I wrote this blog in response to a question I got from a financial advisor. “I just moved to a new city. How do I start prospecting and gain local clients?” Tune in to learn how to meet wealthy clients in your local area – city, town, etc.
But first…
For those of you who are new to my blog, my name is Sara. I am a CFA® charterholder and financial advisor marketing consultant. I have a newsletter in which I send you one actionable, practical marketing tip a day. Please sign up here!
How do you meet wealthy people that could possible become your client, if you’re a financial advisor who moved to a new city or town? My answer applies not just to those relocating, but to anyone who wants to meet more people in their local area.
#1
The first thing is displaying knowledge of local financial systems. Create a blog, and SEO optimize that blog (I’m going to cover SEO basics that later this week) on each of the following topics.
Let’s say I wanted to meet locals in the town of Voorhees, NJ.
- A guide to New Jersey 529 plan
- Owning a business in New Jersey – what regulations you need to know
- Buying and selling a home in southern New Jersey – what prices are currently doing in the area, supply/demand for housing, etc.
- How to get a mortgage in Voorhees, NJ
- Cost of daycare in Voorhees, NJ and how to afford it
- Cost of private school in Voorhees, NJ and how to afford it
- Paying tax on an inheritance you get while living in NJ
- Retiring in Voorhees, NJ – is it a good idea?
- Best retirement homes in Voorhees, NJ
You get the idea, right?
Start publishing this on your website, email newsletter, and social media.
#2
The second thing would be to optimize your website for, in this case, people searching for a financial advisor in Voorhees, NJ. See these Google tips.
#3
Third, see if you can guest blog for a local blogger or publication with a vibrant local audience. A great article idea would be, “10 surprising things I learned by moving to Voorhees, NJ.” Pick a good one that alot of the local people read – this will help increase the likelihood that one of them will contact you. You can in fact meet wealthy clients by association with a reputable local publication.
#4
See if you can give classes at your local CPA or estate attorney society. Forge relationships with them over time and they may possibly refer wealthy clients to you.
#5
Do a Google search on “Voorhees NJ estate attorney” and take the top three entries that come up. These are obviously people who want attention from the same types of wealthy clients you do. Visit their social media, website, etc., and see how they are getting attention from locals in Voorhees NJ. Are they advertising in the local church bulletin? Are they attending charity events at a certain museum?
Before you head off to the local Chamber of Commerce meeting (which can be a total waste of time) to meet random people, take a page from someone in a similar role in Voorhees NJ who has done what you want to do. See if anything could apply.
#6
Post pictures of local scenes to your social media. Local businesses, local festivals, the local town square. People who have pride in the area will engage and that may increase visibility with other locals who feel the same way.
#7
Revise your LinkedIn page, Facebook, etc. to reflect that you now live in Voorhees NJ and are eager to connect with anyone who supports the local community.
#8 Come with an iron clad value proposition when you call on business owners
From a subscriber: “I am having no luck when it comes to meeting business owners with real money. They’re all broke solopreneurs.” Weak value proposition is the problem with working with business owners. They are shrewd, discerning, goal-focused types and if there isn’t a respectable value proposition they won’t give you their time.
Take this action TODAY
#1 Get a value statement that would choke a horse.
It is meaningless to say, “I work with business owners.”
Why don’t you say this instead:
“I work with everyone whose money I can get my hands on who doesn’t have a job or didn’t inherit a fortune. I have no specific expertise, so I run around all day trying to be all things to all people.”
Get way more specific:
- I work with people who own businesses based in Houston that tend to gross about $2 to $5 million in revenue annually.
- I work with people who own pet stores that have 20 or more people working there.
- My clients are self-employed people who consult for tech firms in the San Francisco Bay area.
- I’m a financial advisor and many of my clients are people who manage BMW dealerships in the Midwest.
- My practice focuses on helping those YouTube stars who have one million or more followers.
#2 Find them on the internet
Now, let’s say you want to meet people who own BMW dealerships.
You could:
- Join the BMW group on LinkedIn;
- Search for car dealership owners using LinkedIn search;
- Listen to these podcasts;
- Sponsor a Digital Dealer webinar;
- Advertise in Dealer Magazine; and
- Look at these quotes from attendees from last year, find them on LinkedIn, and start up a convo.
But what if I don’t have a ton of time for marketing? I’m a financial advisor, for goodness sake!
Real talk:
The issue is not that you are busy.
You don’t know what to say and that is causing you to fear investing your time in marketing.
Here’s an easy way to solve this issue.
Get mad about something. Go ahead and look at your competition and see the ridiculous nonsense they’re pushing out into the universe.
Then write this down and post it to social media:
Myth: 529 accounts are the best way to save for college.
Reality: Many of them aren’t worth the fees you’ll pay.
(Insert 2 sentences more on this…)
You don’t have to be a sales schmuck to meet wealthy people and get them as clients
Question from a subscriber: “Are there any ways to prospect that don’t involve interrogating all of my friends and family.”
LoL what a GREAT question!
Here’s one idea.
- Focus on solving one difficult problem that a certain group of people tend to have.
- Attack this problem from all angles, and create a cluster of professionals who are on the same mission as you.
- Do this in a myopic fashion that zeroes in on all aspects of this issue with unprecedented detail.
Example:
Difficult problem is “How do I buy a home for the first time in Burlington County, New Jersey?”
You will create a consortium of:
- Bankers at your local branch banks in Burlington County
- Online lenders
- Online mortgage brokers
- Loan originators
- Mortgage fraud lawyers
- Realtors serving Burlington County, NJ
- Real estate lawyers
- Reverse mortgage professionals
- Mortgage dispute attorneys
- Economists who track interest rate movements
- Etc.
Together you create a “First Time Burlington Home Buyer Toolkit” white paper, that you disseminate to local young professional groups in Burlington County and distribute on social media.
Maybe even host a talk at a few libraries in Burlington County.
Etc…
Sound like a good place to start?
My point is, put the focus on being valuable, make yourself known to the people in the flow where these client originate from, and give the world something new and powerful that reaches people in a better way than before.
What if you don’t want to prospect to your friends?
Question from a subscriber: “I don’t want to mix business with personal, but I have a few friends who would be ideal clients. How do I leverage this, without ruining the relationship?”
Good for you!
(clap emoji)
I’m not the biggest fan of trying to make friends into clients because of the risks involved. Make it clear what you do, but wait for them to show interest (instead of pitching).
Yeah?
Yah.
Take these actions TODAY:
If you do have friends who are ideal clients, here is a wonderful question to ask them:
“As a Delta airlines executive, what would you say is your biggest gap in financial knowledge? Is it something about the 401(k) itself, or is it what to do with the company stock options?”
Genuinely seek to understand how your ideal prospect sees the world – because knowing first hand what is relevant to a particular type of buyer is arguably the most powerful asset you could have in marketing.
Secondly, ask them where they get their financial information from. See if you can tap into that source.
That would be a wow, wow, superwow.
Thirdly, connect with the person on social media and see if you can encourage them to share your updates with their network. Being promoted by someone your targets trust makes you a step up from some random financial advisor.
Are you ready to go out and prospect like crazy, whoo hoo?
Alright that’s all for now.
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Or if you want more…
Learn what to say to prospects on social media messenger apps without sounding like a washing machine salesperson. This e-book contains 47 financial advisor LinkedIn messages, sequences, and scripts, and they are all two sentences or less.
You could also consider this LinkedIn training program which teaches financial advisors how to get new clients and leads from LinkedIn.
Thanks for reading. See you in the next one!
-Sara G
