How being an IPW member helps to immediately establish trust with potential clients and encourages them to buy from you
The fear of being ‘ripped off’ is deeply embedded in the British psyche.
No one likes the idea of being taken for a fool by a ‘cowboy’ builder or dodgy telesales rep and being left with egg on their face, not to mention a potentially costly and hassle-strewn ‘bodge job’ to put right.
Potential consumers of any service from builders to retailers and even of doctors are increasingly seeking verification of the trustworthiness of the provider before they even make an enquiry, let alone buy from or contact that person or company. The huge rise in Tripadvisor-style review platforms such as Check-a-Trade, Feefo and Trust Pilot is a testament to that.
Disciples of law firm strategy guru David Maister will be fully familiar with the concept of the ‘trusted adviser’. This is the belief that in order to market legal services effectively you have to achieve trusted adviser status in the eyes of your client or buyer. They have to know, like and respect you in order to instruct you.
The same goes for will writers. Indeed, it could arguably be said to be even more applicable for those professionals invited into people’s homes and entrusted with the intricate details of family dynamics in an estate planning context, rather than, say for corporate lawyers dealing with a transaction at arm’s length.
So how do you get buyers to trust you before you’ve even met them?
Reputation and recommendation is key of course. However, third party endorsement and professional accreditations are also an important tool. Logos such as the Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW) member ‘badge’ are a tangible piece of evidence that you are a qualified professional operating to the highest ethical and technical standards.
Visitors to your website, recipients of your emails and followers of your social media will – consciously or otherwise – associate the IPW logo with you being a trusted adviser.
After all, how many people had heard or took notice of the ‘ATOL protected’ badge when booking a flight or a holiday before the high profile travel disaster stories that made the headlines? Or the current reports of fraudsters targeting travellers in Europe’s top ten holiday hotspots, selling non-existent accommodation and leaving people stranded abroad with nowhere to lay their heads?
Thanks to the world wide web, today’s customers thankfully have access to far more information than ever before – and they’re smarter about how to buy services than ever before.
Those serious about trusting you to advise them will know in just a few clicks of a mouse that IPW members are well trained, properly insured and are subject to rigorous examinations in order to hold themselves out as professional advisers.
It could make the difference between you winning a family’s work or losing out to a competitor. Find out how you can become a member by clicking here.
This article was submitted to be published by the Institute of Professional Willwriters as part of their advertising agreement with the Institute of Professional Willwriters. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Wills and Probate.
