Omni Channel

Sep 17, 2019

Always Connected

Omni-Channel The Next Big Thing…

I find it refreshing when technology supports  our branding message and our marketing solutions. 

 

Vendors aren’t necessarily evil…

This is why you may have to kill the messenger… if technology vendors don’t bring you opportunities to gather the metrics that matter to you rather than the data they want to collect for themselves (they call it critical feedback) disguised as ROI… You may want to kill the messenger and hide from technology. Before you run and hide or piss away your tech budget understand this, the endeavor of gathering quality ROI (Return on Investment) through omni-channels is entirely up to you… not the vendors.

The Medium is the Message

To remain relevant you must have a consistent message of value across multiple mediums. This is now known as an omni-channel opportunity. (I wish I’d thought of that because it sounds cool.) To remain relevant and become irreplaceable your “omni-channel”  message must be working for you in a tangible fashion to gather the feedback required for the sustainability of your business. It is up to you to have a designed system in place to gather the metrics that matter to you before you implement the tactical offerings of technology vendors. (Simplified: you need your metrics not their metrics) If you don’t have a defined strategic foundation in place (Tangible Alpha)  you are likely to fall into the trappings of tactical rhetoric disguised as strategic solutions. These tactics bring with them vendor measurements of your ROI  which are not consistent with  measurements required by you for your success.

Consistency of Message versus Technology…

The advisor in the future will craft a message of value that resonates tangibly throughout multiple mediums. By doing so, the advisor places herself in position to leverage technology.

 

Technology should be empowering you but often times it is tying you down and holding you back… Building a strategic foundation through intentional value design (Tangible Alpha) allows you to implement tactical technology solutions that help you gather the metrics required by you to create a sustainable business. By owning the words that define your value and building your Advisor Alpha through the Tangible Alpha progression you will be building a client-centered message of value that resonates throughout the omni-channels of our world.  Build your strategic foundation first, then you can more securely introduce “technology as a solution” in such areas as “omni-channel” marketing. (I’m doing air quotes for those last two… try it it feels good.)

 

Drop the “value prop”

The catch phrase vs. Tangible Alpha (branding for financial advisors)

You can’t afford to be associated with a company catchphrase in the digital age of transparency… In the 7 seconds your clients and prospects are giving you to impress them, the catchphrase (Value Proposition) is an automatic bounce. The catchphrase is a client experience killer and a nail in your coffin when prospecting potential clients.

Consistency of the message of the advisor’s client-centered value throughout omni-channels (multiple mediums) is a priority oveMediumr the types of technology the advisor will use to create her/his digital portfolio (footprint)… all of the technology in the world will not fix your clusterf%ck of a message when it has no consistency throughout multiple mediums (omni-channel). Advisors in the future understand that omni-channel branding isn’t just for prospecting… it is also for the 24 hour client experience (to the pocket), which is why your message is the medium “the medium is the message” and you must be able to extract as much quality data from your medium (channel) as the amount and quality of information the medium is extracting from you (information you are putting in the medium). Otherwise… it’s simply a waste of your resources. “Get your shit together” and drop the catchphrases (total contradiction). But seriously, get your shit together. Because tech is only going to get faster and more exponential as time marches on. 

 

The ROI on omni-channel marketing begins and ends with a consistent message of your value and that value begins and ends with a client-centered purpose.  

~I said that

 

Your Strategic Foundation

Without crafting a strategic foundation to implement tactical technology solutions that take you to the “next level” of omni-channel marketing, you will become hamstrung by the same vendors who are claiming to empower your business.

Without discovering defining and designing your Tangible Alpha, your ROI is no more than a wish… in which the metrics of success can only be measured by the vendor who sold you the pipe-dream. Build your own foundation… gather your own metrics of success… own your Tangible Alpha before you enter into any technological solution that claims to be a strategy. (Because technology is not a strategy… it’s simply a tactical concept keenly disguised as a strategic solution generally sold to advisors who have no idea what to expect in return.)

You must be able to walk the digital talk across all mediums and become more than a catchphrase… In the digital age of transparency you can and must do this by design.

~ I said that too

What are omni-channel tech vendors selling?

Vendors are going to try to sell you a Maserati with no engine… the engine (your Tangible Alpha) is an afterthought to the vendors of omni-channel tactical solutions… it’s not necessarily a bad thing… it’s just the way it is… there is a hot new buzzword that vendors will be selling you… they really have no clue how to make it work for you… and if you don’t get in now,  you will miss this opportunity… but you are smart… you know fear of missing out is an unnecessary risk. There must be a solidified reason behind implementing technology for the purposes of omni-channel marketing in the digital age of transparency.

I find it off-putting when technology vendors want to sell us something for the sake of technology.

The reason is this, there has never been a greater opportunity in the history of the world to become a successful financial advisor. Omni-channel marketing and the technology that comes with it shouldn’t scare you away from the greatest opportunity available in the greatest business in the world.

Transparency is the friend of the advisor in the future… by empowering your business with Tangible Alpha you will be creating a business development foundation that allows you to develop sustainable growth by leveraging transparency. You will become an Advisor in the future by collecting the metrics that matter to you.

Quick Recap…

Omni-channel is the new buzzword for marketing and branding… don’t fear technology… you may want to kill the messenger but you don’t have to… make your advisor alpha tangible to build a strategic foundation in which you  can leverage technology to gather the metrics that matter to you. Tangible Alpha isn’t the only way to accomplish success…  it is the simplest, most effective, proven (40 years in the making) way for advisors to gather invaluable data for the sustainability of their businesses.

(If you are unfamiliar with the man in the picture you are missing out Marshall McLuhan)

Keep it Tangible,

Grant

 

Are You Omnipresent?

