57 Marketing Tips for Financial

Advisors: Advice on Referrals,

Cold Calling, Positioning and
More!

By: James Pollard

Copyright © 2018 by James Pollard

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by
any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invested, without written
permission from the author.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the author has used his best effort in
preparing this guide, he makes no representations or warranties with respect to the
accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaims any implied
warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The author shall not be
liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including, but not limited to
special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

This publication is designed to provide competent and reliable information in regards to the
subject matter. However, it is sold with the understanding that the authors and publishers
and not engaged in rendering legal, financial, or other professional advice.

Laws and practices vary from state to state and if legal or other expert assistance is needed
the services of a professional should be sought.
I have one goal with this book. I want to enlighten you with actionable
knowledge that will help you get more clients. My mission is to give you
knowledge, insights and ideas that you can immediately implement to make
more money.
I try not to ramble on or put “fluff” anywhere in the book. I’ve stuck with a
list format, so you can go straight through the book and see the tips. I didn’t
want to make this a 300-page book because I’m not trying to get on any
bestseller lists. Sure, it would be nice if this book sold millions of copies, but
my goal isn’t necessarily to sell this book, since it isn’t where you would get
the most value.
Helping financial advisors become better marketers is a passion of mine, and
I can help you grow your business whether you’re a 10,000-strong firm, or a
one-man shop in a small town. As an advisor, you should constantly strive to
grow your business, so marketing will take up a large amount of your time.
But why not improve your marketing and get better results?
Understand that my personal consulting services are not cheap, nor will they
ever be, but only fools care about price. The wisest people care about value.
If one hour of my time can give you an idea or insight that, once
implemented, grows your business 20%, how much is that worth? Once
you’ve talked with me, that knowledge will be with you for the rest of your
career. To put this in perspective, let’s say you bring in $300,000 in revenue
this year. If I improve your results a measly 5%, you’ll get an extra $15,000
in revenue. Suppose that you remain an advisor for another ten years; you
could grow that even more.
I want to help you get more clients, plain and simple. I put my money where
my mouth is by offering a money-back guarantee on ALL my digital
products. I want to make it literally risk free for you. I know that's super
bold, but I do it because what I teach, works. Period.
I’m probably going to create a massive case of cognitive dissonance, but I
want you to simultaneously hold two contradictory thoughts in your mind as
you read this book. I want you to think that your competition isn’t doing any
of this stuff. You should feel as if you’re getting exclusive knowledge that will
help you rise to the top of your field, leading the way to adoration and
riches. At the same time, I want you to think that your competition is
already doing everything I talk about. I want you to feel as if you’re already
behind, and that you need to incorporate the ideas in this book just to be on
the same level as your competition. You shouldn’t lose the sense of urgency,
the determination and focus that comes with striving to be at the top of your
game.
Thank you for getting this book. I know you’ll find some value, I just hope
you use it.
CLIENT-CENTERED MARKETING

1. Know your ideal client cold.

You should be able to describe your perfect client to me, so I can visualize
him or her with absolute clarity. You need to know demographics (age,
gender, locale, profession) as well as psychographics (how do they think?).
Don’t lie to yourself and say that you market to everybody. If you do this,
you will fail. Remember that the “riches are in the niches”, and if you
specialize enough, knowing your ideal client will become that much easier.
Take me, for example: I’m not a marketing coach for everyone under the
sun. I work exclusively with financial advisors, so my target market is easier
to define.
Many financial advisors focus on entrepreneurs, divorcees, retirees, widows
and company executives. You could go even further and be THE financial
advisor for dentists or THE financial advisor for plumbers.

2. Believe that you’re actually helping people.

Would you get a Honda from a car salesman who drives a Toyota? No way.
You need to be completely sold on your service. You must believe that both
you and your company can provide the best service for the client, and that
the client will be at a disadvantage if you don’t help.
You might feel reluctant to put yourself out there – to make those calls, to
send those flyers, etc. At some deep level, you might be afraid of rejection
or want to remain humble and modest. However, a tremendous shift occurs
when you are doing a disservice if you don’t market! All of the sudden it
becomes your duty to take massive action and get your face in front of as
many prospects as possible. If you don’t market, not only are you missing
out on the extra money, your prospects are missing out on the best possible
service they could get!

