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Successful advisors know that prospecting is the lifeblood to continued growth for a financial practice. Yet, competition is getting stronger and to remain competitive, advisors need to employ new prospecting strategies in order to capture new assets and remain viable.
Prospecting is the method of proactively stepping out of your comfort zone and requires regular attention. While many advisors have some tried and true methods, it’s a good idea to try a few new ideas.
Here are some crafty, leading-edge ideas to reach your target market and potentially bring in new clients.
1. Shake Up The Referral Tree
Business is going good and clients are happy, but the number of qualified prospects in your pipeline has dwindled. Now what?
Don’t expect your clients to do the heavy lifting while you sit back and wait for the referrals to come in. Take time to rethink your approach. Define your ideal client persona and develop a process to communicate the characteristics of your ideal client to everyone you know.
- Implement a referral shake up campaign
- Identify connections of ideal clients you would like to be introduced to and ask for an introduction
- Plan and host client/referral only events
2. Showcase Your Expertise
Your clients know you’re an expert, but you need to proactively position your expertise in front of prospective clients. In addition to self-proclaiming your expertise on your website and other promotional materials, you must demonstrate it.
Avoid generic industry messages when trying to appeal to specific groups of people. While market updates and commentaries add value, they don’t always resonate with everyone.
- Choose and focus on a niche market
- Develop a strategy with targeted messages that draw your audience in and make them feel as though you are talking directly to them
3. Connect With the Next-Generation
As aging clients transfer their wealth to the next of kin, firms are struggling to retain those assets. Research shows a very small percentage, just 2% to 15%, of clients’ children will retain the financial advisor their parents use.
This statistic is alarming! What you have seen as your usual revenue source is going to change. Advisory firms need to pinpoint a strategy that will balance serving existing clients with another strategy to connect with young investors.
- Provide Immediate and Accessible Information: Next-Gen investors will find the information they are looking for. YOU need to be the one providing it.
- Master a Variety of Communication Channels: Young investors prefer informal communication. You need to engage with this audience through texting, online meetings, Skype, and smart phone applications. Offer clients an option of meeting choices; online or in-person. They are much more likely to connect with you online first and then in-person once trust is established.
- Expand Service Offerings: Overconfidence and required minimum account balances have stifled advisors from reaching out to Next-Gen investors. Offer a wide range of services and products to meet various investment levels and stages of entry points.
4. Build Your Prospect List Through Social Media
Often times, advisors use social media to share articles or promote products and services. This type of content is beneficial; however you need to incorporate a method to build your prospect list.
- Post messages that direct your online community to your newsletter sign up or LinkedIn group
- Manage your list by creating segments based on demographics and specific needs of the group. This will position you to provide valuable information, whether it be articles, products, or whitepapers that are tightly knit to the interests of your market.
5. Start Blogging
Advisors who self-publish through blogging can reap multiple benefits that establish a solid online reputation, improve client communication, attract new prospects, and position you as an industry leader. Blogging is a subtle way to promote your expertise while increasing your online visibility and presenting an opportunity to establish trust and build relationships with prospective clients.
- Create articles and whitepapers that address the financial issues and challenges facing each of your niche markets
- Group specific topics together and share your resources by posting your blog to social media channels and your website
I know I said there would be 5 pivotal prospecting methods, but I couldn’t help myself. This final suggestion is too good to leave out:
BONUS IDEA: Start Your Own MeetUp Group
A Meetup Group is a local community of people where face-to-face meetings happen in real life between members and organizers. Get creative and host a meeting geared toward a specific topic. Plan to meet regularly and discuss topics in your area of expertise.