There are a variety of financial advisor prospecting ideas you can effectively use.
Today, we will dive into the best prospecting ideas for financial advisors and money coaches.
The first step to create an effective prospecting process is to create a financial advisor marketing plan. Secondly, you need to identify your target audience. Specifically, define whom you want to serve and who needs your services.
Before implementing any prospecting technique, you must know your ideal client and what they want.
Gone are the days of cold calling and unsolicited phone calls that you hate making and that annoy your prospective clients. Effective prospecting requires that you find prospects that want and need your services in a manner that builds trust and connection.
Finding new clients becomes easy and fun when you know your target market (AKA your idea, profitable client).
The Best Prospecting Ideas for Financial Advisors
Warm Introductions and Referrals
Affluent clients want to meet their advisors through a trusted friend or another advisor.
It is easy to get recommendations from existing clients who see your value when you have done an exceptional job. Warm introductions and referrals are generally the most effective lead gen strategies for financial professionals, insurance agents, and financial coaches. Because referrals are usually free, they can be an excellent prospecting strategy to grow your financial planning or wealth management business.
Social Media Platforms
Social media is a perfect platform for connecting with people in your niche market. By getting to know your target audience, you can build trust and grow your business.
Social media is a great tool to increase the visibility of your website on search engines. Most experts recommend using hashtags in your posts to gain maximum exposure. Examples may include, #business owner, #professors, #executives, #entrepreneurs, or #surgeons, to name a few.
If your ideal client is an executive or professional, LinkedIn and Twitter are generally best. However, if you serve stay-at-home moms or traditional women, Facebook and Instagram may be better options.
Paid Advertising
While paid ads can work, it is generally more effective to use them to grow your mail or email list.
Paid advertising is a cold lead generation strategy. Warm lead generation strategies generally work better for financial professionals. These include warm introductions or referrals, feeder workshops, and relationship marketing. While paid ads are not ideal for making immediate sales, they can effectively grow your email marketing list.
If you plan to use paid advertising as a prospecting technique, take the time to research options:
- You must know your ideal client and what platforms they use.
- Either spend time learning about running ads or consider hiring a social media expert to help you.
- Always pay close attention to your numbers and continue to measure your results to ensure running ads makes economic sense.
- Always check with your compliance or legal department before proceeding with paid ads or any other marketing venue.
Relationship Marketing
Relationship marketing entails creating a connection with and providing value to prospective clients.
If you serve affluent women, relationship marketing can be one of the best financial advisor prospecting ideas to grow your business.
Relationship marketing includes in-person meetings, telephone calls, client appreciation events, feeder workshops, notes and gifts, emails, and direct mail.
Before using relationship marketing, check with your ideal client and potential clients to determine what will resonate most with them.
Feeder Workshops
Another great lead generation strategy for financial professionals is feeder workshops. These include overviews, summaries, and series events. Feeders range from 30 minutes to three-hour, three-part.
They are an effective marketing strategy because they allow you to leverage your resources. Instead of sharing your message with one person, you can share it with 50 or more prospective clients. As a result, it takes less time and resources to grow your advisory or coaching business.
Before implementing these financial prospecting ideas, confirm they will work with your target audience.
Client Appreciation Event
Most people love to feel appreciated and connect with other like-minded people. Therefore, a client appreciation event can be a very effective prospecting technique.
Before hosting an event, ask what your clients and prospective clients want.
For example:
- Do they prefer a dinner or luncheon?
- What location would they prefer?
- What type of food do they want?
- How far are they willing to travel?
- Do they need a ride to the event?
Client events are also ideal because they provide a perfect venue to meet prospective clients in your target market.
If your team is not qualified to coordinate the event, hire a professional event planner. This will give you time to connect with clients and prospective clients, which is the event’s purpose.
Networking Events
Networking events can be valuable as well as a waste of time. For that reason, you need to do your homework before you commit to attending or sponsoring an event.
Some excellent questions to ask the person coordinating the event include:
- What industries are members of your organization? If the group is for business owners, find out the stage of their business.
- How many people typically attend the meetings?
- What are the different opportunities to network with members?
- When are the meetings generally scheduled?
Profitable Niches
You probably wonder how profitable niches made the cut as one of the best financial advisor prospecting ideas. Most advisors and coaches only focus on finding new clients or prospects. They are not thinking that one affluent client could replace 50 other clients.
In this episode, you will discover the most profitable niche markets.
In this episode, you will learn:
- The most profitable niche markets that need and want financial advice
- Two of the most common wealthy client niches
- What you must consider before creating an ideal client profile
- Why some individuals in one niche market are excellent prospects and others are not
- The best niche markets and the worst niche markets
- Why some target audiences are not ideal clients
Tips on How to Prospect as a Financial Advisor
- Treat prospective clients as if they were your most valuable asset.
- Take time to find out about the goals and dreams of your ideal prospect.
- Find out what your potential clients love and fear.
- Become great at follow-up.
- Show your prospective clients that you care.
- Have fun with your target market.
- Choose marketing strategies that you enjoy.
- Provide value to your clients.
- Choose a niche you enjoy. This will make your business and life easier.
- Think outside the box.
- Ask your clients for their opinions.
- Do not choose a target market simply because they have money. (There are plenty of wealthy niches that you would enjoy serving!).
What is the best way for a financial advisor to attract clients?
To attract anyone, you need to provide value: First, find out what they want. Second, determine how to best connect with them. Third, provide solutions to their problems. And fourth, measure your results.
For example, if you want to serve business owners preparing for retirement, offer a resource such as “7 Mistakes Business Owners Make When Selling Their Business.” Or, if you advise doctors, “5 Secrets of Wealthy Doctors.” If your ideal client is an affluent female executive, “7 Wealth Building Strategies to Retire Early.”
In addition, you need to provide consistent, valuable content.
To determine the best format and frequency of your content, begin by asking some great questions. For example:
- In what format do you want to receive the information, i.e., a blog, podcast, or video?
- How often do you want to receive it?
- Do you want an email or do you prefer traditional mail?
Financial Advisor Prospecting Ideas Summary
While there are numerous lead generation options, you first need to confirm who you want to serve. And second, determine how to best reach them. Then determine which strategies will be most effective in your marketing efforts.
Related: Advisor Prospecting: What To Say and How To Say It
First published in MillionaireSeries.com