Being Selective With Your Clients As A Financial Advisor: What It Means For Your Career

Most career paths don’t allow you to pick and choose. One of the most stand out features of a career in financial advising is the ability to be flexible.

Flexible in what your workweek looks like and even flexible in who you work with.

Here at Consolidated Planning, we strive to help our financial advisors cultivate their natural market and nourish their true target market to help better identify who an ideal client might be for them. Part of this journey includes what kind of marketing will best speak to those audiences and that is a powerful tool for building a thriving practice with the least amount of resistance.

Because your time is valuable, we want you to consider the benefits of being more selective with the clients you work with. Being more selective might just help you better organize and streamline your processes, as well as provide more targeted marketing. Explore some reasons you might choose to be more selective when it comes to your practice, all of which can lead to overall better outcomes for you and the people it serves.

 

4 Reasons To Be Selective With The Clients You Work With

As a financial advisor, you may have experienced the pressure to take on any and every client that comes your way. 

After all, growing your client base is crucial for the success of your practice, right? 

Right.

However, growing your practice with the right clients will lead to better outcomes over time.

#1 Improved Client Fit

The right fit matters on so many levels in your career.

Just as you searched for the best firm for you during your interview process, you should strive to ensure you and your clients are the best fit for each other.

But, what might a right client fit look like?

• They fall within your natural or target market
• Their financial goals make sense for the fees you charge
• Your personalities and business acumen mesh well

By being selective with the clients you work with, you can ensure that their personal and financial goals align with your areas of experience. This means you can provide

• Better value to your clients
• Specialized advice for unique situations
• Strategies to best meet these goals

An improved client fit can help develop more meaningful and productive client-advisor relationships, resulting in better outcomes for both parties.

 

#2 Enhanced Client Satisfaction

Because you’re being selective with who your clients are, there are likely to be higher levels of client satisfaction.

Selecting clients who are the right fit for your services and your business acumen also means they are more likely to be satisfied with your work. 

And, as an advisor, that’s a rewarding feeling.

When clients have realistic expectations about what you can deliver and how that experience will look, you are able to meet or exceed those expectations leading to enhanced client satisfaction. 

Your satisfied clients are more likely to refer you to others and become loyal advocates for your practice. As you know, word-of-mouth referrals from happy clients are your most powerful marketing tool, helping you to attract more of your ideal clients in the long run.

 

#3 More Efficient Marketing

Aside from referrals going to work for you, your marketing efforts will be more targeted and effective.

With so much that goes into the day in the life of a financial advisor, your marketing shouldn’t be something you’re getting caught up on.

Having your right target market defined will not only differentiate you from other advisors but also help you develop a focused marketing approach. Not a catchall. Your marketing plan should be tailored around the market you build and include:

• What’s important to your target market
• How you can be a value add for them
• Any other relevant areas that might be of interest or concern for them

Since marketing is only beneficial when it’s reaching the right people, you will find yourself spending less time cultivating poor fitting leads. This allows you to allocate your time and resources more effectively, leading to a more productive and profitable practice.

Right now you’re probably thinking, well marketing is a full time job, how can you allocate time for this?

Advisors at Consolidated Planning work with the Marketing Administration and Practice Management Solutions (MAPS) Team for support here. The MAPS team understands the value of customization and brand recognition for the way you envision conducting business with your clients.

Finding the best clients for your practice comes from identifying your best target markets, setting up quality appointments, and learning new ways to market yourself and your practice.

 

#4 Higher Retention Rates

Acquiring new clients not only costs more money but also more time and effort than retaining your current clients.

And when a client chooses to part ways from you and your firm, especially a client you enjoy working with, that can be a major setback causing you to question what you were failing to provide them.

Failing to meet client expectations might mean a few things:

• You weren’t aligned in the planning process
• They didn’t see value in your area of experience
• They weren’t receptive to your advice
• They weren’t committed to a long-term relationship with you

Retaining your clients, and retaining the right clients, is essential for your practice building. By being selective with the clients you work with, you are more likely to attract clients who are:

• Aligned with your planning process
• See the value in your area of experience
• Receptive to your advice
• Committed to a long-term relationship with you

With satisfied clients, you are able to build a more stable and predictable source of revenue for you and your practice.

 

#5 Enhanced Professional Reputation

Building a great reputation as a financial advisor takes time and effort but damaging that reputation takes far less time.

Finding and keeping those clients that are the right fit for you and your practices allows you to continually deliver high-quality work, achieve positive outcomes, and build on your reputation as one trusted advisor.

Building your reputation is all thanks to finding the right clients and helping them work towards their goals, all leading to a satisfied client. Your satisfied clients are more likely to recommend your services to others and share their positive experiences within their network. 

With so many financial advisors to choose from, a positive professional reputation can lead to more visibility and new business opportunities and help you further establish yourself as a reputable financial advisor in your market.

Hey, one day your reputation may even precede you.

 

Should You Be More Selective In Your Practice?

Being more selective when it comes to building your practice might seem like a counterproductive approach. However, it’s important to remember that this is an evolving process, from pinpointing your best target market to understanding what your career goals are and ultimately deciding what kind of financial advisor you want to be.

Sal Tiano, a Forbes Books Author, said it best, “nothing good ever comes out of failing to deliver,” especially when your reputation is on the line.

Instead of saying no to a prospect, you can offer solutions or suggestions on who might be a good fit for them. That might be someone in your practice, or might not be.

If you’re ready to take the next step in building a more focused practice, it might be time to revisit who you’re serving through your target market(s). 

Reach out to our recruiters to learn more about our planning philosophy that supports building relationships.

 

2023-154505 Exp. 4/2025