The focus for many businesses which operate within today’s highly competitive retail FX industry centers around the most effective means of garnering new clients, and retaining business without conceding to other firms which are equally concerned with ensuring new acquisitions are a top priority.
Reliance on strategic partnerships with introducing brokers and affiliates has become a staple method of maintaining a steady flow of new clients for many companies, some of which have begun to operate seminars and conferences in order to gain personal relationships with potential partners.
This methodology was spearheaded by innovative and sophsiticated companies such as Swiss FX marketplace Dukascopy Bank which holds the monthly Geneva Forex Event, combining luxury haute couture, fashion, technology and investment at luxurious venues on Lake Geneva in order to cement relationships with some of the world’s high flying traders.
This week, retail FX firm Forex Time (FXTM) will be at what it considers to be the epicentre of European FX trading this week when it attends the inaugural Barcelona Trading Point event from 25-27 September in Barcelona, Spain. The specialist expo for the Spanish FX community will act as a meeting point for traders, investors and other financial professionals with an interest in the currency markets.
Advocates of presence at high profile FX conferences further demonstrate the value of these in terms of client acquisition, with Dukascopy Bank and FXDD both listed as Gold Sponsors of the Barcelona Trading Point event.
With investors in Spain increasingly turning to FX as an alternative investment, Forex Time will not only be looking to grow its rapidly expanding community of international traders, but the company will also be unveiling the popular FXTM Introducer program to Spanish investors for the first time.
Introducing brokers which elect to forge a relationship with Forex Time will receive commission for each trade their introduced clients make with the company, and will be provided with a series of reporting tools and innovative marketing materials to help them in growing their network of partners. In addition to this, Forex Time also provides offline support, such as sponsorships for seminars and provision of expert speakers for events.
Client acquisition by this means has proven to be a method which firms have achieved a steady flow of high quality clients, another example having been City Index’s Israel office, led by Meir Velenski. During its existence in Israel, City Index’s branch office held seminars which attracted experienced, high net worth traders who would remain loyal to the British company over a long term, reducing retention costs and increasing average lifetime value of the client base. In addition to holding seminars at its office, City Index also relied on FX industry conferences to reach professional traders which attend such events.
The investment in the Barcelona Trading Point event is the first step into the Spanish market for Forex Time and it is part of the company’s wider strategy to rapidly grow its international reach, which has already seen inroads made in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
“Experience has taught us that the best way to understand the needs of our clients and partners is to meet with and talk to them directly, and the Barcelona Trading Point event is the perfect opportunity for us to do just that,” said George Stylianou, Chief Marketing Officer of Forex Time.
“This will be the first event of its kind that we have committed to in Spain and we are focusing on this market as we are aware that Spanish investors have a deep understanding of forex and we anticipate that a partnership between Spanish Introducers and Forex Time will bring mutual benefit.”