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Creating, executing and maximizing lifestyle events
Week 1: Identifying the interests of your top clients
Week 2: Planning lifestyle events
Week 3: Creating a lifestyle event communications program
Week 4: Delivering an effective event and following up
The problem: Over the past two weeks you have begun the process of adding lifestyle communications and events to your practice. You started by assessing the interests of your top clients. Last week, we outlined topics that would interest these clients. Now the hard part - finding the time to do the work connected with the events. Where do you start?
The solution: Create a lifestyle event communications plan. The goal is to create and integrate the events with the regular meetings and communications opportunities you conduct with your top clients. Even though the lifestyle events will require work, by integrating them into your calendar and making them a part of your ongoing communications efforts, you will find that your work flow probably will be smoother.
Week 3
Creating a lifestyle event communications program
A successful program starts by listing all your communications to top clients, and entering the items on a calendar. Look at the entire year and determine when your two to four in-person financial reviews are scheduled.
Advisers often find that when they try to mix client reviews and lifestyle meetings in the same quarter, neither is successful. The effort to do both in a short period of time strains your operations and unnecessarily concentrates your communications to clients.
Keep it simple - do reviews and lifestyle meetings in alternate quarters.
Below, a suggested calendar, with some possible lifestyle events:
FIRST QUARTER (Client event quarter)
February: Retirement tax planning. This is a timely subject that's on everyone's mind.
Early March: Preventing business identity theft. Business owners are always looking for strategies to protect their investment.
Late March: Gardening is golden, plus healthy eating. This is a great way for pre-retirees and retirees to shake off the winter and get a jump on spring.
April through June: Conduct in-person reviews right after tax season to identify investment needs. These reviews take 25-30 business days based on conducting two to three reviews each day with your top 40- 50 clients.
THIRD QUARTER (Client event quarter)
Early July: Maximizing 401(k) plans. This is a great seminar for larger groups of lower-tier clients and small groups of top clients.
Late July: Healthy eating gourmet style. Gathering clients in a cool gourmet kitchen or cooking school is a great way to beat the heat and stay to the course to healthy eating.
Early August: Sporting event. Determine the sports your clients like most (there's a good chance that tennis and/or golf head the list) and consider a local tournament where all the planning and logistics will be done for you.
FOURTH QUARTER (Client review quarter)
December: Client appreciation event tied to a charitable cause. Consider a children's ward of a local hospital and tie-in with one of their yearend events. Your clients can feel good as they end the year.
Remember, an event is only successful if you can spend time with your clients and if you both enjoy the experience.
To make event planning easier, use last week's [INSERT LINK] event planning checklist, sample invitation template and agenda.[END LINK] This will help you save time and minimize compliance headaches.
To help with event planning even more, here's what one top adviser does: She hires a client on a part-time basis to be an event and client review planner. That person takes care of all the details. (If you know someone who has ever planned a wedding or a big party - and liked doing it - you've found your candidate).
Next week: The event itself, and following up.
Maureen Wilke has helped thousands of advisers increase the value of their businesses. The founder of Wilke Associates Inc. (www.connectedadvisor.com) in Glen Ellyn, Ill., Maureen has spent nearly two decades in executive positions in wealth management, sales and training. She has been associated with several highly regarded firms, including Nuveen Investments, and currently advises many product and advisory firms on issues of practice management and adviser productivity.
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