Being successful in the financial advisor industry means that your clients are the very lifeblood of the business. Letâs be frank: theyâre the source of your assets under management (AUM), and without that, youâve got no business.
Not only do you have to keep your clients happy, but youâve got to keep growing your clientele base. Attrition happens. People reassess, people move on, and people change their minds. An astute advisor protects his or her own revenue streams by continually prospecting to offset this effect. The astute advisor also asks him or herself, âWhat can I do to keep my most loyal clients loyal?â
Today, youâll learn how to retain your clients by keeping them well-attended and happy and how to keep cultivating a following of new investment-minded clients to ensure that youâre meeting your own financial goals as well. Retaining business and generating business doesnât have to be difficult – and the two processes have more in common than you might think.
Look to the Future
Financial planner often deal with a mature clientele, and that can lead to sticking with more traditional methods of advertising favoured by their more experienced patrons. However, you shouldnât overlook the much-discussed Millennial generation when it comes to prospecting.
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The oldest Millennials were born in 1981 and are now in their forties, according to the most commonly accepted definition. As surprising (and perhaps unsettling) as that might be, it means that many of them are already generating significant amounts of wealth, saving for retirement, and investing their money.
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Itâs not a particularly well-kept secret that Millenials spend a significant amount of time on social media apps and sites. According to a 2020 study cited in Forbes, approximately three-quarters of millennials use Facebook and Instagram daily, meaning that those apps are essentially the modern equivalent of the morning newspaper for â80s and â90s babies.Â
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Financial advisors can leverage this to effectively and relatively inexpensively advertise to aging millennials, for whom wealth management and investment are only beginning to be considerations. Social media presence and ads are taking the place of the half-page print ads or full-page inserts of yesteryear.
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In previous years, this advice would largely only apply to gaining new clients. But the events of the global pandemic have effectively forced virtual, socially distant advisory on most clients at some point in the recent past. With the now-increased online presence of the more senior generations, your current clients and prime marketing demographics can be more readily reached by social media and virtual advertisements as well.Â
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Platforms like Facebook will allow you to target your ads to certain demographics such as location, age, interests, education. Use this to your advantage to more precisely reach your clientele, whether theyâre Millenials, Gen-Xers or Boomers.
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Dish out some free education & expertise
Consider creating educational materials and events for your clients and the public. A free, short virtual lecture on any number of investment portfolio topics will help your clients feel engaged and will help them to understand you better during consultations.
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In addition, this can direct you new leads from those looking into building their wealth by educating themselves. Make sure to include your website URL, social media accounts and invite attendees to sign up for your newsletter or mailing list, if you already have one.
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Page-gating is a more forward strategy that you can also employ to generate new leads directly to your inbox. Create a video, write an article or white paper on your advisoryâs
investment tips or services, and âlockâ the page so that it canât be read past the first two paragraphs.Â
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That is unless the reader (who is already interested in wealth management or perhaps is even already interested in your services) takes a few seconds to fill in his or her name, email address and maybe even tell you what priorities they have when it comes to managing their investment portfolio.Â
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Theyâll fill it out, the prompt disappears, and then theyâll read your enlightening article or watch your video on bucket strategy or the 4% rule and you now have the name and email (or phone number) of someone interested in your services. Reaching out to them is a much better way to boost your lead conversion rate than merely hoping that theyâll dial the phone number at the top of your page when theyâre reading your free advice.
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Entertain & be Entertaining
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Unfortunately, the Banking & Finance world has a bit of a poor reputation when it comes to customer service. Clients often report feeling that their questions and needs are ignored or placed on the back burner by financial advisors, loan officers, and others.
Donât despair, though: you can take this perception and use it to your advantage by going the extra mile and making yourself known as the advisor who cares. With a little smart money and some extra attention expended on your clients, you can generate new leads, engender loyalty and boost your brand awareness.
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Firstly, make sure that you know your clienteleâs style and preferences. Would they respond well to a wine tasting? Is a barbecue in the park with fun & games for the kids more up their alley? At any rate, the important thing here is to show that you care for your clients, you appreciate their business, and that youâre the kind of person that they can get along with.Â
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The social sciences have long established that people prefer to associate with people that they share interests and common experiences with. An afternoon of Bordeaux and brie or brisket and frisbee can go a long way towards establishing the kind of rapport needed to retain their business.
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Encourage your guests to bring along a neighbor or friend as well. Think about it: how much more likely would you be to talk to someone whoâs treating you to something nice and has a service that youâre interested in, as opposed to someone who offers up their services with all the charm of âplease give me your money, thanksâ? A healthy supply of business cards for your clients and guests to take and distribute wonât hurt, either.
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Simple Courtesy & Communication
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Itâs so straightforward that it shouldnât need to be said, but a little extra emphasis here will allow you to stand out from the crowd. Make sure that you and your staff take every extra step to remember names, preferences, and investment goals. Some clients are quite risk-averse and some are perfectly fine with increased risk in favor of maximizing potential returns.
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Creating profiles with notes on past discussions, client goals, and even reminders to touch base with more skittish clients more frequently or around unexpected changes in market conditions helps build trust and leaves clients feeling taken care of.
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While almost no one wants to answer those dreaded 9 p.m. emails from clients with less-than-urgent questions or requests, a little leeway in the form of a later (unofficial) email-response cutoff time or merely trying to respond to a client in 24 instead of 48 hours is often enough to satisfy most of them.Â
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As long as youâre not having long phone conversations with clients an hour bedtime, the occasional quick email response or an âI see what youâre saying, Iâll call you tomorrow morning so that we can discuss this more in-depthâ can pacify and impress them in a field where being left out to dry is the norm.
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Of course, when you do impress your clients (and you will if you sincerely apply even one of these ideas), thatâs the best time to stop beating around the bush and directly ask them for referrals. As financial professionals know, timing is everything, and the same is true of referrals. A satisfied client can be your best salesman and will work for free – just donât forget to ask!
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The Big Secret: Retaining & Gaining are Done the Exact Same Way
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Ultimately, the financial advisor industry is built on more than just financial investment: you must also invest time, money, and effort into keeping clients and wooing prospects. The most efficient methods will do both at the same time for you.
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Creating a feedback loop of happy, paying clients and free lectures, articles and social events will turn into internet-generated leads and word-of-mouth referrals which turn into more new satisfied, paying clients.Â
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Think of it as being a great return on investment.
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