Adviser Pulse: Combating Clients' Fears

A new survey shows 81% of polled advisers list "consumer fear" as a daily challenge.

By Marshall Eckblad

March 1, 2006- According to Valerie Brown, president of the ING Advisor Network, "replacing confusing technical language with plain English--and including plenty of consumer-friendly disclosures--will go a long way toward managing customer fears." Indeed, she's hoping it will.

(excerpt from original story
Harvard Business School professor Andrew McAfee calls it "Enterprise 2.0" -- a set of interactive, Web-based applications that companies can use to help employees work together and get the jump on rivals, without the cost of buying and hosting expensive software.

 "There is something about these new tools that enable new practices of collaboration," former Xerox chief scientist John Seely Brown told a recent technology conference. Michael Rhodin, general manager of IBM's Lotus division, said the Web 2.0 method of "capturing collaborative wisdom . . . is a different take on knowledge management, which was fundamentally flawed."

One of the latest entrants in this field is Vancouver-based Dabble DB, which came out of private "beta" mode this week and launched the public version of its service: An interactive database management tool that will spread joy to corporate project managers everywhere.

"This is Web 2.0 for the enterprise," the company's two 20-something co-founders, Andrew Catton and Avi Bryant, said in a recent phone interview. "It is absolutely for businesses, not for the average consumer user. What we've done is take all the principles of Web 2.0 and apply them to the enterprise."

How do you show love in our world? Let me count the ways:

1. More disk space
2. Better screen real estate
3. Faster servers
4. Better editorial
5. More features
6. More support
7. Better design
8. Less ads
9. Less annoying ads
10. Less obnoxious ads
11. More targeted ads
12. Take that which is paid and make it free
13. Anticipate members needs and fill them
14. Surprise members with fun, new experiences
15. Communicate with members open and freely
16. Listen to members--then listen to them some more
17. Treat members how you would like to be treated
18. Be honest with members--always
19. Don't do anything sneaky because a) members are smart and will bust you, b) life is so short--why would you want to be a sneak?, and c) this is a long-term business, the short term is meaningless.
20. Respect your members wishes above all else. If they don't love you any more that is their choice, and it's an opportunity for you to reflect on why they don't love you (consider it a free focus group)
21. Let people consume your product on their terms with their software, browser, device, hardware or operating system (this is also known as the "don't be Microsoft rule").

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This book just went out the door to a fine new home in Canada.
Selling To The Affluent by Dr. Thomas J. Stanley, paper, 1991. ISBN: 0070610495

Check out more here Dr. Thomas J. Stanley
or
Selling To High Net Worth Individuals

This is a book that has been positively reviewed by most ambititious sales professsionals. What can you learn? In general what you'll get is best summed up by this quote from a Paine Webber Senior Exec. on the flap, "Dr. Stanley's strategies consider the reall needs of the high income professionals-needs tath go beyonnd any product or service. These needs are psychological and revolve arund the recognition of the individual's extraordinary level of achievements. He provides some terrific insights as to how to solicit and maintain business by unconventional, but highly effective means."

What did I learn from this book?

1. The most successful sales professionals are those that are taking a longer term perspective and build relationships with the affluent by supporting their causes, becoming allies, recognizing the work and achievements of the affluent, and generally finding ways to become indispensible. Emphasis here is on longer term and taking a professional approach and acting in such ways. Stanley calls it being an "apostle for the affluent" not an antagonist.

2. Where to find affluent indivuals? Some are obvious, others less so. In the book, Stanley discusses targetting the following: busienss owners, other affluent sales professionals (how you want to sold?), women, new citizens with wealth particularly Asians, successful authors, people on the move (relocation) who need services and goods, and those who influence the affluent

3. The book is full of case studies and examples that any salesperson can use. How to use the media to influence and reach the affluent, for example. How to set up a "killer" system of referring names of top professionals, service and product providers to the affluent on the move into your area. How to capitalize on recent recognition the affuent have received within their industry or community. These are just a few.

