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Activity wins in sales and since #referrals are a part of the sales process, we need to make sure we have consistent and effective activity if we want to make our referral production predictable.
Events are one of the key foundations of the predictable referral system we use at Strategic Referral Team.
There are lots of types of events that financial advisors might create. Some examples are: client appreciation events, special events around education, activity based events (like fly fishing!) and all kinds of others.
Today’s blog is focused on the most important type for creating significant referral production: recurring events. We are going to get even more specific and talk about business owner focused ones for all my fellow CEPA’s out there.
After years of work with successful FA’s, I have come to believe that a frequency of monthly is optimal for recurring events. Just enough time to keep on the forefront of memory and just long enough to help you not get burned out from the logistics. As you grow your staff this gets even better!
I am going to share with you the outline of how I encourage my clients to begin the process of doing these events. Here ya go!
Business Owner Roundtable Program
Overview: This is a free ‘by invitation’ and non-exclusive monthly meeting that is hosted by a financial advisor that is focused on developing their business owner client base and/or exit planning revenue
Frequency: Monthly
Purpose: To provide an anchor to your referral marketing program. This type of monthly event, low friction and commitment (and low risk) allows for at least two conversations per month with business owner clients/prospects even if they don’t regularly make the event. Remember: it is the conversations done consistently that change the game for your referral efforts! You will be calling to invite them to the next meeting and then getting feedback after each one (minimum two calls of short duration and high value). These calls will separate you from the traditional advisor that either bugs the client with inane chatter of no consequence (social) or only calls when they are selling something.
Format: Two hours
Agenda:
1-10 minutes: Light networking and ordering drinks (in our group in Roanoke that meets at a brewery)
10-20 minutes: Introductions by the host(s) aka you
20-30 minutes: Overview of the primary subject for discussion that month
30-90 minutes: Roundtable discussion (if over 10 participants break into two or more groups) moderated by host. Start it off with seeing if someone has something to share in reference to the main subject matter and it should flow naturally.
90-110 minutes: large group share of what was valuable and question asking
110-120 minutes: Set next months core subject and get feedback about the night
Topics to discuss:
What is your business worth and who will buy it
Succession (internal vs. external)
AI and its effect on the value and profit of your business/industry
Hiring/recruiting talent
Retention of staff and dealing with problems among them
Building the right advisory team to make sure you are running your business in a ready to sell manner
Marketing at the CEO level - leading and managing growth
Technology
Real estate purchases
Buying a compatible/different business
Partnering
Preparing for adversity
I hope you found this helpful and a foundation to get started on your own. Feel free to modify as you wish. A couple of cautions from decades of experience:
- Don’t go more frequently than monthly. You will get burned out and you will find that the attendance isn’t better
- Be cautious about quarterly frequency. In my experience, you will increase the pressure on yourself to make it a signature experience and it will become harder for clients and prospects to remember to be there. Pick the same day of the month (2nd Tuesday) and same time.
- Save more formal and presentation focused events for semi-annual or yearly. Go all in on a big impact and you will find that the monthly meeting is a really nice feeder for it.