Peter is a DIY investor. He is a high earning professional who likes to give everything a go and doesn’t shy away from risk. At 45 years of age, he’s an experienced property investor and has recently added his third residence to his portfolio. How can advisers connect and engage with investors like Peter?

Housing is Australia’s single largest asset class. Overall, the value of residential real estate is estimated to be
$6.5 trillion
across 9.6 million dwellings. According to the ATO, there are just over
2 million property
investors in Australia, with 48% of the nation’s apartment stock likely to be owned by an investor. People aged 50-64 year olds are most likely to own an investment property, yet most residential investors don’t rely on it as their
primary source of income.

 In fact, the 2018 Property Investor Sentiment Survey found that despite the vast majority of Australian investors investing for capital growth, only 38.5% held negatively geared properties, indicating finance is a problem for most.

As Warren Buffet says “nobody buys a farm based on whether they think it’s going to rain next year; they buy it because they think it’s a good investment over 10 or 20 years.” Investors buy property as a lucrative option to build wealth and deliver great returns over years to come, but to achieve that they need to successfully navigate potential short-term risks, by gaining an understanding of their entire financial situation, and receiving guidance on the best structures for growth.

From detail-oriented investors who only care about numbers to the risk-averse in need of emotional support, you’ll need personalised approaches to engage with these clients.

A popular framework for tailoring your messaging to different personalities is the BOLT framework, as detailed in this blog by software company Broker Engine. The framework identifies 4 personality types and advocates adapting your communication strategy to match.

  • Bull – Quick to get to the point, fast-paced, result-orientated, likes challenges, and needs to be in control

  • Owl – Considered decision maker, likes detail and order, time conscious, and takes a business-first approach

  • Lamb – Slow decision maker, often indecisive, understands mistakes, can be emotional, cares about security, is social but avoids conflict

  • Tiger  – Quick decision maker, not into details, often late, cares about prestige & status, likes a challenge, and is very social

Whether it’s building relationships with tigers or providing insurance recommendations to a lamb (or any other personality framework you feel is appropriate), knowing how to position your services in a way that addresses each investor’s unique approach to decision-making is the first step to building lifelong engagement.

There has been a 25% increase in financial advisers in Australia in the last 5 years so it’s never been more important to have a unique value proposition to stand out from the crowd. Whether it’s promoting environmentally friendly investments or advising on property investments in SMSFs, a unique value proposition should be tailored to your client personas.

But communicating the value you deliver can be a challenge. Start with a simple statement outlining who your ideal clients are, and what benefits you have to offer them. Then, use frameworks like the “return on life” (ROL) approach, as described in<
this post
by investment platform Netwealth, to articulate client-centric value that goes beyond just “return on investment” (ROI).

If you’re familiar with the mortgage broking industry, you’ll know how costly the slow execution of contracts can be. In fact, drawing out the contract process can increase business costs by 90%.

Some of these costs can easily be minimised or even eliminated with digital tools designed to streamline the onboarding process. These not only help firms save time and money through increased efficiency, they also help deliver a better customer experience – especially when dealing with process & data heavy clients like property investors.

The key to success is to map out where digital tools can replace existing manual processes, and where they intersect with others you already use. Too many disconnected tools can create a disjointed experience for your staff and your clients, which is why myprosperity integrates with more than 20 technology partners, such as Netwealth, Class, Spotlight and Macquarie to deliver a connected, streamlined experience across the board.

myprosperity helps you create an integrated experience and deliver value to your clients at each stage of their journey. From automating processes such as fact finds to facilitating digital document signing, the wealth portal helps you deliver a holistic digital experience that will delight your clients each step of the way.