New clients are essential to building and maintaining a thriving financial advisory business. Successful advisors and coaches agree that the best way to get new clients is through referrals.
“Advisors who are finding it difficult to get referrals from existing clients may need to take a closer look at their businesses to see where they are falling short, and then fill the gaps,” says Joanne Ferguson, president, consultant and coach of Advisor Pathways Inc. in Toronto.
The key is to build and deepen your relationships with clients and provide such high-quality service that your clients will talk about you to their friends and relatives.
Ferguson offers these suggestions to help you provide the kind of client service that will have your clients telling their friends about you.
1. Build trust
Trust is the cornerstone of deep relationships with clients. The way to begin building trust is to demonstrate to your clients that they can depend on you. Set expectations and meet those expectations. If you tell a client you’ll get back to them in a week, be sure to do so.
Deepen the relationship through client appreciation events. Invite some of your top clients and their spouses to a cooking class, or give clients tickets to a baseball game.
Listen to what clients are saying, learn as much about them as you can and let them know that they are being heard.
2. Keep in contact with your clients
The only thing worse than being talked about, Oscar Wilde said, is not being talked about. That is particularly true for financial advisors who want referrals.
The way to ensure your clients are talking about you is to contact them often. Frequent contact keeps you “top of mind” with clients so that, if a friend or relative needs advice — or if the topic of finances comes up when a client is talking with acquaintances at work, at a social event or at a school event — they’ll think of you.
Hold annual face-to-face client reviews. Increase the frequency of calls and other forms of client contact. Send your newsletter or an interesting article the client might enjoy. “The more often you speak to clients,” Ferguson says, “the more often they are going to talk about you.”
3. Make sure clients know what you do
Be clear about the services you provide, so your clients will be able to spot a potential referral. For example, if your clients know you specialize in estate planning, they’re more likely to recommend you when a friend mentions a need for estate planning advice.
Next: Get clients talking about you
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