Final Round of Questions Answered

Thank you again to all of the students and professors that sent in clarification questions. We sat down with Mike Hackett one more time to answer all of the questions that were asked.

——–

Is there any information you can provide on the company atmosphere? Is it a team environment, individual work, or a hybrid? 

A: Accounts are under individual Trust Officers, but all accounts are managed on a team approach (investment team, operations team, IRA department, etc.)

——–

What do you consider to be your core values as a company?

A: Our core values are our independence, the highest ethical standards, and providing the highest level of quality service.

——–

What is the biggest thing you want your customers to know when they want to work with you?

A: That they can trust us and we always have their best interest at heart.

——–

How large is your team? Does it feel like a large company? Would your customers feel that way as well?

A: Harbour Trust currently has 22 employees, therefore we would be considered a small company. Our customers would also feel that way as the service they get is always one-on-one.

——–

What systems (if any) have you setup to facilitate referrals from your current customers?

A: We currently do not have any systems in place to facilitate referrals.

——–

Would additional resources such as staff and salaries be needed if you were to launch new social and paid digital advertising initiatives? If so, would that come out of the campaign budget or allocated to your current human resources budget?

A: All marketing efforts (social media, advertising, etc.) come out of the campaign budget. It is our intent to hire a full-time Marketing Director, but we are not at that point yet. Those funds would come out of the human resource budget, not the marketing budget.

——–

Out of the competitors outlined in the case (DIY sources, large firms, and local banks), which one of the three do you feel most closely resembles your company and customer base?

A: Local banks because they try to offer the same service model as we do, but we truly don’t believe that our competition is able to provide it at the level that we do.

——–

Do your customers have a more hands-on or hands-off approach? For example, do they contact you on a regular basis or do they simply want you to manage their investments in full?

A: It is more hands-off, but the client is always involved in the process. We have some clients that we meet with every month and like to be involved in the decision making, and other that are very hands-off and don’t want to be involved.

——–

Is there a specific pain point (I.e. economic downturn protection, generational wealth guarantees, etc.) that resonates with your customers more than others?

A: If there is a pain point, it is when the stock market declines. We would like to believe we prepare our clients for the worst and advise them of what could happen.

——–

Do your advisors encourage current clients to refer through social media or strictly word of mouth?

A: Our advisors encourage work of mouth referrals.

——–

Do you have any major sponsors near your current location?

A; No.

——–

Have you participated or hosted any events to build brand awareness in the surrounding community?

A; No.

——–

Is there currently any budget dedicated to producing content that provides financial education?

A; No.

——–

What introductory incentives do you offer to prospective clients?

A; None.

——–

What changes would you have made to your last marketing campaign after it was done?

A; We have never had a marketing campaign in the past.

——–

Will you consider targeting a younger crowd?

A; We are open to all audiences as long as there is research to support them.

——–

What is your primary goal from this campaign?

A; We need to develop new sources of income to grow investment management fee revenue. See the case study objective.

——–

What agencies/partners have marketed for you in the past?

A; We currently have a marketing company, but have never had a marketing campaign due to funding.

——–

As we calculate the budget, should we be considering ourselves as an agency and calculating agency fees into the mix?

A; Any agency fees that would be incurred are separate and should not be included in your final budget.

——–