Hearsay Social Capitalizes on the Boom in Social Media

Social media has changed the way financial advisors find their sales leads, according to one social media expert and entrepreneur. Clara Shih, Founder and CEO of Hearsay Social, helps financial advisors connect with their clients on social media, enabling them to gain traction when cold calls and emails go unanswered. ‘No one likes to feel sold to. There’s great self-correcting mechanisms, in terms of people will unfriend you or unfollow you if they feel you are really laying on the sales pitch,’ said Shih. Hearsay offers a platform that helps advisors manage social media sites, while also using predictive technologies to help advisors and insurance agents identify client opportunities. The company was formed a few years ago and was able to capitalize on the explosive growth of social media usage. ‘The average American spends nearly six hours a day across social, mobile and digital,’ said Shih. ‘These are all great signs for our business or great signs for our customers and really a forcing function for how all businesses have to think about connecting with their customers.’ Shih said Hearsay’s technology platform is currently being used by seven of the top ten global financial services companies, and she sees exciting growth opportunities ahead, including using Hearsay Social’s technology for other industries and expanding outside the U.S.