Where do those with a very high salary…

[QuestionNewName]

… hang out!

Ok, my question is slightly more specific than that!

My BF has a company and will soon specialise in services to those high up in the corporate bubble. Think similar to coaching. It’s likely clients may pay out of their own pocket rather than through work (think several thousand £ a month, so not small change!).

To the question, any suggestions on how brand awareness can be built other than personal referrals etc?! Not London based so ideally online.

Having been a SAHM for yonks, I’m totally out of touch! Don’t think my IG scrolling is quite the target audience!

As other PPs have said - I can't imagine funding anything professional from my own pocket unless it was coaching for a very niche skill that I'd want to develop for mobility reasons. But even then it wouldn't cost 'thousands per month'.

It's an interesting subject OP

But it's your boyfriend who will know how target HNWIs. Ask him and let us the answers.

My BF has a company and will soon specialise in services to those high up in the corporate bubble. Think similar to coaching. It’s likely clients may pay out of their own pocket rather than through work (think several thousand £ a month, so not small change!)

If he doesn't know where to find his customers he doesn't know enough about them to sell to them. Most services to people in corporate bubbles are paid for by the company so you are better off offering a service to a company.

Will depend very much on the industry and the culture of the industry. Eg the sorts of places to target for City bankers will be very different from those for Russian oligarchs (if they haven't all fled) will be very different from wealthy liberal creative types (media and the arts).

Not everyone with money plays polo or golf, some super wealthy people never go to the theatre etc: I think you need to be guided more by the culture and the way these people see themselves. Wealthy people aren't one big amorphous mass, they may have very little in common besides the money and you'll need to get under the skin of the culture to understand this.

FWIW social media is probably a good way to start because its cheap and you can figure a lot of this out without having to go and visit places etc.

@PegasusReturns

I have used services of an executive coach as have many of my peers. It’s virtually always paid for by a company, although due to personal relationship there’s a lot of autonomy in the selection process so word of mouth is critical.

I’d suggest that if your BF doesn’t know how to target his market then it may not be the success he anticipates

This.

I use a lot of coaching generally through work.
It cost maybe 200 pm

My friend is a life coach and charges £50-90 an hour (she is in cotswolds and does come into London for clients as well as remote)

I make 6 figures so does DH we would not spend more than £100 maybe £200 of our own money on these sorts of services. Even then it would be short term and we would need to REALLY value it.
I think you are after people making 100K per month not year....

@Flyonthewall01

How does your bf know they will pay thousands per month for a service when they don’t even know how to reach the target audience?

This

To the question, any suggestions on how brand awareness can be built other than personal referrals etc?! Not London based so ideally online

Yeah, sure, I’ve got that kind of background so probably have some pretty good suggestions. You’ll have to pay me for that kind of consultancy work though. I charge several thousands of £ per month……..

@Flyonthewall01

How does your bf know they will pay thousands per month for a service when they don’t even know how to reach the target audience?

This.

If someone can't research and work out how to target their audience, why would their service be worth that much money?

@Catcrazylifter

As a digital marketer am concerned he's asking these questions he clearly doesn't know what he's selling if he doesnt know answer to these basic questions ir too lazy to research it though am for hire if he needs to work it out 😂😂

This.

If you are starting a business the absolute first principle is that you need to understand your audience, their interests, needs and their budget. If you don't know that you need to research it extensively.

Asking your girlfriend if she has any ideas is a very bad sign indeed.

Whatever you do OP don't be investing money in this...

I disagree with people saying high paid professionals would not pay for services costing thousands. They would have to be very highly paid but they certainly would in some areas eg some people use well qualified clinical psychologists or Harley St psychiatrists charging over £300 an hour. It is hard to advise without knowing the kind of business type service being proposed as business/life coach is the obvious one. I have had a couple of people paying me out of their own pocket for training on the law in a specific legal area I do when their work was wanting them to do that and they wanted some extra help outside work and which work did not fund and they were very rich so the cost was not an issue.

