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First you think about owning your own business. Then you have
second thoughts. Will my clients be on board? Can I attract more? Visit
www.wsfinet.com/lure to hear
candid advice from two successful business owners who partnered with
Wachovia Securities Financial Network.
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FEATURE STORY
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Affluent Client Acquisition -- The
Future is Now!
By Matt Oechsli
Based on 7 years of research on how the affluent make purchasing
decisions, what they want in a financial advisor, and the secret to
getting affluent referrals and introductions, we are now offering this
two-day action packed workshop. The following dates have been
scheduled:
Myrtle Beach, SC - April 27th & 28th, 2007
Los Angeles, CA - June 15th & 16th, 2007
To register, or for more information go to: Rainmaker Weekend
or Call (800) 883-6582
Phoenix: "I think it's time that we focus on growing the
practice" stated Mark. "We do a great job for our clients, we have good
policies and procedures, and last year we focused on upgrading and
transitioning our clients to where we were truly the "go-to" financial
coordinator -- and it was a good year. But this year we need to focus on
more affluent clients."
In listening to Mark, it was apparent that his team had developed a
strong foundation for being able to attract, service, and retain
affluent clients. However, they were only excelling at servicing and
retaining, which means his team was missing numerous opportunities for
acquiring new affluent clients.
There are two important facts from our research that you should
always have in mind when working with the affluent.
1. Word-of-mouth influence is the king, queen, prince, and
princess of affluent marketing. As long as your top clients like you
(which I'm sure they do), trust you (which I certainly hope they do),
and respect you as a professional relative to their current needs (as
Mark's team is now viewed as the "go-to" financial coordinator), they
will introduce you to family members, friends, and colleagues. They will
allow you to penetrate their centers-of-influence.
2. High-impact rainmaking activities are introductions,
referrals, social networking, strategic alliances, and intimate events.
Our research on advisors who successfully acquire 10 or more $1 million
clients a year and our Rainmaker Best Practices highlight the importance
of these face-to-face interactions. It is the fuel for marketing their
services to the affluent.
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There are two practice-management issues at work here: loyal
affluent clients and affluent client acquisition (prospecting). In this
issue, I am going to limit the discussion to prospecting and its
relationship to servicing your affluent clients.
Prospecting, especially affluent prospecting, continues to be the
biggest challenge facing the 21st century financial advisor.
Progress is being made, but not enough. In late 2006, we conducted our
second comprehensive research project to identify the key indicators
that separate high-performance wealth-management teams from all the
others. One of the performance indicators was attracting new affluent
($1 million or greater) clients. Only 17% were annually bringing in 10
or more fitting this profile.
This is statistically significance in many ways. High-performance
teams are bringing in more affluent clients than individual financial
advisors (17% versus 7%). Yet the individuals and teams who are
successfully attracting new affluent clients are engaging in the same
high-impact activities.
So, what are the high-performance teams and financial advisors doing
to successfully attract new million-dollar clients? The answer is quite
simple: They are active in the affluent playing field and adhere to a
basic process of…
- Identifying million-dollar (or greater) opportunities.
- Getting personal introductions and referrals.
- Orchestrating a subtle face-to-face with new opportunities.
- Building strong rapport during the first face-to-face
encounter.
- Developing likeability and trust on a personal level.
- Uncovering a window of opportunity within which to earn professional
respect.
- Managing new opportunities through their pipeline.
- Clinching the relationship (closing the sale).
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10 Ways to Walk a Compliant Path
As the regulatory crescendo continues to grow, it might be valuable to
take a step back and consider some simple steps you can take to walk
the compliant path. Securities America has gathered 10 suggestions
that we like to share. Click
here to learn to avoid risk in your practice.
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In talking with Mark, I asked him how challenging he believed each of
these activities were for his team. He wasn't sure, but indicated that
finding affluent opportunities and getting introductions was something
he personally needed to work on. We had a chuckle as I explained that he
had lots of company. According to our Prospecting Challenge
Index, we found that nearly 70% of all financial advisors,
whether solo or on a team, consider affluent prospecting a challenge.
Naturally, the more challenging an activity is perceived to be, the
less likely people are to engage in the activity. Which is most likely
the reason Mark's team had put off prospecting for new affluent clients.
It is also the reason why…
The Future Is Now!
As you have heard me say, successful people are those who
consistently do what the average person either will not or cannot
do. Today, the average financial professional, solo or team, is not
capitalizing on the affluent opportunity outlined in the two research
facts at the beginning of this issue.
Our research begs the question: Are financial advisors, like Mark,
simply giving lip-service to affluent prospecting?
Actions speak louder than words. So, as you begin to work your 2007
business plan, it's important that you make certain that affluent
prospecting gets special attention. For most advisors, the challenge is
simply a perception that is based primarily on inactivity.
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Strategies For Building Your High Net Worth Practice
A new monthly teleconference series presented by Registered
Rep., Trusts & Estates and Cannon Financial Institute
Featured lecturers include Ted Ridlehuber,
President,
Cannon
Financial Institute and Phil Buchanan, Executive VP, Cannon
Financial
Institute.
Next Session: Tuesday February 20,
2007 (Program Code -- CWM 12359).
Topic: The Protection
And Preservation Of Wealth Using Insurance
To register click
here or call 1-800-775-7654.
For a complete listing of course topics and dates click
here.
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All of this can and will change by action -- actions in terms of
client meetings (fully monetizing the relationship -- upgrading) and
high-impact activities that lead to a face-to-face meeting (introduction
to new affluent prospect by a top client). The following are what we
refer to as Rainmaker Critical Path activities, which involve servicing
your top clients and prospecting.
Rainmaker Critical Path (high-impact
activities)
- Client review meetings for client retention
- Client upgrade meetings to bring in new assets from current
clients
- Client networking contacts to find affluent prospects
- Referral Alliance contacts to find affluent prospects
- Ideal Client prospect introductions
- Ideal Client prospect referral contacts
- Ideal Client prospect contacts through placing yourself in their
path
It is important to be somewhere on this path every day. This will
force the issue, but it will not totally solve the prospecting challenge
perception problem. Skill training will help, but coaching is the best
solution to improving one's affluent prospecting ability. Make a
commitment to affluent prospecting, and if you're challenged, hire a
good coach.
Without ongoing affluent client acquisition, your commitment to
practice management will weaken. You must keep your practice in a growth
mode, which means ongoing affluent client acquisition.
If you would like a FREE electronic form to help in managing your
pipeline, go to Pipeline
Tracker. Also, if you brought in 10 or more $1 million-plus clients
over the past year and want to participate in one of our current
research projects, visit 2007 Rainmaker Best
Practices.
Once again, we want to thank all of you who have emailed comments and
questions to us. We will continue to do our best to answer each one. If
you have any topic or special requests, please contact Rich Santos,
publisher of Registered Rep. and Trust & Estates
magazines, at rsantos@prismb2b.com.
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