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What do you do when the help your client needs isn’t very profitable for you?
This can be a real dilemma for advisors because, naturally, we instinctively want to help people. But at the same time, we’ve got to realize anybody takes up our time and focus and concentration, no matter how small of a balance they might be bringing to us.
So it can be a challenge to care for them and want to allocate time to them, and yet, they’re unprofitable. You know, in the back of your mind, you need to be building a profitable business as soon as you can.
Think about it. We’re in 2020 right now. If I came to you in 2024 and asked you about the last five great clients that you had come into your business, and you raved about them, but they had come from one or two great referral sources, you’re not going to think about the three and a half years of long discovery work, of patience that you have exhibited developing this relationship with this estate attorney, or this CPA or this divorce attorney. You’re just going to have four or five great new, big, ideal relationships. You’re not going to think about the time that it’s taken to develop these.
So, begin now developing an approach to these professionals that, yes, may take longer than you think, but is definitely worth it.
Look, these professionals may already have professional relationships in place. They may be referring business to their friends or family members. You’re not going to come in and overnight unseat these relationships. So take your time. Be patient. So,
- Identify two or three people within your area, locally geographically, who you’d love to be doing business with, who you’re not [working with] right now.
- Develop the correct language to approach them (and this has to be honest language). You want to have written wording that just states you’re looking for one or two more estate attorneys, or more CPAs, or a new divorce attorney because your business is growing.
You can email me because at Ash Brokerage we are providing this kind of content in our Fiduciary Foundations course. It’s language that works in the real world, and this is one of our modules, about growing Centers of Influence and how to use effective language to get on board with them. - Be patient. Don’t expect things to happen overnight. Be consistent in your follow up. Be helpful with the content that you send them, and look for opportunities to give and help them first. Don’t just give in a quid-pro-quo approach, where you’re expecting something immediately back. Take your time. Be patient. These relationships are worth their weight in gold, though.
So do this, practice it diligently. And in four to five years’ time, you, too, can have those four or five phenomenal clients coming to you, and the next three years won’t even be a thought.
Related: The Key to Great Referral Relationships for Financial Advisors