On average, us Brits spend a pretty staggering 2.5 hours per day in our email inboxes. But how many of the emails you send have the potential to really transform your marketing?

A handful of well-crafted, targeted messages can:

• Bring a prospect back into conversation
• Strengthen relationships with existing clients
• Build social proof that impresses potential clients
• Protect your reputation when you need to say “no, thanks”.

These aren’t long campaigns or clickbait tactics. Just five simple emails with clear examples, designed to tackle common frustrations, improve your marketing, and move closer to your business goals.

Let’s dive in.

1. When a prospect has ghosted you

We’ve all been left without a response at one time or another, and it’s frustrating. Especially when you had a (seemingly) great chat with a potential client who looked keen to go ahead.

For us, ghosting isn’t an immediate red flag. There are all sorts of genuine reasons why someone might fall off the radar. People get busy, priorities shift, inboxes fill up.

But, when this happens, most advisers/planners either:

1. Give up completely
2. Keep sending the same tired “just following up” chasers.

In our experience, neither works, and there’s two better options.

The first is Chris Voss’ “magic email”. It’s won tens of thousands of pounds of new business for both us and our clients. To protect Voss’s intellectual property, we never reveal the contents of the “magic email”. Purchase a copy of Never Split The Difference and all will be revealed. It’ll only set you back a tenner and your return on investment will be massive.

The second is courtesy of Marcus Sheridan, author of They Ask, You Answer. Marcus has talked about this email in public so we’re happy to share it with you below.

Personalise and send this:

Subject line: <insert prospect’s name>, assuming you found someone to <insert what you spoke about>

Body: Hi <insert first name>

Just checking in after my previous emails, I assume you’ve found someone else to <insert what you talked about>?

<insert sign off>

Why it works:

It’s polite, brief, and flips the script by assuming they’ve already solved their problem. If they have, it draws a line under things. If they haven’t, we’ve found that the Voss and Sheridan emails work 80% of the time and 100% of the time the response starts with an apology or an excuse. It doesn’t always lead to an engaged client, but it does reopen the conversation.

2. When you’ve had an annual review with a client

There’s no better time to ask for Google and VouchedFor reviews than after a great meeting.

Your clients leave those sessions with your value fresh in their mind, feeling confident, reassured, and on track to achieve their goals. It’s the ideal opportunity to ask for positive feedback, and when they’re most likely to want to share it.

You need to do three things:

1. Send one email
2. Include links to both your Google and VouchedFor profiles to make leaving a review as easy as possible
3. Make sure the email is wholly, exclusively, and only about the review request. Don’t be tempted to bury the request or make your life easier by including it in a meeting follow-up email or suitability report.

Personalise and send this:

Subject line: We need your help – can you spare 5 minutes?

Body: Hi <insert first name>

Following our meeting OR your meeting with <insert name of adviser>, would you be happy to leave us an online review?

It will only take you five minutes to leave these reviews, but they are incredibly important to us. They showcase our work and help us impress new clients. Just as importantly, when a positive review appears online it puts a smile on our team’s faces.

We use Google, which needs no introduction, and VouchedFor, a website similar to Tripadvisor but for financial advisers and planners.

1. If you haven’t left a review on either site in the past, could you spare a few minutes to leave us a review on both?
2. If you’ve previously left us a Google review, could you leave us a VouchedFor review?
3. Vice versa, if you’ve left us a VouchedFor review, could you leave us a Google review?

To share a review on VouchedFor, please click here: <insert link to VouchedFor profile>.

To share a review on Google, please click here: <insert link to Google profile>.

We’d like to thank you in advance for your support.

<insert sign off>

Why it works:

The timing is spot on, plus the email is short, confident, and provides direct links to make your clients’ lives easy. That combination drives higher volumes of better-quality reviews. Don’t take my word for it – we recently followed a similar process for a financial planning firm and, from the one request email, they received 186 VouchedFor reviews and 63 Google reviews.

3. When you want to collect client video testimonials

Nothing beats an existing client telling a potential client exactly how you’ve changed their life for the better.

Client video testimonials are the gold standard of social proof but, as with anything, if you don’t ask, you don’t get. Unfortunately, many advisers/planners are concerned their clients will say no or are unsure how to ask in the first place.

When you know how to ask, it’s pretty easy. That’s why 42.86% of Yardstick clients have testimonial videos, and the sector average is just 6.4%. In short, you’d be surprised how willing your clients are to give back after everything you do for them.

Personalise and send this (if you’re working with us on either a remote or face-to-face video testimonial shoot):

Subject line: Can I ask a favour?

Body: Hi <insert first name>

I hope you’re well.

We are contacting a handful of carefully selected clients to appear in a testimonial video, and I wondered if you’d be happy to take part?

The video will be 2-3 minutes long and used in our marketing materials, such as on our website. It wouldn’t include any personal information. Instead, it would focus on our journey together, including the benefits you get from working with us, how we’ve helped you, and how you feel about your financial future.

A little more information:

• We are using a marketing agency to help us with this project.
• The video would be recorded <for a remote recording: “using a combination of your smartphone and Zoom either at your home or work (as long as the room you’re in is quiet and well-lit”, for an in-person recording: insert the location, e.g. at their home, your office, or a third-party venue>.
• The recording session would take around <for a remote recording: 45-50 minutes, for an in-person recording: 60 minutes>.
• If you’d like to, you can see the final video before it’s used.

