The last few years have been troubling for Americans. And although things have been improving since the Great Recession, there's still a lot of uncertainty about the future of our economy. You need to have a plan for when the next recession hits and your revenue begins to decrease due to client loss or market performance.
The actions you take today can influence how your business fares following the next market crash. While much is out of your control, there are two things you can do now to prepare for the future: commit to marketing and have a plan for communicating during a crisis.
1. Commit to marketing. The markets performed very well in 2013, with the DJIA up more than 25 percent. With this type of organic asset growth, it's easy to think the worst is behind us and that you can continue to see growth in your businesses without needing to market. But this is a huge mistake. When I started Wealth Management in 2008, many advisors I worked with hadn't done much marketing at all. While it was brave to spend money on marketing just as their revenue was decreasing, these advisors would have been in a better position had they started marketing before the recession.
The lesson here is that there is never a good time to neglect your marketing. If you aren't marketing now, begin immediately. If you have started, continue. The momentum you build now will help you retain clients and win new ones during the downtimes. Finally, during the next economic downturn, don't make the mistake of pulling back on your marketing dollars. Investing in marketing is just as important in bad times as in good.
2. Communicate during a crisis. Regularly communicating to clients and prospects provides reassurance during troubled times. Communication can take a variety of forms, such as phone calls, emails, newsletters, market commentaries, webinars, conference calls, videos and events. Even if your clients and prospects aren't actively engaged in any of these marketing activities, your consistent outreach will remind them that you're there when they need you.
