Why your clients can be your best marketing asset

Friends and family are a popular choice for seeking advice on financial matters, a new report reveals

Why your clients can be your best marketing asset
A new report reveals that 3 million Aussies are considered ‘trusted financial advisers’ by friends and family, influencing their finance decisions.

The research by Roy Martin shows that around 15% of those over 14 years of age were asked by friends or family for advice on their finances and investments.

It means that those lenders and finance professionals who have strong relationships with – and high levels of satisfaction among - their existing customers are likely to benefit from recommendations from that client base.

“The banks dealt with by the people who give advice have the potential to gain customers only if they have high satisfaction and positive levels of advocacy which is not the case currently for many of them. It is therefore worth banks understanding and tracking that important group of their customers -‘trusted advisers’,” said Roy Morgan industry communications director Norman Morris.

The bank with the highest level of customers giving advice to others was Citibank (25%) followed by Macquarie (24%) and Heritage (23%).

However, Citibank and Macquarie only have average satisfaction levels and negative net promoter scores, meaning there are missing out of the recommendations of existing customers.

Heritage, ING Direct and Bendigo Bank all have very high NPS scores and are therefore more likely to benefit from customers who are trusted advisers to others.

“With nearly three million people being asked by family and friends for financial advice and over five million asking them for advice, this network is likely to play a major role in financial decisions,” concluded Morris.