I believe your story would be powerful and show other potential clients the benefits of working with us. If you’d be happy to record a testimonial video, please reply to this email.

I’ll then be in touch to explain the next steps.

Thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to consider this request.

<insert sign off>

Why it works:

It reframes your request as a way for clients to help others, rather than doing you a favour. By explaining the process clearly (and emphasising simplicity), you remove friction and uncertainty. Clients are far more likely to say “yes” when they know what to expect.

4. When you’re planning on increasing your fees

There’s no doubt that conversations about fees can feel awkward. But, handled well, they can actually reinforce your relationship with a client. What makes the difference isn’t the increase itself, it’s how you communicate it.

Spring it on them late or apologise your way through it, and you risk damaging trust. Explain early, clearly, and with confidence in the value you provide, and most clients will understand. Many will see it as reassurance that you’re running a business built to last.

Below is an example that we’ve seen work well, but it will need editing based on your specific circumstances.

Personalise and send this:

Subject line: Changes to our fees

Body: Hi <first name>

We are writing to let you know about some changes here at <insert firm name>. During the past few months, we have carried out a detailed review of our business and are looking to the future.

Committed to you

The first thing to make clear is that we are 100% committed to working with you. We passionately believe in the value of financial planning and are delighted that our clients feel the same way too:

• We now have X reviews on VouchedFor with an average score of X.X/5*.
• We now have X reviews on Google with an average score of X.X/5*.
• Some of our clients have agreed to be filmed, explaining how they’ve benefited from working with us. You can watch these by clicking here <insert link to client testimonials>.

Over the years it’s been a pleasure to work with you and help you to <insert client-specific achievements which demonstrate the value you add and how you have helped the client>.

We also value and appreciate the trust you place in us as we strive to deliver the financial future you have planned.

Running a sustainable business

Naturally, we can only continue to deliver our services to you and our other clients by running a sustainable business. As responsible owners, we regularly review various aspects of our business.

We recently conducted such a review and concluded that in recent years, many of our costs have risen. This includes our Professional Indemnity Insurance as well as the fees we pay to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). In fact, over the past <insert number of years> these costs have risen by <insert percentage>.

Until now we have absorbed these costs ourselves but unfortunately, this is no longer viable.

So, we have decided that from <insert date> we will make the following changes to the fees you pay.

<insert summary of what’s going to change and how it will affect them>.

How do our fees compare?

As part of our review, and to ensure that our fees still represent excellent value for money, we’ve compared our fees to those charged by other financial advisers and planners.

Research by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) shows that the average fee for ongoing advice is 0.80%, compared to yours, which is <insert fee>.

With this in mind, we are confident that the service we provide to you will continue to represent excellent value for money and we hope you agree.

Next steps

<insert one of the following paragraphs>

*Paragraph 1:

As we mentioned above, while your fees will rise from <insert date>, there is no action you will need to take.

We have enclosed an FAQ document to answer any questions you might have. Naturally though, if you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact <insert name> on <insert telephone number>.

*Paragraph 2:

As we mentioned above, your fees will rise from <insert date>. So, we would be grateful if you could please sign and return the enclosed documents to us.

We have also enclosed an FAQ document to answer any questions you might have. Naturally though, if you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact <insert name> on <insert telephone number>.

<insert sign off>

Why it works:

It strikes the right balance between empathy and authority. The message isn’t “we’re charging more,” it’s “here’s why our service continues to represent excellent value.”

5. When a referral isn’t the right fit for you

I’m sneaking one in here that we don’t recommend sending as an email. There are times when putting pen to paper and picking up the phone are far superior.

89% of advisers/planners believe that recommendations from existing clients are the best source of enquiries. And 95% want more of them. So, if you’re actively encouraging referrals, it’s inevitable that some people will come your way who aren’t suitable for your services.

You can either stay silent and frustrated or seize an opportunity to enhance your reputation and improve the quality of future referrals.

Write a card to your client (even before you’ve assessed if the referral is a good fit):

• It should be a high-quality card
• Both the card and the envelope should be handwritten
• It needs to be penned by the adviser/planner, never someone else
• Thank them for their referral, explaining how it helps you and your business, and let them know that you’ve contacted their recommendation.

Call the person recommended:

Even if you know from the initial contact that the referral isn’t a good match for your services, you must treat the person with respect and empathy by:

• Responding promptly
• Listening to them so they feel heard
• Explaining clearly why you’re not right for them
• Offering guidance where it’s appropriate for you to do so
• Opening your little black book and signposting them to an alternative adviser or recommending a directory such as VouchedFor or MoneyHelper.

On that last point, we’ve recently introduced the Yardstick Client Connector, designed to help you connect people you can’t help – because they have low levels of investable assets – with someone who can. Click here to review the list, and email us at hi@theyardstickagency.co.uk if you’d like to be added.

Why it works:

This is an occasion where sending two quick emails feels like an easy win. But going the extra mile will be hugely appreciated by both parties and likely pay dividends for you in the future.

Whoosh, ding, ping – it’s over to you

2.5 hours in your inbox adds up to 10.4% of every day. Buried in that time are opportunities to build trust, show your value, and enhance your reputation.

The five emails we’ve shared here are a great start. They take minutes to send, but the ripple effects – reviews, referrals, stronger relationships – often last for months, if not years.

For marketing ideas personalised to your goals, your clients, and your business ambitions, let’s start with a chat. Email me at abi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call 0115 896 5300.