The federal, state and local authorities are acting appropriately in the interest of public safety for all, however, these precautions also carry grave social and economic implications for businesses, including your own.

Your clients need you now more than ever.

We’ve been assisting advisors who we produce podcasts for to create a short-term communication strategy for COVID-19. They all have a long-term communications strategy we implement for them but in this global health and economic crisis, we need a short-term action plan.

Here are some of the best practices we’re seeing from advisors we’ve been working with.

1. Know Your Client
   • Talk only about what’s relevant to them, not you, or your practice, or your other clients
   • Make sure their families and communities are safe first
2. Establish communication across multiple mediums:
   • Personal Phone Call – leave message to read blog/email, watch video, or listen to a podcast episode with more detail
   • Create blog post, podcast episode or video to convey message with conviction – audio may work best as it’s most versatile and the easiest to pull off – click here if you’re worried about compliance
   • Conference call or record podcast episode each week for all of your clients week
     • Record it and email it our so everyone can listen when they have time
3. Content for Communication
   • Understand the facts of COVID-19 – don’t downplay crisis, focus on controlling what you can
   • Express your operational plan for coming weeks and months
   • Confirm how they can reach you and when 
   • Create FAQs on all the above
   • Interview a local Doctor about what they see and what they think you should do. Be resourceful if possible and find relevant experts who can help provide perspective and reassurance – who will also be honest
4. Add COVID-19 FAQ page to your website
   • Lean on your broker dealer for approved messaging – they should have provided
   • Make it a link in your main menu (highly visible)
   • Reiterate information from “Content for Communication” above
   • Link or embed to podcast/blog/video
   • Add local and national links to trusted COVID-19 resources (3-5)
5. Work your ass off 
   • Find opportunities to help clients recover
   • Don’t be too proud – ask for help 
   • Keep a journal of what this felt like and what you could have done better to prepare your clients, practices, employees and your own family
   • Be available to all who need your thought leadership and guidance
   • Mentor other advisors – help each other
   • Ask if your clients or their friends and family have had the same level of communication from their advisor. If not, call you. 
6. Support local businesses, not national chains
   • Buy gift cards
   • Get take out
   • Take advantage of deliver or curb side pick up
   • Share your list of local businesses you’ll be supporting in your social networks – profile them, tag them

To your health and continued success,
The Team at Top Advisor Marketing