Apple's big lesson for advisers

Unless you live under a rock, you know that tech giant Apple Inc. made a big announcement Tuesday. As usual, the world freaks out, the company's stock goes up (and then down again), and bunches of people run to preorder and purchase the new products and services. So why is Apple so successful and how can you use Apple's marketing strategy in the financial services industry to be successful? Well, there have been books written on this, so I'm not going to take up an enormous amount of your time. I'm going to make this hard and fast. (See also: Some unlikely funds “overweight” Apple.) It is easier to sell an existing client a new product or service than it is to gain a new client. We seem to forget this plain fact in the financial services industry. We are always looking for new client households instead of selling back into our existing book. Some of you might be saying right now, “Oh, Matt, I've already sold everything I possibly can into my book and I don't always want to go back to my existing clients with something new to sell them.” The opposite is actually what's happening with Apple and they're being wildly successful in bringing out new products and services, offering different things that do different things for customers. You tell your clients to diversify their investments, so why don't you diversify your business? It just makes sense. My company does these things called market research events, where we bring in prospects and/or existing clients and talk to them about what they want in the financial services industry. Yes, we have the audacity to ask them. One of the biggest things that came out of the last MRE was that they want the latest and greatest investment opportunity. Do you have one? What's the best thing that you are allowed to sell, that separates you from somebody else? That's the Apple principle. They do something better than anyone else — well, that's up for discussion — and they're consistently bringing innovative products to the market. What innovative products and services are you bringing to the market? What are other things that you can do to sell into your existing book of business? If you can answer that question, you need to start running — not walking — to your existing client base and really make the end of this year the greatest year you've ever had. OK, now I'm going to order my Apple Watch. Matthew Halloran is a certified coach for advisers. He wrote “The Social Media Handbook for Financial Advisors: How to Use LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to Build and Grow Your Business.”