Discover How

Drop the Value Prop

Sep 13, 2019

Your Words Matter

You have to own the words to own your Alpha… otherwise you’re just speaking with nonsensical catchphrases and corporate jargon.

(Props to AVAYA for this snarky promotional piece)

 

Catchphrases Don't Work

 

 

 

 

Own The Words

Advisor Cookie-Cutter Content

Sep 9, 2019

Own The Words

Why your cookie-cutter social media posts are killing your brand and your business

The Advisor in the future must demand more independence when it comes to sharing the behavior they can promise, the experiences they have encountered and their opinions about their profession.

To remain relevant and become irreplaceable the Advisor in the future can’t continue to rely on the cookie-cutter content that (literally) every other Advisor is publishing. Your content can’t be straight off the shelf.

If you continue to post the company message masked as your Advisor Alpha, the standard by which your value is measured will be controlled by the firm (the industry) and not you… this is a fatal mistake.

You can’t afford to become known for the company catchphrase.

Your very existence depends on your ability to differentiate yourself from your competition (in-house too). You must be able to remind your clients of your authentic relevant value while at the same time exuding your Alpha for ideal prospects to discover. This is a 24/7 endeavor.

You can’t continue to rely on industry standards to deliver your Alpha for this simple reason… your clients and prospects will never be able to differentiate you from your competition (Price becomes an issue in the absence of value).

In A Robo-World

In the digital age of transparency and in the era of the 24 hour client experience it is critical that your value is distinguishable as being special. This is your livelihood… if you get complacent with your reputation by trusting the industry to define your value then you will be replaced by the industry.

If they need you more than you need them you are irreplaceable. If you need them more than they need you you are replaceable.

You can make your Advisor Alpha tangible regardless of where your desk sits

If you can’t publish your beliefs about the industry, document your experience and make statements about the behavior you can promise then you will be replaced.

You must become known for the quality of your curiosity... This is about more than asking clients great questions… this includes asking your firm questions about compliance and the parameters of your business as it pertains to your brand. Don’t leave your reputation in the hands of others to define… Own the words, own your Alpha, own your brand and own your destiny.

 

Content That Matters

Own Your Destiny

This Is My Filter

Aug 20, 2019

My Digital Filter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is my filter, it belongs to me.

It is not a sales funnel.

I do not sell products in a vacuum.

I am not interested in trying to be all things to all people.

I work only with ideal like-minded people.

This is my filter.

It keeps out the time wasters, the energy suckers, and the complaining riff-raff.

I am not here to interrupt.

I am not interested in a drip marketing or lead development.

I am here to educate and inform my ideal audience.

This is my filter.

I publish my purpose, principles, and opinions.

Prospects can’t get in if they don’t qualify… Nor would they want to.

This is my filter.

I make my alpha tangible for the world to see and hear.

I do well by doing good.

I have published my experiences and expertise.

This is my filter.

I promise my behavior and in return my trusted clients promise their behavior to me.

My experiences and my expertise have helped my design my model of wisdom available for digital consumption.

This is my filter.

I have a deep understanding of how my value makes my clients feel.

I am known for the quality of my curiosity.

This is my filter.

Clients that come to me for discounts will leave me for discounts.

I never discount my value.

This is my filter.

My wisdom and my value are omnipresent 24/7 for the world to consume.

I have an accountability model that earns trust quickly.

I work with great people, I fire bad clients.

This is my filter.

To remain relevant I am in complete control the perception of my value.

My value is defined by me, and nobody else.

This truly is, nobody’s business but mine… and this is my filter.

 

Do you have a filter?

 

DESIGN YOUR FILTER
I need a filter to survive in a robo-world

 

 

 

 

24/7 Feedback in a Robo-World

Aug 16, 2019

Metrics That Matter

Feedback is Happening 24/7

Your Metrics

  • In a digital omnichannel world, feedback is happening 24/7 with likes, comments, DM’s, social shares, etc…

  • It feels like there is a new way to give and receive digital feedback every day. 

  • In order to gather the metrics that move your business you must be able to ask great questions and get honest responses. 

  • Your clients must give you honest feedback to become trusted partners… you need trusted partners as clients to survive and thrive in a robo world. 

To cultivate trust in a digitally transparent world, simply follow the Infinite Advisor Alpha Progression.

Get and Keep Ideal Clients

Aug 14, 2019

Earning Trust in a Robo-World

In the Future…

How will financial advisors get and keep ideal clients?

This is a walk-through for the first six micro-learning modules of Infinite Advisor Alpha

  1. Purpose  You must lead with a client centered purpose to remain relevant in the digital age.
  2. Principles  Your principles must be documented to create tangible accountability in a robo-world.
  3. Opinions  You must distinguish your authority as a trusted source of wisdom.
  4. Experiences  Creating tangible touch-points, that your clients and ideal prospects can associate with, is imperative for your survival.
  5. Expertise  Your expertise must be defined by you… in words that your ideal audience can understand and appreciate.
  6. Behavior  You can’t promise returns… you must promise your behavior to survive in a robo-world.

 

Building a solid foundation of trust is a two-way street in the digital era of financial services. Not only must you convey your wisdom and integrity 24/7… but your digital marketing campaigns must be relied upon to filter in ideal trusted, like-minded prospects… while simultaneously reminding your current clientele of your unique authentic value… 24/7.

If you are a returning advisor, this should encourage you to keep moving down the right path…

If you haven’t taken the plunge, please feel free to dip a toe into our pool of wisdom. Our sole purpose is to help good people get better… every day.

Enjoy the journey,

Grant