Sales vs Marketing: You’re working too hard

“The thing is, advisors are really good at sales. We’re just really bad at marketing.”

A friend and advisor said that to me recently and it struck me. Partly because sales and marketing are two sides of the same coin and generally go hand in hand. And partly because he was 100 percent correct.

So, with sales and marketing intrinsically linked, how is it possible that advisors are so good at one and so bad at the other? I’m going to try to answer that for you.

The difference between sales and marketing

Sales refers to the business of selling goods and services. Say you work at an electronics store, and a shopper comes in. Let’s call him customer A. He says he needs a new computer. In this case, the sales process can be pretty simple. You ask about his needs, explain the different options, and advise him on which model to purchase.

But imagine you’re a computer salesman and in walks John Wayne. Selling a computer to John Wayne is going to be much harder.

First, you have to explain to him what a computer is and what it does. (Well John, it’s kind of like a horse, but also not really like a horse at all…) Then, you need to explain why he’ll need one if he’s going to make it in the 21st century. Then you’ll still have to talk about his current time-traveling lifestyle to figure out his needs. Next it’s explaining the different options, and finally advising him which one to purchase. Oh, and at some point in all of this you’ll probably need to convince him to trust you, too. After all you’re trying to sell a computer to John Wayne.

Most Americans, when it comes to financial services, are John Wayne. They think of all money, investing, and finances the way John Wayne might think about your new tablet. So advisors who go in cold have a very high bar to cross when it comes to selling. You have to explain what you do, how you’re different from Wall Street, ask about their needs and explain how you can help… all while assuring them to trust you.

And that’s where marketing comes in. The goal of marketing is to generate interest in your business. When it’s done right, marketing turns John Wayne into customer A. Maybe he’s sitting around the campfire and sees newspaper ads about computing power. Or maybe someone busts out a laptop at the saloon to Google a question and settle a debate without a fight. These are all forms of marketing that could “warm” (very obnoxious marketing jargon) John to the idea of a computer. Now he’s interested. He wants to know more.

In financial terms, this might be explaining what the different types of financial advisors do, what it means to be a fiduciary, how to think about life insurance in a way that works for you, and so on.

What advisors are doing wrong

Advisors are treating every potential client like John Wayne. And while they might love that comparison, that kind of time-consuming, hands-on attention isn’t required.

“But John Wayne deserves my attention!” you might say. And sure. He does. But you can provide a similar amount of customized attention without dedicating hours of your time. 

You could, for instance, give John an article about how computers can help him track skirmishes and stay up to date on horse vaccines. This is educational content marketing… and we believe it can help turn John Wayne into Customer A.

That’s how Content 151 approaches marketing financial advisors to people. We assume everyone is a little bit like John Wayne plopped down in 2020… kind of.

What I mean by that is, people don’t like to admit that they don’t know about money. No one wants to tell an advisor that they don’t understand annuities or 529s. It makes them vulnerable and if they say it to the wrong person, they might even get ripped off. Plus, in our society, we tend to assume that if you’re smart and making money, you know a lot about it. Most people aren’t keen to admit otherwise.

That’s why plain speak educational content can go a long way for you. It helps John Wayne learn about computers in a way that feels organic and isn’t embarrassing. He doesn’t have to ask “what’s WiFi,” and it helps your customers, too. They don’t have to ask you “What’s a FAANG?” because the answer is right there on your website. And that changes the whole conversation when it comes time to have a meeting, close a client or make a sale.

You can call it something fancy, like automating the sales process. But really what you’re doing is marketing your services so your potential clients aren’t coming in cold. You can still be involved in this process — you might write your marketing content, or promote it on social.

But the moral of the story is don’t work harder than you have to. Or, to quote John Wayne, “Don’t talk too much.”