“I thought you were a scam, to be honest.”

Nine words you never want to hear about your business.

And yet, during a regular catch-up, a client of ours – a perfectly legitimate financial advice firm – told me they’d received that exact feedback before working with us.

Frustratingly, the red flags were easily fixable. Little things they just hadn’t given a second thought until this potential client pointed them out.

Here are six things worth checking before someone you’d love to work with reaches the wrong conclusion.

1. Avoid generic stock photography on your website

Ah, the elderly couple walking arm-in-arm along a suspiciously sunny British coastline. The analogy-laden lighthouse. The smiling businessmen high fiving in a lavish boardroom.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with stock photos.

Having said that, if your website is full of smiling strangers in anonymous locations, it’s difficult for a prospective client to work out who’s actually behind the business.

When you’re asking someone to trust you with their life savings, that’s an important detail.

Take a website like the one we created for Smith and Wardle a few years ago. It still looks as professional and inviting as the day it launched. I reckon a big reason for this is that it’s packed full of professional photos of the team, their office, and their clients.

It’s warm, human, and puts a smile on your face.

So make sure your website showcases:

• Your team: Showing off the people behind the business helps prospective clients feel they already know you before they reach out.
• Your clients: Featuring real clients shows prospective clients that people they can relate to have already trusted you with their money and are happy they did.
• Your local area: If you’re hoping to attract local clients, photographs of familiar places help them feel an immediate connection with your business.

None of this needs to be perfectly polished. A few good-quality, genuine photographs can make all the difference.

2. Don’t use a mobile number as your main business number

“Dodgy” is the word Phil would use.

There’s nothing wrong with giving clients your mobile number.

But making it the main (or only) telephone number on your website is a different matter.

A landline with a recognisable area code gives people a clue about where you’re based. It’s what many people expect to see when contacting a professional business and suggests a permanent point of contact.

You don’t have to get a physical landline installed. A virtual business number can do the job perfectly well, even if it rings straight through to the mobile in your pocket.

3. Stop treating online reviews as a nice-to-have

Consider this: according to a survey by Which?, a massive 89% of Brits use online customer reviews when researching a product or service.

For you, that means that prospective clients want publicly available reassurance that other people have trusted you with their money and had a good experience. Finding only a handful of reviews, none at all, or nothing recent won’t tick that box.

The trick is to give your reviews an initial boost, then keep them coming.

Start by sending a dedicated review request mailer to your existing clients. Include links to both Google and VouchedFor so they can choose the platform that’s right for them.

From there, ask after onboarding a new client, following an annual review, or at another natural point where a client or prospect has a positive experience.

4. Don’t underestimate the importance of team pages

I was chatting with a financial planner recently who told me the very first thing they look at on an adviser’s website is the About Us page. They’re not alone. Our research consistently shows that team pages are among the most visited pages on financial adviser and planner websites.

I’ve heard all sorts of reasons for keeping team members off a website:

• “Only the directors need profiles.”
• “Nobody likes having their photograph taken.”
• “We don’t want competitors poaching our best people.”

I understand, but the pros outweigh the cons.

Your clients won’t just deal with the directors. They’ll speak to your administrators, exchange emails with your paraplanners, and get to know the people who keep everything running behind the scenes. Giving those people a face, a name, and a proper introduction helps prospective clients picture what working with your firm will actually feel like.

By the time someone drops you an email or picks up the phone, they should already have a pretty good idea of who they’re going to speak to.

5. Never assume you know where prospects are looking

Phil was at an event recently with a firm we work with. As it happened, a client of the firm was there too. A prime opportunity for Phil to quiz them on how they’d researched and chosen their financial planner.

The client’s first port of call, quite unexpectedly, wasn’t the firm’s website or Google Business Profile. Not the FCA register. It was Companies House.

They wanted to check the firm was filing its accounts on time. After all, if they couldn’t keep their own finances in order, why would someone trust them with theirs?

It’s a fairly extreme example, but it raises a good point. Anywhere you have a footprint online is somewhere potential clients might choose to look you up, not just the most obvious places.

Inactive social media profiles, outdated directory listings, or, indeed, Companies House.

So Google yourself and your firm. Don’t just glance at the first few results, either. Work your way through at least five pages and click on every mention you find.

Look at what a prospective client would see.

• Is the information accurate and up to date?
• Does it reflect the business that you are today?
• Would you be happy for a potential client to find it?

If your answer is “no”, it’s time to do something about it.

6. Don’t forget the little details

Sometimes, it’s the smallest things that set alarm bells ringing.

• Personal email: Gmail, Hotmail, or Outlook email addresses look less professional than a business address.
• Website security: Check your SSL certificate is valid so visitors aren’t met with a security warning.
• Broken links and forms: Check that buttons, contact forms, and appointment-booking links actually work.
• Spelling and grammar mistakes: Nothing will reduce confidence more quickly than careless errors.

A fresh pair of eyes can work wonders, so ask someone outside your business to take a look and flag anything that might make them think twice about getting in touch.

Give them no reason to doubt you

You know your business is legitimate. Your clients know it too.

But someone finding you for the first time doesn’t have that reassurance. They’re piecing together an impression of your business from whatever they can find online.

And unlike the prospective client I mentioned at the start of this blog, most people won’t tell you if something puts them off. They’ll simply look elsewhere.

The good news is that none of these mistakes are particularly difficult to put right. But you do still need to set aside the time to spot and fix whatever you find.

If you’d like a fresh pair of eyes on your marketing, or a more thorough review of how your business comes across to prospective clients, we’d love to help.

Email abi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call 0115 896 5300 and we’ll find time for a chat.