Other Than Cold Calling and Roadshows. Here Are Useful Platforms Where Financial Advisors Can Be On!

Being a financial advisor is never an easy task.

In fact, in the financial advisory industry, there are an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 agents to a population of five million in Singapore.

source: Moneymatters.sg

This means that being a financial agent in Singapore is more competitive than being an agent in countries such as United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

TL;DR: Methods that financial agents can adopt to close policies

In this article, we take a look at some of the methods that advisors can use to add value and potentially close a policy.

Ever wondered how effective are these methods for insurance agents?

To measure how effective these methods are, here are some factors to consider when one closes a deal from any of the methods they adopt:

• How much does it cost? (Amount of capital invested vs rate of closing a deal)
• How much time and effort is required? (Time and effort spent vs rate of closing a deal)
• Does the method add value to your personal branding as a good agent?
• Does the method add value to the potential client that you are serving?

Should all the 4 criteria stated above are met, it is a sales method that one should continue to pursue!

Traditional methods that financial advisors adopt

Faced with steep competition and a pay cheque that is directly correlated with sales, here are some traditional methods financial advisors adopt to increase their sales.

Targetting of warm market

In sales, targetting friends, relative or existing clients is a convenient option.

Not only does the agent already has their contacts, agents will ensure that they recommend the right policy as they could be selling to a family member or good friend. This is also a very good method for new financial advisors to practise and brush up their sales pitch.

The pros and cons of this method:

• There is little cost involve and time spent as one would already have the contacts.
• Setting up a meeting should be easy for family members or close friends.
• Should the right policy be sold, it value adds to the family method and friend.
• High chance of it leading to referrals should an advisor does an awesome job.

Roadshows

Consumers may sometimes find these roadshows irritating and disruptive to their daily commute or shopping trip. Financial advisors at the roadshows are not having the best of their time either.

The pros and cons of this method:

• Agents usually have to pay to secure a slot at these roadshows.
• Long hours of hustling, facing rejections.
• Might be able to get leads should someone completes a survey that you handed out or sit down and have a chat at the booth with you.
• Policies usually sold to strangers under a time constraint.

Cold callings

Cold callings from randomly generated numbers can result in a scolding from the other end of the line.

The pros and cons of this method:

• The cost involved will be the agent’s telephone bill.
• High effort to generate numbers and to call.
• Majority of Singaporeans might be on the Do Not Call Registry.
• Singaporeans might find it invasive should a random number call his or her number. (“Eh! How you get my number ah?)

Editor’s note: We hear stories of agents calling someone who just got fired from work or filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to sell them a policy through cold calling. It did not end very well. 

Online platforms to help financial advisors build a profile and add value

Hardwarezone

Hardwarezone forum has an estimated 6.1 million site visits as of June 2018, making it one of the most visited sites in Singapore. One of the thread in the forum includes Money Mind which is catered especially for financial products and questions.

The pros and cons of this platform:

• It is free to use.
• There are probably questions and enquiries on the platform. By answering their questions, a financial advisor is adding value to the community.
• It is, however, difficult to prove that certain username belongs to you especially when showcasing your work to your clients.
• It is also difficult for potential clients to reach out to you. (Hello. Are you “Vexed Spirit” on Hardwarezone?)
• High effort as questions answered may not be correlated to potential leads.

Seedly

Seedly latest update on the platform is not without numerous user testings and research.

The Question, Reviews and Profile features were built after understanding the pain points professionals faced when it comes to building their brand.

The pros and cons of this platform:

• It is free to use.
• There are probably questions and enquiries on the platform. A financial advisor can value-add to the community and increase his credibility by answering these questions.
• Questions answered will be reflected on the profile page.
• Able to customise profile. (Add contact number, Facebook, website, LinkedIn)
• Personalised URL that professionals can share with his clients or add to his resume. (eg. https://seedly.sg/profile/your-name-will-be-here)
• High effort as questions answered may not be correlated to potential leads.

Tinder or other dating apps

source: https://dayre.me/sandydandy/9vif9lIaWb

Search for the worst Tinder date and chances of insurance agents selling policies upon meeting up is quite high. Not cool!

The pros and cons of this platform:

• It is free to use.
• People are on the platform with a different objective. (Imagine going to the wet market to be sold Rolex)

Creating your own Facebook page and blog

Facebook page for creating content on a blog can allow finance professionals to share their views or make certain product announcements to their followers.

In fact, we are already seeing a trend where professionals create their personal page for business purposes.

source: SGAG

The pros and cons of this platform:

• Cost may apply should one look to purchase a domain.
• High effort and lots of time spent on the content generation process. Of which, the reach and readership will be uncertain.
• Able to build personal brand and credentials should the content be good.
• Personalised URL that professionals can share with his clients or add to his resume.

If you have a question on personal finance, get it answered by our loving personal finance community here.