How video updates can transform client relationships

Video updates are an underused tool that can be useful for advisors looking to succinctly communicate information and build client trust. With email inboxes perpetually bombarded with long walls of text, a simple video can go a long way. But for many advisors, a video update is challenging to execute.

Being on-camera is a skill that requires practice and talent.
Making a professional-looking video is daunting to anyone who isn’t a video producer by trade.
The time and energy needed to make something worthy of your clients is time and energy that is hard to justify amid all other responsibilities.

These reasons all make a lot of sense. When I started doing video updates for my practice, I already had a television resume and production know-how. It made it easier for me to try this out, which is why I am eager to share what I’ve learned. I’ve been able to see the direct results first-hand.

Simply put, the upsides are too great to ignore. The challenges can be easily met.

The upsides of video updates

Putting aside how to meet the challenges for a moment, let’s look at the upsides to video updates.

Financial advisors are the stewards of their clients’ wealth. That responsibility is tremendous. That wealth is the tool your clients will use to live out their dreams and accomplish their life goals. If they have put you at the helm, they trust you. But building and maintaining that trust is critical.

Demonstrating competency and availability is a proven way to build trust. The old model is newsletters, which have their place, but people’s inboxes are inundated as it is. It is ironic that I am using the written word to make this point, but many people absorb information better if it is spoken to them on video. Some people like to read, some people like podcasts. Different mediums appeal to different people. For RIAs and financial professionals, video is more rarely tapped.

Additionally, videos let clients connect directly to you as a person. It is one step removed from talking to them on the phone. One reason many celebrities experience fans having parasocial relationships with them is seeing and hearing a person speak, over time, makes you trust them more. Frequent video updates inevitably build familiarity and trust.

Video updates are a chance to show competence

Videos are the ideal medium to demonstrate competency. A nicely shot and produced video with smart, succinct content can put anxious minds at ease. A good comparison might be the grass and grounds of a college. If the lawn is unkempt and the campus isn’t clean, it won’t feel like a place you want to send your children. Neatly kept grounds, on the other hand, display competence. Ultimately, when looking at a college, you want educational competence, not groundskeeping talent. But it is not a coincidence that the top colleges have nicer-looking grass than their less prestigious counterparts. If you can demonstrate competence in groundskeeping, people will show up for the education.

Your clients and prospects want smart stewards of wealth who understand market realities and can grow their nest egg. They want an empathetic person who understands their challenges. Video production might be outside the skills needed to perform the job, but it can demonstrate expertise and capability. They are a chance for you to show yourself meeting challenges in real time.

I know my television background is somewhat unique, which is one reason I am well-positioned to help financial advisors in the production aspect. I can be that groundskeeper who makes the metaphorical lawn look neat and fresh for your practice. You get a chance to show your expertise and remind your clients that no matter the uncertainty of the markets, you have them.

People respond to people

For all of the talk about division today, people ultimately are interested in and drawn toward other people. We watch TV or go to the movies to see stories about people. Seeing a person share their reality in real time is comforting on a primordial level. Every touch point you have with a client is an opportunity to serve them. They have to opt into reading a full newsletter. Even if it would help them understand and trust you as their advisor, sometimes it is easier to click play on a video instead of digging into the details through paragraphs of text.

Our video updates give our clients something easy to opt into. They remind our clients of who they have put their trust in and demonstrate why that trust is warranted. They help maintain that critical advisor-to-client relationship and they grow that all-important trust. They can do that for you as well.

Interested in learning more? Reach out to our team of experts and find out how we can help you build client trust through video updates.

Tags: Client Trust, Video Update