So you want to grow your business and get more clients for your financial services firm? I’ve worked with financial advisors for over 10 years and taught them how to generate leads and increase their pipeline year over year.
It all starts with making sure that your thinking is going in the right direction because it all boils down to how we think that determines our chances for success.
In this article, I’ll teach you the top six lead generation strategies for financial advisors in order of least effective to most effective.
The first thing you need to do is STOP spending a ton of money to get new clients! That’s right, you read that correctly. Many advisors spend serious money in an attempt to generate leads and land new clients. There are two major things wrong with this strategy:
1.) The actual, proven way to get new clients isn’t spending a ton of money.
2.) The goal of the number of clients to get needs to be realistic for it to work for you.
Read on because in this post, I’ll outline the proven effective ways to get clients.
6 Lead Generation Strategies for Financial Advisors from Least Effective to Most Effective
There are six effective and proven marketing strategies for advisors to get new clients. Some of the six strategies are much more effective than others and it’s important to know which marketing strategy is most effective to get new clients.
#6: Advertising
Let’s begin with the least effective marketing strategy of the six to get new clients for your practice and that is advertising. Yes, advertising, the marketing strategy many financial advisors and insurance agents go to first. It is the least effective marketing method to get new clients but that doesn’t mean advertising should be completely eliminated as a possible strategy.
Some advertising tactics that should be considered are things like directory listings, your website, search engine optimization, etc. Advertising builds visibility for the professional advisor or agent. Advertising does do a good job of creating awareness through visibility of the advisor and and your capabilities, but it is very expensive and had a low conversion rate from lead to client.
#5: Promotional Events
Although promotional events can provide visibility for the advisor it’s not the optimum method for lead generation for financial advisors because of its unpredictable results and the amount of resources in both time and money that promotional events can take.
Putting on a show or being a part of someone else’s show is a time-honored way of attracting a prospect’s attention. Some promotional event tactics to consider are things like: trade shows, complementary workshops, open houses and these days, virtual events.
#4: Public Speaking
The #4 marketing strategy for lead generation for financial advisors is public speaking. Public speaking can be an immensely powerful form of networking because it builds visibility and ads credibility to the mix. People are much more likely to remember you if you’re standing in the front of a group of people bringing value versus one of the audience. The same is true of writing for an admired publication, which we’ll cover in the next strategy.
For speaking, it’s best to look for a group that is already organized and gathered for you to speak in front of versus creating your own speaking opportunity. A couple of marketing tactics that are classified as public speaking are things like: hosting a meeting, serving on a panel, making a presentation to a group both in person and virtually. One last marketing tactic is giving a class or workshop.
The downside to Public Speaking is that it’s… well, speaking. So many are frightened of speaking more than that of dying. Speaking in front of a group, either live or virtual takes preparation and strategy. You can’t just “wing it!”
#3: Writing and Publicity
The third least effective marketing strategy is writing and publicity. Writing articles or a blog about your speciality is a great way to gain visibility and credibility. A blog, or email newsletter is a great place to get your feet wet and get your first bit of exposure in writing, especially if you haven’t been published before. Once you’ve been published somewhere, you can then leverage that article(s) to move to larger publications.
Getting interviewed by the media is a little more tricky to accomplish but you can begin now to cultivate contacts in the media. Once you’ve gained rapport with a few media contacts you can offer to be a resource for them and tie your knowledge or speciality to current events or holidays.
A few marketing tactics for this strategy include things like: writing articles, writing columns for publications, publishing your own information blog, and being quoted by the media. If you’re not much of a writer, not to worry, there are ghost writers, and professional editors that can help you along with plenty of available resources to help you be a better writer.
The Top 2 Lead Generation Strategies for Financial Advisors
We’ll switch our focus now from least effective to most effective as we cover the remaining two marketing strategies. But before we cover the two best (most effective) marketing strategies to attract clients and lead generation for financial advisors, insurance agents and most all professional services providers, let’s talk about what the chief aim of all of these marketing strategies is.
There are five areas where the prospects attracted by the marketing strategies we’re discussing will enter our sales process and they are as follows:
- Filling the Pipeline
- Following Up
- Having Sales Conversations
- Closing Cases
- Getting Referrals
You’ll want to be intentional about the marketing strategies you employ and especially which marketing tactics you’re using to accomplish which of the areas above you happen to be focusing on in your practice.
#2: Networking and Referral Building
Now for the #2 marketing strategy to get a prospect’s attention and increase your chances of them becoming a client is that of networking and referral building. Having a results-producing networking and referral building strategy is vital to your success. It’s not wise to wait for word of mouth to kick in for you to begin to get a steady stream of referrals.
Begin today to seek out potential referral partners by identifying people who are in regular contact with your target market and begin to get to know them. Networking and referral building builds credibility and adds outreach to the mix. Don’t limit your view of networking. Remember the goal is to create a pool of contacts from which you can draw clients, referrals, resources, ideas and information.
A couple of marketing tactics for networking and referral building include things like:
- participating in an online community
- have breakfast, lunch or coffee with prospects
- contacts and referral partners (either in person or virtually)
- volunteering and serving on committees.
Asking for a referral is the next step in this strategy for lead generation for financial advisors. From talking to friends that are in professional services, they’re often unsure how to go about asking for a referral. They ask questions like when is the best time? should I email or call? is it weird if I ask them for a referral? how do I not make it weird?
The best time to email or call is when you do it. I’ve found that many advisors use the “when’s the best time?” as an excuse to not call or email. It’s not at all weird to ask for a referral. In your mind, think of asking for a referral just like you’d ask someone who their painter is or who they use for landscaping. Come from that place when you ask… but by all means, ask!
#1: Direct Contact and Follow-Up
And now for the best and most effective marketing strategy for lead generation for financial advisors, insurance agents and most all professional services providers: direct contact and follow-up. This strategy focuses entirely on outreach. It works best because it’s you reaching out to your prospects, clients and referral partners with a specific ask. This outreach can be by most any method you favor, phone call, text, email, direct message on social media or even by fax, (if there any of those still around).
After an initial contact, less personal methods of contact such as email newsletters become more effective in their impact as follow-up communications. Some marketing tactics that fit with the direct contact and follow-up strategy are things like: cold calling, warm calling in person meetings, personal letters and emails, postcard mailings, nice-to-meet-you notes.
Be smart and be intentional
When you want to grow your business, be smart and be intentional about which lead generation strategies you employ and then align the marketing tactics to complement the marketing strategy and your goals. My advice is to be mindful that you don’t select more of the ineffective strategies over the most effective ones.
About the author: Jack Klemeyer is a professional speaker, consultant and coach who helps people and companies discover and modify their belief systems that are causing performance issues. Jack has real life practical experience in helping insurance agents and financial advisors have their best year while enjoying their life more. For more info, check out his website Grow Your Business Coaching or on LinkedIn.
