Woodford: A question for financial advisers and wealth managers...

This screenshot is taken from an article in Saturday's Times entitled 'The worst-performing funds, from St James’s Place to Woodford Equity Income'. It highlights ten funds with a total of funds under management in excess of £20 billion. There is no doubt whatsoever that some investors in these funds will currently be looking for a new home for their capital. Our question for the investment management industry is simple...

'Does it think it has a duty to help potential investors when they are looking for a safe home for their capital?'

Let us explain

You will have written to your clients explaining just how your firm is safeguarding their capital and addressing their objectives without involving them in the kind of risks we have seen bring about Woodford's downfall, just as you would have, given a similar crisis of confidence in, say, 2009, 0r 1999, or 1989?

But here we are in 2019. And there is a mechanism out there that was not available in 2009: Google reviews. But very few in the financial world have worked out just what a powerful message positive reviews are able to convey to existing and potential clients alike.

The advantages of Google reviews - from an investors point-of-view

Google reviews can be posted by anyone at any time; this gives them credibility. They are also highly visible - appearing front and centre in any given Google search.

Well managed, Google reviews provide potential investors with reliable first-hand corroborations of the business's own marketing. Here's an example - on the business's own website (you will be familiar with this kind of thing):

But reinforced by over forty opinions on Google (often before the potential client even arrives on the company website):

The advantages, from the fund manager's point-of-view

A reassured potential client/investor is much more likely to become a real-live client/investor. And these reviews (and the remaining 40-odd) are nothing if not reassuring.


So why do most financial advisers and wealth managers look like this on Google?

Or - in the overwhelming majority of cases - this:

How about the largest UK wealth manager?

We didn't have to look far to find this example. The first ten St James's Place offices in map/mobile search return the following:

Perhaps it is because they are aware that there are disadvantages inherent in engaging with reviews. Awareness of these, we suspect, has gone a long way towards the current state of inaction. We spoke to two businesses, one with a significant amount of reviews and one with none, and the answer became clear.

Human nature

There was either an extreme, albeit rare, case of optimism: 'We don't need reviews, all our clients come to us through word of mouth' or, uch more common, pessimism 'We would never consider inviting our clients to write a publicly visible review, you never know what they might say.'

The first one is difficult to answer, except to say that even those introduced by word-of-mouth have been known to consult the web, even if only to find contact details (and they will see reviews when they do).

The second was answered by the adviser with lots of reviews: 'We were extremely wary, so we dipped our toes into the water very gently; soon we realised that we should have faith in ourselves and our clients. We work hard to give them the best advice and service and they have recognised that in their reviews - both in terms of the scores and content.'

They did, however, go on to say that they were highly selective when it came to those clients they invited to write reviews. This is important. The CMA regulations clearly state that a business that proactively invites reviews must enable all its customers to do so. When we mentioned this to the businesses with reviews they were at first surprised, then concerned. The overwhelming reaction was 'so how can we possibly prevent unfair (negative) reviews being posted?'  Read on.

Moderation

Some of you will have been wondering 'if we do become proactive with reviews, where does HelpHound fit in?' HelpHound adds value in many ways, but by far and away the most important, in the context of Google reviews, is moderation.

When HelpHound clients invite customers to write reviews those reviews all come back via a HelpHound moderator. Our moderators read every review, post those that contain no contentious issues straight to the business's website (where they are available for all to see), but should they come across any that contain factual inaccuracies and/or statements likely to mislead anyone reading them they revert to the reviewer for 'clarification'. This invariably results in an accurate - and helpful to all parties - review.

Conclusion

All  Businesses - and that includes wealth managers and financial advisers - have everything to gain from adopting a proactive stance where Google reviews are concerned, with these caveats:

• that they do so in compliance with the law - the CMA regulations
• that they employ a moderated mechanism

Further reading...

• the CMA regulations - and our analysis of them
• moderation - a full explanation
• a case history - how a business that engaged drove up its calls and clicks

Finding a reliable financial adviser

Financial advice - it's something most people need at various stages in their lives. So how are financial advisers helping the public choose them?

On 10 December the Times ran an article headlined "Routes to the best financial advice". It listed several sources that consumers might use - we say 'might' because the one source that is proving more popular with consumers than any other - worldwide - was notable for its absence. That source? Google reviews.

We will go into the reasons why financial advisors of all stripes have not gone down the Google route once we have analysed the advisors recommended by these aggregator sites (we searched for advisers in central London).

