not true anymore. This year, the average consumer will see or hear 1 million marketing messages - that’s almost 3,000 per day. No human being can pay attention to 3,000 messages every day.”
Financial advisors perhaps struggle with this problem for two reasons:
1 Intense regulation of communication with the public, which originated in a time when the above wasn’t the case. Advisors are forced to use antiquated methods to build their business.
2 The decision as to whether or not to use a particular advisor is a decision that involves the highest level of “trust transferring,” because of the considerable downside to ineptitude.
While the regulation that governs communication with the public has been updated over the years, regulating bodies are still trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, in my opinion. New media often falls into several of the existing categories of communication, all of which have different requirements with respect to approval, monitoring, and archiving. The most ironic part, in my opinion, is illustrated through a personal experience. I was recently asked to remove iTunes from my enterprise PC. I went to the regulatory bodies website to find out what rule iTunes may be violating and found my answer in a podcast. Brilliant.
That said, the companies and advisors that will rise to the top will be the ones who can figure out how to employ these technologies, or versions of them, despite the regulations. I am not advocating breaking the rules. The regulators will be forced to evolve their regulation, or companies and innovators will find ways to satisfy them. These people will be the winners. As you can see, these tools and trends are not merely funny words, they are real things that connect with us on a very human level. If institutions will adopt and develop the technologies to enable their advisors to use methods of creating relationships that are far more efficient and effective, this will allow them to spend more time on their practice. More time doing the thing that they told the client they would do. Raising the level of advice and guidance, and ultimately giving the clients a better experience that will generate referrals. It is entirely possible to create these workflows, checks and balances, and digital protocols to satisfy the standards.
Word of mouth advertising has been around for centuries and remains the most trusted way to create a relationship. Institutions need to find a way, now, to satisfy the regulatory standards that are prohibiting them from enabling their advisors to operate in this manner. The institution that adopts this mentality will benefit greatly in terms of client satisfaction and market share.
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