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As a financial advisor, you strive to be a pillar of your community, serving your local market with pride. Because you are committed to helping people reach their financial goals, you are constantly on the lookout for the best ways to raise your profile, gain visibility and grow your book of business, primarily in your local area.
Not everyone in your local area will be a good fit for your business. You need to strategically think about who you serve best before you go knocking on every door in town.
Who are the clients you want to find?
Before you look for new clients, identify exactly the type of client you want for your business and learn to recognize “red flags” to avoid.
The most successful financial advisors specialize in helping a particular segment of the market, which allows you to focus your expertise and your search for new clients.
Young professionals and retirees not only have different financial goals and needs, but they also congregate in different places. If you work with high-net-worth individuals, their needs will differ from middle-class clients and you will connect with them in different ways. Think carefully about who you serve and that will inform where to look for them.
Identifying your ideal client
Look at your client base and ask yourself the following questions about those you enjoy working with. You will start to see a trend. Use that information to build out a demographic for your ideal client.
- What stage of life are they in?
- What age range?
- What is their marital status?
- Are they in a specific industry or career field?
- What is their education level?
- What career stage are they in?
- What is their family dynamic?
- Do they have similar interests or hobbies?
- What is their financial motivation, beliefs, and issues?
- What is their annual income?
- What are their life goals?
Who are the clients you want to avoid?
Successful financial advisors also know how to be selective based on personality and overall fit. To grow your business, you have to be willing to turn away business. New clients who constantly challenge or refuse your advice or take up too much of your time, for example, will put a damper on growth. So before you begin looking for clients, learn how to interview potential clients and screen out anyone who is likely to be a problem.
You can listen to my podcast, Insights for Financial Advisors, where I have an episode specifically about selecting ideal clients and find out how to identify toxic personality traits and red flags.
What do you do with this information?
Getting clear on who are your ideal clients is the first step in determining where to look for new clients. So, take some time and get out your pen and paper and start writing. Who are you serving? What is their demographic? Are they young, old, middle class, high-net worth? What are the personality traits that you work well with?
Once you are able to pinpoint those details, you will be ready for my next article, Six Ways for Financial Advisors to Find New Clients, where I will provide you with proven ways you can get engaged with your local market and find the right clients to grow your financial advisory firm.
Crystal Lee Butler, MBA is a creative marketer and results-oriented business consultant with over a decade of experience collaborating with independent advisers. At Crystal Marketing Solutions, she delivers exceptional insights for financial professionals enabling them to create a consistent marketing presence so they can focus on the things that matter most to them.
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