When someone lands on your website, the assumption is that they are interested in your services and could become a future client.

Unfortunately, not everyone who visits your website is a quality prospect; they may not have enough investments, they may not be a client you have the expertise to help, or there may be any number of other situations that mean you aren’t the right firm to help with their financial journey.

But how can you ensure that when someone lands on your website, you are not only getting enquiries, but also getting enquiries from the right sort of people.

1. Use the right language to prompt people

“Get in touch” and “See how we can help” are inviting phrases, and you will often see them on websites we have developed for firms in place of the stale-sounding “Contact us” or “Fill in the form below”. 

It may be a minor difference in wording, but people are influenced by wording as much as they are by pretty colours or movement. 

Imagine you’re going shopping and you see a label which says “Sale” on it. Nice! There’s a promotion going on, and you’ve managed to arrive at just the right time. Change the label to “Reduced to clear” and suddenly it’s an item that the shop wants to get rid of. It may still be a bargain, but it doesn’t have the same impact on you.

People visiting your website will have similar responses based on the language you use. 

When a user sees a phrase like “See how we can help”, they will feel like you are a friendly face, trying to help them on their financial journey. This, in turn, will make them more likely to enquire about your services. 

2. Filter out unwanted prospects

Not everyone who contacts you will be the right fit for your business. Maybe they don’t have enough assets, maybe you only deal with professionals, or maybe they’re not a UK resident. 

Whatever the reason, there is no shame in telling the people on your website that you are not the right fit for them.

But how do you go about doing this?

The simplest way would be to state your requirements on your website. 

Having text on your website that outlines the minimum value of assets required or the type of client you work with can filter out a decent number of low-quality enquiries, as people will see they do not meet your requirements.

However, people may gloss over these requirements, or they may not meet another criterion you have that isn’t mentioned. So, an additional action would be to ask these questions on your enquiry forms. 

You may have the form automatically filter out enquiries from prospects you wouldn’t be able to help and respond to the user to let them know. 

Or maybe you accept all enquiries and contact anyone you can’t help personally to tell them you aren’t the right fit for them, along with suggesting another firm which you would recommend if you wouldn’t be able to help them (our client connector can help you with this).

3. Branding and imagery

This one can be a bit more subtle. But the way you present your website can affect who stays and who goes. 

If you’re a firm that only deals with sports personalities, for example, you would expect to see imagery of sports across the website. You may even have icons of different sporting equipment in your logo or use sporting terminology in relevant places as part of the copy on your website.

But if your website is filled with pictures of offices, people in suits, people on beaches, or other stock imagery not related to sports, you won’t come across as a firm that specialises in helping sports personalities, but instead as a more generic financial advice firm.

If your target audience doesn’t feel like you understand them and are tailored towards their needs, they may not feel as inclined to get in touch. 

This extends to firms which aren’t targeting a very specific niche. If you’re showing pictures of young couples laughing on a page about how you help people who are coping with the loss of a loved one, at best people will feel they are not the target audience; at worst, you could cause them emotional distress.

Either way, a potentially perfect client may leave your website as they don’t feel like you’re talking to them.

4. Testimonials, reviews, and social proof

Your firm’s great. Show it off to the world!

Nothing makes someone more likely to get in touch than proof that you helped people just like them achieve their goals.

We have posted numerous articles about just how effective social proof can be. Here are four of them for further reading:

• Why client surveys improve your business, boost your marketing, and help you get more referrals
• The definitive guide to help financial advisers and planners collect more online reviews
• The thing 93% of advice/planning firms get wrong with their website
• 12 stats that prove your business needs positive online reviews.

The advice will never change. Reviews matter! Whether it’s a Google review which states how you helped someone retire early, a written testimonial exclaiming how happy someone was with your advice, or a video of a client explaining, in their own words, why your firm changed their life, all of these forms of social proof can give a potential prospect that final nudge they need to contact you.

It may be that a review mentioned something which your website didn’t, or that one of your client videos features an LGBTQ+ couple or a widow, convincing someone that you are a safe pair of hands to work with.

You can never foresee what may be the trigger which tells someone that you are the right firm for them. So having content which is in someone else’s words can work wonders, as they may say things you never thought to mention, and that may be the very thing a potential client is looking for.

If you’re unsure where to start with implementing these changes or you need assistance with how to go about getting good-quality social proof, email hi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call us on 0115 896 5300 now to learn more.