“Marketing is a numbers game, and seminars provide the numbers. Financial seminars are creating a marketing revolution in the financial services industry.
Seminar Selling provides the system that allows financial industry professionals to dramatically increase their production and income.”
We often hear from clients and potential clients that they attended a “Financial Seminar” or have been invited to one recently. This month’s blog is dedicated to what I’ll call my “Anti-Seminar, Seminar.” The bolded quote above is taken from the homepage of a leading sales consultant’s website and it is basically the pitch we, as financial advisors, would receive if we reached out to a financial seminar coach. A coaching firm is structured to help advisors like us increase our effective reach toward new clients. In my opinion, these statements reveal the reason that seminar selling is typically ineffective for the advisor, and often dangerous or even disastrous for the client.
Read the statements. Maybe, like me, you have strong feelings about these statements; such as “Are clients looking for an advisor that treats them as part of a numbers game?” And, “isn’t the seminar supposed to be about the best interests of the attendees as opposed to just a way to dramatically increase the advisor’s production and income?”
Recognizing the true motivations behind seminar selling, I would suggest consumers be very wary of such tactics and events. Free dinners are nice, but free dinners that lead to advisors preying upon unsuspecting retirees is called hunting. Don’t be led to slaughter; have your free dinners, but leave the checkbook and your personal financial details conveniently at home. Review any seminar information that sounds intriguing with an independent advisor, attorney, tax professional, etc. Trust your financial future to those who know you best; ask those who you trust to refer you to professionals that have expertise in your area of need. And when you have developed trusted relationships with advisors, refer your friends and family to them! It’s the primary way that keeps the best advisors busy enough to avoid conducting vulturous seminars.