Lead generation for financial advisors is a more nuanced art than it is for most other service-based sales professionals. Other industry purveyors can be overt in their advertising and may have the luxury of being able to throw dirt at the wall until something sticks. That kind of marketing can reflect poorly on financial advisors.
Loud, high-velocity sales tactics don’t build the right kind of mindshare. They might get people to know about you, but they won’t convince them to do business with you—let alone entrust 6+ figures worth of their wealth to you.
You have to move in the right circles and provide value. Here are some suggestions for doing exactly that.
1. Join clubs
Dust off your golf clubs and hit the links at your local country club. Get involved with your local chamber of commerce. Find a charitable cause you are passionate about and lend a helping hand. Make your free time matter, and try to merge your hobbies with your outreach.
Do the kinds of things that wealthy people do, and, over time, you will begin to interact with prospects simply by being in the same room as them. You won’t have to do any hard selling. Instead, you work off attraction—not promotion.
Successful people want their money to create more money. If you maintain a reputation of earning returns, they’ll start asking you for advice. Parlay your status as an expert into new accounts.
2. Leverage referrals
Successful people know other successful people. The best resource you have for new clients is your list of current clients.
Set a goal for how many current clients you want to reach out to every week. Stick to that goal by picking up the phone and making a dozen calls every week. Do this consistently, and you’ll see your business start to grow.
3. Offer an item of value
High-net-worth individuals don’t want to receive worthless advertising that equates to nothing more than an attention grab. Cheap direct mail options or social media ads are not going to drive revenue unless they have some value.
Consider sending out a newsletter that has market updates. If that is too labor intensive, consider sending out some evergreen content, like what recipients will need for retirement.
There are a ton of different options when it comes to valuable content. But, if you want to have something turnkey, consider sending a personally branded magazine. It’s a high-quality item of value that recipients will love. You can send it to your current clients as a means of winning referrals, or you can send it to prospects as a means of staying top of mind and delivering your messaging in an elegant way.
Ultimately, your lead generation tactics should be subtle. The financial professionals that everyone wants to work with are always the ones who aren’t looking for new clients.
Exclusivity means attraction. If you are too eager to sign new clients, they are going to regard you as desperate. What you don’t do is just as important as what you do. Lead with value, form relationships, and be consistent. Do this, and you’ll build more AUM in no time.