Financial advisors with Toronto-based TD Wealth Private Investment Advice (PIA) are being trained to navigate the fast-paced world of Twitter, both to build client relationships and to prospect for clients.

“One of the challenges in the industry with advisors is their actual willingness to open up,” says Jim Kershaw, senior vice president and head of business management and strategic initiatives for TD Wealth PIA in Toronto. “Twitter is a platform that allows us to interact with clients at another level and invite them to know us as people, too.”

Twitter, a social media platform created by San Francisco-based Twitter Inc., allows users to communicate with each other by posting short “tweets” – messages that are limited to 140 characters. These messages also can incorporate links to longer articles, photos and videos. You can build a network of “followers,” who can read your tweets when they’re posted.

Although several financial services firms already allow their advisors to create Twitter profiles, very few firms provide training. Indeed, the vast majority of advisors continue to focus on building their presence on LinkedIn, a social media platform with one of the largest professional networks.

But Kershaw wanted TD Wealth PIA advisors to engage with a social media platform that went further: “When you look at someone else’s Twitter bio, or follow what they are tweeting, you get a good glimpse into what their personal interests are. For an advisor, this platform can open the door to successful prospecting, as well as establish stronger relationships with current clients.”

Although LinkedIn identifies you by your full name and job title, Twitter bios can incorporate your job title, family structure, hobbies and personal interests.

Twitter is a tool that can allow you to see a personal side of the “tweeter” you are following, a useful feature for advisors. Says Brian Tietje, vice president of sales with social media software company Rockefeller Consulting Technology Integration Inc. (www.rocktech.com) in New York: “Financial advisors should be following all their clients who are on social media, including Twitter. How do you know which clients are on Twitter? Simple: ‘Google’ them.”

TD Wealth PIA launched its Twitter pilot in 2013 and provides in-house training. “What we found during our pilot phase,” says Kershaw, “is that it’s one thing to get someone to sign up for Twitter, but it’s another to get them confident to be using that tool.”

The firm’s training provides instructions on setting up a profile and creating a Twitter “handle” (the username attached to a Twitter profile), as well as tips on who to follow and the kind of content you should be posting.

Kirste Spencer, an investment advisor and branch manager with TD Wealth PIA in Toronto, jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. A 17-year veteran advisor, Spencer manages slightly less than 100 client households. Says Spencer: “Twitter provides clients with an opportunity to get to know me as a person, and that is what differentiates me in the marketplace. People can see if there is a human connection between us.”

Spencer admits she wasn’t that familiar with Twitter in the beginning. During the pilot, she set up a profile and began to engage with colleagues and her firm’s executives. After the pilot, she widened her network to include her clients.

“I have been with most of my clients for a very long time,” adds Spencer, “and I feel that I have a very good relationship with them. But this is one extra way to connect with them. It is a way for me to keep it fresh and current and allow my clients to reach out and touch me a little.”

Today, about 100 TD Wealth PIA advisors are actively using Twitter, and Kershaw hopes to see that number grow over the next year: “My goal is to have every advisor receive the training and enable them to use the tools. Then we will leave it up to the advisor to make the decision whether it is a good fit. But my view is: choosing not to use these tools over the long-term is a decision you make at your own peril.”

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