Are you looking to transform the productivity of your sales and marketing teams?
Some of the largest firms in asset management have adopted the latest digital strategies and techniques to attract more assets than their competitors. But many in our industry are still using yesterday’s approach.
If you seek to grow AUM, it may be time to consider a change.
Yesterday’s Team and Approach
Traditionally, there were two teams in asset management distribution: marketing and sales.
- The marketing team focused on product marketing: facts sheets, brochures, and pitch decks.
- The sales team was divided into internal and external salespeople: the internals in a central office and the externals on the road, both segmented by geography.
The strategy revolved around a simple question: “How do we cover the most advisors with our given sales team?”
Implementation was based on answering two additional questions: “What’s the ratio of internals to externals?”
and “Do we channelize...or not?”
In the traditional model, to grow business, you added more people. With more people, there was more activity. With more activity, more results—hopefully. Most firms still operate that way. Yet, most firms struggle to gain traction as overhead costs soar.
“More of the same” is an outmoded and costly approach to solving today’s distribution challenges. We need to address the fundamental issue: the behavior of our future clients has changed, but our sales and marketing strategies have not.
Approaching the problem with the same strategy is not the answer. Our future clients have moved online and are reluctant to answer the phone. They prefer fewer (if any) meetings. We become less and less profitable with an activity-based approach to sales and marketing with each person we hire if we don't fix the fundamental issue.
“The behavior of our future clients has changed, but our sales and marketing strategy has not.”
A New Approach
To move forward, you must leverage digital tactics and automation in your business development approach. To succeed at digital transformation, your team needs to look different than it does today.
The New 70/30
When you think about your new team, marketing and sales can’t be siloed.
In today’s digital world, the job of marketing is to get potential clients 70% through the sales process, and the objective of the sales team is to facilitate the last 30%. Marketing and sales must work together as united, collaborative partners.
As an organization, you and your team have to understand this new process. Your marketing team still needs to provide the basics of product marketing but also include digital specialists. And more than just one as is the approach of most asset managers today. These digital experts should work across multiple domains. Your sales team needs to adopt a “digital first” approach in partnership with the marketing team.
“Marketing and sales must work together as united, collaborative partners.”
“Digital first” Requires Digital Specialists.
To succeed in a digital world, your marketing team must become “digital first.” A complete digital marketing team requires experts in each of the following:
Outsourcing, hiring, or a combination of both can be utilized to build the team while controlling costs and optimizing results.
Train and Transform Your “Digital First” Sales Team.
Your sales team will need to be trained differently too. Empowered with new digital resources, the sales team will not be limited to selecting one city to travel to next month, cold calling against a deadline to schedule meetings around an anchor appointment.
Tracking Digital Footprints
Salespeople will be trained to monitor and analyze the digital footprint of clients and future clients. These digital footprints will answer key questions:
- Who is engaged?
- Who is interested?
- How interested are they?
- What specifically are they interested in?
- How do we translate digital engagement into a conversation?
With lead scoring, you can apply metrics to prospective clients' online activities and interests. Lead scoring will dynamically prioritize sales activities segmented by product. Your sales team will be focused on the right people with the right message at the right time.
Sales Professionals of the Future
In the digital era, internal salespeople will be able to provide technical assistance.
External salespeople act as consultants, answering questions in detail and helping clients find and implement investment solutions.
One Revenue Team, United
Your Digital Wholesaling Team will be one revenue team, united with a single focus on increasing AUM and serving clients like never before, both online and in person.
When this revenue team works together, marketing focuses on the first 70% of the sales process and sales on the final 30%, both doing what they do best:
- Marketing to deliver engaged and educated prospects
- Sales to focus on building relationships, making future clients feel comfortable, and answering questions
The result will be improved asset flows and enhanced client retention. Boutiques will be able to leverage technology to compete successfully with larger firms.
Digital Distribution™ is the future.
“The Digital Wholesaling Team is the high-performing new business model for the online era.”
Next Steps in Your Digital Transformation
You have multiple opportunities to learn more:
- Watch Module 5: People—Your New Revenue Team from the GK3 video series
- Or view the whole series, a complete course on Digital Distribution™ in five short videos
- Or download our FREE eBook: Asset Manager’s Guide to Digital Distribution™
Topics: Content Digital Marketing Digital Distribution Asset Management Website Sales Enablement CRM Automation Lead Generation Technology