Don Connelly, Author at Don Connelly & Associates

Don A. Connelly is a speaker, motivator and educator for financial advisors. During a career of more than 40 years on Wall Street, he worked for nearly 19 years as company spokesperson, senior vice president and senior marketing officer for Putnam Investments, in addition to holding positions as a stock broker, financial planner, branch manager, wholesaler and national sales manager. As founder and CEO of Don Connelly 24/7, he provides timely and provocative sales ideas to thousands of financial professionals, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Conducting Client Research to Boost Prospecting Results

May 29, 2023 / by Don Connelly / Marketing Yourself / 0 comments

Highly successful advisors have long determined that the traditional shotgun approach to prospecting using blast emails no longer works. They have found that prospecting with a more targeted approach, focusing more narrowly on clearly defined ideal client types based on a readily identifiable market segment or niche, increases both efficiency and results. These segments or niches are identified by demographics, businesses, careers, interests, or shared financial concerns that distinguish them from others.

We’ve written about the many advantages of niche marketing, including the more efficient use of resources, the ease of establishing one’s authority within a niche, and the built-in networking apparatus of well-connected clients residing in a niche.

However, the most significant marketing advantage is the ease of conducting research to gather intelligence about your market. Through market research, you can uncover critical information enabling you to develop more effective communication methods that appeal to your target market while honing your value proposition to touch their pain points.

How to Turn Data Collection into a Process Your Clients Will Appreciate

May 22, 2023 / by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

Financial advisors love data—until it’s time to collect it from a new client. Advisors know that data collection is an essential component of the planning process, without which they can’t get an accurate picture of their client’s current situation. But mining all the critical data needed to connect current circumstances to future aspirations can be tedious—for both advisors and clients.

It can also be a point of tension in a new advisory relationship, as new clients may still be working through trust issues. Advisors must understand this and continue working fervently to earn their client’s trust by expertly shepherding them through the process. While getting the data is important, advisors need to use this moment as another opportunity to engage their clients on a deeper level, focusing as much on the qualitative side as the quantitative side of data collection.

Goal Setting: Not Just About the Numbers. It’s About Emotional Connections.

May 15, 2023 / by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

Goal setting is the second step of the client data-gathering process —unquestionably the most critical step in solidifying the client relationship and the key to setting your clients up for success. Beyond offering the technical expertise to help clients navigate the complex realm of financial planning, the most valuable service financial advisors bring to the table is helping them align the use of their resources with the things that are most important to them.

Yet even though advisors are well-positioned in this stage of the relationship to have these critical conversations, encouraging their clients to discuss their financial goals and understanding on a deeper level why those goals are meaningful to them, is a significant challenge for many. They then wonder why the client later chooses to abandon their financial plan or the relationship.

How to Get the Most out of the Client Data-Gathering Process

May 8, 2023 / by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

Next to the initial meeting with a prospect, data gathering is the most critical step in the relationship-building process. Of course, it’s also the most vital step in the financial planning process, without which advisors can’t analyze a client’s situation, make proper recommendations, and implement them. That’s well understood by most advisors. Less understood is the critical role the data-gathering step plays in increasing client engagement, building trust, and solidifying the advisor-client relationship.

Clients not Giving You Referrals? Here’s Why That May Be

May 1, 2023 / by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

We devote a lot of space here on how to generate referrals, and with good reason. Generating quality referrals is critical to building a sustainable and profitable practice. Many of our articles address the ‘how,’ even addressing how to overcome the reluctance to ask for referrals. Based on my decades of experience, I’m confident that advisors who study those articles and incorporate the tips and practices into their process can generate more referrals.

Winning the “Why Do I Need a Financial Advisor” Argument

April 24, 2023 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments

Winning the Why Do I Need an Advisor Argument

Long before it became a field of academic study, legendary investor Benjamin Graham knew a thing or two about behavioral finance. Graham went on to say, “In the end, how your investments behave is much less important than how you behave.”

For financial advisors, understanding how emotional and intellectual processes combine to influence investors’ decisions offers the opportunity to help their clients avoid costly mistakes and optimize investment outcomes.

For Highly Ambitious Advisors, Influence + Credibility = Thought Leadership

April 17, 2023 / by Don Connelly / Marketing Yourself / 0 comments

Becoming a thought leader enhances your personal and professional stature within your industry and community, making you much more appealing as an authority and person of influence. When an advisor is viewed as a true thought leader, they attract the attention of influential clients who use their influence to refer other influential people.

As previously discussed on the blog, content is the key to building influence. Producing compelling, thought-provoking content delivered through your website, a blog, and emails, is how you establish your authority in the field. The more it is viewed, the more influence you can build, which is where social media comes in. Posting your content on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites expands your potential audience and builds your online influence.

But that’s just the beginning. While influence is critical, without credibility, it can be fleeting. Blogging and social media engagement are essential for building thought leadership, but when you can share your thoughts in high-profile settings you gain invaluable credibility.

Why Blogging Is Your Path to Achieving Thought Leadership

April 10, 2023 / by Don Connelly / Marketing Yourself / 0 comments

For advisors competing in a crowded industry, achieving thought leadership is becoming essential for those who want to stand far above others in a crowded field. Why? Because thought leaders are viewed as people of influence with recognized expertise, credibility, and strong reputations – traits that have become table stakes for advisors hoping to attract the attention of high-net-worth clients.

Though it takes time to achieve thought leadership, the return on whatever investment of time and resources can be unparalleled. Fortunately, in this digitally wired world, you have tools that can accelerate the journey. If you have a couple of hours a month to devote to writing, blogging can be your most effective marketing activity.

Today, more businesses than ever are pointing to blogging as their most important inbound marketing initiative. And the vast majority of businesses report that their blogs have led to increased visibility, notoriety, and business development. Financial advisors are finding that blogging is an affordable way to establish themselves as a high-profile authority and a credible source of financial information in a highly competitive arena.

Thought Leadership May Be the Only Edge for Financial Advisors

April 3, 2023 / by Don Connelly / Marketing Yourself / 0 comments

Clearly, the financial advisory industry is undergoing a major transformation. Technological advances and the democratization of investing has virtually commoditized financial advice to the detriment of advisors who continue to languish in brand obscurity. Until financial advisors can differentiate themselves as authorities in their field, most struggle to gain the attention of new clients or keep the attention of existing clients. Advisors who establish themselves as true thought leaders hold a distinct advantage in the race to add new clients and grow assets under management.

You Can’t Be Afraid to Fail. It’s How You Succeed.

March 20, 2023 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments

Who doesn’t want to be a success? It’s what people, particularly financial advisors, strive for every day. No one wants to be a failure. But did it ever occur to you that it’s virtually impossible to be a success without failing? Successful people must be very comfortable with failure because they probably fail more often than they succeed. They’re successful because they use their failures as learning experiences to propel them forward.

Yet, many people seem to have such a dysfunctional relationship with failure that they can’t see the value in it, choosing instead to avoid it by not taking the same risks that led to it. That’s not learning. That’s capitulation, which never leads to success.

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Articles by: Don Connelly