Wealthy investors want to be engaged

A May 2010 survey by ByAllAccounts found that advisors to wealthy investors aren’t making the most of these relationships – and lack of communication is the real problem. Here are the actions advisors, and firms, can take to help best serve these (and all) clients.

Ask for referrals. All firms preach this, but the survey of wealthy investors found that 75% of them haven’t been asked to refer their colleagues to their advisor. In the era of LinkedIn and Facebook this is the low hanging fruit that everyone should be reaching for. Consider too that nearly 60% of LinkedIn users have high personal incomes and hold executive-level or consultant positions. If you aren’t building your networks online and leveraging those relationships you are leaving money on the table.

Actively keep in touch. Only 38% of investors say their advisors proactively reach out to them when market changes could impact their portfolios – and it’s hurting client retention. One third of investors have changed advisors since 2008, and 25% of the rest of wealthy advisors are dissatisfied with or neutral towards their current advisor. Again social networks can help. Look at the advisors on AdvisorTweets.com. Over 400 advisors are tweeting to clients and prospects about the market. If you aren’t tweeting, who are your clients following? Or even worse who WILL THEY be following?

Stop shouting, start engaging. We used to think about marketing as a chest-thumping activity that ensured we were always top of mind with prospects. Guess what. The old way doesn’t work anymore. Marketing today is about active engagement. Social networks are a key part of this change, allowing you to come out from behind the megaphone.

Think your clients aren’t using social networks? Think again. Another recent post revealed research showing those who use social networks are very interested in hearing from advisors: 63% of Twitter users would pay attention to investment tweets; 46% of YouTube users and 41% of Facebook users would seek investment information from these communities.

The question you should ask yourself right now is this: If you’re not engaging with your clients and prospects, who is?