Grow Your Business with Ethics-driven Marketing

by Steven R. McCarty

According to a recent Times Mirror survey, Americans view financial professionals as less ethical than most other professionals, including lawyers.

Regulatory actions have made countless headlines and the message is loud and clear: clients are insisting that their advisors and carriers willfully move beyond just meeting compliance regulations and embrace a strict code of ethics. So how can you distinguish yourself in the marketplace as someone clients can trust?

1. Reflect on your personal beliefs about business. What and who do you believe in? Consider some of your personal heroes and identify the principles they stood for. Consult the codes of ethics of respected industry associations such as the Million Dollar Round Table and the National Ethics Bureau. Now pull your thoughts together into a written code that reflects your beliefs and motivates you.

2. Evaluate your business practices against your code. It’s helpful to focus on each step in the sales process. For example:

• Do you truly understand what your client is asking for? If not, do you ask for clarification?
• Are your sales tools completely accurate?
• Are your recommendations the right fit for the group?
• Do you practice full and accurate disclosure to both the client AND the carrier?
• Do you protect private information?

If you find any disconnects between your values and your practices, fix them.

3. Communicate your ethical values to the marketplace. If you are truly committed to ethics, then make it the focal point of your marketing effort. Communicate your values in your marketing materials and on your Web site. It will energize your marketing and communicate the one thing prospects really want to know: that you are a person they can trust.

Mr. McCarty is Chairman of the National Ethics Bureau (NEB), a member organization of insurance and financial advisors dedicated to the promotion of ethics in the industry. Learn more at www.ethicscheck.com.