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Financial advisors who are trying to acquire more ideal high net worth clients must remember that it is a process of engagement based on the prospective clients' time frames, not their marketing that works or doesn’t work. Financial advisors beat themselves up by saying they wasted money on marketing programs, initiatives and that they don’t work, at least for them.
What do I mean by saying “Everyone has a financial issue every 6 months”
When I ran my financial advisory practice, I did a lot of marketing and marketing research. I wrote a book on marketing for financial advisors based on all of the work I did, and what elite advisors did to acquire ideal clients. It is “Guerrilla Marketing for Financial Advisors” innovating professionals through practice management” Morgan James NY Publishing 2016. When we would look back on every ideal client we acquired, we would find out that they entered our world 3 to 6 months before they became a client. Then when we asked them a series of questions on why they became a client of ours, we thought the answers would be something about our offers, our marketing or something compelling that attracted them to us. The surprising fact was that they had money or financial issue and that our timing was right for them to solve a problem. It was timing on their part, not ours, and it was their money issue that was not being solved with their current financial advisor or financial institution.
Every 6 months
When we went back and analyzed the data and asked people why they joined us, we learned two critically important things about marketing. First, it is their timeframe. If we approach them before they are ready to work on their financial issues or goals, we get a mild reception, which turns off most financial advisors with a short term marketing approach. It is not our timing but their timing, which we don’t usually know, so we created the “ideal financial client prospects journey” approach. If we approach them in month six, sometimes they are ready to do business and it is a quick acquisition. This is rarely the case that is why it is a six-month pipeline approach for ideal clients. We don’t know when they join our pipeline if they are in months one, three, or six.
They don’t know what they don’t know
Second, is they don’t know what they don’t know. They don’t know what they are paying in dollars and getting and not getting from their current financial advisor. They have a relationship with their financial advisor and when these money issues come up, they go and see their financial advisor on a reactive basis. Shouldn’t these issues or goals be planned out, with a comprehensive plan that covers all 7 areas of their financial life? ( tax, estate, investment, risk, insurance, debt, and cash flow) Shouldn’t these money or financial issues be proactively discussed months in advance and advice in writing to implement their plans? Is their a coordinated approach with a team of professionals, such as lawyers, accountants, lenders, and other professional advisors? They don’t know they are not getting: comprehensive goals-based planning, comprehensive organization and coordination with other professionals in all 7 areas, and a proactive approach to their future. They don’t know as a high net worth client, that this is the way elite financial advisors, wealth managers, and family office professionals work, but when they do, they usually switch financial firms. Do you have a proactive or reactive approach with your best clients?
What is your communication process with your ideal clients?
Do you have a proactive process of anticipating money issues with your best clients? Or did you have a client leave because of your reactive approach, and lack of communication? You know the research why clients leave. They had a money issue come up, never heard from their financial advisor, and someone approached them in a timely way, triggering a change. It is their timeframe, not yours where communication comes in. We know the research says ideal clients want 10 contacts ( or communications) per year. Elite financial advisors who do earn 68% more than financial advisors who don’t communicate 10 times or more per year. ( Business health Pty Ltd, key-value drivers of practice management ) www.businesshealth.com.au I am sure you want to grow your revenue this year, communicate more! If you don’t have a communication process for your ideal clients, how are you going to communicate to acquire ideal prospects?
Ideal financial client prospects journey
Our next blog will show you how to build or hire someone to build your communication process. How to build your ideal prospect journey. Have you ever felt guilty of not communicating enough with your best clients and prospects? Then find out that one of your best clients are leaving, knowing that you should have communicated more and do proactive goals-based planning, instead of waiting for them to call you? Start by mapping out your 10+ contacts for your best clients and writing down what they are currently getting, and how you can deliver more value, more communication to your best clients. I always ask financial advisors this question” what happens when you spend more time with your best clients? Start your focus there!
Related: How to Build More Capacity in Your Financial Advisor Practice