I agree it is likely to vary between individuals however eg where high paid footballers hang out might not be where top bankers do etc etc

My son has a very successful business targeted at sports people and those in the entertainment industry. Around 40% of it was through word of mouth - friends of a friends. Does your BF have friends willing to take on this service, or introduce him to people who will?

I would wonder if they hung out online at all. I mean, why would they?

HNWI tend to hang out in places they won’t get bothered by people pitching services at them. It’s really bad form to join clubs or such with the main intention of furthering your business.
I think he’s better off approaching companies directly for them to introduce to service to staff. And hopefully get the companies to pay for it

It's a tough one. There are places, both physical and virtual where HNWIs congregate, but I would also say there's a pretty short tolerance for being marketed at uninvited.

Generally if you want a service it comes from word of mouth, or personally (or your PA on your request) doing some research.

So a good virtual presence and top notch SEO would be essential.

Is it a service more adjacent to their business life or personal life? That would steer where you might make your brand and service known...

I think some of these answers are unfair; I'm in marketing for a travel company and know how to reach our clients. Sometimes when chatting about my job friends or my DP will chip in with what they think are good opportunities or ideas (as the OP is doing here).

More often than not I've either already had experience of that route to market, or there are clear reasons why we wouldn't go for it. I always appreciate people caring enough to offer input though!

LinkedIn

Its very unusual for HNWIs to use people with no track record as so much is word of mouth. I don't think I've ever had a client that wasn't referred by someone else. Even people branching out solo have usually built a reputation from their work with others. If your BF is looking at say small scale family office type work with one client onboard and wanting to look for more then the best way to find clients is by talking to those who already look after them - eg bankers, lawyers, accountants.

If they are looking at a more lifestyle service - eg floristry - then they need to find people who offer lifestyle type services to recommend them.

I would think that the real value would be in coaching for those at the very top of their game within their specialist industry, and in that instance, spending time at EVERY industry event is the way forward.

I work in a very specific industry and there's a few people that everyone clamours to get in front of, who could (and do) bill handsomely for their time just matching people, CV boosting etc etc. They just wander round an exhibition or awards do like the Pied Piper.

However, if they were to style themselves as an expert in another field, nobody would have a clue who they were and they'd be as ignored as the next middle aged bloke in a grey suit.

I'd hazard a guess that this isn't a phenomenon entirely bespoke to my industry.

We were given an in-depth list of T&Cs when joining Soho House and the main one is not to approach people you do not know personally. You have to wait to introduced by a mutual friend. This rule is designed to stop people touting for business.

I work in marketing and defining target audience is so dependent on the product or service. It's not possible to say people who earn lots of money hang out here, that isn't enough to build a persona.

It's far too simplistic and limited to say people with money read the FT.

You need to determine what their challenge is that you are solving, why do they need this? - the "what and why."

When you build your Ideal Customer Profile you will have many factors. The "who."

From there you can build your channel strategy which is the "how."

It would be helpful to get a better steer on what your bf is offering.

My job sees me working with UHNW, and they will pay my firm thousands per month for our services (for example, they will pay over £900 for an hour of my time... although I see very little of that!). However, that's because I'm backed by a huge firm with a well known brand. If I was out on my own I'd be lucky to even get a conversation with most of my clients, and if I could I wouldn't be able to charge much for than £200 an hour (which would not equate to thousands per month).

As pp have said, most of our work comes from word of mouth recommendations and introductions from other advisers. I can't think of any of my clients who are paying thousands per month for business related services that are not offered by another large firm/brand that I'm usually already aware of, and the nature of the services I provide means that I would generally be aware of such expenditure.

It sounds like our in the sky, he wants HNWIs to spend ££££ per month 'coaching' and he doesn't even known his target market. Mumsnet isn't going to give him his business.

Not professional football-level salaries but I earn six figures and am struggling to think of something work-related that a) costs thousands a month, and b) that I’d pay for myself.

Personal training, wellbeing, nutritionist?