Put the Joneses to work for YOU
For many advisors, the Joneses are the enemy:
Clients who try to keep up with the Joneses might live beyond their means.
When clients ask how the Joneses are invested, we remind them that the Jones family has different circumstances and goals.
We tell clients to ignore investing trends or their cousin's latest stock pick.
But what if you could make keeping up with the Joneses a positive thing?
(As always, skip to the end for action-focused ideas to try!)
FOMO and decision-making
Making decisions is exhausting. There's a reason humans operate largely on habit, letting our 'animal brains' take over—we simply don't have enough brain power or energy to constantly make conscious choices.
In the finance world, we see this when employees—too overwhelmed with all of the investment choices in their 401(k) plan—neglect to choose anything at all. It turns out, this same principle applies to financial advice.
Most people know that financial advisors are a good investment. They probably have financial issues they'd like help with; maybe they've seen the studies that show folks who use advisors are better off financially. So why aren't they using one?
It's a confusing choice
One of the many downsides to a lack of financial education in America is that people don't know what to look for when they shop for an advisor. They may not even know where to look.
How do you think so many people wind up with insurance salesmen as 'advisors'? (Answer: The insurance guys find them, not the other way around.)
The Joneses can help
When people aren't sure what decision to make, they frequently look at what their friends are doing. It's one of the main reasons referrals are so powerful.
Advisors often want to tee up their services as unique and exclusive. But this is where loss aversion—in this case, a fear of missing out (or FOMO)—may work better than the prospect of doing something good. Not everyone is in the market for "peace of mind" or the other upsides that advisors market. In other words—if you knew 90% of your neighbors were working with a financial advisor... would you want to be part of the 10% that decided against it?
Put the Joneses to work
Here are a few ideas to help you tap into that FOMO and inspire prospects to keep up with the Joneses in agoodway.
Consider partnering with a local group—a country club, chamber of commerce, or neighborhood organization. If you're the preferred advisor of <<insert group>>, you can use groupthink to your advantage.
Create a group people want to join. You don't have to use a real club or organization—you can also create one. For instance, you could share that 70% of millionaires use financial advisors. Who wouldn't want to join that club?
Take advantage of testimonials. Seeing people like us who are happy in their decision to work with an advisor sends a powerful signal. There are SEC-compliant ways to secure great testimonials—for instance, you can ask targeted feedback questions.
Use strategic language. Think about how you can indicate you're the popular choice among a prospect's peers.
This can be general: "500+ clients!" or "Indiana's fastest-growing firm!"
It can focus on a niche: Top advisor to Illinois dentists!
It can highlight existing clients, such as companies or partner groups.
If you want help creating FOMO for your firm (like how to create compliant testimonials) reach out to the Content 151 team for a free 30-minute consultation.
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