Unbiased

Top three results:

True Potential

 - no Google reviews

Wilcocks & Wilcocks 

- no Google reviews - and unhelpfully - remember our search criteria: central London - with offices in Liverpool

Financial Moves 

- no Google reviews - in fact no Google knowledge panel and no website (as far as we can see), but one review on a website called VouchedFor (see below)


VouchedFor

'Find top-rated financial advisers'

Stadden Forbes 

- no Google reviews

Wilcocks & Wilcocks 

 - as for Unbiased above

Buckingham Gate

- no Google reviews


FindaWealthManager

Only one suggested adviser:

Charles Stanley

 
  - no Google reviews

Moo.la

Not yet launched 


Money Advice Service

Does not recommend specific advisers.

But does have Google reviews - of its own:

But we don't think any of these are very helpful!

 

So why no Google reviews?

Because the businesses have not asked their clients to post reviews to Google.

Why not?

The main reason has to be fear (it cannot be that the businesses don't think looking great on Google will drive business - in 2017 there's no argument about that). Fear that clients, who often misunderstand the nature of the financial products or services they have bought will, in turn, post misleading reviews. 

The solution?

It cannot be to remain in what we call 'Google denial' (meaning ignoring Google reviews). Eventually clients will find their way to writing reviews of these businesses, and the chances are that those reviews will be uncomplimentary. Why uncomplimentary? Not because the businesses are bad at what they do but because unhappy consumers are up to fifteen times more likely to post a review. Look at what has happened to a major international car hire business in the last 12 months. Just half-a-dozen - mostly unhappy - customers are now dominating each branch's online reputation.

HelpHound will ensure that the business has the opportunity to address any reviews that contain inaccurate or misleading statements pre-publication. The prospect of misleading or inaccurate reviews appearing - either on the business's own website or on Google will be minimised. If you run a great business your business will look great - on your own website and on Google, guaranteed.

A realistic parallel

Estate agency shares many similarities with financial advice: both are businesses that consumers use at a financially critical time in their lives. But there is one demographic difference which had led estate agents to lead financial advisers in the reviews sphere, and that is the average age of their customers. Estate agents first encounter consumers as tenants, commonly when renting at university or when they first leave home to enter the world of work, and younger consumers tend to be more web-savvy and, as a result, less intimidated by the concept of writing a review. 

So where better to look to forecast what will happen when that generation begins to write reviews of financial advice? Estate agents are beginning to realise the benefits of actively engaging with reviews:

This business won't mind admitting that they were initially intimidated by the idea of inviting their clients to write reviews to their website and to Google. That is a big part of the reason they became clients of HelpHound. We look forward to the day when forward thinking financial advisers look the same - on their own websites and on Google.
 
The out-turn?

Consumers will have the confidence - provided by their fellow consumers - to choose a financial adviser with far more certainty than they do currently.

Reviews in 2015 - a mid-term review

So much has happened in the world of reviews recently that we felt it only right not to wait until the end of the year before bringing you one of our regular reports.

Google, so dominant in search - 68% worldwide - is introducing changes at such a rate that the contrast between search on 1 January this year and now is as marked as any full year previously.

So - how does this affect our world, the world of professional review management?

The Big One...

Is the demise of review websites. They're not quite dead yet, but they are dying. Don't look at their metrics, look at their share prices: Yelp down from $85 to $25, TripAdvisor down from $95 to $70, Angie's List down from $9 to $5. And the only reason TripAdvisor and Angie's List have not quite taken the hit that Yelp has is their fractionally smaller reliance on Google (for now).

Why?

This is so simple: because Google has ramped up its own review offering. Search for any kind of business and who do you see? Trustpilot reviews? No - Google reviews. Yelp reviews? No - Google reviews.

You own a business and you'd like your Yelp reviews to show in your Google ads? They did last year (with a nice star rating). This year? Google reviews.

Reviews may be small beer for Google, but with the number of Google users and their positioning in search it will be Googlers, not Yelpers, who dictate inward business flows for you from now on. 

The impact for your business

If you have committed resources (effort and/or funds) to getting reviews to any specialist review site you should be examining strategies for redirecting that energy. For the forseeable future the there are only two places you are going to need reviews:

• On your own website
• On Google

Just imagine that you accumulate a hundred great reviews on Google and your competitor has only five, ten or fifteen, how great will you feel? And what if that position were reversed?

While we're on that topic (reviews on your own website)...

Retailers were quick to recognise the value of reviews on their own sites; they understood, early on, that consumers would buy with more confidence if they were given credible (independently verified) reviews.

Retailers like John Lewis have been quick to recognise the power of reviews, service providers and the professions less so. This is, in part, due to the understandable 'fear factor': the realisation the power one single negative review may have to deflect business. For more about how HelpHound reduces this 'fear factor' read on here.