3. Understand your client’s motivations.

Almost every financial firm says that they provide customized, high-quality
service. The truth is that most firms don’t have the slightest idea of how to
customize their service for their clients. Yes, you might put a client in more
bonds if he wants to be conservative, but can you really connect with them
on a deeper level? Doing this requires that you understand the motivations
of high net worth individuals. By understanding where they’re coming from
and their personal investment goals, you’ll establish a profitable, long-term
relationship. Remember, it’s not the money. It’s about the reasons behind
the money.
Most people’s primary goal with investing is to take care of their family.
When you’re talking to clients, don’t talk about the investment product itself.
Instead, talk about how it can meet the family’s needs of education,
retirement, weddings, travel, and so on. They’ll give you clues too; they’ll
talk about their kids and college planning. Once you figure out a motivation
like this, you’ve got the rest cut out for you. Just involve key family
members and remember family occasions. Show them how important your
own family is to you, emphasize experience in working with families… you
get the idea.
Other clients, I’m willing to wager about 1/5th of them, don’t even want to
talk about investing or finance at all. They’re not knowledgeable about the
field and they don’t want to even approach the subject. Imagine being the
idiot using complicated jargon with these folks! They’ll leave you faster than
you can say “derivatives”. These people will focus on building rapport, and
they’ll talk about anything they possibly can besides investing. All you need
to do with these clients is simplifying concepts and provide support.
Figure out what you client’s motivation is by asking questions such as:
What would you like to achieve via investing?
What does money do for you? (This is a tough question for most clients to
answer, but it’s golden if they can give you a straight answer.)
How involved do you like to be in the investing process?
Once you figure out their true motivation, you cater your approach to them.
If family is their biggest concern, you explain how you’ll focus on their family
and really take care of them. If they only care about accumulating more
money, you tell them how you enjoy working with clients like them and how
you’ll do your best to make the most money possible. If they don’t want to
talk about investments, tell them that you get the feeling they aren’t
comfortable with investing, but you are, so you’ll do whatever it takes to
meet their goals and eliminate worry.
4. Use metaphors to explain concepts.
I want you to read this a few times. Tattoo it on your arm if you need to. If
you use jargon when talking to clients, you will lose. Their eyes will glaze
over, they’ll be too embarrassed to tell you they don’t understand, and they
won’t make a move. You’ll be stuck.
You are NOT trying to impress anyone! Nobody gives a flying duck (quack!)
about your knowledge. They only care about what you can do for them. Do
you think that my clients ask me about PersonalFinanceGenius.com or
another book I’ve written? Nope! They only want to know how I can help
them get more business, and that’s okay. But when you’re talking to clients
about financial topics, use metaphors. It’s a way that we can all learn. You
take something complicated and explain it in a way that’s not so
complicated. Here are a few examples…
When you’re explaining taxes, talk about a fox robbing a henhouse. Explain
how most people are focused on getting more eggs (high returns) but they
pay little attention to the fox (the government) coming into the henhouse.
This tax-preferred investment will build a high fence around your eggs,
keeping the fox away. Ah, much easier than explaining boring old annuities.
If they’re uneasy when the market is volatile, tell them that the market is
like a man walking up a hill with a yo-yo. When you focus on the market’s
short-term swings, you’re like the man focusing on the yo-yo instead of the
hill.
To get them to invest for the long-term, get them to imagine that they have
to drive from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Their car is stuck in traffic,
but they see bicycles zooming by. They jump out of their car, sell it at a low
price, and hop on a bicycle. Doesn’t this sound stupid? Yet, investors do it all
the time when they make short-term decisions for a long-term game. Tell
them to stick with the vehicle that will get them to the end of their journey!
Another traffic-related metaphor is to ask them, “Have you ever been in
traffic in a lane that’s not moving, so you switch lanes? Then, traffic stops in
that lane and starts moving in the other lane?” That’s one of the most
annoying things on earth, but investors do it whenever they “switch lanes”
(chase hot funds).
One super advisor kept a picture of a city skyline in his office. When
explaining mutual funds to his clients, he would point to a building in the
photo and ask them, “What are the chances of this particular company going
out of business?” Clients would tell him there’s a pretty good chance of the
business failing. Then he would ask, “What are the chances that every
business in this skyline will go broke?” and it “clicks” for the clients.

5. Offer prospects a second opinion.

Most advisors complain that there’s too much competition in their
marketplace. This might be true, but what difference does it make? You
can’t control your competition, but you can control your own actions.
Whenever you get a “we already have a financial advisor” objection, say that
you would love to offer a free, no-obligation second-opinion. If their current
advisor is doing all the right things, you’ll tell them and there’ll be no harm
done. If someone says no to a second opinion, they’re stupid.
You can take this even further with your current clients. You can tell them all
that you would be interested in offering a complimentary second opinion for
their friends and family members. In this instance, you will have handled the
“already have an advisor” objection from the get-go. In fact, you assume
they already have one, which means if they don’t, they’re that much more
likely to hire you.

6. Contact your clients once per month.

Do you want to know what the biggest complaint clients give about their
advisors? It’s not fees (although they might make you think that), it’s not
poor execution, oh no. It’s a lack of communication. If you are not actively
communicating with your clients, don’t be surprised if they drop you.
Speaking of dropping someone, it might be difficult for you to contact every
single client once per month. In this case, you need to get rid of your lowest
revenue-producing clients. Give them to someone else at your firm. You
should never have more than 100 clients, and you should strive to focus
your energy on these clients, because they deserve it. Once you get to 100
clients, set higher account minimums and bring on a higher revenue-
producing client. Tell the bottom client that he/she will be in good hands, but
you just can’t handle his/her account anymore.
You don’t have to have a hundred clients either. You can be financially
successful with just fifty or even ten if they’re the right type of client. Let’s
assume that you have a hundred and you speak with them every month for
an average of twenty minutes. This equates to 34 hours of client time. You
can do that – just set aside a little over an hour each day and just reach out
to your clients. They’ll appreciate it.
Note: I’m also assuming that your clients will want a phone call. I would be
sure to ask them at the beginning of the relationship if they would prefer
emails, phone calls, or no contact at all. Don’t just assume that they want to
be called, but calling is almost always better than ignoring them.

7. Send out birthday cards.

When you’re putting their documents together, you see clients’ birthdays
anyway. Make a note of their special day in your client relationship
management software and send out birthday cards. They are tax deductible
anyway.
If you really want to take it to the next level, you can send out cards for
EVERY holiday. Joe Girard, regarded as the world’s best car salesman, sent
out nearly 13,000 greetings cards per month to his customers. Yes, that’s
per month. This guy celebrated everything from Christmas to Groundhog
Day. Clients viewed Joe not just as a salesman, but as a member of their
family. Imagine the type of influence he had!
When you send out these cards, they aren’t just paper and ink. They are a
symbol that you’re someone who cares enough to recognize and honor your
relationship with them. It evokes a sense of loyalty – a loyalty that pays
dividends several times over.

