In almost every profession, stories abound of superstar rainmakers who have the perfect mix of talent, professional know-how, connections and charm that translates into fervent support from a torrent of top-drawer clients. Most financial advisors seeking to find new clients and build their practices probably aspire to emulate this superstar.

But most advisors can’t. And that’s OK. A more subtle strategy that aims for a steady flow of new clients rather than a downpour is just as potent in building a financial advisory business, experts say. If you want to build value over the long term, says Julie Littlechild, president of Advisor Impact Inc. in Toronto, you must ensure that new clients are always coming in through your door.

Rainmakers tend to figure out early on in their careers that they have to go beyond relying on their expertise and must devote considerable time and energy toward self-promotion, says Ford Harding, president of consulting firm Harding & Co. in Maplewood, N.J.

Rather than considering “sales” a dirty word, top rainmakers tend to recognize from the start that marketing and selling go hand in hand with the profession they love, says Harding, the author of several books on rainmaking.

The good news? There’s a rainmaker hidden in almost every professional, Harding says. It just takes a combination of discipline and persistence to bring it forward.

Yet what works today might not work tomorrow. A wide range of factors can affect which techniques will work at any given time, says George Hartman, business coach and president of Market Logics Inc. in Toronto, from an advisor’s aptitude to the tastes of his or her target market and even the fickleness of the markets themselves.

That’s why it pays an advisor to take the time to reconsider his or her rainmaking procedures now and again, he says. To that end, here are several popular techniques and how to improve each:



> Cold-Calling

This a traditional technique that can fill some advisors with dread. The current backlash against telemarketing hasn’t made the strategy any more appealing, either. A so-called “warm call” — in which an introduction, through another rainmaking technique such as a seminar or email, has already been made — may get better results, says Joanne Ferguson, president and coach with Advisor Pathways Inc. in Toronto.



> Client Referrals

Considered the gold standard of rainmaking, referrals are cited by most advisors as their top prospecting tool. “We still find referrals the greatest source of additional new business,” says Neil Taylor, vice president of marketing with Investors Group Inc. in Winnipeg. To see satisfying results, advisors need to build a process for asking for referrals into their businesses, he adds: “It’s just a matter of systematizing it so you’re constantly reminding people and asking for referrals.”

Littlechild says that many advisors haven’t leveraged the opportunity for referrals as much as they should because they don’t understand how the process works in their business. For instance, referrals may be coming from only a small percentage of clients. Says Littlechild: “You need to know where your referrals come from and how you encourage more of those. What is your process? Do you have a referral culture? That can be learned and should be learned.”

Recent research conducted by Advisor Impact (along with two other organizations) that looked specifically at referrals found that although 72% of the 1,034 investors surveyed describe themselves as both satisfied and loyal, only 29% had made a referral in the past year. Littlechild says that one of the reasons for this difference is that the traditional focus on a referral script — “Do you know anyone who could use my services?” — might be ineffective. Some clients might care about an advisor’s business, but not all are going to seize the opportunity to share names of friends and colleagues when asked.

Instead, Littlechild says, advisors essentially should be training clients to spot a good referral opportunity and crafting a story to help meet that need.

As an example, she points to massage therapy. A massage therapist could ask clients if they know someone who needs a massage, but few clients would be willing to pass along contacts. A better strategy, Littlechild says, would be to work on structuring client conversations around the benefits of massage and what it addresses: pain management, stress release and the like. So, when conversations about these topics come up with friends and colleagues — much more likely than someone asking for a recommendation — the client has been “trained” to bring up what he or she has learned.

In the financial services world, that might mean talking more about life events that suggest a need for advice, Littlechild says. For instance, if a client’s friend talks about receiving a bonus or losing a loved one, the ideal situation is that your client will automatically think of something you have shared and pass that along, she adds: “[Advisors need to] tap into the discussions that will likely happen and help [clients] think about [the advisor] the way I would think about a great website or book or article.”



> Professional Networking

This involves the advisor building relationships with centres of influence within his or her target market, says Hartman. There’s the direct approach: the advi-sor making it a habit to introduce him- or herself to a top client’s professional circle — lawyers, accountants, mortgage brokers and bankers. The process is straightforward and can benefit both parties, he adds: “We have a client in common, and I’d love to visit with you to discuss the work and make sure we’re aligned.”

Ferguson recommends advisors touch base with their COI members on a quarterly basis so that information — and business — can be passed back and forth.

