attract new clients Archives - Don Connelly & Associates

Why Financial Advisors Quit

/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments

It’s estimated that nine advisors out of ten don’t last three years in the industry. That seems high for a career that offers so much promise and potential. Most people come into the business checking all the appropriate boxes for having what it takes. Still, when you consider the gap between reality and expectations of fledgling financial advisors, it begins to make sense why most choose to leave the business.

To put it bluntly, not everyone is cut out for a career as a financial advisor, even for those who do check all the boxes. However, with a better understanding of why many financial advisors quit the business, you can beat the odds by avoiding that fate.

The reasons why financial advisors quit are varied, but here are some of the most common.

Mapping Out the Client Acquisition Timeline—How Long It Takes to Get a New Client

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship, Prospecting / 0 comments

New clients are the lifeblood of a financial advisory practice, without which it could go into cardiac arrest. For newer financial advisors, acquiring new clients can’t happen fast enough. However, if obtaining clients was easy, anyone could be a successful financial advisor. Starting out, it’s an uphill battle that only the most determined can eventually win.

It also helps to have a systematic process for capturing leads, nurturing them through the sales funnel, and converting them into prospects, out of which a certain percentage become clients. That’s all laid out on a timeline that can vary significantly depending on the type of lead, where it came from, and how effective your process is for cultivating the lead. It could take anywhere from one month to a year for a lead to complete the journey through the funnel to becoming a new client.

How to Create a Systematic Communications Strategy

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

By now you should know the importance of staying engaged with your clients. Clients who feel less engaged are less likely to trust their advisor relationship and more likely to bolt when things go south, if not before. At a minimum, they will feel less inclined to recommend you to others. Suddenly, it’s as if you’re spinning desperately on a hamster wheel with little hope of getting off.

Most advisors would agree that having a systematic communications strategy is essential for adding and retaining clients. The challenge for many is how to go about it. The exact tools and methods an advisor would use could vary greatly depending on their communication preferences, prospecting methods, and available time and resources. Here are a few steps to get you started.

Using Client Personas to Attract Your Ideal Client

/ by Don Connelly / Marketing Yourself / 0 comments

Most financial advisors are familiar with the concept of creating an “ideal client profile” used to identify the type of prospects they want to target. However, that may not go far enough to attract and directly engage with digitally savvy high net-worth investors in the digital age. Emerging-affluent millennials, in particular, are cautious about who they engage with if they can’t see what’s in it for them.

In a digitally wired world, financial advisors need to be able to identify with their target market and communicate in a way they can identify with you. That requires taking the ideal client profile to the next level by digging deeper into who they are, what they do, how they think and communicate, and why they might want to engage with someone like you.

Creating Your Financial Advisor Marketing Plan

/ by Don Connelly / Marketing Yourself / 0 comments

The biggest growth challenge for financial advisors is finding qualified leads. But before that can happen, advisors must be able to attract enough of the right people who might become qualified leads. That’s what marketing does for you. It doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It can’t happen by aimlessly wandering around. Most advisors have enough trouble managing their time between being an advisor, running their practice, and prospecting. What’s needed is a marketing plan.

5 Creative Marketing Ideas for Financial Advisors to Attract New Clients

/ by Don Connelly / Marketing Yourself / 4 comments

The biggest issue most Financial Advisors face is attracting a steady stream of new clients. In a post-pandemic world that could be even more difficult with seminars and networking events out of the question for a long time to come.

Here are five creative marketing ideas Financial Advisors can use to attract new clients without breaking the bank.

Remember to run any promotional or marketing activity by your compliance department before making any steps toward detailed planning or execution.

Believe in Your Value and Never Do These Three Things with Clients

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

When prospecting see yourself as the professional consultant you are. Your job is of the utmost importance – you’re there to safeguard your clients’ financial future. It doesn’t get much more important than that and you are due respect.

So, if you find you’re fighting to win new clients, rushing through a presentation or apologizing for asking for the order, take a step back. Understand that you add value to your clients’ lives. Because of you people will be able to retire comfortably or get their kids through college. Your clients should feel privileged to do business with you, not the other way around.

Here are three things to avoid doing with clients.

Why Financial Advisors Must Embrace Prospecting

/ by Don Connelly / Prospecting / 1 comment

Prospecting is the one crucial marketing activity you need to undertake in order to identify and attract new clients.

New clients will not fall into your lap by accident. If people don’t know who you are, they will never understand what you can do for them. If you don’t make prospecting a habit you will neither achieve success in terms of your own goals, nor will you be able to help others achieve theirs. So rather than dreading the ‘prospect’ of prospecting, see it for what it is: the backbone of your business.