This book is certainly worth reading by every leader and coach of sales professionals and all those sales pro who want to really earn the tiltle of "professional". In many ways Stanley is telling us in the sales and relationship businesses to focus on what the affluent want and need and why they are unique and why they are affluent and others are not as affluent. This psycholgoical "stroking" and transforming yourself into someone who can add real value to decisions they make and lifestyle needs and wants they have. The same could be said about how the organization that supports the sales professional that is targetting the affluent must transform itself too.

Read if as well as others, before you prepare your business and activity plan.

Click on the links above to see other related and recommended books in the same category. More reviews of other useful music memorabilia books, vinyl, cd's and movies coming over the next months. Suggest your favorites in the Comments or email to me. Here's hoping the Stanley book will have a big impact at its new home, a budding stockbroker. Reuse, renew, recycle,... redeux! Giving preowned books-movies-tapes and more new homes.

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This book just went out the door to a fine home to a business person in Ontario.
The Structure of Magic: A Book About Language and Therapy . by Richard Bandler, Science and Behavior Books, 1975. ISBN: 0831400447

Forerunner to person to person communication methods books on Neuro linguistic programming (NLP) Purchased it during my early days working towards my Master of Communications at the University of Calgary.

Click on the book link above to see other related and recommended books in the same category

More reviews of other useful doing better in Business books, software and tapes coming over the next. Suggest your favorite books in the Comments or email to me.

Here's hoping the book will have a big impact at its new home. It did on me.

This book just went out the door to a fine home at a business library in Quebec..
Masters of Networking, ed. by Ivan R. Misner and Don Morgan, Bard Press, 2000. ISBN: 1885167482 The authors are part of BNI, Business Networks International.

Some of the contributors included in the book were: Harvey Mackay, Deepak Chopra, Mark Victor Hansen, Paul & Sarah Edwards, Fran Tarkenton, Susan RoAne, Bill Gates, John Naisbitt, Jay Conrad Levinson, John Milton Fogg and numerous others.

There are many practical tips in the book, too many to attempt to summarize.

Here's just one set of tips, from the 9 Keys to Mastery article by Lance Mead:

-accept the "givers gain philosophy,
-work in a disciplined structure
-attend networking events
-plan your networking
-accept the teachings of a mentor
-become a great storyteller
-have a database of resources to help other people
-keep an open mind
-make relationships a part of your life

Other articles such as Learn Your Networking Style in the Self Assessment section and the Top 10 Does and Dont's for Referrals by Humbert are very useful for those oriented practically. Humbert's key advice in my opinion is that good relationships take time; don't rush, have a plan and be methodical.

Other books worth looking at in a similar vein are:
Masters of Success
Business by Referral
7 Second Marketing
The Wor'd's Best Known Marketing Secret 2nd Ed.
Here's My Card

More reviews of other useful doing better in Business books, software and tapes coming over the next. Suggest your favorite books in the Comments or email to me.

Here's hoping the book will have a big impact at its new home.

The Tour doesn't appear to want to sit still, which I applaud. Golfers will be debating the new mega-championship proposal commissioner Tim Finchem announced yesterday.

Many golfers, no matter what ability level, will be thinking next year, next season. for changes they want to make in their game. This program from one of our blog sponsors Is worth looking at.

Sponsored Message-Click the graphic for more info

Firstly, the fee for Clearinghouse registration has been raised dramatically (Tom's words) to $75.00 effective September 1, 2005. Presently it is at $50.00 U.S. Anyone who sent the old processing fee to the Clearinghouse after that date will receive notification that the fee has changed and they must pay the new one.

Next, the paper Student Release Form that has been provided to international students for many years has changed. The NCAA is now using one universal form with a "check-box" for the student to mark whether they are a US student or an International student. Student-athletes and parents can register and pay the fee by credit card online at www.ncaaclearinghouse.net.

From that homepage, click on "Prospective Student Athletes" and the user will have an option to complete the domestic or foreign Release form online. The trend for the Clearinghouse, like most other bureaucracies, is going "paperless". They would prefer the Release Form be completed online but they will still accept the paper form. .

