Easily Find Clients With These Three Rules For New Financial Advisors

You could be the most brilliant financial advisor in town, but you won’t last very long in this business if you can’t consistently find new clients for your planning services. Clients are the life source for your practice, especially as a new financial advisor.

Consolidated Planning has spent 40 years developing financial advisors. We’ve seen hot fads come and go and have discovered our time-tested approach works in all environments when properly executed. We help advisors of all experience levels build overflowing pipelines of new potential clients using three simple rules.

We’ll focus on how our three rules apply to new advisors and share actionable steps so you can start building your prospective client pipeline today.

Why Do New Financial Advisors Need To Find Clients?

Without acquiring clients, you will never build a financial planning practice. Serving clients is the reason your practice exists and you’ll need to help at least 25 families each year to successfully launch your financial planning business. One of the primary reasons financial advisors fail in this business is not finding enough clients.

Early in your career, most of your time will be spent focusing on client acquisition. With this in mind, you’ll lean heavily on Consolidated Planning’s advisor resources to assist with your planning and marketing needs while following these rules to make finding clients as easy as possible.

Rule #1: New Financial Advisors Market To Their Natural Network

First, you must believe in what you’re doing to want to talk to your friends and family.  You must believe in the solution, the process to get there, and value that you’ll bring.  (When one believes they have something of low value for others, they’d rather talk to strangers first.  When one believes they have something of significant value, they’ll always talk to those who are most important in their lives first.)

You’ll know if you really believe in what we do once you a) learn about our process and planning philosophy, and b) realize that if not ‘you’ helping those in your natural market, then ‘who’ will bring this value to them?  Their existing, transactional advisors?  Their existing, robo-advisors?, Their existing, call center advisors?  You must understand and believe that you are the one.

Marketing to a natural network can be an effective way for new financial advisors to gain clients and build their business. Here are a few strategies that new financial advisors can use to market to their natural network:

 

1. Leverage existing relationships: One of the most powerful ways to market to a natural network is to leverage existing relationships with friends, family, and other personal connections. These individuals may be more likely to trust and work with someone they know and have a relationship with.
2. Use social media and other online platforms: Social media and other online platforms can be effective tools for reaching and engaging with potential clients in a natural network. New financial advisors can use platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram to share valuable content, build their brand, and connect with potential clients.
3. Host events and workshops: Hosting events and workshops can be a great way to engage with potential clients and showcase expertise. New financial advisors can host educational events or workshops on topics related to financial planning and wealth management to attract and engage with potential clients in their natural network.
4. Offer personalized service: New financial advisors can differentiate themselves by offering personalized service to clients in their natural network. This could involve developing customized financial plans and offering ongoing support and guidance to clients.

 

By implementing these strategies, new financial advisors can effectively market to their natural network and build their business.

Rule #2: New Financial Advisors Develop A Target Market

Building a target market is an important step for new financial advisors looking to grow their business. Here are a few strategies that can help new financial advisors build a target market:

 

1. Identify your ideal client: The first step in building a target market is to identify your ideal client. Consider factors such as age, income, location, and interests when defining your ideal client. This will help you focus your marketing efforts on the specific types of clients you are best equipped to serve.
2. Research your competition: Researching your competition can help you understand the types of clients they are targeting and the types of services they are offering. This can help you identify gaps in the market and opportunities to differentiate your business.
3. Develop a marketing plan: Once you have identified your ideal client and researched your competition, develop a marketing plan that outlines the specific strategies you will use to reach and engage with potential clients. This could include tactics such as social media marketing, content marketing, email marketing, and networking events.
4. Test and refine your marketing efforts: As you implement your marketing plan, be sure to track your results and continually test and refine your efforts. This will help you understand what is and isn’t working and allow you to adjust your marketing efforts accordingly.

 

By following these steps, new financial advisors can build a targeted and effective marketing plan that helps them attract and retain the right clients for their business.

Rule #3: New Financial Advisors Ask For Referrals

New financial advisors must become masters of asking for introductions from existing clients, prospective clients, and centers of influence. Why must you master this skill? Your success depends on it.

Referrals and introductions are some of the most powerful marketing strategies out there. The numbers don’t lie:

• 92% of consumers trust referrals from people they know.
• People are 4 times more likely to buy when referred by a friend.
• 77% of consumers are more likely to buy a new product when learning about it from a friend.
• 84% of consumers say they either completely or somewhat trust recommendations from family, colleagues and friends

Wow.

It should be mentioned that once you have a niche market that you’re targeting, your ask for referrals from those clients as well.  Referrals and target markets work great together

Who knew referrals could be so impactful. If you are looking to improve your closing ratio, look no further. Implementing a process around collecting referrals can set your practice on a course for exponential growth. You simply can’t manufacture a better prospective client than a warm introduction from a client or center of influence.

How Do I Implement These Rules In My Practice?

As a new advisor, you know that finding clients is essential to your success. So much so that finding families to help should be your number one priority in your day to day life as an advisor.

There are two ways you can fully embrace and implement these rules in your practice. The first way is the hard way. It’s your own through trial and error. The good news is, this way is not expensive in terms of cash coming out of your pocket. The bad news is, this way is expensive in terms of lost opportunities.

The second way you can internalize these rules in the processes of your practice is to partner with a firm to help you. Consolidated Planning is that partner for our advisors. Reach out to our team below to learn what a partnership with Consolidated Planning could mean for your practice and receive a custom playbook with a plan to double your practice income within five years.

 

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