Using 'social prospecting' to grow customer relationships: bank marketers can strengthen customer relationships and expand cross-selling by borrowing a technique widely used by financial advisers: sponsoring customer appreciation and referral events.

• Author: Cates, Bill

SOCIAL PROSPECTING, QUITE SIMPLY, IS THE USE OF SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTS TO IDE NTI FY, meet and grow relationships with qualified prospects. I The technique is widely used by financial advisers for harder-to-reach prospects--especially among the affluent and wealth. But social prospecting can also be used by bank marketers to solidify relationships with high-value customers and to identify prospects for cross-selling. Not only is this an effective marketing strategy, it's also a lot of fun!

Financial advisers find that while many of their new prospects are ready to discuss their financial situation and financial goals with the adviser on the very first appointment, many others are not. A number of solid prospects would prefer to meet the adviser in a more social setting first--to get a feel for the adviser. Do they like the adviser? Do they trust the adviser? And so forth. Bank marketers can use the same approach with their high-value customers. By using referral events and other social prospecting tactics, banks can reach many more high-level prospects--especially among the affluent and wealthy--than they may be reaching now.

Examples of social prospecting

Social prospecting encompasses a wide range of activities. Here are a few you might consider:

* Client or customer appreciation events.

* Referral events (event marketing).

* Community service activities.

* Charity events (philanthropic endeavors).

* Club memberships.

* Hobby or special interest groups.

In this article, I'll touch on two of these activities: client or customer appreciation events and referral events.

Client or customer appreciation events

I'd like to draw a distinction between what are called client or customer appreciation events and referral events. In a nutshell, a client or customer appreciation event is some sort of social gathering (fancy or informal) with the sole purpose of saying "thank you" to one or more clients or customers. The purpose of a referral event, while the activity can be the same, is for one or more clients or customers to bring one or more prospects to meet you or other bank personnel.

The trouble I often see with these events is that the hosts try to turn a client or customer appreciation event into a referral event. They try to do a "hybrid." While hybrids have their place, I believe you will see better results with most of your events if you limit them to one purpose--either appreciate the business (to build loyalty) or host an event where your...