Keep clients in touch with each other between events with little effort.
Wei Ling is an adviser whose clients are practice managers at clinics. After her breakfast event, one practice manager suggested a WhatsApp group to keep in touch, and everyone agreed.
For two weeks the group was lively, with rostering tips, a question about a supplier and jokes about difficult patients. Then it went quiet. A month later, someone posted a forwarded chain message about a health scam, someone else posted an advert for her cousin's tuition centre, and two people left. Groups and newsletters can keep clients connected between events, but they can also add noise to a phone that is already crowded. Whether one works for you depends almost entirely on what you decide at the start.
You have two common options. A group chat is a small group on WhatsApp, Telegram or LinkedIn where your clients can talk to each other and to you. A newsletter is an email or a regular message that shares something useful with all your clients at once, without them needing to interact. Either can work if it adds value, and neither is required.
The question to ask is whether your clients would be better off with this than without it. Clients who face the same problems and rarely meet peers, such as practice managers, may benefit from a group. Clients who barely know each other and are busy, such as young couples with babies, may be better served by an occasional useful email. For some client groups neither makes sense, and the right answer is to stay in touch one to one and see them at your next event.
Arjun is an adviser whose clients are young couples. They did not know each other well, so he chose a short email every couple of months instead of a group. Each email shares one useful thing and nothing else. Each one answers a question young couples ask him, and he reuses the same material as his posts from module 2. Wei Ling's practice managers clearly wanted to talk to each other, so for her a group made sense.
Before you start anything, think about who your clients are, how well they know each other and what they would actually use. Then try to write the purpose of your group or newsletter in a single sentence. If you cannot, treat that as a warning sign about the idea.
Every group needs a purpose and a few clear rules, stated at the start and pinned where everyone can see them. Without them, groups drift the way Wei Ling's first one did. Keep it short: a one-sentence purpose, then two or three rules. For example, the purpose might be "a group for practice managers to share what works in running a small clinic", followed by these rules: no selling or advertising, including by the host; no forwarded chain messages; and keep patient and client details out of the group.
Say plainly that posts breaking the rules will be removed, and then remove them, politely and promptly. Wei Ling restarted her group with a pinned message stating its purpose and rules. When someone next posted an advert, she removed it and sent the person a friendly private message explaining why. The group has stayed useful since.
The PDPA applies when you set up a group, so only add people who have agreed to join. Remember too that in a WhatsApp group, other members may be able to see a member's phone number. A member who has set a WhatsApp username will, by default, show that username instead of their number to anyone who has not saved their number. Some clients will still not want their number shared with the group, which is one reason a newsletter suits some client groups better.
It is tempting to use the channel to mention a new feature, a limited offer or a reminder that you are available for reviews. Each of these makes the group or newsletter less useful and more like an advert. Clients notice quickly, then mute the group or unsubscribe, and you lose the channel.
Share things your clients can use instead:
an industry change and what it means for them a practical tip from a recent client conversation a useful article a seasonal reminder
If clients want to know about your product, they know where to find you. Wei Ling posts about once a fortnight, usually a short note on something she has seen work at another clinic, and she never mentions her product.
The most valuable groups are the ones where members help each other, and the host is not the one doing most of the talking. When one practice manager asks about a staff shortage and three others reply, the group is doing something you could not do alone.
You can encourage this in three ways. Wait a while before answering a question, so members have the chance to reply first. Thank people who share something useful. Introduce members who have something in common, such as two clinics dealing with the same supplier or the same hiring problem.
Over time, members come to value the group because of each other, and they link that value to you as the person who started it and looks after it. This builds loyalty to the group and to you. A client in a group they value is less likely to switch to a competitor and more likely to mention you to a peer.
In the activity below, you'll decide whether a group, a newsletter or neither suits your clients, and write its purpose in one sentence.
Decide whether your clients would be better served by a group, a newsletter or neither. Write down its purpose in one sentence.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).