Avoid the summer slowdown by using social media

If you are anything like most of the advisers I coach, your brain has recently switched to summer mode — kids are out of school, vacations are planned and everything seems just a little more relaxed. You are accepting the "let's just follow-up after the summer" excuse from clients, and you aren't pushing quite as hard to get in front of new prospects. For many advisers, this leads to a dip in productivity or production over the summer months. It doesn't have to be this way. Many of my adviser clients have some of their biggest months between now and Labor Day. How? They use the summer months, when the majority of people are in a pretty good mood, to stay connected with clients and actively look for opportunities to engage with new prospects. Here is how social media can help. SOCIAL EVENTS Summer is naturally a time of engagement and interaction. There are BBQs to host and parties to attend. Charitable organizations and networking groups plan summer bashes to help members unwind and socialize. All of these present tremendous opportunities to your practice. While making your way around an event proclaiming you are a financial adviser is, surely, the quickest way to have guests moving in the opposite direction, you can strategically use these events to bolster your business. For each event you attend, make it a goal to meet two or three interesting people who you are able to have an engaging (non-business) conversation with. At some point, the "What do you do?" question will likely come up. Keep your response light and non-technical. At the end of the event, simply tell your new connection you enjoyed chatting with them and would like to talk further to see how you might be resources for one another. Afterwards, connect with them on social media to continue building the relationship and to learn all you can about your connection prior to meeting them in person. CLIENT ENGAGEMENT It seems like most of my clients and prospects post far more pictures in the summer than they do at any other time of year. This presents a tremendous opportunity for engagement. Pay attention to the milestone events happening for your clients and their children (graduations, weddings, children heading off to college). What opportunities do these present to reach out? A quick phone call to catch up, or a thoughtful hand-selected gift goes a long way to strengthen your relationship with the client. Always remember, your A+ clients are someone else's A+ prospects. If you aren't treating them like the VIP clients they are, someone else will. Let social media help you gather ideas to let them know you are paying attention and that you care. CLIENT EVENTS Many advisers use the summer months to host events, and always receive great feedback from attendees. One adviser holds an annual "family" picnic at a local park for his clients. Over the years, his clients have gotten to know one another and have even made business connections among themselves. It has grown into something his clients look forward to each year. If you host such an event, share pictures of it on social media. Tagging others (with their permission, of course) and using #hashtags in your posts or tweets are great ways to make your updates have an even greater reach. PROACTIVELY PROSPECT If the calendar still doesn't seem as full as it should during the summer months, use social media to help fill it. Identify gaps in your calendar, and determine the area of town you will be in around that time (or the companies you will be visiting). Use LinkedIn to identify your connections (or second degree connections, who you could easily be referred to) at that same company, or who are close by geographically. Make a few phone calls on Monday of each week to fill in those gaps. You never know where these impromptu meetings can lead. Not letting off the gas as the summer moves into full swing is a great way to ensure you stay on track with your goals. Use these strategies to make this summer your most productive one yet. Kristin Andree (kristin@andreemedia.com) is president of Andree Media & Consulting.