8. Find out your clients’ favorite restaurant.

There are two reasons for this. One is so you can, if you want, send them
gift certificates for their birthday, anniversary, or other special occasion.
You’d be amazed at how much it means to them.
Secondly, you want to use their favorite restaurant as the spot to take their
potential referrals. If you find out they know someone who fits the
description of your ideal prospect, you can say, “How about you introduce
me to him over dinner at (favorite restaurant), my treat?” They’ll be hard-
pressed to say no!

9. Send thank-you letters.

These are so simple, yet so powerful. When was the last time a service
professional sent you a thank-you letter? Your clients will appreciate this
more than you’ll ever know. It’s a nice touch. You can keep it short and
sweet. Say something like, “Thank you for choosing me and ABC Firm to
handle your financial affairs. I appreciate your choice and will do my best to
serve you.”
Make it sincere and handwritten. Even a post-it note on top of their
paperwork will do it. It takes maybe twenty seconds to write one of these
notes, but when your competitors knock at their door, they’ll remember this
and stick with you.
GETTING REFERRALS

10. Actually be referable.

You will never get referrals if you suck. The number one thing about getting
referrals is that you need to be good at what you do. Hone your skills every
day and watch the referrals come in. Also, be nice to your clients and
prospects. When you get a referral, what do people say? “Oh, he’s a nice
guy… you’ll like him.” Pick up on the clues! Become someone who just
naturally gets referrals. This seems like it’s just common sense, but so many
people get it wrong.

11. Plant the seeds.

You want to have referrals be a smooth, integrated part of your business,
rather than an abrupt “Who do you know who…” that takes your clients off
guard. From day one, plant the seeds so your clients will naturally be open
to the referral process. Tell them that you want to earn the privilege of
knowing who they know and that you hope to do that by giving them great
service. This way you don’t rush into the process and you don’t make them
feel forced or pressured. Your clients will feel like everything is under their
control and that it’s their decision to give you access to their network.
Give your clients business cards to carry. Tell them that you’re never too
busy to see if you can help any of their friends and family. You care about
them, so you’re willing to do it. No big deal! You want to position referrals as
a natural outcome of your business. Here’s a word-for-word script I recently
gave a financial advisor:
“As I go through the ABC Firm process with my clients, they begin to think of
people who they’d like to help with my service. They might know just the
person, but they’re not sure how to introduce me to them. If this happens
for you, please let me know and we’ll discuss the best way to arrange an
introduction. Does that sound okay?”
It’s imperative that you treat your client as a partner in your business.
Sometimes it’s better to be up-front with your client and tell them directly
that you want them to help you grow your business. In this situation, say
something like:
“I run a business here. And as a business, there are two ways I
spend my time. One is marketing, and the other is working with
clients. The best use of my time is helping my clients meet their
financial goals, but like any businessperson, I must market to
keep my business strong. If you can help me build my business, I
can focus all my time on serving you. But I need you to help me
identify people who could benefit from my services. Does that
sound fair?”

12. Have a psychological trigger so you don’t forget.

This one tip alone, if implemented, will pay for the book many times over.
You need to have a psychological trigger that forces you to remember to ask
for referrals. I recommend that you carry a bright pink index card and place
it on the table whenever you’re interacting with clients. When you leave the
area, you’ll be forced to pick up the card (if you clean up after yourself) and
it will instantly remind you to ask.
An even better scenario is when your client sees the bright pink index card
and they ask about it. That’s the perfect opportunity to be up-front with
them! Say, “That’s a reminder for me to ask you for referrals. I might as
well do it now…” and then go for it. You should be asking for a referral on
nearly every client interaction.

13. Don’t make your client do the qualifying.

You’re the professional. You know who you want to do business with, right?
Don’t EVER make the client do the qualifying for you, because they’ll always
lead you down a dead end. Picture this: you have your pink card, you get
the courage to ask for a referral, and you hit your client with, “Do you know
anybody who could benefit from my services?”
Lame! Most advisors who aren’t worth their own weight in salt will consider
this asking for a referral. All you’re doing with this question is making your
client mentally organize EVERYBODY he/she knows, which is too
overwhelming. Even if the client is deep and thought and genuinely wants to
help you, all he or she will be able to muster is a bleak, “I can’t think of
anybody.” You want to know why? It’s because you weren’t specific enough!
Do the qualifying when you ask for a referral. For example, if your specialty
is IRA rollovers, ask, “Would you happen to know anyone who recently
changed careers?” If you’re selling life insurance, go ahead and ask, “Who
do you know who has recently had a child or is planning on starting a
family?” By asking more specific questions, you’ve whittled down the five-
hundred people that your client knows all the way down to three or four.

14. Take your clients out to dinner and tell them to bring a friend.
What a wonderful way to get referrals! Most firms will pay for you to take
clients out to dinner. If they don’t, it’s tax-deductible anyway. But please,
don’t try to talk shop at the dinner. It’s almost impossible to get any work
done at a restaurant, and you’ll worry if your client’s wine will spill all over
your documents. Stay informal at dinner. Your clients will let down their
guard and talk about things they wouldn’t mention in a formal meeting. Your
goal with client dinners is to strengthen the relationship; just make them
more comfortable with you and your services.

