A Story About Deadlines and an Encounter With a Stranger in a Cupboard

There was a time when if a stranger had tried to take me into a cupboard and stick a needle in my arm I’d have run a mile.

But a lot’s changed in the past three years and so, a couple of weeks ago, I happily followed a man into his cupboard and let him do his worst.

I even took my wife with me and let him do the same to her.

You see, back in early December I got a letter from the NHS saying that, because our son has T1 diabetes, I was entitled to one of the Covid booster jabs that are normally only given to people over 50.

Now I’m certainly no anti-vaxer, and I was first in the queue when the vaccine rollout started in 2021.

So I fully intended to go and get this latest injection…

But then life got in the way.

And then, at Christmas, I got Covid. Only mildly - it was enough to keep all the family away, but not bad enough that I couldn’t carry on eating and drinking!

So that meant I had to wait another four weeks before I could get the vaccination.

And then life got in the way again….

But then, just over a fortnight ago, I read something in the news that said that there were only a few days left for anyone who wanted to get a booster vaccine.

And after that, there’d be none available til the autumn!

As soon as I read that, I got straight on the NHS website and booked a slot for 24 hours later.

And, unlike my previous Covid vaccines which had been delivered in big venues with three staff per patient, this one was done…

by one guy…

in a tiny room/large cupboard…

at the back of a pharmacy in a nearby village.

I didn’t even get an “I’ve been a brave boy” sticker afterwards.  

Now, this story shows two things:

1. It’s really easy for us to put things off, even when it comes to getting something we’re really keen to have
2. People move a lot faster when there’s a looming deadline and the fear of missing out

And I was reminded of this a few days ago when I got a question from Chris who’s one of the IFAs in The Predictable Pipeline Programme.

Chris wanted to know whether I thought he should run any new campaigns on Google or Facebook to tie in with the end of the tax year.

So I told him the story about my Covid booster and how I’d put it off until there was a deadline coming up.

And I said to Chris that I thought he should definitely reference the upcoming tax year end in his ad copy to create an extra sense of urgency.

If you’re a financial adviser reading this, then I’d encourage you to do the same.

For example, if you have an ad that usually performs well the rest of the year, you could create a copy of it for March that had a line like "Act now to avoid losing this year's tax-free allowance" or "Act fast to beat the taxman".

This is because you probably have people following you on social media who have been vaguely thinking for a while that they need to sort out their pension, ISA, etc.

And so if they see a Facebook advert or post from you in the coming few weeks which makes them realise that:

a) they could lose out on some tax-free cash, or that

b) they risk handing over more money to the tax man than they need to

then that could give them the kick up the bum they need to actually get in touch with you.

So go on…

Do it now, before life gets in the way.

Use the power of deadlines to create some new ads or social media posts that will bring in extra business for you between now and 5 April…