As a financial advisor, you may have experienced the challenge of topic switching. This is the process of moving from one seminar to another when your current seminar isn’t performing as expected. You may have started with a taxes and retirement seminar, but after noticing that the numbers were not where you wanted them to be, you switched to a social security seminar. Although you may have initially seen a bump, you eventually ended up back where you started.
As an industry, we’ve seen many seminar topics come and go over the years, with the belief that the topic is what will attract the prospects. However, this isn’t entirely true. If you think about your market as a whole, it’s like a pie, and there’s a segment that’s interested in all of the topics you’re offering. So, for example, if you run a social security seminar, you’re going to attract the segment of your market that’s interested in that topic. But if you run a retirement income planning seminar the same week, you’ll find that you’ll attract a different subset of the market. Therefore, it’s not the topic that’s the problem; it’s that you’re attracting a different subset of the market.
So, what should you do if your seminar isn’t performing as expected? Instead of completely reinventing yourself, consider optimizing your seminar. This means looking at your marketing, including direct mail, Facebook ads, the event registration page, and the process to get them to show up. Additionally, look at the presentation itself, the close to get them to schedule an appointment, the appointment process to get them to show up, and more. By optimizing these elements, you can avoid switching topics and still get the results you need.
As a financial advisor, it’s essential to be passionate about what you do. You don’t have to become an expert in something that you’re not passionate about just because it’s the best way to generate leads. Instead, choose a topic that you’re passionate about, one that you’re excited to help people with. Then, optimize your seminar and marketing efforts to attract the subset of the market that’s interested in that topic.
Finally, if a new seminar comes out, such as women’s marketing or multi-generational planning, that every other advisor in your market isn’t talking about, consider offering that seminar. This way, you’re not competing with every other advisor in your market, and you’ll have a better chance of attracting the segment of the market that’s underserved.
In conclusion, topic switching is a common challenge for financial advisors. By optimizing your seminar and marketing efforts and focusing on the topics you’re passionate about, you can avoid switching topics and still achieve the results you need.
