Sales & Marketing for Professional Services

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Demonstrate Value And Prospects Will Choose You
by Tony Vidler        Smart advisers today make sure they are demonstrating their value to prospects.   Having a prospect who is interested enough to hear what you have to offer has always been a necessary step on the path to getting a client, and it obviously remains so today. However, who the prospect decides […]
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Do you want to be seen as independent? Then don’t make this BIG mistake…
by Tony Vidler        There is one really big mistake that many advisers who wish to be seen as fully independent make repeatedly.  By “independent”, I am not referring to a regulators interpretation of the word, but being an independent business which is not overtly aligned to one or product manufacturers.   Running an independent business, […]
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If you need more clients then you probably need different skills
by Tony Vidler        Financial advisers who need more clients need to be better marketers than salespeople in todays environment.  For most that means they probably need new, or more, skills.  Not more technical skills; more commercial skills.   While financial advisers have been figuring out how to get ever-more-compliant and deliver yet-more-paper over the […]
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Knowing Your Professional Purpose Is Your Game Changer
by Tony Vidler        All the regulatory change has many advisers seriously thinking about how to position for the future, and how to lift performance in a time of squeezed practice margins.  Many are stuck in their existing paradigm of doing business though, and struggle to accept things like remuneration models changing rapidly, long term shifts […]
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Should you give a sly kickback to referrers?
by Tony Vidler        One of the ethical challenges for professionals is how to appropriately recognise the value of a great referrer or Centre-Of-Influence. A little kickback on the sly? Hardly professional. Don’t talk about it and pretend there is no commercial significance? Not great for maintaining trust long term.   It doesn’t have to become […]
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Details Matter: They Can Double The Return On Your Marketing
by Tony Vidler        Details matter. That attitude was a significant contributor to Apple’s success.  It was the centrepiece of Steve Jobs approach to design.  It made him (and Apple) swags of money.   While beautiful design is not really the forte of professional services firms, we do share something in common with Apple back when […]
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How to Position For The Right Referrals
by Tony Vidler        Getting referrals is difficult enough for many, but getting the right referrals is even tougher. It’s always nice to get a referral of course, but it doesn’t help if we do get a referral and it is someone that we just can’t deliver great value to.   So we do want to […]
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If you want people to buy your advice, then dumb it down!
by Tony Vidler        When it comes to getting someone to buy your advice one of the best tips I can give is “dumb it down- but don’t treat them like dummies“.   There is a big difference between “dumbing it down” and treating people like dummies.  The first is about simplifying the message in order […]
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You are a professional? That doesn’t mean I trust you.
by Tony Vidler        You’re a professional. Should I trust you? Nope. As a consumer, a user of professional services myself, I’m tired of hearing from professionals that they should be trusted just because they are labelled professionals.  Let’s face it; many carry the label “professional” only by association anyway. The industry they are in […]
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Want to Cross-Sell? Then put a bit of planning into it…
by Tony Vidler        We all know that cross-selling services and products to clients is critical to maximising the value of the client relationship as well as ensuring you are delivering full value to your clients.   So why is it so often neglected?   In part cross-selling is skipped because so many professional advisers […]
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