“In my last article, I discussed the importance of positioning before a meeting takes place. This article continues this theme before we move into the meat of the actual meeting.
Your messaging extends beyond your “official” company communications to your entire public persona. It all has to fit together.
Constantly ask yourself: What does your website, messaging, social media, etc. say about you? Is your self-presentation, even on non-official platforms, consistent with the way you see yourself, and the way you want prospects and clients to see you?
By communicating who you are consistently, you will attract clients who are right for you, and filter out ones looking for something different.
Less is more
Everything you put on your website can affect your meeting. That means you have to make sure that everything on your website supports the service you want to offer.
The good news is that you don’t have to create a bunch of content for this to work. In fact, most people should start by shortening and simplifying their website and messaging.
The traditional advisor’s website says that they are all things to all people. But you shouldn’t be all things to all people—you should be you, to the people who are looking for you.
Here’s a simple tangible step to start the process of making your messaging consistent: Take your website, whether it’s one page or twenty pages, and take out anything irrelevant. Cut all of the stuff about investments and rolling stock performances, and “we can do your mortgages, your life insurance, your investments, and your pensions” etc.
To start with, trim your website to one page that says something to the effect of: “I help people understand what they want from their life, and I work with them to help them achieve it. It might sound a bit corny, but let’s have a chat and see if I can help you.” With that simple message and a “call me if you want to talk more” button, your website is 90% of the way there.
Any other content is really just to filter out the people who aren’t going to be right for you (such as people who don’t expect to pay fees).
Remember that sending no message is better than sending the wrong message. Conveying the right message is obviously the goal, but saying the wrong things can hurt you more than saying nothing.
Everything matters
All elements of your messaging matter: The pictures on your website or social media platforms. The way you confirm meetings. The correspondence that you send out to people.
Find your message and stick to it in every detail across all communications, paying special attention to:
- Your website
- Social media
- Blogs you write
- Email correspondence
You are who you are. Put your whole authentic self out there. You have to know that who you are is more than good enough for just about any prospective client.
But who are you?
In the next article will move us in to the actual meeting.
In the next article we’ll begin to look at the actual meeting, but in the meantime if you’d like to find out more about what we do, then follow the Academy on Twitter @fptrainingacad. You can also check out our website at fptraining.academy or listen to our podcast, financiallifecoach on iTunes.