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7 texting strategies smart advisors use to maintain client relationships from home

October 1, 2020

In the past few months, everyone has had to learn to do things differently. The pandemic posed every sector of society with challenges and in response, there has been a great change as people reconsider their standard business practices. 

New challenges bring new opportunities

One of these practices is the use of texting for business purposes. Texting is one of the most effortless ways people can communicate. While standing in line, while cooking dinner for the family—whenever people catch a quick break, they’re able to check their messages. This ease is why millennials and younger generations have come to vastly prefer it, to the point of ignoring emails and calls. 

People may find responding to calls stressful when they’re dealing with disruptions to their normal schedule or feeling anxious, as many are in this atypical time. Checking email may become a lower priority than it already is, especially when their inbox is getting hit up by everyone and it opening it starts to feel like a chore.

Even in normal times, email open rates are often as low as 15%, and responses to calls as low as 5%. When you compare this to the 95% response rate to texts, it’s immediately apparent why you shouldn’t neglect this communication channel. 

When should you be texting? 

We’re going to examine common scenarios during the pandemic, but you’ll likely notice that these texting use cases will boost your customer relationship no matter what is going on in the world. 

1. Give important business and market updates

Make sure your email didn’t get lost in the sea by sending a text.  Proactively give the customer information to set their expectations for what your advisor-client relationship is going to be like during lockdowns and re-openings.

2. Check in with prospects and clients

Times like these may have your client uncertain about the market and what they should be doing with their finances and portfolios. Reassure them that you’re an expert and know exactly what money moves are best to react to situations like these. You’ll be giving them peace of mind and in turn, you’ll build trust with the client. Regularly reach out and share your advice and invite the customer to share what’s on their mind. 

You should also continue to wish your clients Happy Birthday, send holiday greetings, and celebrate anniversaries and professional achievements. It’s always a good idea to reach out for these occasions, but at times like these, it’s even more important. Perhaps in the course of checking in, you can find ways to give advice to your client, such as alternatives to canceled plans. 

3. Share content to their mobile device

There are many things you may want to share with a customer that is much easier to access if you send by text rather than email. Try texting your customer links to relevant articles and news to the client so that they can read or watch wherever they are (You can also directly send picture messages of marketing materials). 

 

4. Make appointment scheduling easy 

Instead of calling or emailing to set up and confirm appointments, use texting. Calls often go to voicemail and emails may not get read in time. Your client will be way more likely to schedule and remember their appointments. For virtual meetings, you’ll also be able to easily provide any necessary meeting details and links where they’re easily accessible. 

5. Stop phone tag

Texting prevents phone tag, a frustrating experience for both parties. If you think the customer would benefit from having a quick phone chat, you can let them know by text and find out when they’re available for a call. 

Calls aren’t always necessary as well. Whether you have a new product you want to tell the customer about or an update you need to share—if it can be done quickly and easily by text why not? 

6. Ask for referrals

After you’ve made such a great impression by helping your customer in the worst of times, they’re probably blown away and would be happy to write a recommendation. Text is the perfect way to request a referral because your client is more likely to see it. Just make sure you’ve considered how you can make leaving a referral as easy as possible for a mobile user and you’re set!

7. Be the most responsive advisor on the block

Prospects are often converted to clients by those who respond to the fastest. If your competitors are using messaging and you’re not, they’re likely to be the first to establish a working relationship. It’s important to respond to texts promptly; whenever possible, respond within an hour. If needed, we can provide an SMS Opt-In feature to capture a prospect’s consent to be texted.

 

If you’re in a client-facing, regulated industry like financial services and ready to build even stronger relationships with your clients, join our webinar on October 6th to learn more about the compliant messaging strategies and our new WhatsApp messaging integration!

 

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