15. Handle “I don’t give referrals”.

If a client ever tells you that he or she doesn’t give referrals, it’s because
they’ve had a bad experience in the past (someone provided crappy service)
or they’re unsure about how their friends will react about him giving their
names out.
This is a sensitive area, so use your common sense here. If the client seems
touchy about it, just plant the seeds and back off. You might bring up the
referral topic today, get an ice-cold response, but then three months later
the client will send you two referrals. You can’t make any progress if the
client is uncomfortable. Just say something like, “That’s okay, we don’t have
to talk about introductions today, but if you run into anyone who (your ideal
prospect), don’t keep me a secret. Does that sound fair?”
Remember that if you encounter heavy reluctance, just back off. You’ll live
to ask another day, and you won’t lose the client you currently have chasing
more prospects. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!

16. Get your clients to complain.

Change your thinking about complaints, because a customer complaint is
like a diamond in the rough. A relationship that’s had problems handled well
is a stronger and more profitable relationship that has never had a problem.
Having no complaints in a relationship is a sure sign of declining interest or
trust. Your clients have something they don’t like about you or your service.
If they don’t, I want to meet you, so I can shake your hand and pay YOU for
consulting!
A study done by The Technical Assistance Research Programs Institute in
Washington D.C. revealed that for services, 55-63% of unhappy clients
won’t complain. These are people that can help you improve, but they’re not
saying anything! Another study, conducted by The Strategic Planning
Institute, revealed that the average business never hears from 96% of
unhappy clients and 70% of clients will do business again if a complaint is
properly resolved. Is your 70% walking away?
You need to get your clients to complain! If you don’t figure out their
complaints, you can’t fix them. Plus, if one client is having a problem, it’s
likely that others are having the same problem. If your customers aren’t
complaining, they’ll quietly sneak over to your competitor and tell all their
friends about their bad experience with you. This tip isn’t so much about
getting referrals as avoiding bad ones.
Once you hear a complaint, apologize, don’t argue and get to work fixing it.
Resolve the situation quickly and thank the client for bringing their concern
to you. They will know that you value their input, making it likely they’ll
immediately tell you the next time something goes wrong.

17. Give them a referral.

It’s likely that your clients are lawyers, doctors, business owners, managers
and other professionals. You are the person who interacts with all these
people. If you know someone who needs a service, make a referral! Call
your client to check up on them and say, “I have someone I would like to
refer to you. Is this alright?” Of course they’ll say it’s alright! The point is
that not only have you touched base with your client again, the primal urge
to reciprocate will now kick in, getting you a referral in return. Nearly all
service professionals depend on referrals. It’s their lifeblood, so send a few
their way.
EXPERT MARKETING

18. Write a book.

When you write a book, you’re perceived as the ultimate expert. Take note
of what I’m doing right now – writing a book! I want you to perceive me as
an expert, because I am. I want you to think, “Wow, if he can give away all
this knowledge in some book, just imagine what he can offer as my personal
coach!”
Write a book on your area of expertise. It’s so important to specialize
because then most of your marketing work is cut out for you. If you’re just a
general financial advisor, doing everything from life insurance to 401(k)
planning and working with everybody from police officers to teachers, you’re
dead in the water. However, if you only work with police officers, you could
write a book targeted towards them. Something like, “Protecting and Serving
Your Money: You Have the Right to Be Rich” … hmm… that’s a good title.
Anyway, your competition is handing out business cards to potential clients.
Think about the impression you would have on someone if you, instead of a
plain vanilla business card, handed them a copy of your book with a personal
inscription? I don’t know about you, but if someone gave me a book as a
business card, I’m buying!
Have your book offered as a free thank-you gift for all your current clients
and ask them if they would like you to send it to anyone as a gift. Instant
referrals! It might get pricey, at around $3-7 per book, but you stand to
make so much more. If you can’t write, get a ghostwriter.

19. Conduct seminars and workshops.

You’ll notice that I use the terms “seminar” and “workshop” interchangeably,
but “workshop” suggests a more hands-on experience, with more audience
engagement, while seminars make me visualize a speech. Whatever you
picture, you need to be doing both. They’re so powerful because, provided
you know your target market, they can get you in front of dozens of
qualified prospects.
Plus, everyone attending the seminar will view you as the go-to guy about
finances and investing. Isn’t that something you want? If you have strong
local competition, who do you think clients will work with? The guy who
routinely speaks on investment topics or the one who doesn’t?
Start calling around and tell people that you want to do one of these things –
the worst that they can do is say no. If anything, they’ll take all your
information and call you when they want you.

20. Get featured in trade magazines.

It’s especially important that you specialize, so you can take advantage of
these trade publications. If you’re known as “the dentist’s financial advisor”,
you can get some space in dental trade publications. You know that dentists
are reading the thing – why not plaster your face in front of them?
You don’t have to do paid advertising either. These trade publications are
constantly looking for fresh content. Send an email to the editor or call them
cold and say you would like to contribute an article about how dentists can
better manage their finances. Be sure to make it specific to dentists!
Otherwise, there’s a 99% chance that you will get turned down. Pitch the
editors several ideas, have them choose one that they think will provide the
most value and then get to work.
The reason I tell you to pitch several ideas is not just for convenience. You
need to pitch more than one idea so that it increases the likelihood of the
editors choosing one. Once they’ve chosen an article idea, they’ve made a
commitment, which is good! It will be much harder for them to reject you
past this point. If you call them and pitch them one topic only, they could
just straight up turn you down. When you present them multiple options,
you’re appearing to give them control of the situation.