 
But service providers and the professions have been much slower to climb aboard: the old fashioned 'testimonial' still pervades. It is important for businesses to understand that independently verified reviews, hosted on the business's own website, are just as important in driving new business for estate agents, solicitors and financial advisers as they are for electricals and white goods retailers.

With the current dearth of businesses like these hosting independently verified reviews, the opportunity for those in these sectors to steal a march on their competitors is still massive.

Action needed

Lose the fear: and stop treating reviews as an add-on and integrate them into your core marketing plan. Get a professional review manager like HelpHound to work alongside you (you will need them for the crucial independence, if for nothing else).

Make sure that they can cover both bases for you: reviews on your own website and reviews to Google.

Then sit back and watch the results roll in - guaranteed!

Your image on mobile is SO important

When you spend hours every day in an office in front of a desktop computer it is sometimes easy to forget that more than half of all searches are now made on mobile - and just how different you (and your competitors) look there. For those of you in this category, here is an update.

Mobile search - hotel in [location]:

Marriot must be pleased they are coming out on top - for the moment - but where will they be when Google begin to rank hotels by score?

Infinite scroll:

Any score below 4.0 is going to deflect business. To be sure of actively attracting custom businesses should be aiming for a score of 4.5 or better

 Mobile search - estate agent in [location]:

Are Greene & Co relaxed about their presence in mobile search? You bet they are!

Infinite scroll:

Do any of these agents realise how unimpressive they look to any potential client searching on mobile?

Mobile search - financial adviser in [location]:

 

We're sure Holder & Combes are getting more inbound enquiries than John Lamb and Burlington Associates

Infinite scroll:

We have a suspicion that none of these businesses realise just how unimpressive they appear in mobile search; after all if they did, surely their marketing people would take action?

Notes:

Infinite scroll: in most mobile searches Google is now providing infinite scroll. This allows any user to keep on scrolling (using a vertical swipe) until they find a business that suits their requirements.

And what are those requirements? That the business in question is well regarded by its customers!

Just how much is a single review worth?

We often ask our clients this question and we get a variety of responses, but no-one says 'Nothing'. Just last week an estate agent surprised us a little by saying £1000. When we said 'Really - one thousand pounds?' he said 'If I can get my business from nowhere on Google to a 4.5+ rating and, in so doing, look great against my competitors, that has to be worth at least £5000.'

Put like that, we had to agree. Now we examine the process by which this is achieved. Let's remind ourselves how Dialogue works...

• An email is sent asking the client to write a review on your own website*
• That email is followed up - within minutes - with a phone call. The sole purpose of that call is to stress to your client just how much you value their opinion
• The client writes a review on your website
• An email is sent, automatically, asking your client to copy their review to Google
• The client copies their review to Google

So far, so very good. But - and this is a VERY BIG BUT - you need to invest some time and effort as well. Not a thousand pounds worth, you'll be glad to hear, but a minute or two on the phone.

This is how it goes (and if you stray from this process the results you get will suffer):

1. Warn clients at every opportunity during your relationship that you will be asking for a review and just how important it is that they write one, to you and to Google
2. Email clients asking for the review - one at a time
3. Phone straight away, within five minutes
4. Re-stress just how important both reviews are
5. Phone back if the reviews are not written within 24 hours
   

That is all, but any short cuts and response rates will drop dramatically, both to your own website and to Google.

The key is to get inside the mind of your client: understand what will motivate them to write the review (you - and only you - know exactly what you did so well for them, and they may need a gentle reminder!) and they'll do it. Try and do it all by email and, unfortunately, yours will join that endless pile of 'emails I must get round to answering (but never do)' in your clients' in-boxes.

Advice for managers

The most successful businesses make review harvest a part of every member of staff's role. Staff are trained to:

• Mention the fact that a review will be requested at point-of-sale: 'So we can be sure our high standards are maintained we ask all our clients to write a review when our job is complete.'
• Recognise opportunities to invite the review: for example, when a client pays a compliment to the business, in person, by email or over the phone: 'Thank you so much for saying that, may I ask you to repeat it in your review?' 
• Follow up the request by phone - this is key to getting the review to Google

If you are in a high value/low volume business (e.g. financial services, estate agency, legal) you may also consider rewarding staff for getting reviews. It focuses the mind wonderfully and it means your objectives are achieved in a timescale set by you (to repeat the title of this article: 'Just how much is a single review worth?').

HelpHound client services

Remember that Karen Hutchings and her team are here to help and guide. Just a call or an email away you will find years of experience and professional knowledge.


*Please don't underestimate the value of this review (the one posted to your own website); with hundreds of visitors to the average estate agents' website every month, those reviews produce results like these.  

