Client Acquisition and Marketing Policy

 We will continue to track investment and return on investment (ROI), and base our investment decisions on those metrics.

 ***Please note: If a spend was approved in prior years or by prior leaders, this does not guarantee it is approved this year. Please resubmit for approval using the below

guidelines.

Approvals:

  • Client acquisition spending requests must be pre-approved for anything greater than $75 or if advisor has less than 5:1 ROI. The 2017 NHWM Marketing

    and Client Acquisition Support Request form and advisor’s client acquisition tracker must be submitted in good order at least 2 weeks prior to any deadline related to

    the event/expense and approved by Business Development Director. If the marketing spend is greater than $500, then both the Business Development Director and

    Franchise owner must approve the request. The approval must accompany the receipt in Expensify.

  • ALL events involving tickets must be pre-approved by both the Business Development Director and Franchise owner using the Season and Event Ticket

    form. This includes tickets of any value and quantity. Examples of events that involve tickets: art museum, concerts, professional football, hockey, or baseball events,

    movie events, theatre events, orchestra performances, other performances, comedy clubs, etc. Note: this list is not inclusive – if it involves a ticket or a ticketed facility,

    it requires approval. We highly recommend that all ticketed requests be submitted for review a minimum 60 days prior to the event, no less than 5 weeks before you

    need to purchase the tickets and invite your guests. Any request submitted after the tickets have been purchased will be denied and the expense will not be

    reimbursed.  

Tracking:

We have trackers in place to help streamline the results from client acquisition spend, seminar series, and ticketed events. Your results are expected to be updated on a

monthly basis or prior to any future requests for client acquisition funds.

 

Examples of acceptable uses of client acquisition allowance:

*note this is not an inclusive list, so please discuss spending requests with Business Development Director.

  • Client/Prospect events (wine tasting, cooking class, spa, concerts, golf, etc.)

    • Client/Prospect meals – Maximum $75 per head for dinner - $30 per head lunch (Out the door costs – means tip/tax are included in the per head price), approved in advance, approved for clients ONLY if they bring a prospect(no client only meals** this includes lunch/dinner client service meetings. Etc.) Advisor must include an itemized bill (not just the credit card portion of the receipt) and the names & contact information for all attendees.

  • Green fees for a round of golf + cart

  • Organized events – trade shows, seminars, displays, fairs, tabling events, community events

  • Invitations/ mailings/ supplies/ materials/ giveaways/ gift bags for organized client acquisition events (as above)

    Referral gifts of $50 or less per client are appropriate only when a current client has referred a prospect who becomes a revenue-generating client. ** May not exceed

FINRA guideline for client gifting. DO NOT pre-buy or stock up on ‘referral-gifts’, request as needed (signed application dated within 30 days is required along with our

client acquisition allowance request for any gifts). You may use ANY vendor, but you must send the gift directly to the client and the receipt must show the ship to

address.

·        

Your client acquisition budget may not be used for client appreciation gifts – including but not limited to baby, wedding, retirement, house purchase, funeral, etc.

Business/network clubs like BNI, Rotary, etc. Dues are reimbursed monthly, regardless of whether the advisor pays for dues in advance.

Travelling out of state for client/prospect meetings will be considered if over 50% of your book is in another location and only 2 trips are approved. Must follow employee

travel policy and we will not pay for employee only meals. All other travel requests are generally not eligible for client acquisition reimbursement.

Examples of NOT acceptable use of client acquisition allowance:

*note this is not an inclusive list, so please discuss spending requests with Business Development Director.

  • Employee only meals/gifts

  • 1:1 client meals

  • Client gifts (outside of the referral program) – all other gifts are the personal expense of the advisor.

  • Trinkets and other logo-item giveaways to keep ‘on-hand’

  • Amazon Prime memberships

  • Local printing of items otherwise available through your branch from an approved vendor

  • Personalized birthday/holiday cards are not allowed, no use of individual card mailing services. (i.e. card care, MOD Hallmark Card Program)

  • Individual chamber of commerce memberships.

  • Passive marketing strategies are generally not supported – including advertising, radio, premium linkedin, go social, etc.

  • In general, we will cover attendanceof a prospect to one event – attendance of the same client may be tied to different prospects in attendance (e.g. not the same

    client- prospect combination to multiple events.

Items Considered Business Expenses (paid by practice but not deducted from advisors client acquisition budget):

  •  GoSocial and/or signature pads: minimum $250k GDC, 85% website score

  • Headshots: for new hires or photos older than 3 years (photos must be refreshed every 3 years)

  • PMT Enterprise: Minimum $400k GDC

  • Maintenance of approved designations

  • Marketing on Demand: circle of success, approved award mailings, etc. (emailis preffered method of contact)

  • Home office literature and supplies ordered through COO or Marketing Director ONLY

  • Ticket charges

  • Letterhead/ business cards/ Bios.

  • Licensing: approved Non-resident – Yes, Renewals – Yes, Late Fees – No, CE Courses – Yes (must present business case for new non-resident license). At the time of

    renewal, GDC must be greater than $1500/advisor for the year or will be subject to cancellation.

 Compliance

This policy speaks to the expense side of client acquisition only. All events must be conducted and documented as required by all applicable North Harbor Wealth

Management, Ameriprise, and FINRA policies and procedures and must be compliant with the North Harbor Wealth Management/Ameriprise T&E policy. For more

information regarding compliance requirements, please see RIC on Compass.

·         Expenses must be submitted within 30 days – expenses submitted outside of this time frame will generally not be considered for reimbursement.

·         Approval forms with the receipt must be submitted in Concur

·         For wholesaler reimbursement requests – must turn in completed form #402472 in to office leader within two weeks from event for submission and reimbursement