In a prior blog, we discussed how experience, growth, and transformation are essential to optimizing your advisory firm. Now, let’s dive into the growth aspect and examine five key ways Advisors can scale their practices.
1. Plan to Grow
Managing your current client’s needs can be time-consuming, making it challenging to find time to work on growing your business.
Creating marketing and growth plans can help. Advisors who document their ideal client persona and client value proposition attract more new clients and assets. However, only 56% of top-performing firms have documented marketing plans.
Making the effort to solidify the, Who, What, Why, and How behind your business is a worthy endeavor. Take time to consider:
Who do you serve/want to serve?
Advisory firms with a focus tend to be more profitable.
What do you provide?
When your offering matches your ideal clients, it’s easier to build loyalty and develop deeper relationships.
Why should clients work with you?
Most Advisors offer similar services. What makes yours different? Remember: Clients aren’t buying what you do, they’re buying why you do it.
How do you effectively communicate?
Your client experience must be cohesive and aligned with your ideal client’s preferences. Once you’ve answered these questions, work on a one-page strategic and tactical growth plan that includes your goals, strategies, and steps to take.
2. Maximize your website
When searching for a Financial Advisor, while the affluent will ask family, friends, or another professional for recommendations, a majority search online.
According to the 2020 eMoney Consumer Marketing Survey, websites carry a lot of weight in terms of how consumers search for Advisors. Almost all respondents—98%—say a website is somewhat/very important when choosing an Advisor, and 56% said not having enough information to make a decision would cause them to hesitate to reach out.
Your website (and your social media, see #3) are prime opportunities to communicate your messaging with potential clients.
Use these platforms to share information about:
What: The product or services you sell or make.
How: The process you use to provide your service/advice/experience.
Why: The purpose behind why you do what you do (think: what is the emotional benefit?).
3. Maximize Your Social Media Presence
Like your website, your social media impacts investors’ decisions when they’re choosing whether or not they want to hire you as their Advisor.
Half of investors say social media affects whom they hire as a financial professional and 20% reported that an Advisor’s social media was the sole deciding factor in their decision-making process.
What does this mean for you, as an Advisor? Opportunity.
Consider creating a business page to help ensure that your personal social media profiles aren’t the only way for clients to learn more about you online. You can use business pages to showcase your business and your expertise—and increase your search presence on Google.
Be sure to publish your content as widely as possible across your digital ecosystem. And use your social media pages to stay connected and engaged with current clients. Interact by liking and commenting on their posts.
Below, a few tips for each social media channel:
Post helpful insights and educational content on your page so visiting prospects can see the value you can provide.
Keep your branding consistent, take advantage of Instagram stories, and use hashtags strategically.
Use this platform to connect to all your clients, their COIs, your friends, acquaintances, and relevant groups, and ask for introductions (see #4 below). With LinkedIn, optimizing your profile is crucial. A weak summary can inhibit the effectiveness of your profile. Be sure to include Financial Advisor (or wealth manager) in your title, so people can search for you more easily and add any specialties or niche focus to your title.
YouTube
Keep in mind, many investors would rather watch a video than read a white paper, and it’s relatively simple to create a YouTube video. If you regularly conduct online webinars, YouTube is a convenient way to host and distribute recordings to those who couldn’t attend or would like to rewatch or share the content.
4. Create an Effective Referral Strategy
According to The Advisor Coach, 58% of wealthy investors were referred to their financial advisors. When requesting introductions, ask your current clients how to connect with people like them—and be specific about the type of clients you’re looking to work with.
Building loyalty with your current clients can provide motivation for them to introduce you. When you communicate well with clients and exceed their expectations, they’re more likely to provide a word-of-mouth introduction.
When thinking about connections, don’t just limit yourself to your existing clients. The more people you connect with the better. And connecting with like-minded professionals (think: CPAs, attorneys, and insurance specialists) can also be beneficial. They may have clients who need your services—and you may have clients who need theirs.
5. Deliver a Better Client Experience
As brands continue to deliver enhanced client experiences, consumers are coming to expect that high-level experience. But it’s not just the consumers who benefit.
Studies show that Advisor firms that focus on the client experience grow five times faster than those that don’t and command a 16% price premium on products and services. And, when customer experience isn’t done well, consumers may walk away even after one bad experience.
Think about how you want your clients to feel when they engage with you. What elements of value are clients looking for? According to the Bain’s Element of Value Pyramid:
- Functional – Saves effort, simplifies, provides variety, reduces cost, reduces risk, informs
- Emotional – Provides rewards, reduces anxiety, adds therapeutic value, is fun/entertaining
- Life-changing – Motivates, provides hope, creates a sense of affiliation/belonging
- Social impact – Creates a sense of transcendence
Advisors who can provide these levels of experience exceed their clients’ expectations. Studies show that very satisfied clients have the potential to become champions for you and your practice. With these types of clients, you can spend less time marketing since they can help you build your practice through referrals.
Way to Grow
With an effective plan in place, an optimized website and social media that share your messaging, a strategy for client introductions, and a plan to deliver high-level client experiences, you’re on track to scale your advisory firm.
If you need assistance, Symmetry Marketing Group offers a customized suite of marketing strategies and services to help Financial Advisors communicate their value, grow their businesses, and deliver better client experiences.
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