Matthew Gaude • Atlanta, GA
Clarus Financial Group • FSC Securities
We have a number of ways that we build our client base, the most important being referrals from current clients. We have found the most important thing when acting upon a referral is to keep it low-key versus a sales-type experience. If the initial meetings are getting traction, we offer a number of ways to structure the relationship and are very sensitive to having competitive fee arrangements. We want to make the process as comfortable as possible for the prospect.
We also do a fair amount of outbound marketing, with topical seminars being the most cost-effective for our firm. We select a hot-button topic and build a specific story line around it. For example, the low interest-rate environment, with its potential for serious change, has been popular recently.
The basic concept for promoting the seminar is, “Are you tired of the low interest rates on your money markets, CDs, and savings accounts?” We advertise the workshop for individuals and couples to learn about a range of strategies for investing excess cash in a zero interest-rate world. We also cover subtopics such as the risk of overinvesting in cash, the need to understand how rising interest rates might affect your fixed-income investments, and to find out why Warren Buffet in 2012 described bonds as “potentially the most dangerous of all assets.”
We get the word out through Facebook, Google, and invitations to current clients, asking if they would like to invite a friend. The most effective way we have found is a little unusual for our industry. We use a publication that offers discounts or coupons and promotes local services, the type of thing that can be found all over the country as a mailer or in a magazine format. This can be highly targeted for specific neighborhoods, ZIP codes, demographics, and so forth, and has worked well. Interested people will call a designated 800-number to reserve a space at the seminar, or they can go online to our website. We can do 20,000-30,000 of these mailings at a time, and it has been a great investment for us, really driving attendance.
Disclosure: Securities and advisory services offered through FSC Securities Corporation, member FINRA, SIPC, and a registered investment advisor. Clarus Financial Group is not affiliated with FSC Securities Corporation or registered as a broker-dealer or investment advisor.
Photography by Chris Hamilton
