Entrust Learning Center > 8. Newsletter Archive > Social Networking...For the Middle Aged

Social Networking...For the Middle Aged

The social media phenomenon has taken over the internet, and is now used by many companies as a powerful business tool. But does it replace good, old-fashioned networking?

By: Glen Mather

July IRA Insights

I have a guilty secret that must be divulged before I launch into this discussion: I have never been on Facebook or Twitter, although my company is involved in each. The closest I have been to electronic social networking is to post some information on LinkedIn, since I was told it was a great way to meet and establish new business relationships.

So what gives me the credibility to write about social networking? I believe our business at Entrust is completely dependent on social media for leads, referrals, and education.

The phenomenon that is made up of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, and hundreds of lesser-known relatives of these sites have been labeled as "social networking" sites. The power of having millions of potential clients eager and ready to snap up your products and services —all at very little marketing cost to you—is seductive and alluring. Especially if what you are offering is attractive to those that frequent the social networking sites.

Since we opened our Entrust office in Florida more than seven years ago, our client base has grown through the old-fashioned “offline” version of social networking. Our clients seem to prefer it that way. Educational events, membership in local real estate clubs, chambers of commerce, the Florida association of Realtors, the Florida Institute of CPAs, the Florida Bar Association, and many other boards, memberships and associations throughout our territory provide a strong source of potential leads for self-directed IRAs.

In order to sharpen our marketing focus, we did some analysis of our existing customer base. We discovered that our average client is 40-60 years old, still working, and has a considerable amount in an IRA or 401(k) plan. They are independent thinkers, very interested in real estate, and fed up with the stock market. We did some further analysis on who uses social media websites and found that although many use Facebook, most do so only to follow friends and former classmates.

So naturally, in order to be more forward thinking and utilize all the relatively inexpensive marketing tools at our disposal, we have added Facebook to our arsenal. I was told that it would take a commitment of at least one hour per day in order to start to get the positive, continued results from the users, and that commitment had to be made by me, the CEO. Finding that amount of time has been difficult, and quite frankly, I haven't fully stepped up to the task. However, as I attended a recent social networking conference, feverishly scribbling notes on the psychographics of users, the language of the social media user, and the process of updating posts, it brought to mind the true importance of social networking. It has nothing to do with the Internet—people need to be engaged before they buy.

Every event we do, every phone call I take, each expo where we engage the public, and every e-mail we dash off is a critical step in building our prospect's confidence in Entrust. Moment by moment, people are consciously or unconsciously measuring their desire to be associated with us and our company. Our preparation for the meeting or the event, or even the phone call is critical. Our knowledge of the potential customer, and more importantly, the customer's needs are necessary if we want a long term-relationship to develop. 

Many companies have elbowed their way to the front of the social networking technology line with the latest tools, techniques, and bandwidth-intensive marketing campaigns; while other have shuffled their way forward with an occasional Twitter update from their marketing intern. We have decided to refocus on our existing client base, and as such have customized a new customer-centric processing platform for all of our clients who buy non-traditional assets in their IRAs.

After all, without an internal view on process and communication improvements with your existing clients, how can any type of social networking—either electronic or "old-school"—have a positive result? The danger of having a poor outcome with an existing client, using the megaphone of the Internet and social networking outlets, should cause everyone to revisit their core business and customer relationship systems.

The growth of new social networking, especially with our middle-aged clients, has reminded us of our duty to continually improve the delivery of our service, then give our clients the ability to share their experience through testimonials, client mixers, and other media. Whether our network of relationships are simply a click away, or a 30-minute car ride from our office, the same basic rules apply—recommendations come from relationships, and relationships come from the respect earned through superior service.  As it turns out the concept isn't so new after all.

Glen Mather is President of Entrust Administration Services, Inc., a self-directed IRA administrator. Glen can be reached at info@entrustfl.com or (407) 367-3472.

Keywords|Tags

Refine your search using these keywords