"We don't have a choice on whether we do social media, the question is how well we do it?" - Erik Qualman

In the present day digital world, social media is the next revolution. Social media is not a fad. It is the fundamental shift in the way we communicate. 50% of the time spent on mobile Internet is on Facebook. It receives 1 billion visits in a day. 300 hours of video is uploaded on YouTube in a minute. The circulation of newspapers is drastically coming down, because technology and social media offers a cheaper and effective method to spread knowledge.

Social media caters to literally everything, from entertainment to arts, to automobiles, to furniture, to education. Some businesses are completely dependent upon social media, while others are enhancing their's through it. Financial Advisory business also needs social media to take it to the next level.

We know the fact, that the share of the Mutual Funds industry in India is slim compared to the traditional investments industry. We also know the fact that there is a lot of population that can be tapped. But we are still following the traditional methods of seeking clients around the public offices and grumbling for not being able to bring in leads. There are a lot of investors, but we have to reach them through new ways. And social media is one such key way to reach clients...

How can social media be used?
Financial advisors are increasingly using social media for many reasons. The four primary reasons are as follows...

• Create & share content - as communication channel for sharing promotional, educational and other information contents
• Acquire leads - to attract leads and generate business. This can be through direct marketing activities (paid) and/or as result of sharing content and engaging users
• Build brand - to create awareness, trust and image for business
• Other reasons - learn more about markets /products, understand client needs better, engage with audience, gather suggestions & feedbacks, be active on industry forums, etc.

The above can be achieved as social media platforms enables advisors to...

• Build new connections /network
• Reach wider audience
• Influence opinions /decisions
• Engage with others
• Showcase you & your views
• Get likes / recommendations

Social Media has distinct portals which attract different kind of audience and offer distinct features to advisors. Some of the most popular social media sites are …

• Linkedin: Linkedin is a professional networking site. You may create a Linkedin profile and share articles /content /opinions on forums. Linkedin can also be used for creating your network of clients /prospects. One though has to be careful in keeping your profile professional and active to capture eye balls.
• Facebook: Facebook is the most popular social media platform for creating friends and sharing content. Facebook can be effectively used by advisors for creating your business's profile and sharing content. Facebook can also be used for targeted marketing or promotional activities on a paid basis.
• Twitter: Twitter is a popular way of sharing messages / links and updates to your followers. Advisors may create Twitter profiles and create followers for share good articles / updates, etc. to them.
• You Tube: You tube is another popular social media site which allows you to create your own profile and channel. It is the most popular way of sharing / storing media files. As an advisor if you wish to record and share videos of yours or any other promotional videos, You Tube is the way to go...

Good Practices:
Though social media can prove to be very effective in promoting advisory business, yet it should be used wisely. If it can make you, it can destroy you as well if you do not follow some unstated rules or good practices....

• Don't mix personal accounts with business accounts. It is recommended to have a separate account for your business and not put personal content / posts / followers or friends on that account
• Be active with managing your account. It can even hurt your image if you have negative comments /feedbacks from aggrieved clients of yours. Make sure you have relevant controls in place and regular monitoring /admin of the accounts
• Be careful in posting content which is original (under your name), relevant, meaningful, accurate, useful and timely for your business / clients.
• Do not bombard your clients with too many posts or messages as they may get irritated. Personal messages and request to connect /follow should be carefully done.
• Do not post personal comments, any biased views or comments on any political, social, religious or gender sensitive news. This may attract negative feedback and image for you.

With an incredible product on offer, our charismatic persona and our alluring sales skills, we often can't figure out why the investor is skeptical about me and my product. We are seasoned performers, well prepared for unordinary questions and situations, we follow our customary principles of advising. We focus on overall Financial Planning of the investor, Goal based investing, Age and Risk tolerance of the investor, and advise accordingly. Yet, sometimes the end result – the investor isn't convinced.

The investor lacks conviction probably because your perception of his needs is at odds from his. A common mistake that many advisors commit is they advise according to their own judgment, although in the best interest of the investor, but often omit noticing what exactly is going on in the Investor's mind, what are his real issues. The primary need of the investor could be utmost safety of principal even if it is at the cost of returns, and you are trying convince him for Equity. He will never fall for it since his basic requirements are not being met. A financial Advisor is a solution provider, but what's the point of offering a solution to an unknown problem. There is a gap between your understanding and his state of mind. To bridge this gap, you need to step into his shoes and think like him to understand his concerns and preferences.

You need to understand the thought process of investors, what exactly do they want in return for their money. When there is parity between his views and your perception of his views, the end result will be quality advice.

So, how do you achieve this parity?

The simplest method to getting the right answers is through asking the right questions. Spend some time with the investor and ask a lot of questions. Apart from the direct rapid fire, try to gauge his risk appetite by observing his reactions in fictitious financial situations. Ask him about his personal life, his goals, is he willing to compromise on some, what's his priority list, etc. A tête-à-tête with the client can erase many misconceptions that you may otherwise have, and help you disseminate the desired solution.

