Mindshare is a marketing term that refers to the level of consumer awareness associated with a product or brand. In practical terms, it gauges how consumers perceive that brand or product relative to its competitors.

Extreme examples of mindshare are when brands are so universal their names become synonymous with products. For example, when you sneeze, instead of asking someone if they have a facial tissue, you ask for a Kleenex.

From the perspective of financial advice, the concept of mindshare can be applied to how much of a client’s attention and consideration an advisor has regarding financial matters. It speaks to the level of awareness, loyalty, and engagement a client feels toward the advisor and their services.

While your financial practice may not have the scope or reach of a nationally-known firm, gaining client mindshare is a strategy that can apply to any business. Advisors with high client mindshare have built strong relationships with their clients, who trust and depend on them for advice and guidance in their financial decision-making. While many factors can increase mindshare, understanding and analyzing client data provides a great starting point.

Identifying and Analyzing Data

Advisors can collect and analyze data from various sources to help their clients—all of which can be leveraged for engagement.

One way advisors can gain insight is to compare internal client data to external data sets on people with similar demographics. You can use national and regional information to learn the basics about a firm’s client base—cost of living in a certain market, the average student loan debt, average retirement age, percentages and timing of homeownership, and statistics around when people typically get married or divorced.

Advisors can use individual client data to personalize the services they provide, including financial planning. Using data for predictive analytics enables advisors to anticipate client needs through a fundamental understanding of who they serve. This knowledge aids in increasing engagement through customized client outreach.

Conversation starters based on these analyses can expand relationships while allowing you to capture additional client data. This data will help you uncover even more financial needs.

A firm’s aggregated client data can be used to hone a niche delivery model or look for trends among clients. It can also be used to identify gaps in service to grow a firm’s offerings or determine where the establishment of professional partnerships might enhance the client experience.

Finally, operational data can be used to make informed business decisions, develop internal workflows, and automate processes, which saves time and provides a consistent experience for advisors and clients.

Client data is invaluable in growing relationships built on understanding each client. More personalized service that meets more of each client’s financial needs will help grow your mindshare with clients.

Financial Planning as a Value-add

The value of financial planning is significant for advisors. Our research shows that when advisors do more planning clients have decreased financial stress, are more satisfied, and are more loyal. They have increased client referrals and more assets under management (AUM). In fact, advisors who have financial plans for 100 percent of their clients report 150 percent greater AUM than those who have financial plans for only 20 percent of their clients.¹

The same research showed that the advisor-client relationship is enhanced when clients experience a personalized planning process. These clients score significantly higher in interaction, trust, confidence, expertise, satisfaction, commitment, and referrals, further emphasizing that a strong client relationship has a significant impact on business growth and success.¹

Establishing a financial planning process for clients allows firms to gather significant information about their clients. As advisors effectively use the data clients provide, clients are motivated to share more details resulting in a more personalized and engaging relationship, which leads to higher mindshare.

Using Technology to Optimize Results

In a study we did in partnership with the Financial Planning Association, we found that client portals have a profound positive impact on clients. The benefits of using a client portal align with real results—providing a strong value proposition for advisors who share that they gain deeper knowledge of their clients, collaborate more, and save their clients’ time.²

Additionally, advisor participants in the study indicated that client portals offering a seamless aggregation feature take collaboration, time savings, and relationship expansion to a higher level. It’s a tool that gives access to all of what was once disparate information, now available to advisors to create a more personalized planning experience for the client.²

The deeper knowledge advisors have of their clients who use a client portal is enhanced by the amount of data the advisor gains about those clients. Using a client portal with account aggregation to collect and update data gives advisors a more holistic view of their clients.

It also gives clients a way to see all their information in one place—resulting in greater mindshare as clients will go to their portal first to see a complete picture of their finances.

Benefits of Greater Client Mindshare

When your clients need financial guidance, do they think of you first? Gaining mindshare as an advisor means being the first professional clients think of when they have a big financial decision ahead.

The advantages of higher mindshare include:

• Referrals—You’re doing a good job for your client and have built a strong relationship with the help of data, improving the likelihood that the client will refer friends and family to you.
• Retention—The more business the client does with you, the less likely they are to take their business elsewhere.
• Increased AUM—Your more holistic view of the client and their financial holdings enables more comprehensive advice and provides a window into assets that could be moved under your management.

As you become the go-to resource for all your clients’ financial needs, you can be proactive in your recommendations and have the answers clients need when the time comes. Data analysis and client inquiries could guide you to expand your service offerings or reveal where strategic partnerships with other professionals could be built. The more value you can provide your clients, the more likely they’ll be to come to you for all their financial needs and achieve their financial goals.

Increasing Value as a Financial Partner

Harnessing the power of client data is a game-changer for financial advisors looking to increase client mindshare. By analyzing and leveraging this valuable information, you can deepen client relationships, tailor your services, and demonstrate your expertise.

The benefits of increased mindshare are substantial. These strategies have the potential to transform your business and drive revenue growth.

You can get started by exploring the wealth of data available, the technology supporting aggregation and analysis, and how to leverage it to be your clients’ go-to resource for all financial needs. You can learn all of this and more by downloading our eBook Using the Data You Have to Evolve Your Business and Client Relationships.

Sources:

1 eMoney, Beyond the Plan Research, July 2023

2 eMoney and Financial Planning Association, The Transformative Power of Technology on Client Relationships, September 2023

DISCLAIMER: The eMoney Advisor Blog is meant as an educational and informative resource for financial professionals and individuals alike. It is not meant to be, and should not be taken as financial, legal, tax or other professional advice. Those seeking professional advice may do so by consulting with a professional advisor. eMoney Advisor will not be liable for any actions you may take based on the content of this blog.

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