99% of people reading this week’s blog will click “delete” and think I’ve gone stark-raving mad. However, if you’re in the 1%, you’ll impress clients and prospects with your proactivity while setting yourself apart from your peers and competitors.

Last week, you learned four practical ways to help your clients and prospects feel more confident and reassured about October’s Budget. This week, I’m going to do a passable impression of Columbo, the scruffy 1970s detective, by saying:

“Just one more thing.”

So, what is it?

What’s the fifth thing that you could do after Rachel Reeves’ Budget speech on 30 October?

Run a webinar. On the evening of Wednesday 30 October, or the day after.

No, I haven’t lost my marbles. I genuinely think doing this will benefit your clients, prospects, and professional connections and set you apart from your peers because 99% of firms won’t even consider attempting this.

Here’s how I’d do it if you’re in the 1%.

The following list of actions can be used as a skeleton project plan.

Before the Budget, you should do the following things:

Write the email invitation and registration page

You’ll use the same content/words for the email invitation and registration page to explain what you’ll discuss, why people should attend, who it’s relevant for, when you’ll run the webinar, and how to book.

Build the email invitation and registration page

We recommend using Zoom and a bulk emailing system for this. If you’re a Yardstick client, you can give us the text for your email invite, and we’ll send it for you.

Write social posts

By promoting your webinar on social media, you’ll remind your connections who receive the email invitation to sign up. And some people in your social network who aren’t already in your email database might also register for the event.

Send the invitations

You have two choices here.

You could send the invitation before the Budget. If you choose this option, we recommend sending the invite on Wednesday, 9 October, three weeks before the Budget.

Alternatively, you could send invitations out on the evening of the Budget or the morning after, announcing a “snap” or “flash” webinar.

Both options have pros and cons, and I’m not sure there’s a correct answer. However, I do like the “snap” or “flash” webinar concept. We ran a couple in the early stages of the pandemic back in 2020, and they were very successful.

After the Budget, but before the webinar, you should:

Prepare your presentation

In our experience, most advisers/planners prefer to run webinars with a presentation to follow. If you’re the same, you’ll need to prepare your slides.

You could write it yourself or turn the text from the Yardstick client mailer (scroll down for more information) into your presentation.

Practise the presentation

Everyone is different, but the Budget will probably contain significant changes that could be pretty complex, so it’s probably worth having a couple of run-throughs to ensure you’re as polished as possible.

After the webinar, you should:

Send a follow-up email

This email should go to everyone who registered, even if they didn’t attend.

Ideally, it should include a recording of the webinar and a call to action, explaining what people should do next if they’re worried about the Budget or need more information.

If you haven’t run webinars before, you should also add the following to the project plan:

• Upgrade your Zoom account with the webinar bolt-on package
• Make sure you have a great set-up, including audio and visuals
• Decide who will host and present the webinar (they are two different roles)
• Run a technical rehearsal to ensure you’re fully prepared and know how everything works.

Find more detailed information in our definitive guide

You can find more information about these tasks in our definitive guide on running a great webinar. It’s free and available to read and download – we hope it helps!

Here’s how we can help you update your clients on the day of the Budget

If you decide against running a webinar, you should still update your clients and prospects on the day of the Budget, especially when it’s likely to be the most significant since Pension Freedoms were announced in 2014.

That’s why we recommend emailing an update on the same day as the Budget.

To help you do that, we’re offering two options (and it’s this communication you could turn into your webinar presentation):

• If you take Yardstick Membership from us (our done-for-you newsletter and article service), you will already have received an email from us offering to send a communication to your clients and prospects on the day of the Budget. The communication costs £150 plus VAT. Email membership@theyardstickagency.co.uk if you haven’t already opted in and would like to do so.
• If you don’t take Yardstick Membership: We can provide an article summarising the key points on Budget day. This costs £195 plus VAT, which means you can spend time distributing the content rather than writing it. Email hi@theyardstickagency.co.uk to place your order, and we’ll send the article to you in a Word document on the afternoon of the Budget speech. 

As always, we’d love to hear from you if you have any thoughts, comments or questions about this blog. Please email phil@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call 07785 284429.