21. Speak at sponsored meetings.

Local clubs and organizations are constantly looking for speakers to come
visit their groups. I’m talking about educational institutions, churches,
charities, outplacement services, special interest groups, hospital auxiliaries,
the whole shebang!
I’ve seen several advisors charge a fee to attend the speech/seminar and
then donate it to the group they are speaking for. More people will visit
because they’ll view it not only as an educational opportunity, but a
charitable one. If you are cold-calling CFOs, it might take you weeks to get
in contact with fifty of them. If you book an event or workshop specifically
for CFOs, you’ll have all fifty of them focused on you. Talk about high
efficiency and enormous payoff!
When you speak at these meetings, a lot of them will tell you over and over
“NO SOLICITING”! And that’s fine, because you won’t be there to solicit
anyway. You’ll be there as an expert looking to add value to the group.
Besides, you won’t need to solicit anyway. By speaking at the group, you’ll
receive an implied endorsement. When the leaders of the group book you to
speak, they’re essentially saying that they view you as a trustworthy expert.

22. Hone your presentation skills.

Let’s say you aren’t very good at presenting or speaking in front of large
audiences. That’s okay, not everybody can be a great financial advisor. You’ll
just have to be another benchwarmer, sitting on the sidelines with all the
other losers. If you can’t get in front of groups and present and “meet” fifty
people in one hour, you suck, plain and simple. And your competition (the
people who come to me for consulting) will eat you alive. I promise you that.
So, make sure that you are a good presenter! Join your local Toastmasters
organization if you must and learn the skills of a successful presenter. If I
were to give you a few tips to help you out, I would say to:
Engage with the audience. Once you engage with the audience, they’ll see
that you’re active and caring. You’re not just putting them to sleep.
Avoid death by bullet points. Too many bullet points will put your audience
to sleep. Too much text overpowers the screen. When you see their eyes
glaze over, you know you’ve done too much. Remember PEP, which is point
– example – point. If you have an important point to make, go ahead and
make it, but include a relevant example. You could support your point with a
story, a demonstration, a case study or a metaphor.
Don’t ever start your presentation off with an apology. Have you ever had
someone begin a speech or presentation by saying, “I’m sorry, but I have a
cold” or some B.S. like that? They’re weak! If you have a cold, your sniffles
will make that apparent, and if you don’t show any symptoms, who really
cares?
Move around. People who stand in place throughout an entire presentation
are so boring. I had a few college professors that turned to stone whenever
they would present a lecture. Your audience will appreciate your energy and
enthusiasm if you move around, but don’t do too much. Excessive amounts
of high-energy movement will detract from your presentation. Find a healthy
balance and stick with it.

23. Use an evaluation form when you speak.

Check with whoever booked you to speak and ask if you can use an
evaluation form. If they seem hesitant, explain that you want to become the
best speaker you can possibly be and that you would greatly appreciate it.
After all, how can you fix what you don’t know is broken?
Because you can’t (and shouldn’t) solicit during your presentation, the
evaluation form helps you subtly sell the audience members on meeting with
you. Briefly explain how you’re passionate about helping your clients solve
their problems and that you’re always looking to improve, so you’d
appreciate their feedback.
On the form, you get their name, number, address, and best time to call. All
very important information to keep in your CRM! You ask them what they
liked the most, what they didn’t like, and what they wish you focused more
on. Here’s the kicker: at the very end of the evaluation form, say: “By
completing this workshop/seminar, you have earned a complimentary
consultation with me” and then have options for them to select. The options
might say, “I want to get started immediately. Call me as soon as possible”,
“I’d like to find out more first, please call when it’s convenient”, and “No
thanks”. Let’s say you speak to fifty people – thirty might say no thanks,
fifteen might want to learn more, and five would want an immediate
appointment. Sure beats cold calling, huh?

24. Mail a newsletter.

This is one of my favorite ways to build that “expert status” because it
allows you stay in front of your prospects for long periods of time. Plus, if
you ever want to softly ask for a referral, you can have your client show
someone your newsletter and ask if the person is interested in subscribing.
You can mail that person your newsletter, free of charge, to build up your
reputation in the prospect’s mind.
COLD CALLING

When I first started out, I had a severe case of call reluctance. I couldn’t
make cold calls to save my life, no matter how hard I tried. I could prepare a
list, psych myself up, listen to pump-up music and visualize all I wanted, but
as soon as I sat down, I started feeling the worst anxiety I’ve ever felt. It
was humiliating – after all, who is scared to make phone calls? Well, it turns
out that a lot of people suffer from call reluctance. I want to be totally
honest with you and tell you that call reluctance WILL cripple your career. It
will put a cap on your earnings and cause you grief your entire life, unless
you deal with it.
I was lucky enough to realize that I needed help. I received coaching from
world-renowned call reluctance expert and she helped me to overcome my
call reluctance. I didn’t want to put this in the book, the fact that I had a
horrible problem, but I want to raise awareness about it. If you think that
you have call reluctance, you’re not alone and it can be fixed.
I know all the symptoms, too. Some people review their proposal a hundred
times, some have stage fright, some have unease about being in sales, and
some automatically start thinking of the worst possible outcomes. All of
them are destructive and they take away from profitable prospecting
activity. If call reluctance is hurting your career, please seek help. Just know
that once you overcome sales call reluctance, your income will skyrocket.

