How to ensure your seminar does not go flat

Seminars can be the simplest way of marketing your practice to prospective clients, but you need to plan them carefully to get the best results. Jason Spits reports.

For most advisers, the idea of giving a seminar conjures images of sweaty palms and nervous stammers as they stand in front of a sea of cold and hostile faces.

Seminars can be the simplest way of marketing your practice to prospective clients, but you need to plan them carefully to get the best results. Jason Spits reports.

For most advisers, the idea of giving a seminar conjures images of sweaty palms and nervous stammers as they stand in front of a sea of cold and hostile faces.

Yet, over time, seminars have proved to be positive and rewarding experiences for all concerned (financial planners, speakers and attendees) — as long as they are well thought out.

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While their focus is often on education, they must create a positive image for the planner.

“Those putting on a seminar want to create a positive environment as this gives the right impression to clients. Since they are there to invest money it is important to make people feel they can be part of something with standards,” Horwath Financial Services head of financial planning John Brady.

A blanket approach to either educating existing clients, or trying to bring in new prospects, is doomed to failure. And, ensuring that the topic and tone is correctly pitched to the level of people attending is essential.

Green Associates director Tony Green notes that seminars often encourage people to have a go at investing their money and they help people understand why investments don’t always pan out for the best.

“We find it is ordinary sort of people, basic types of clients, who use seminars as an educative process,” Green says.

“Topics need to be relevant to a situation and to clients attending the seminar with the aim being that attendees take home more useable information and advice than they previously had,” he says.

“As such we use seminars to work with existing clients, since charity starts at home, and new work comes in through referrals.”

Brady believes that not everyone can or wishes to understand the process of financial planning, but he says there’s still an abounding interest in accumulating and increasing wealth.

“Most people are primarily interested in growing their assets which usually fall into three asset classes — cash and fixed interest, property or shares. With the Australian fascination with shares at the moment it is hard to go past that, but the real secret is to find a speaker who can put a new spin on the issues of asset classes and wealth creation within them,” he says.

Planners seem to approach seminars in different ways. Some opt to take a minor role and rely on speakers from the funds management industry. Others choose to be more high profile and speak themselves.

Most, however, are keen to maintain control over the seminar. They will make contact with attendees and keep this going — and they will highlight their independence from any invited speakers.

Credit Suisse Asset Management business development manager Clayton Coplestone says in teaming up with advisers for presentations, it is important to bring along something new and to have it presented at appropriate levels.

“When we do something on behalf of planners we use speakers who have expertise in areas the public don’t know about or haven’t considered, but we do avoid using actual fund managers,” Coplestone says.

“They are great at their job, but as public speakers, supplying infotainment, it doesn’t suit many of them. There is a need for a combination of humour and knowledge tempered with language the audience will understand.”

CIS director Suzanne Sutherland Smith says a relationship between planner and audience should also be created and that is why planners should be active and consider giving part of the presentation.

“It is really important that representatives of the firm do speak as people see those who deliver a message as having credibility. The idea of the seminar is to establish your own credibility and image,” Sutherland Smith says.

“We do link into fund managers and their speakers, but we also emphasis there is to be no product selling as we are not driving publicity for their firm, but rather for ours.”

Brady says speakers are used to provide a new angle on many issues, but the seminar must still be viewed as part of the education process that clients have hopefully already begun.

“We use speakers to educate existing clients, but also to shake them out of any lethargy developed about investing. We point out any financial plan has risk but it is good for clients to hear from someone else who has a different style of preaching in the pulpit,” Brady says.

Most industry players say that the success of a seminar is closely tied to finding the right venue, which, according to Australian Financial Services business support manager Steve Griffin, must be non-threatening.

“For public addresses, planners need a reasonable public venue which is neutral ground, especially for potential new clients who may attend,” he says.

“Spaces such as function rooms in hotels are good examples, but they need to be high quality venues and have adequate car parking facilities. If you fail to secure parking, the presentation is dead in the water.”

Griffin says picking the right time for a seminar is also crucial to its success. "Even things like the days of the week become important, especially for working people and so things like evenings early in the week become a consideration also," he says.

Brady believes that weeknights are a good time to hold seminars, but, he warns, sometimes, not everything will go according to plan.

"We are based in Melbourne and if we get a 'cats and dogs' night of weather, regardless of our best plans, numbers will drop," Brady says.

"As such we tend to hold seminars in the early evenings straight after work because when people get home and into that lounge, they normally don't get out again," Brady says.