Lastly, all student-athletes, US and International, who register with the Clearinghouse beginning in the spring of 2006 (exact date has not yet been announced) and who graduate from high school in the year 2007 or after, will be required to answer questions about their Amateur status. At the 2006 National Convention in January, NCAA Division I and II will formally adopt legislation to create an "Amateurism Clearinghouse" to determine if student-athletes have held onto their Amateur standing before being certified to compete as a student-athlete at a Division I or II school.

This creates a new bureaucracy to potentially investigate each student, which explains why the Clearinghouse fee has risen so dramatically says Starr.

Starr explains how he sees the new Amateurism Clearinghouse operating. When a student registers for the the Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse (the one in use now), and if they do so online, they will be directed to complete a questionnaire on the Clearinghouse Website that will ask if they have signed contracts with professional teams, accepted prize money above actual and necessary expenses, and other questions that could put them at risk as an Amateur. This questionnaire will then be submitted at the same time as the Student Release Form that they complete for the "current" Clearinghouse that deals with their academics.

If an athlete does not register for the Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse online but rather uses the paper form, we have been told they will be e-mailed and informed that they must go to the Clearinghouse Website to complete the Amateurism Questionnaire online. They will need to remember the 4-digit PIN (Personal Identification Number) that they write down on the paper form to access their record on the database, so it's a good idea to copy the paper form and keep it somewhere safe, it appears to me.

The new NCAA Guidebook reads on page 5 that the Amateurism Questionnaire must be completed by anyone who enrolls at an NCAA Division I or II school in the fall of 2006, but the NCAA has just announced that has changed and they will begin certifying on Amateurism issues for those who enroll in the fall of 2007.

Email us with your questions or comments. As well I would note if you interested in more information about athletic recruiting and the scholarship process that there are several online videos at one of our websites, produced by the CPOA organization, which you can view at your convenience.

Best-of Weekly
"We have always gotten extraordinary results with the eBook campaigns. It's been an extremely successful program for AlterPoint," says Prinsell.

AlterPoint gained a house opt-in list of 28,000 names by promoting the first ebook for two years, and a second title 'The Shortcut Guide to Network Compliance and Security' for about a year so far. Plus, this summer the team asked the author of their first eBook to write a second revised edition so they could keep the promotions going strong.

According to September 2005 data from a third-party IT news network AlterPoint promoted the ebooks with, clickthrough rates (CTR) and conversions (clicks who fill out a registrtaion form to get the ebook) are far above typical white paper offer response rates running on the same media:

White paper round-up offer page online:
o Alterpoint ebook .56% CTR 36% Conversion
o Typical white paper .2-.35% CTR 20-30% Conversion

Ad in email newsletter
o Alterpoint ebook .38% CTR 37% Conversion
o Typical white paper .15-.2% CTR 15-20% Conversion

Dedicated email blast to rented list
o Alterpoint ebook 1.4% CTR 49% Conversion
o Typical white paper .75%-1% CTR 20-25% Conversion

There's also been sustained interest: When AlterPoint published its second eBook, the open rate for an email pitch to the original eBook readers was 30%, with a 15% clickthrough rate.

As new readers signed up to get chapters emailed over time, they continued to click month after month at higher rates than one might expect from a typical monthly email newsletter:
Chapter 1 - 15% CTR (notice sent to all past ebook readers)
Chapter 2 - 37% CTR (notice only sent to new ebook readers)
Chapter 3 - 31% CTR
Chapter 4 - 29% CTR

Prinsell has also seen evidence that the chapters have a strong viral component. "We have 9.8% more download page views than we have registrants, and it should have been the other way around!"

Useful links related to this article:

Creative samples from AlterPoint's campaign:
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/alterpoint/study.html

The MarketingSherpa & CMP study cited above is contained in the IT Marketing Benchmark Guide 2005, available at:
http://sherpastore.com/store/page.cfm/2150

realtimepublishers.com – the publishing firm AlterPoint hired to produce the ebooks:
http://www.realtimepublishers.com

TechTarget - one of the many IT news sites that AlterPoint promotes the ebooks on
http://www.techtarget.com

AlterPoint
http://www.AlterPoint.com

What are you doing after work?



By THERESA EBDEN Tuesday, September 27, 2005 Posted at 9:41 AM EDT From Saturday's Globe and Mail






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