Most financial advisors know webinars will produce leads and contacts that they can follow-up with. Leads are investors who attend financial advisor webinars because they are actively seeking financial advisors on the Internet. Contacts are investors who attend financial advisor webinars because they are actively seeking financial information on the Internet.
Many advisors judge the performance of their webinars and websites based on the number of immediate leads that they produce. This is a big mistake. Some of their best business opportunities will be investors who are seeking information, which may be viewed as a deferred lead.
For example, an investor is going to retire in six months. The investor will be rolling a substantial amount of money from a 401k to an IRA. The investor is viewing financial advisor webinars to learn more and avoid making serious financial mistakes. In a few months, this investor will be a great prospect for the advisor whose information in a webinar helped that investor make the right decisions.
It does not matter if investors, who attend financial advisor webinars, are seeking advisors because they have an immediate need or want financial information because they have a deferred need. Enterprising advisors will follow-up anyway and put the investor in their drip systems.
Note, this article does not describe how more financial advisor webinar attendees can be converted into prospects. The title is very explicit when it describes converting more attendees into revenue-producing clients. After all the sales process starts when investors complete registration landing pages to attend financial advisor webinars.
Perhaps we hedge the transition from financial advisor webinar attendee to client a bit because there is no signed service agreement in place. Keep in mind some of the original robo financial advisor websites had this expectation. Their sites had a few minutes to convince investors to register for a free offer. Prospects become clients when they sign advisor service agreements.
Following are five reasons why financial advisor webinars create a competitive advantage for the sponsors. And, this advantage translates into more clients.
1. Specialized Advice & Services
The more specialized financial advisors appear to be in their webinars, the higher the probability the investors attending the webinars will select them.
It makes sense if investors are baby boomers, they are seeking financial advisors who specialize in providing advice and services to baby boomers. They do not want advisors who specialize in working with millennials.
This predisposition will make it a lot easier to convert a prospect into a client. After all, this is the type of financial advisor that investors (baby boomers) are looking for. That is why they attended the webinar.
2. Expert Advice
Investors are seeking expertise that will help them solve a financial problem or achieve a financial goal. What better way is there to demonstrate expertise than a financial advisor webinar that is based on solutions to problems that impact large numbers of investors.
For example, the topic of the financial advisor webinar is tips for transferring assets from 401ks to IRAs. The webinar firmly establishes the advisor as an expert on the best ways to transition assets and invest them in IRAs.
Webinars also create this predisposition that the financial advisor who sponsors the webinar is the expert the investor is seeking.
3. Trust
Financial advisor webinars have another unique dimension that increases the odds investors will select the professionals who sponsor the webinars to be their advisors.
The webinar is a non-threatening environment to get to know financial advisors who sponsor webinars that are designed to help investors make better decisions. Webinars are non-threatening because there should be no sales pressure to buy investment or insurance products. The webinar is a way for investors to learn more about financial challenges and solve problems.
4. Treatment of Clients
It is a well-known fact that a high percentage of investors select the advisors they like the best. They want advice from financial advisors they like. After all, they are going to sharing some personal information with the advisors, so they are more comfortable sharing with someone they like.
This phenomenon goes a little deeper than selecting financial advisors they like the best. A high percentage of investors use subjective principles to make judgements when they select financial advisors. The subjectivity has no bounds when investors select financial advisors who will influence or control their financial decisions. They are making intuitive decisions.
A webinar is an excellent way to get to know advisors before investors actually meet them. What they see and hear during the financial advisor webinar helps them determine if they would like to work with that advisor.
There is another major advantage for professionals who sponsor financial advisor webinars. None of the advisors’ competitors have this advantage, which increases the odds the financial advisor will win the relationship.
5. Free Offer
Financial advisor webinars lend themselves to free offers (an eBook) that may be based on the subject matter in the webinars. Free offers are one more way financial advisors create value and generate competitive advantage when they compete with other advisors. Except this is a unique advantage when investors attend financial advisor webinars and receive a free eBook.
A free eBook is not the same as a free lunch, but it serves a similar purpose. Financial advisors have provided two informational services to investors – the webinar and the eBook. None of the advisors’ competition has provided similar services. Advantage goes to the financial advisors who sponsored the free webinars and eBooks.
Conclusions
Financial advisor webinars that are well thought-out and executed are an excellent way to reach investors who are seeking advisors, information, and solutions on the Internet.
The webinar has the potential to create a competitive advantage for the financial advisors who sponsor free webinars and provide free eBooks.
A financial advisor webinar is a non-threatening way to introduce advisors and financial services to investors. There is no sales pressure to buy.
The webinar is also a way for investors to get to know advisors without actually meeting them. This makes the follow-up calls that much more productive because investors feel like they already know the advisors.
