Member Insights - Maximizing Client Trust with the NEB Logo
“Don’t worry about commission checks. Worry about doing what’s right for the client.”
Ethics matters to Gary Sickles, CEO, of Senior Benefit Services of Ohio. “I want my agents to treat their clients as if they were their own parents sitting across the table.” His commitment to ethics led him to join the National Ethics Bureau in 2001. Since then, he has used his NEB membership to enhance his marketing effort and to provide a valuable service to clients.
Sickles’ company specializes in asset protection and estate planning. He works with clients between the ages of 60 and 85, doing estate planning, long-term care, advanced funeral planning, taxes, and investments. “We try to be a one-stop source for all of our clients.”
Always committed to full disclosure, Sickles still belongs to his local Better Business Bureau. But he was unhappy with the lack of information they provided to his clients. “When I read about the National Ethics Bureau and its seven-year background check, I was intrigued. I wanted to give my clients the ability to check me out, as well as to check out my advisors.”
Since joining, Sickles has worked hard to promote NEB’s verification services to his clients. “Every seminar presentation has a screen with information about NEB and how to contact them by phone or on the web,” he says. “Plus I always provide an NEB brochure the first time I meet with a prospective client.”
Sickles has found that potential clients appreciate the ability to check out an advisor with an independent third party before doing business. And they actually make good use of the service. “At least 50 to 60 percent of clients actually check us out. I know this because that’s the first thing I ask when a client comes to the office.”
For Sickles, the key to maximizing your NEB membership is to fully integrate the NEB brand into your practice marketing tools. “We have the NEB logo on our workbook covers, on our brochures, and on our web page,” he explains. It’s also important to make NEB membership a requirement for all producers in the operation, he says, in order to communicate a firm-wide commitment to ethical business practices.
Sickles is a no-nonsense financial practitioner with deeply held ethical beliefs. “When you work with the senior population,” he advises, “don’t worry about commission checks. Worry about doing what’s right for the client.”
How are you maximizing your NEB membership to grow your business? Would you like to be featured in our newsletter? The National Ethics Bureau welcomes your input. Send your comments to: hlew@ethicscheck.com
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