Inactive Clientele is a hitch in almost all advisors smooth business paths. After a long uphill battle, we acquire a client, who initially is very excited to work with us, but after one or two investments, the excitement fades away and the client goes into a silent zone. We try to get the client back into action, but most times to no avail, and eventually that client becomes a part of our dormant account records. So, the sum and substance is, all your hardwork and efforts were in vain and you are back to square one, on the lookout for new clients. Here, what we do not realize is, the time, money and efforts that go into acquiring a new client is much more than servicing an existing one. Advisors are very excited to acquire new clients, but give up too soon on the inactive ones.

Inactive clients, in fact, are similar to new clients, they are to be re-incarnated from the state of passivity to a state of activity. The thin line of difference between the two, lies in the fact that you do not have to struggle with getting the latter on board and work a little lesser in re-establishing a relationship of trust. Hence an inactive client should be perceived as an opportunity and not as wastage of efforts.

So, how to go about getting the lost ones back on track:

Communication is the Key, You should be keeping in touch with all your clients at all times, it can substitute for a lot of hard work in the future. It is human tendency to choose the latter between Effort and Ease, so we connect with the clients who give us regular business and give up on others. We need to put in consistent efforts to get fruitful results, we need to connect with our inactive clients too, you can keep them in the loop through WhatsApp, Sms' or e mails. You can invite them for investor meets, for client conference calls, etc., irrespective of the fact they are your “inactive clients”. Never let him feel they are not important, because when they are in constant touch, they can sense the honour you bestow upon them even though they are not investing, so even if they are not investing in the near future, they will, a little far into the future. Constant connect can help you identify many hidden business opportunities.

The best way to stay in contact with your inactive clients is by keeping yourself organized. Keep a record of your inactive clients, set reminders to connect with them at fixed frequencies. Send them birthday and anniversary greetings. Because when it is about the active ones, you will tend to be in touch for business purposes, but for the inactive ones, you need to put in extra organizational efforts.

There is an anecdote about a financial advisor from Cochin, pretty successful in his business, about an inactive client of his. So, this client made an investment through the advisor and period. The advisor called the client two-three times, the client did not respond nor did he ever call back, so he assumed that the client is not interested, and he gave up. After a year, the advisor bumped into that client in a super mart, and found out that because of a mishap in his family, the client could not respond to the call, and now because of lack of contact he has a different financial advisor.

Moral of the story: Do not give up too easily. A client may be temporarily inactive, and probably only you have converted his status into permanently inactive.

Find out the reason for inactivity. There may be multiple reasons for investors to stop investing. So you need to detect the exact disease before trying to cure it.

The investor's investment's value might have declined in the initial months of his investment, and may be he booked losses too in the fear of losing more money, and this loss made his approach skeptical towards any further investments. So, you as his advisor need to wash his fear away, you must educate and explain to him the reasons for his loss. You can also create a paper trail and show him if he had believed and held on to his investment, he would have made humungous money.

Another reason could be the investor was dissatisfied from your services, and found a new advisor. So you need to work real hard and to get him back, and even if you don't get him back, you will at least get to know where you need to work so that another client doesn't leave you in the future.

Like the above, there can be many reasons for his stagnation. But once you know the logic behind his sedentary investment style, you'd be able to cater to him more effectively by targeting the root cause.

Another way to retrieve your dormant investors is through introduction of new products to them. Maybe the investor could not select an investment product from the limited set of offerings you had two years back. But now, since you have added many new products in your basket like bonds, MARS, PMS, etc., some of the new products may be suitable for the investor and may attract him to resume investing. So, you need to constantly introduce your investors to your upgraded basket of products.

Lastly, hit the right nerve. Nobody wants to pay taxes. Send an ELSS flyer or a message two-three months before the March 31 deadline. The idea of saving taxes can instill energy into the laziest of the lot.

So, the bottomline is “Laziness fuels more laziness and activity fuels more activity”.

Inactive clients are an excellent business opportunity, how soon and how well you unleash it, depends on your patience and persistence.

'Women' constitute almost half of the total population of our country, but this segment is vastly overlooked. Women are not acknowledged at home when it comes to discussing finances in the house, and outside the house at large. Most financial advertisements are male centric, the man needs an insurance policy to take care of his children, the man needs a mutual fund to sponsor his daughter's wedding, etc. Even though, modern women is educated, earning and independent, yet the 'kitchen only' image of hers is intact when it comes to finances. What is often ignored is women have money, they have investment goals and they outlive men, so the investment horizon is more than men, especially, when it comes to retirement planning. Some advisors try to run away from women as it is perceived to be a complicated segment. But you are losing a huge opportunity and a big chunk of business here.

Like you segment your clients on the basis of income, profession, age, background, etc., and devise a different strategy for each client. Likewise, men & women are two different segments and there should be separate strategies for handling them. The requirements & expectations of men & women are different, thus they should be handled differently.

