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The most frequent question I’m asked when mentoring newer advisors is, “How do I demonstrate my value to prospects?” I’m sure many of you have pondered this question, even if you’ve been an advisor for many years.
The field of offering financial and investment advice has changed significantly in the 20+ years I spent as an active practitioner. But the basic three types of prospects that come to us remain the same: They are either too busy, things have gotten too complicated, or their financial world has grown too big to manage on their own.
To demonstrate my value as an advisor to these prospective clients, I made sure that when they walked through the door, they already knew that I was very knowledgeable in solving problems related to financial issues, products, and strategies.
My mentees then ask, “How did you do that?”
I call it my “shotgun approach.” I became an active participant on several advisor platforms. I would provide input on hot-button issues that could then be featured in media quotes, articles, blogs and webinars. This way, prospects could experience my thought leadership and expertise no matter what method they used to find me.
While most advisors land new prospects via referrals, this isn’t the only way someone will find you. Some people search online for an advisor, meaning they may find you through a Google search or on social media. If you’re an active contributor or content creator, others may read about you or see you on one of many local (LATimes), national (Nerd Wallet), or international platforms (YouTube).
Here’s a list of action items I recently developed to answer the all-important question, “How do I demonstrate my value as an advisor?”:
- Write online articles that can be found through Google search.
- Posts (comments or articles) on social media like LinkedIn.
- Write books and make them available on Amazon.
- Incorporate FAQs on your website.
- Create YouTube videos that cover frequently asked questions, one at a time.
- Email articles to prospects that address their specific pain points (or their most likely concerns if you haven’t yet interacted with them).
- Add testimonials by centers of influence to your website.
- Add quotes or mentions in the press to your website.
- Host webinars and make them available for prospects to find through Google search.
- Volunteer for positions in professional organizations like NAPFA and FPA.
- Allow others to leave Yelp or Google ratings and reviews.
- Write a column in your local newspaper.
- Volunteer for local TV interviews and share clips on your social media accounts and website.
- Participate in podcast interviews and share the episodes on social media and link on your website.
- Participate in a free educational seminar hosted by local non-profits.
Can you do all these things at once? Probably not. Instead, prioritize based on the highest potential to reach your target audience. Do you have a specific target audience or niche? If not, start there and work backward to determine where your audience lives, works, plays, reads, and watches. This is a common and highly effective marketing and sales strategy.
For more marketing expertise, I recommend Kristen Luke’s latest book, Uncomparable, as a great place to start. (Full disclosure: I was one of her beta readers and got a free copy). More than 20 years ago, Marie Swift of Impact Communications told me to make friends with financial columnists and reporters by being a frequent topic contributor and commentator on their articles. This turned out to be a great way to demonstrate my value, as these reporters wrote about many of my suggestions and quoted me in their publications.
A few of these reporters and columnists even hired me as their advisor and referred their family members to me. While I could no longer be quoted by them, it was well worth the tradeoff.
Will my shotgun approach work to demonstrate value? Yes, but over time. Better yet, use the “rifle approach.” As I mentioned earlier, prioritize your efforts by focusing on the value-add strategies that will give you the biggest return on your time and invested resources. Good luck.
After retiring from a 20+ year career as a fee-only advisor, Jim Ludwick helps other financial advisors improve their sales skills via coaching, books, and public speaking. For more information visit procrastinationjunction.com.
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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.