25. Respect the Do-Not-Call List

Cold calling is your punishment for not effectively using other marketing
strategies. Alas, thou shall respect the DNC list. When the DNC list went into
effect, it gave consumers a way to opt-out of receiving unsolicited phone
calls. If you call someone at home and he/she is on the DNC list, you are
going to pay a steep penalty. I’m talking tens of thousands of dollars. There
are even “citizen detectives” who register their homes on the list and file
complaints about everyone who calls them. The rules are that you can only
cold call a home between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., and you must say who’s
calling and why (your name, your firm’s name, the purpose of the call).
I don’t agree with the gurus that proclaim cold calling is dead. Cold calling is
still a viable marketing strategy, but it’s more difficult than ever before. I
know some trainers that won’t allow their advisors to make more than thirty
calls per day, as to not become dependent on it. I also know firms that want
you to call for hours every single day. Whatever floats your boat, I guess.

26. Understand the steps.

Don’t make this more complicated than it is. A cold call is basically three
steps, which should be followed to your goal, an appointment.
Identify yourself, your firm, and get the prospect’s attention. I would say,
“Good afternoon, this is James (I never use a last name) with XYZ Firm. I
just wanted to reach out to you. To be sure I’m not wasting your time, let
me ask – are you presently with a financial advisor?” If they say yes, you
say, “Great! I’ve found that most people with advisors are always open to a
second opinion…” and if they say no, then you just move on down the line.
Give the reason for the call. Remember that the reason for your call is to set
an appointment and nothing else! I would eventually say (whether it was a
yes or no, it doesn’t matter), “Well, the reason for my call is to set an
appointment…” and then get on with it.
Set the appointment if applicable. Just say, “How about we get together
Tuesday at 3:00? I’m also free at 4:00 on Wednesday. What’s better for
you?” I’m a big fan of the “alternate of choice” close, which is when you give
the prospect two options to choose from. If you give them one answer, it’s a
little easier for them to flat out reject you.
I’ve seen everything from two step systems to what seems like seventeen
step systems. These three simple steps work well for advisors because it’s
easy enough to mold for a variety of prospects and it makes it possible to
reach many people every week.

27. Understand that not everyone will make an appointment with

you, and that’s okay.
Picture this – you got brand new tires put on your car yesterday and
someone is calling you RIGHT NOW and attempting to pitch you four more
tires. Are you going to buy? No. How about if the salesperson is the top dog
of his/her company? Still no. It’s not a big deal to you; you’re not rejecting
the prospect personally or breaking into a depression because he/she called
you… you’re just not going to buy, no big deal. This is how you need to think
about your calls. Some will, some won’t, so what?
If someone does curse you out or get upset over the phone, be grateful!
They just did you a favor! They let you know right away that you don’t want
to do business with them. Whenever someone curses at you or freaks out,
just hang up. It’s not worth your time. Move on to the next one!

28. Know how much money you stand to make per call.
You work to make money, right? Yeah, you might love what you do and all
that cool stuff, but you need to pay the bills. In financial advising, you have
the incredible ability to control your income. Please do not take this for
granted! Here’s what I mean:
Let’s say you call a hundred prospects and get ten appointments. Out of
those ten appointments, three people become clients. You make five
hundred dollars from each client, so you make $1,500 for every hundred
calls you make. It never ceases to amaze me how many financial advisors
don’t think of this stuff! This means that every single time you pick up the
phone, you’re making $15!
Figure out how many calls it takes you to make an appointment. Then figure
out how many appointments it takes to get one client. You should know
approximately how much you make per client. From there, you can figure
out exactly how much you make per phone call. You want to make an extra
hundred bucks? Pick up the phone. You’re behind on your bills? Pick up the
phone. This is an incredibly motivating thought to hold in your mind.
Whenever you feel any call reluctance or if people give you a hard time over
the phone, you can think, “Thanks for your $15!” and hang up.
You need to keep track of these three things:
The number of calls you make.
The number of completed calls, aka how many people pick up the phone and
speak with you.
The number of appointments you set.
Figure out for yourself what numbers you want to make. Find out how many
appointments you must set every week to make the total number of sales
every month. Once you have the numbers, the rest becomes basic math.
I’ve always liked the “thanks for your $15” style, but there’s another
interesting way to think about making phone calls, one that made me more
comfortable back when I had call reluctance. I found that it was a lot easier
for me to picture my prospect list like a big deck of cards. I would imagine
that every single King I’d pick out of the deck would net me $100, while
every other card would net me $0. I knew that if I kept plugging away, I
would eventually get the Kings. This kept me from getting discouraged when
I kept drawing twos and threes.

29. Call “one more”.

At the end of the day, right after you’ve packed up your papers and put on
your jacket, call one more prospect. When you can make this a habit, you’ll
be a sales superstar. Assuming you do this every day, you’ll get way more
appointments over the course of a year.
The difference between success and failure is often razor-thin. In a horse
race, the second-place horse might be only a split second behind first place,
but still misses out on the huge first-place purse. You need to understand
that this “one more” phone call will mean the difference in your career.

30. Understand the difference between a “cold” and “warm” call.

It may seem like common sense, but too many advisors don’t know the
difference between a cold call and a warm call. Here’s the difference, and
you should have different scripts for each…
A cold call is when you are soliciting business from a potential client who was
not anticipating the interaction. In a cold call, the prospect has no
established interest in your service, thus you are calling him or her “cold”. A
warm call is when you’ve had some prior connection or interaction with the
prospect. This could be anything – you met at the country club, at an
industry event, you’ve called before, etc. I want to warn you though: if you
go after a “warm” lead and the person doesn’t quite remember you or is
fuzzy on the details, treat the call like a cold call! Don’t go down the warm
call path when the person doesn’t even remember your previous interaction.
Additionally, you can have a “hot” call, which is when someone has
expressed interest in your service. With a hot call, they’ve done everything
to let you know, “Hey, I’m ready to do business NOW!”

