Recently, I became a member of a secret club; one I hadn’t even realised I was joining.
I don’t normally set an alarm on a Saturday and I don’t have any children to act as an alarm clock either (at least until July). But this weekend, I had an urge to be productive.
So, at 7am on Saturday morning, the alarm went off and I forced myself out of bed to see what the world had in store at this unfamiliar hour.
I stuck my headphones in, pressed play on my new audiobook and ventured out on a morning stroll. We’re lucky to live about 20 minutes walk from Hampstead Heath (a green area in North London). So, by 7:30 am, with a coffee in hand, I was meandering around its picturesque lakes, at one with my thoughts.
Then I noticed something bizarre: nearly every person I passed either said, “good morning” or at least gave me enough of a smile to imply it.
Now, this might not sound strange to those of you not used to the emotionless, head-down manner of most Londoners. But for me, this stood out. Who were these enthusiastic, positive people?!
What’s more, by virtue of finding myself as part of this group, I too became chattier to passers-by and was handing out beaming smiles and greetings to the other people in this new club I’d joined.
What on earth does this have to do with financial advice?
It’s about segmentation.
I’d joined a secret segment of ‘early risers’.
Unlike the dreary-eyed, soulless folk I was used to passing later on in the day, these early risers seemed to be sprightlier. Some of them were out jogging. Some were walking dogs. Some were young – others old. On their own and in pairs.
If you were to rally up this group of people and observe them, there was nothing easily identifiable about them. But they exhibited similar behaviours.
When we think about segmentation of clients and prospects, we tend to focus on demographic segmentation. E.g.:
- “I work with high-net-worth individuals”
- “I help female entrepreneurs”
- “I advise people at retirement”
This type of segmentation is certainly useful. It’s easy to do – because your audience tends to be easily identifiable and easily accessible. For example, we know if someone’s female. We know or can find out if they own a business.
But demographic segmentation isn’t the only way (and not always the most effective way).
Behavioural segmentation provides another alternative that advisers can use to attract the people they can best serve. In fact, you might already be behaviourally segmenting prospective clients without realising you’re doing it!
If you’re doing any marketing activity, whether it’s writing articles, reaching out to referrers, advertising, PR, targeting Google searches or spending time and/or money promoting your business, you’re segmenting them.
Here are some examples of behavioural segments you might be attracting:
- People who’ve never received advice before
- Those who’ve currently got their money in cash
- Those who don’t see value in active management
- People who are currently going through a divorce
- People who have an existing adviser they’re not happy with
You’re choosing a certain way to reach those people. You’re choosing a certain time to reach them. You’re choosing how much financial knowledge the recipient will need to understand your message.
You may not be doing this consciously, but you’re doing it.
It’s worth taking a moment and thinking about your own best clients. Who are they? Not just their age, wealth, or profession, but how much knowledge do they have? How often do they like to interact with you? Where did they hear about you? What was their previous experience with advice?
This is a key step in any effective positioning work. To know how to attract more of your ideal clients, we need to start by first understanding who they really are and how they really behave.
If you’re interested in attracting more of your ideal clients, focussing your marketing efforts in the right areas and reducing the need to justify your fees to clients and prospects, take a look at my new webinar: ‘The Three-Step Solution to Positioning Your Financial Advice Offering‘.