in 2015, Microsoft Canada published a study saying that the average human has a shorter attention span than a goldfish — with humans at eight seconds and nine seconds for the goldfish.
Every day, fewer and fewer advisors respond to a sales call pitching a product or service. This explains why financial institutions are looking to differentiate by adding value beyond the features of a specific product or service. This phenomenon is realized through fund companies offering risk-managed portfolios of their funds, systems that empower advisors and engage investors through technology, and education that helps advisors grow their business.
By now, most companies have learned that when you focus on driving sales by speaking to the maximum number of people, the maximum number of times, with a message of “Buy! Buy! Buy!”, people tend to avoid you — like that guy at the party who only talks about himself – they delete you and put you in spam.i
Of course, we want to engage as many people as possible. But the number of engagements alone won’t make our business grow. It is what happens once we engage that matters. The information we share must add value and educate, so our audience knows and likes us enough to trust us with their business.
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i Excerpt from “Fascinate”, a book on how to build a brand that fascinates, by Sally Hogshead