Try to understand his reason especially during volatile periods. You feel that there is no need to panic and the investor is overreacting, but here you actually need to understand why is he reacting this way. Try to analyse the sudden turn of events from the investor's point of view. Money is a sensitive issue, he might have some concerns, some doubts which may need clarification. Only when you substitute yourself in the investor's position, you'll be able to rightly identify the doubts and provide a satisfying explanation.

The investor may have a number of questions and anxieties revolving in his mind, it's essential to ascertain them and advise accordingly.

Sometimes the issues that are holding him back are small. The client may have doubts about the offeror, in case of a Mutual Fund he might be skeptical about the AMC's brand name, and may be simply looking for a more familiar name for investing. So when you know the problem is so simple, it'll be very easy for you to convince him by sharing some success facts about the AMC, performance history, quality of the portfolio, expertise of the fund manager, etc.

A client may be looking forward to adequate and not extraordinary performance, but is not ready to compromise of the safety of his capital. Another investor may be a little aggressive in nature and the primary purpose of investing is soaring returns. Once you thoroughly understand the risk reward preferences of the investor, you'll have superior solutions to put on to the table.

He may have numerous apprehensions pertaining to his goals, hoping he won't have to compromise later, ease of liquidity, like what if he may have to withdraw the money before the advisable investment period, he may be reluctant to technology or may be finding the investment procedure complicated, etc.

So the crux is, the investor's mind is an ocean of questions and anxieties, they can be really petty or can be pretty intricate on the other hand. The central idea behind this article is you should never base your advice on assumptions. It's crucial to analyze and understand the Investor's Mind and Advise Right.

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The customer is king for every business. Retaining the customer is often more challenging and herculean than acquiring one. The latter becomes futile if you cannot succeed at the former. Most corporations today invest in customer relationship management so that they can effectively oversee their relationship with the customers at every point.

Acquiring new customers is very important for our business to grow. And it involves a lot of time and money. And there are existing customers as well, some have invested in SIP, some in debt funds and then there are the ones who have invested in lump sum ELSS'. The challenge here is to manage all previous, new and prospective customers effectively.

As an advisor, you can follow the following techniques to manage your client relationships better:

1. Conduct Regular Meetings: Meet your customers regularly. It is very important to meet your customers at regular intervals. This will enable you to build on relationship and also get to know more about the customer, to review investments and find new business opportunities. You would be able to effectively judge whether he is happy or otherwise and an opportunity for you to communicate effectively to address any concerns or important updates. Typically one should personally meet all clients at least every year but this frequency can go up to six months or even quarterly for your preferred / important clients.
2. Manage Leads Effectively: Don't ever take leads lightly. Every new lead is a prospective long term relationship. It is very important to track and manage all the leads properly. Your relationship with the lead is very fragile at this stage and effective tracking and timely communication techniques can help nurture leads and get better conversion ratios.
3. Communicate productively: You should very timely communicate all important information related to client's portfolio and investments like policy / SIP renewal, FMP maturity, etc. Communications for product awareness / promotion should ideally also be done by targeting the right customer groups. One way of communicating effectively is by sending custom e-mails to clients so that he/she feels that you have thought about the customer before sending the email. There are today multiple means on communication and use of digital tools should be done effectively. It is important that the relevant info reaches the client on time, since it will lose its significance beyond a particular point.
4. Know Customer Insights: The importance of customer insights cannot be overlooked. Right information about the preferences, product exposures, interests, family background, professional info, etc. go a long way in finding right solutions and business opportunities for your clients. As a business practice, a financial advisor must maintain all such info such that it is readily available whenever you need it.
5. Keep a personal touch: The power of personal touch can't be overlooked. Wishing your client on his birthday or anniversary may seem trivial but can contribute enormously to building relations. A personalized message for each customer each year can nurture your bond with him. But doing this for a large customer base can be challenging. Hence proper tools should be used for reminding and also for sending your best wishes with a personal touch.

We understand the importance of customer relationship management and also the techniques which can help us build relations with our clients. However, with changing times and increasing customer database, it might become troublesome to cater to all the clients and follow all ideas narrated above for each client. There is a tendency to mess things up even if well started. So how can we be better organized and empowered to have better customer relationship management practices? How can I manage all this work and information easily? What tools should I use?

NJ CRM
The answer to this is technology in the form of NJ CRM. With NJ CRM, you can manage almost all your customer relationship management related activities easily and effectively. NJ CRM offers many exciting features and tools that empowers you to practice time management, lead management, communication management and sales management related work on a single window. NJ CRM is integrated with your NJ business in your Partner Desk, is simple to operate and is designed keeping in mind your requirements. Please do visit your Partner Desk and start using NJ CRM to better manage and grow your business from today!

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