With the industry's tendency to collectively belittle the effect of business marketing, Lucy Quinton investigates how going back to basics may just be exactly what the doctor ordered.
The old adage that marketing is about getting the right product to the right people at the right time and at the right price still holds true in the industry. But players still need to be looking for that extra little nudge to ensure they get the business rather than a competitor.
One adviser, Peter Chadborn, principal of CBK, says it is essential to differentiate from the competition. "Each adviser will be boasting their many years of experience, their guarantee of high levels of service and the fact that their independence means they can research the whole market. Very few clients will actually be bothered about this," he explains.
From a provider perspective, Mark Jones, protection products and actuarial manager at Friends Provident, says marketing help ranges from simple things such as sales support material to assisting with business plans and advising on direct-mail campaigns.
Friends Provident offers an electric toolkit that provides intermediaries with information on marketing activities and templates for campaign material.
Emma Walker, protection sales manager at Moneysupermarket.com, says a gap she has noticed in the market that appears to be on providers' radars is the support and help of how to put the provider products together with the advisers' business model - to assist with the ways to trade, maximise business and ensure compliance is understood.
online marketing
Over at paaleads.com, the retailer of leads sourced off Moneysupermarket.com, Vanessa Blount, head of the organisation, says: "We offer brokers ongoing marketing assistance, these include templates for emails offering introductions to clients, how to overcome common objections and also offer them the chance to talk to other advisers selling the same products."
Justin Harper, head of intermediary marketing strategy at LV=, says that when advisers go about marketing business lines the planning stage is the "key to success" and that there are numerous sources of advice and resources available to advisers. "Insurers, networks and support service providers can all help with relevant ideas and tools. In fact, the Chartered Institute of Marketing has a free online tool to help advisers create their own marketing plan," he adds.
Chadborn says that support from providers has a tendency to focus on improving knowledge and product awareness. While he admits that this can be useful if the firm is trying to improve its skill set in areas in which it may have little experience such as business protection, it does not necessarily help it understand how to enter that market in the first place.
In addition, he says networks offer some marketing ideas but they have a tendency to be generic. On a positive note, Chadborn says the best ideas tend to come from other like-minded IFAs sharing experience.
When it comes to problems, the market seems eager to lament the drawbacks of business marketing. Jones says he thinks the biggest problem for advisers would be finding the time to do marketing while servicing the existing client, while Walker thinks the biggest problem would include financial constraints, knowing how to target relevant segments of the market and the vast amount of competitors.
However, Blount says it is probably about how to tap into the increasing internet-savvy client market. It is very hard if not impossible to appear at the top of search-engine listings and, even if they do, this could prove costly. "They should, therefore, ensure that their website is aimed at their existing clients and look elsewhere to secure new business," she explains.
While the power of the internet should never be underestimated in the market when dealing with consumers, advisers would do well to take other ideas on board when marketing their business. They need to start thinking outside the box.
For example, Jones explains that, for larger businesses, there is a good chance they will have more money to spend and could consider adding printed advertising to the mix.
Regarding smaller businesses, he says it is important they understand that reputation is key to growing their business successfully. "The power of a word-of-mouth recommendation is priceless compared with the damage a dissatisfied client can do to their brand," Jones says.
When thinking and dealing with business marketing, Blount adds that on average a firm should look to be spending approximately 10% of revenue on advertising. "If they use this as a guide then they shouldn't go far wrong. Brokers should also be aware of brand awareness and should consider reciprocal business with another firm," she says.
Ian Thomas, head of marketing and communications at Sesame, says this figure sounds about right but urges advisers to remember that this percentage figure also equates to time and not just cost.
When marketing an adviser's business, the key appears to be not to punch above one's weight.
According to Chadborn: "A firm should only try to attract the type of business with which they are equipped to deal with based upon sales and experiences."
Thomas says there is a shift away from product selling to the value that a product brings. It is about what advisers do differently to bring added value. It goes back to what Jones was saying about the power of word of mouth. Thomas says: "Customers will instinctively come to you if you do this. It's not about selling but about developing relationships. It boils down to trust."
Jones says it is important, however, for advisers to know their customers and what they want and expect. He suggests advisers should ask consumers to complete questionnaires to gather data on them to ensure communications are timely and something the customer actually wants. "It's pointless contacting them if they delete your email or throw your marketing letters away without reading them," he explains.
self-promotion
Harper says the most important marketing advice is to "promote yourself because referrals and repeat-client business are some of the most effective marketing techniques".
In addition, Jones says that, if a certain venue attracts their target market, advisers could look to sponsor, for example, their local sports club. "Perimeter pitch advertising can be a very inexpensive way of reaching a large local demographic," he explains.
Another potential marketing area that advisers should explore is working closely in conjunction with the trade media, as Chadborn confesses: "It is the ultimate test of your knowledge and abilities".
Tackling the touchy and nervy issue of the press, Andrew Cook, protection marketing manager at Standard Life, says it is important for advisers to deal with bad press and communicate with consumers directly. "It is important to educate both advisers and customers about protection and combat the negative image created by bad press. One way of doing this is to discuss the range of options offered by protection cover, such as the rehabilitation service on income protection plans, which many people will be unaware of," he says.
"Protection is not a widely-perceived need for many. Therefore, unless the firm or adviser has a large marketing budget, the best way to address protection planning is to prove their value in other ways first, to earn respect and give protection messages a better chance of being well received," Chadborn says.
"Any marketing success will be short-lived if long-term trust and respect is not established. Advisers will see through providers' gloss if their overall proposition does not offer all-round quality in the same way that clients will see through advisers if they do not deliver an all-round quality service," Chadborn says.
Cook says, from Standard Life's perspective, it tends not to market through advisers but rather to them. "We respect that at the end of the day the adviser has to make a choice from a large number of products available so we need to make the best possible case to them," he says.
Going that extra mile for advisers certainly seems to do no harm for Standard Life in the goodwill stakes. "We also provide tools that advisers can use with customers. We know that won't necessarily mean that we get the business but it's worth the investment anyway," Cook suggests.
There needs to be a change of mindset in the industry. Companies need to stop looking at the pitfalls of business market as an excuse to put it off. With the market is as competitive as it is today, if advisers want to win consumer market share, it is no use just resting on their laurels and waiting for business to come their way. Proactivity rather than reactivity is the key issue if an adviser wants to pull through and win business. n