And never succumb to the temptation to short-cut the process by asking them to post straight to Google; that way lies significant potential for disaster (more on that here).

Ongoing review management - it is SO important

In your first weeks of operating Dialogue your business has gone from no reviews on its own website and no (or very few) reviews on Google to 'lots' on your own site and 'some' on Google. What happens now?

To get the right answer to that question it is important to understand how consumers use reviews. There has now been plenty of academic research in that field and all of it points to the following:

1. The pure number of reviews can either boost or dilute the impression you create online. Put simply: a business with 100 great reviews looks bigger and more successful than a business with 50 (and much more so than one with none). The message here is loud and clear: never take your foot off the throttle.
2. Recent reviews matter: If consumers see that the last review was written months ago that runs the risk pf creating the impression that it was written by the business's most recent customer. Then some will draw the conclusion that you are not a great force in your marketplace.
3. The content of reviews is important: it is used by Google to create the three 'rich snippets' shown in the Knowledge Panel (the box that pops up to the right in search containing all your business details - see illustrations below), so encouraging customers to make content detailed and relevant is a good idea. Simply explain how important this is to your business and your customers will respond with great content.

More detail:

Pure numbers

Remember that four reviews a month will add up to fifty by this time next year (and how many of your competitors have anything like that number)? Perseverance is the key here.

Recent reviews

If you build the fact that you will be inviting reviews into all your dealings with your customers they will be upset if you don't invite them, rather than the other way around! That's the way to keep your reviews fresh, as well as the numbers steadily growing.

Rich snippets*

Rich snippets are one of the most important aspects of the Google Knowledge Panel - there for all to see, every time you feature in search results. Negative rich snippets can do untold harm. Here's what one client's looked like when they joined at the end of last year:

And here's what they look like now (less than three months later):

And for anyone wondering about this business: they are a large well-established lettings agency with a very positive and proactive attitude to tenant relations. But with thousands of tenants it was all too easy for the disgruntled minority to dominate what was being said online, so the impression being given was heavily skewed towards that tiny (but vocal) minority's opinions. Dialogue has redressed the balance for them (and will continue to do so).

And one last thing...

There's much more to our role, but clients refer time-and-again to the 'discipline' element, by which they mean that Dialogue ensures that they are always up-to-date as far as reviews are concerned; that they are consistent in requesting (and therefore getting) great reviews, month in, month out.

*Rich snippets: Google software analyses the content of all your reviews, looking for the three predominating themes, it then chooses a phrase from a review that relates to those themes and displays all three as illustrated above.

Dialogue for the Professions - getting off to a great start

The professions (in this context: medicine, the law, financial management, estate agency and the like) come to Dialogue with one (small and eminently surmountable) disadvantage and one massive advantage, compared with, say, those in hospitality.

Whereas hotels and restaurants have numbers in their favour when looking for customers to write reviews (a hundred bed hotel is likely to host upwards of 15,000 guests a year) the professions have an asset that more than makes up for their lack: the customer (client) bond is profoundly greater, and this can be employed to great effect.

Your objective

Your aim will be to get as many great reviews to your website as you can, and get as many of those posted on to whichever external website matters the most (for the purposes of this article let's call that Google). 

To do this effectively you must make the most of this bond. You must optimise the ratio of clients who respond to your invitation to a) write their review to your website and b) go on to copy that review to Google.

Optimising response

In an ideal world every client would respond (to both the invitation to your site and to Google). But we all operate in the real business world, where time is at a premium and emails, despite best intentions, go unanswered.

So our advice to our new clients (born of over eight years' experience) is as follows:

1. Build the fact that you will be asking every client to write a review into every aspect of client contact. Mention it when you first meet ('We invite all our clients to write a review...') and clients will be actively expecting your email when the transaction is completed.
2. Make sure all client-facing staff reinforce the message. For instance, clients will often thank staff over the phone or by email, if staff are trained to say 'Oh, please do remember that when you are asked to write your review' the message hits home.
3. Don't just email (the invitation to write the review) and hope. Most important of all, follow up with a brief phone call.

The crucial phone call 

It takes less than a minute, and it should go something like this...

“Just calling to say that the review you’ve been asked to write is really important to us. Once you have posted your review you will be asked to copy it to Google, this helps us create local awareness, so I’d be really grateful."  

Everyone has their own words to communicate the same message: 'please don't ignore the emails'.

What we do know...

Is that if you do this, you will get reviews, great reviews to your website and great reviews to Google. 

And before you know it, the phone call will become second nature, part and parcel of your customer service regime. 

Click to enlarge or email karen.hutchings@helphound.com for your very own copy