There’s also a subtler take on this strategy, says Hartman, in which the advisor affiliates him- or herself with various professional organizations through activities, conferences and continuing education opportunities: “To mix and mingle with them in their own world is great.”@page_break@Littlechild cautions that advisors need to know their comfort level with various activities — such as public speaking or even mingling — before signing up for every opportunity. “I’ve been in situations in which an advisor wants to run a workshop or bring in a speaker,” she says, “then they’re nowhere to be found.”

Harding warns that it’s not enough simply to join an organization or give a speech. “You have to participate and follow up,” he says, adding that 90% of the benefit of participating in any professional networking capacity is the “meet and greet.” Having a speaking or organizing role at any event provides some instant minor celebrity status, and advisors would do well to take advantage of this, he says: “Get there early and get to know people.”

His final piece of advice: make sure you are organized enough to follow up on the leads you generate: “If you aren’t going to follow up, then don’t go in the first place.”



> Community Involvement

Taking part in or sponsoring cultural events or participating in charitable or social causes can go a long way toward expanding an advisor’s COI and potentially building up a prospect list. Because COIs are such potentially rich areas for generating business, advisors need to be strategic and zero in on target markets while staying true to their own strengths and interests.

There’s the obvious: don’t bother arranging a speech if you loathe public speaking, for instance. And there’s also no sense in taking up a sport you can’t get into simply because you know many members of your target market enjoy it.

Don’t even think about joining the board of a charity that isn’t close to your heart, says Littlechild: “People can smell a lack of authenticity a mile away.” In fact, she recommends advisors interested in expanding their client roster first look at their own passions and what they like to do: “Figure out how you can leverage that.”

Also, be consistent in your participation. Hartman knows of one advisor, for instance, who provides an annual bursary for graduating high-school students. Each year, this advisor makes a short speech in front of the graduating class, with their families in attendance. That is rainmaking gold, Hartman says. Another advisor he knows hosts a Thanksgiving dinner every year for families in need — and clients help out with the event. Says Hartman: “You want your clients to be proud of the association they have with you.”

Investors Group, for its part, encourages its 4,500 or so consultants to get involved in community events. The firm even hosts its own cross-Canada comedy tour for clients and guests, Taylor says. Part of his job, he adds, is making sure the consultants have the tools and information to tap into what’s important for different target groups, whether it’s large-scale family picnics or festivals.



> Social Media

Social media is an exciting prospecting tool, and it’s getting to the point at which it’s a must-have presence for professionals, says Bill Wittur, managing director of Bottree Digital Services in London, Ont.: “There’s almost a kind of weirdness that happens if you’re not there.”

However, there are roadblocks to advi-sors tapping into this rich prospecting tool. Most financial services firms in Canada are still wary of how social networking can best conform with compliance issues. In fact, the majority of firms forbid employees, not just advisors, to use online networking sites in any professional capacity.

There’s little research in Canada about the use of social media among advisors. But according to a small study conducted last year by a Texas-based firm, 60% of advisors surveyed in Canada and the U.S. use social media sites in a professional capacity — and almost two in five of these individuals are doing so against company policy.

Not all firms in Canada are opposed to advisors using social media in their rainmaking efforts. The Internet provides untold efficiency when it comes to reaching clients and prospects, says Taylor. For example, depending on an advisor’s target market, there might be a special-interest group with an electronic meeting place through which an advisor could reach countless new prospects. This option allows potential clients to learn a little about you — by, say, joining your network or “meeting” you through another network — before becoming a client.

Wittur says the overcautious stance of financial services firms reminds him of the same reluctance in the past to embrace email or even fax technology. Although he admits that advisors have to keep their professionalism top of mind when communicating online, the decision to avoid the medium altogether will mean that some advisors will be left behind. “We have to be real about this,” he says. “It’s the phone calls or cellphones or the casual conversations at dinner … that you have to be concerned about. At least, in the digital world, it’s transparent.”

Wittur also points out that there is a lead-by-example issue that is sadly lacking in the financial services industry. “I looked up IIROC [Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada] on LinkedIn [a hugely popular professional networking site], and it had 90 followers,” he says. “My mom has more Facebook friends.”

The industry, he adds, needs to be more aggressive in clarifying issues — such as compliance — and demonstrate that it is supporting the community through online channels.

Says Littlechild: “We have to accept that people are communicating in a very different way now, and social media and technology will play a role in the way we look for clients and the way clients find advi-sors. The question then becomes: how do we capture that opportunity? If there are 100,000 people out there tapping ‘financial advisor’ into Google, how do we capture that interest and bring it down to think more about those kinds of online or social strategies going forward?” IE