Like it or not, we are all now operating in a new reality.
While there was a time when working remotely was the sole domain of field internal sales representatives and wholesalers, it’s become the new normal for advisors across the nation.
And with the advent of the pandemic necessitating remote work around the globe, it’s more important than ever for advisory firms to help their teams succeed when in-office support and in-person client interactions are not viable options.
With that in mind, here are five ways to achieve favorable outcomes for your remote team who is also responsible for business development and sales. Because, as we’ve said extensively and you know very well, sales is the lifeline of any business, and can’t be postponed til this New Normal is over with.
1. Rebrand and Refresh Your Messaging
You and your team need to tell a more compelling story than your competitors, but that’s difficult to do if it doesn’t match up with your marketing. And if your website, firm name, marketing collateral and/or all of the above are watered down and diluted, then you’re just going to be lost in the sea of sameness.
Ensuring your team be equipped with and stay on-brand has always been a challenge, one made tougher when they’re working outside the office.
Comprehensive training and consistent reinforcement are necessary to prevent remote financial advisors, lawyers, investment professionals, tax consultants and other service providers within organizations from going rogue during client conversations or creating and sharing content that hasn’t been approved by your entire team as the voice you want to articulate to the outside world.
Optimize your efforts by creating bite-sized, interactive learning experiences, such as short videos sent internally followed by mocks and small exercises to ensure everyone is on board. This way you can routinely remind your team of brand positioning and messaging best practices while gaining visibility into their potential weaknesses or knowledge gaps.
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2. When/Who to Bring to What
Teaching your team when to use the right piece of content for your marketing is half the battle. Bringing in the right teammates to the right opportunity is the other half, and one of the keys to success in our industry. I’ve written about this extensively in InvestmentNews this article.
For the first part, ensure your remote team has access to a vault of great marketing material, such as videos, articles, checklists and quizzes to send to their prospective clients. Your team should be spending more time promoting the firm and less time searching for content. How can you do this? Start by creating one centralized location that allows your team to discover, present and share the latest on-brand materials from anywhere.
In addition to making all content easily accessible for your team, mapping out a sequence of when and how to use various content, and then who to bring in to what meeting, can be extremely effective at making the sales process a lot more efficient and effective. The more of a united front you can show to your prospective client, the better.
Don’t have updated marketing material? Call us!
3. Prioritize sales coaching
Why do some of the top athletes in the world have a coach? Why do some of the most successful entrepreneurs and business professionals have a coach? It’s not because they are behind; it is because they want to be constantly ahead, and want that outside perspective to push them beyond their capabilities.
Ongoing coaching not only helps turn mid-performers into top performers, it also demonstrates your organization’s commitment to employee success. One of the best tools you can give your team is sales coaching. It allows your employees to find their authentic voice, gain confidence in their own abilities to bring in business, test out their strategy in a non-risk setting, and be prepared for a real opportunity. Think of it as the dress rehearsal before you go fully on stage. You definitely don’t want to be practicing on stage when you have a real audience!
4. Empower your teammates to humanize their marketing efforts
Today’s investors are overwhelmed with information, and cookie-cutter cold emails don’t exactly cut through the noise.
If your remote teammates are going to make an impression, they need a way to quickly and easily personalize content for investors and bring conversations to life with full engagement and interactive experiences.
When in-person interactions aren’t an option, remote teammates need every edge they can get to articulate unique value and present themselves as trusted partners.
This is where the personalized sales coaching and personal branding comes into play.
5. Think outside the box
Gone are the chicken and peas seminars (at least for now). Gone are the golf club outings and concerts. But more importantly, people are overwhelmed and overburdened by zoom and webinars.
So….where does this leave you and your team as you try to meet new people face to face?
Think outside the box about fun, unique ways to get people’s attention. This will require you to get inspired by new happenings, world events, fun experiences and more.
Want ideas? Contact us!