31. Build your prospect list at night.

Don’t waste your time building your list during the day. So many advisors
will get to the office and get straight to work on building their list. The truth
is, the list should’ve already been done the night before, or possibly the
week before! During the day, you should be doing the two M’s: Marketing
and Meeting! You need to be in that office, either prospecting or working
with a client. Don’t ever forget that. If it is a weekday between 8 a.m. and 6
p.m., you need to get your butt in gear and hit the double M.
Building a list is what’s called a “zombie task”, meaning it’s not a cognitively
demanding task. You can sit in front of a computer at 9 p.m. and put your
list together. Other zombie tasks include organizing, cleaning, sending email
responses and entering info into your CRM.
Zombie tasks serve as major distractions for those will call reluctance.
They’ll tell themselves that they’ll call as soon as they enter all the
information into Excel or their CRM, but they never make the calls.

32. Have responses to your objections.

Whatever you do, don’t wing it. I want to ram my head into a wall when
people tell me that a client could say anything and everything. Okay, yes,
that’s true. But 99% of the time, you’re going to get the same objections
over and over. Let me guess: I already have an advisor, I’m not interested,
now’s not a good time.
Get your answers to these straight and rehearse them until you can recite
them smoothly and effortlessly. “You already have an advisor? Great! That
means I’m talking to someone who cares about his money. Hey, I know it’s
always worthwhile to have a fresh set of eyes to look over any important
matters, and since it’s important enough to you to already have someone,
I’d be honored to give your finances a quick review. If nothing else, you’ll
get a new perspective. Sound fair enough?”
This is just an example, but I want to get your brain working on responses
for your situation. You can go ahead and use the “second opinion” tip to
close this deal. If I work with you, I can even go through sample
conversations and help you edit your scripts. Essentially, I can tell you if you
suck on the phone.
There’s a school of thought that says you should never handle objections
over the phone. The idea behind that thinking is that cold calling is “fishing”
for someone who’s already interested. A person with objections isn’t
interested, or so they say. I respectfully disagree. That being said, you
shouldn’t spend more than a minute or two clarifying objections.

33. Block out your time for calling.

The real pros do this. They block out a time to do nothing but prospecting. If
you contact me for consulting and we even remotely approach this subject, I
WILL make you block out your time. The best time to make calls is between
10 a.m. and 2 p.m. This is just a rule of thumb, though. If you’re trying to
reach business owners, you might want to call when nobody is in the office
to screen calls. If you’re trying to reach teachers, good luck calling at 10
a.m.
When you block out your time, let everything else go to voicemail and email.
You can get to that later. The key is to eliminate all distractions and focus
completely on the task at hand. Without prospecting, you have no business,
so you want to do it as efficiently as possible. When you become a master at
this, you will develop the habit and condition yourself to get in “the zone”
automatically at 10 a.m., and from then until 2 p.m., you’ll be unstoppable.

34. Text your client during your conversation.

One of my favorite studies is from Leads360 and it’s called, “Text Messaging
for Better Sales Conversion”. The key message of that study was that text
messaging can increase your conversions 328%. Wow! That’s amazing, but
you must use text messages properly. Never use text messages as your
initial contact. That’s just weird and creepy. The study said that texting a
prospect prior to making contact decreased the likelihood of EVER contacting
that lead by nearly 40%, so don’t do it. You should make contact first and
then use texting to follow up.
The more texts you send, the greater your conversion rate. I imagine that a
hundred messages would drop off your conversions, but the sweet spot is
three or four messages. I recommend that after you’ve set the appointment,
you ask, “Is this your cell phone? Okay, cool, I’m going to send you a text,
so you have all my contact and appointment information right on your
phone” and just send it. The morning of, you could send a reminder text to
your prospect and say that you look forward to meeting with them. Take
advantage of this tip now, because eventually, everyone is going to be using
texts. Impress your clients while you can, because soon it will be normal.
35. Always leave a voicemail message.
This is a mistake that I’ve personally made. When I first started out in
business, I would never leave a voicemail message. I don’t even remember
why I didn’t leave one! I guess I figured that someone would see the missed
call and give me a call back. Yeah, right! If you saw an unknown number on
your phone, would you call it back without a voicemail? Nope! You figure if
it’s important enough, the person will leave a message. I was making a huge
mistake!
Then I started leaving voicemail messages, but they were very specific. I got
more calls back, but I decided to try something new. I gave a little bit of
information, but I was vague. They knew my name and what I wanted, but I
would leave a hook that would nearly force them to call me back. I would
say something like, “Hello, this is James from XYZ. I’m giving you a call
because I know that you’re a financial advisor at ABC Firm and I wanted to
give you some valuable information about how I’m helping others at the ABC
Firm expand their marketing and get more clients.” This worked like crazy!
People started calling back in droves, because they couldn’t stand the
vagueness of my message. They had to find out what I was offering.
Here are a few reasons why you should always leave a voicemail:
When the person calls back, you have zero chance of being perceived as an
interruption, because they are calling you.
Difficult-to-reach people won’t always answer the phone, but they tend to
listen to their voicemail messages when they can.
When the person calls back, he/she is more likely to listen to what you have
to say. You’ll have their undivided attention.
Here’s another benefit, a pro tip from me – if you want to go the extra mile
and reach a difficult prospect, call when you KNOW nobody is in the office.
You can make prospecting calls to voicemail systems at any time, day or
night, giving you more flexibility in your schedule. This way you can leave a
voicemail message, again and again. Keep doing it until they either, as the
saying goes, “buy or die”.

