Everyone appears to be focused on marketing, yet only a few invest the time, energy, and intellect to bring in consistent new assets. The following Five Steps for Developing an Affluent Marketing Strategy come from my experiences with true Rainmakers – financial advisors who consistently succeed in this challenging arena.
Step 1: Preparation – This begins with identifying the services/solutions today’s affluent clients are looking for in a financial advisor. What are their expectations regarding these services? How is your current proficiency? Determine what adjustments need to be made in order to meet these expectations.
Your onboarding process and the establishment of new client relationships are both crucial and need to excel. It’s at this early stage that first impressions of your capabilities are made. It’s essential that you prepare to not only meet but exceed expectations.
Step 2: Sourcing Industry Experts – Today’s affluent client doesn’t expect their financial advisor to have expertise in every aspect of their family’s multi-dimensional financial affairs. However, they do expect you to have identified experts who, with your oversight, will provide best-of-class expertise in a client-friendly manner. Whether it’s an estate attorney, CPA, banker, or insurance professional – it doesn’t matter. If the necessary expertise is not in-house you’re expected to “vet” these outside professionals as partners that can help your clients.
Step 3: Refine Your Differential Advantage – The affluent want to know, even if they don’t ask directly, “What sets you apart from every other financial advisor in town?” Your response needs to be brief, short, and sweet. Think in terms of two, at the most three, soundbites. A good exercise is to ask each team member what sets the team apart. Once you’ve identified and can articulate your differential advantage in a brief soundbite, it should naturally roll off the tongue of every team member. For example, “Our clients tell us our attention to detail is unmatched and our communication is superb.”
Step 4: Source Names of Affluent Prospects – You’ll never be able to purchase a viable prospect list, it must be created in-house by you. How? Through conversations with clients about what they’re doing in their lives, who they’re doing it with, and when they are doing it. Gathering these names is the first step in getting in front of these people.
Step 5: Create a F2F Game Plan – Sourcing names means nothing to you if you’re unable to meet them. You need to get face-to-face. Be direct and conversational and you’ll find your clients are more than willing to help. A simple request like, “I’ve always wanted to meet your business partner, would you be willing to introduce me?” will go a long way.
The good news is that meeting friends, associates, or family members of affluent clients is most effective when the initial introduction occurs in a social setting. It’s much more relaxing and easier to establish rapport and begin the process of romancing this affluent prospect into a client.
Keep in mind, if your client is willing to introduce you (the #1 high-impact Rainmaker activity), they think highly enough of you to recommend your services when asked. Now with your differential advantage boiled down into repeatable soundbites, you’ve got pure marketing gold.
This isn’t complex. Yet it requires attention to detail and consistent execution.
