The team rented an industrial shredder and held the event from 9 a.m. to noon in their parking lot on the Saturday before April 15. All of Waterfront's clients were invited, but so were other people -- companies in their office building, prospects, townspeople, etc. Clients had their documents shredded for free, non-clients had to pay a nominal sum based on pounds shredded. (Which subtly reinforced the advantage of being a client -- always a plus.)
They offered coffee and donuts in the parking lot, and were on hand to meet and mingle with everyone who came. And they came - hundreds and hundreds of clients and prospects. Turns out lots of people have documents that need shredding! Mixing clients and prospects made for easy introductions, and referrals happened naturally as people conversed.
For very little money, this planning firm held a high-impact event that was a huge success and required little advance planning or preparation. Shredfest was popular, talked about, written about in local publications, and resulted in new clients to the firm. Pictures taken were framed in the office, posted on the Web site, and article reprints used in follow up.
Giving your clients a great experience doesn't take additional budget or resources, but it does require you to spend a little more thought in the planning stage. What do you gain? A distinct, memorable client experience that differentiates you, gets you talked about favorably, and makes prospects want to know more about you. And isn't that the whole point?
Kristine McManus heads up McManus Consulting, which specializes in helping advisors create great experiences through their marketing. Her work has won numerous industry awards, and she has spent 25+ years working with advisers at leading firms like John Hancock Funds, Fidelity Investments and Putnam Financial. Send her your best/worst client event experience at [email protected].