It’s 3pm on a Saturday afternoon, and you’ve just plonked yourself on the couch with a beer, the remote and a Collingwood vs Essendon game.

Eddie Maguire’s (briefly) stopped talking, and it’s seconds away from the opening centre bounce.

You hear a, “Pppp-sssssshhhhhhh”. But it’s not from the TV.

A pipe has burst under the kitchen sink and your home is quickly starting to resemble a wading pool.

You scramble.

In 5 minutes you’ve Googled for a local emergency plumber and he’s on your doorstep in 15 minutes. The search and decision choice is fast and easy. He’s the only local plumber who does weekend callouts.

And you need him, NOW.

How people purchase financial planning

Compare that with how people search, find and “buy” financial planning.

• They might have a need, but in their eyes, it’s not immediate.
• They might ask family, friends and colleagues for a recommendation.
• They might be referred by an accountant.
• They might see an ad in the local freebie paper.
• They might have heard of someone through a local community group.
• They might jump on Google and spend hours trawling through the websites of the top 20 financial planners in their local area.

At some point in the search, most people are going to go looking for a website.

The things is, the websites of most financial planners look, feel and sound very much the same.

It’s all about “best interests”, and services that include “insurance”, “estate planning”, and “investments”. There’s pictures of compasses, piggy banks and nest eggs.

And in the eyes of your future clients, it’s all blah, blah, blah.

It’s too hard to decide, so they do nothing.

Who to trust?

Compared to selecting an emergency plumber, choosing a financial planner is a decision that’s higher priced, a bigger risk, and way, WAY more personal.

Trust is everything.

Standing out to the right clients – for you – matters.

Say hello to education-based marketing

What if your website was different?

• What if you told a few stories about your client’s successes – making them the hero – so people can see real examples of the results?
• What if you explained some key financial concepts so people can increase their knowledge in an accessible, non-threatening way (and without running up an hourly bill)?
• What if you explained a bit about your process, and what happens in the first meeting, to help minimise the fear of the unknown?

It’s simple really.

Just share your knowledge in a way that’s helpful to your ideal clients. Keep it simple. Keep it useful.

You can do it using whatever method makes sense for your clients. Some will prefer to read, while others may prefer to watch a video.

It won’t take long to start building a library that will set you apart from the rest.

And you’ll be creating an asset that has both real business value, as well as being helpful to people, whether they become clients or not.

Helping future clients take action

So once people have done all that searching, researching, reading and watching, what happens next?

By the time they pick up the phone:

• They’ll already know about you.
• They’ll understand how financial planning can help them.
• They’ll know you know what you’re talking about.
• They’ll be grateful you’ve shared your knowledge – for free!
• They’ll remember you, because your website stands out from the crowd.

It’s the ol’, “know, like and trust” in action.

And it’s going to make that first conversation and initial meeting a whole lot more pleasant for both of you, and more likely of a positive outcome.

Don’t you think?

Oh, and if you want to grab your own animated videos to add to your website, check out the ones 3Genies have available here.