There are key certain pointers about women pertaining to their nature and characteristics, to be taken into consideration, which will help you serve the ladies better:

Low income and long life: Women in general have lower incomes than males, but they generally outlive their spouses. Hence, they need to save and invest more to fill in the gap. So, a financial advisor must realize this unique feature and advise her as per her goal and affordablity.

Women are more cautious: Women are more careful when it comes to investing their hard earned money. This is because of lack of exposure to financial products, or because they are more attached to their savings, or because they are generally earning lesser than their male counterparts. So, when you pitch your products to a woman, she would take more time, she would explore other options because she wants the best deal, before making a decision. Be patient, do not pester them, give them time and space to think and get back.

Women are emotional: Men go by logic, facts and figures, while women believe in building relationships. Unlike men, women associate their goals with emotions. So, focus on winning their trust, women are more social, so be a good speaker as well as a good listener. When you are advising a woman, her goals and requirements should be at the center. Make sure that she feels comfortable and secure, and does not doubt your intentions with respect to her money. Once you are able to develop a comfortable and healthy relationship with a woman, she develops an emotional bond with you and is your client for a lifetime.

Social: Women are social creatures, and when they trust you and the services you offer, they would not mind talking about it and hence bringing in more referrals for you. So, if you want to have the huge social circle of the ladies as your clients, you must handle them with care.

Life events: There are some major life events, or points which has significant positive and negative impacts on a woman, like getting married, having a baby, death of spouse, divorce, etc. Women would need a financial advisor at such times to help them financially. When a woman gets married, she realizes the responsibilities of a family lying ahead, and wish to contribute. When she gives birth to a child, she starts thinking of her child's future. She wants to invest for these goals, so you must guide her. She might lose her spouse, by the latter's demise or divorce, and at such points she would need money to survive, and she needs to save & invest for her future. So, you must help her if she has to redeem her earlier investments and help her devise a sound financial plan for her future & make her financially independent.

Working Women: There are increasing number of working women, but they generally have lesser financial obligations than men, so there are a lot of unnecessary expenses here as well as money in their saving accounts. Even homemakers have their savings in a 'Ghapla Account', which they keep for emergencies and which is not known to her family. So, there is a lot of idle money lying with women. A financial advisor must view this as an opportunity, and advise women and direct their savings and unimportant expenses to concrete investment assets.

A financial advisor must keep the above things in mind while dealing with a female client. Your advisory should be customised as per the unique needs & characteristics of women. You must help them discharge the responsibilities as well as plan for their goals.

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When someone comes across an annoying person, he has the option to take the sidewalk. But a financial advisor doesn't have this option. Your bread and butter is dependent on clients and sidelining the source of your daily bread can be hazardous.

All of you must have dealt with Difficult Clients. Clients worry because it is their hard earned money that is in consideration, but sometimes it becomes an obsession and they start micromanaging & nitpicking. They would nag you all the time, keep on calling for a petty thing over and over again, never appreciate, don't trust you, and when you see their number on your mobile, you hold your breath, pick the call and with a heavy heart, eject a puny 'Hello'. Though you would want to not talk to him ever, but you have to curb your wish and be patient. Following are some tips to help you tackle your difficult clients:

Understand the reason: Try to ascertain the reason behind your client's harassing behaviour. It can be because it is in their nature, or they are successful in their own business or job and they believe their business tactics will work in their personal financial planning as well, or they or their family member have had a bad investment experience in the past. Ramesh, a financial advisor has a client Sharda, who was always anxious, badgered him constantly with questions, called him for every petty thing. Ramesh dug deep down and found out her father lost everything in stock markets when she was in high school and they had to borrow money from her aunt for bringing in food in the house, she had to drop school since they could not pay her fee, this instance had created a spell on her, which scared at every fall or rise in the market, even when she was holding a debt portfolio. He played the role of a psychologist here, it was easier for him to mould Sharda's ideology, and has her as a loyal and normal client now.

Make things clear in the beginning: Set the roles, responsibilities, expectations, performance parameters, terms of fee payment, etc., at the beginning. Record everything on paper or send a snapshot of the terms concluded from your discussion on mail or a message to your client. Make it a habit to document the outcomes of your meetings with the client. So, whenever there is a clash, you will have a proof to justify yourself and your actions. This will help you in maintaining a cordial and organised relationship with your client.

Ignore: There are people who would not appreciate your efforts and would emit ill words when their portfolios don't perform. In such situations, the power of willful ignorance will come to your rescue. Don't let rude statements offend you, rather try to understand your client's reason and take the conversation towards devising a solution than dragging the problem.

Keep in touch: Meet your client regularly, even if he is a difficult client. Communicate any new investment products, change in the markets which can lead to changes required in his portfolio, etc., timely. Effective and timely communication can help you solve problems before they arise. Be there for your client in tough times, follow up always.

Don't ignore his problems: When you get a call from a discontented client, the instant solution that comes to your mind is not answer or cut the call. But this is not a solution, rather this will aggravate the problem. You should talk to your client, fix a meeting, discuss his problems and come up with a solution. Your prompt response, positive attitude, facing up and dealing up with the problem will build the client's confidence in you.

Set Limits: Sometimes you have to set some limits for some people. If you have a client who is calling you for a problem over and over again, which is not material or has already been solved, then it is best to not let the client barge into your space and set boundaries for him. You may probably adopt the earlier approach of not answering calls in such cases or you may communicate to him that you may not be able to help further in his case.

Ditch some: After all your efforts, if a client is making your life miserable, it is best to move on. Though in our business, a customer should not be ditched, yet in some cases you have to end this relationship. However this is the last resort, and should be practiced only when you have exhausted all of the above courses of actions.

So, the bottomline is whenever you encounter a difficult client, do not panic, take a deep breath and consider applying the above points in his case. You still have the opportunity to make them happy. Remember, “It takes months to find a customer and only seconds to lose one”.

Struggle is the pioneer partner of an advisor. We all strive hard to generate business, build our brand and satisfy our clients. And after long unbroken efforts, we are able to provide services to our customers which makes them happy. Word of mouth works wonders for our reputation and our business. Concurrently, it is a sin to leave a customer unhappy because he will tell the world about it. And when your client is contented, he would pass on the joy to his dear ones and acquaintances. A referral is stronger than all your marketing efforts. If your client is satisfied with your services, then only he would refer you, so a lot of efforts have gone into generating this referral, you should value it.

“Referrals are given easily. If you don't take the time to establish credibility, you are not going to get the referral. People have to get to know you. They have to feel comfortable with who you are and what you do.” ~ Ivan Misner

So, now when your client honours you by giving a referral, how do you justify your client's conviction in you, how do you convert the referral?

Following are the steps that you must follow in order to exploit the opportunity:

• Acknowledge: When your client is referring you to his friend, he is giving a little bit of his reputation to you. You should oblige the favour that he has extended, you owe it to him. You may acknowledge his gratitude by sending a personlised message or a card or a small token of appreciation to let him know that he is special and his gesture is highly appreciated. This will have a positive impact on your existing client as well as the lead. The former will be motivated to refer more people and the latter will be pleased with the treatment you offer to your clients.

• Be proactive: Don't take referrals for granted. Once you receive the referral, don't be lazy and put his number away assuming you can call him later. You must call him immediately, because the lead might be looking for alternatives as well, your prospect may land up in someone else's office because of your lethargy. If you are not able to get through his number or he is not responding, follow up from the source of the lead.

• Introduce yourself and the reference: When you call him for the first time, introduce yourself briefly and the client who gave you his reference. Ask the client what he requires, so that you can get yourself prepared with the solutions that you have to offer when you meet him. Follow with a small narrative of your skills and communicate that you have the ability and special skills to solve his problems. Finally, fix an appointment with him.

• Get your facts together: Before going to physically meet your prospective client, you should do some homework. Get information about him, his family, his priorities, his nature in general from the lead source and from your telephonic conversation. Lay down the facts and figures and be ready with the solution that you can offer him and alternative solutions in case you are turned down.

• The meeting: This is the chance to make the everlasting first impression. Create a pleasant environment for the client, even if you have had a hectic day, it shouldn't be showing on your face. The client should be comfortable with you, and you should let him talk about himself, his family, etc. before you get on to business. Next comes the critical time when you have to pitch in your product. Remember, he is not like the client who referred you, don't presume he knows you, your style, the products you offer, etc. So, start afresh and give your best shot. Remember your client's trust and reputation is at stake, so handle with care. The lead may be unsure even after your best efforts, give him time to respond and follow up.

• What if you couldn't convert: Even after your utmost efforts, if the referral is not converted, try to gauge the circumstances which lead to the same. You may ask him politely or the source of the lead. You would know what you could have done better and it would also give you a lesson for the future. Remember, closing the entire episode on a positive note, since today he might not have bought your products, but tomorrow he may.

• Update your client: Remember, that you should always keep your client in the loop. You must communicate the status of your dealings with the lead, like the call, your meetings, etc., timely to your client. Whether the referral materializes or not, you must express gratitude to your client for his courtesy.

A referral is the greatest compliment that you can get. It is a gift from your client, who believes in you. Try your best to stand upto the donor's expectations. The above process is simple but is efficient in helping you paying for your hardwork. So, if you get referrals for your hardwork, follow the tips and expand your business by increasing the referral conversion rate.

“Win people's trust and win more business for yourself.”