36. Keep following up.

The cat’s out of the bag. I said, “buy or die”, so now people are going to
think I’m either some slick snake oil salesman or I’m some aggressive shark
shoving products down peoples’ throats. The truth is, I’m neither, but I will
keep following up until someone either a) buys or b) dies. It’s really that
simple. In the rare cases that I don’t follow up, I’ve moved on to something
bigger and better. But most financial advisors never follow up! Sure, they
might call one or two more times, but I don’t consider that following up.
The truth is that most people won’t ever use your services until they think
they’re ready. It won’t matter how many sales tactics you pull on them or
how great your service is. If they don’t think they need it, it’s like speaking
to a brick wall. You might convince a few people, but at the expense of a
great deal of time and energy. The idea is to remain on the top of peoples’
minds, and you do that by following up. It shows that you’re still out there
and you’re still interested in their business. When the time comes, and they
say, “Maybe I do need a financial advisor”, you’ll be the first one they think
of, and hire.
People give me a lot of grief for saying “buy or die”, but what’s the
difference between calling twice versus calling twenty times if you get no
results? If you get no results, you might as well have never called in the first
place, so keep following up. If you give up on the fourth call just because
someone hasn’t said “yes” yet, you’re telling yourself that all four calls were
a waste. Don’t be a quitter.

37. Use a mirror and a headset when making calls.

If you’re not using a headset or Bluetooth when making your phone calls,
you’re way behind. Long gone are the days of the corded phone. This isn’t
“Boiler Room” or “Wolf of Wall Street”. You want to use a hands-free device,
so you can take notes when you’re on the phone. I personally will use
Bluetooth and then take notes right on my cell phone as I’m talking. I’ll get
your name, number, address… basically anything and everything I might
need to remember. When you ask a prospect, “What was your name again?”
you’ve pretty much said, “You’re nowhere near important enough for me to
remember your name, and I’m irresponsible enough to not take any notes
on potential clients. I’m either too important for you or too stupid for you to
hire me.”
I guess this could’ve been broken up into two separate tips, but also use a
mirror when you’re calling. The old-school guys call it “smiling and dialing”,
but I really want you to smile when you’re making calls. Whether you
believe it or not, people can pick up on the difference in your tonality. You
should use the mirror to keep you in check.

38. Get a list of people who’ll be turning 66 years old.

Pretty specific tip, huh? Well this one will explode your bank account if you
implement it. At the time of this writing, the age for full social security
benefits has risen to 66, but the age to join Medicare A & B is still 65. Catch
my drift? A lot of people are still working and paying higher costs for health
coverage because they don’t know about this.
Call this age group and let them know the real deal. During the first contact,
you won’t push any of your services at all. All you want is to mail them free
information explaining everything, and then tell them you will follow up to
explain and answer any questions they might have.

39. The easier a list is to get, the more advisors have it.
If you can download a list online for free, you might as well toss it in the
trash. Your time will be used so inefficiently it’s not even funny. An easy-to-
get list means that everyone and their mother is calling these people. Not
only is it likely that they’ve already been closed, but they’ll give you a hard
time because they’re sick and tired of getting called all day.
I rarely tell an advisor to buy lists, but there’s a time and a place for
everything. If it’s the end of the month and you’re at the end of your rope,
struggling to make your numbers, you could do a “hail Mary” and start
calling from a list. At that point, you have no choice. In that sense, lists can
be lifesavers. Otherwise, they’re not the most efficient use of your time. A
list that you make on your own will almost always crush a bought list.
LOCAL MARKETING

40. Know the difference between response and results.

You’ve posted your ad in the local paper, or even the Yellow Pages (who the
h-e-double hockey sticks looks for a financial advisor in there anyway?) and
you eagerly sit by the phone, waiting for calls to come in. The calls come in!
You feel great. People recognize you from the paper and people say you look
good in print. The problem is… you’re not setting any appointments, and
nobody is buying anything.
Know the difference between response and results! The ONLY reason you
should be marketing is to get results, aka purchases. Responses feel good
because it tells you that people are seeing your ads, but it’s all an illusion.
Responses might feel like results, but your bank account can tell the
difference. Make sure you can too.

41. Don’t opt for a bigger print ad.

A lot of times the newspaper reps will try to sucker you into paying for a
bigger ad. They’ll tell you that you need a full-page color ad to draw the
most attention to your offer. Don’t fall for it! A quarter page ad is usually
best. If you pay for a half-page ad, you’ll get seen only slightly more, but
you’ll pay twice as much (or more) with most papers. Why pay 100% more
for something that will only bring in 7% more results?
It’s the same with color; adding color to your print ad will provide a
miniscule increase of people noticing your ad, but you pay much more. A
huge color ad might appeal to your ego, but your wallet doesn’t give a rat’s
hat about your ego. Don’t pay more!

42. Radio ads need frequency.

The nature of radio advertising requires repetition. Don’t you just hate it
when you hear an interesting radio ad, but you can’t quite get the phone
number they mention? It’s a brief, fleeting moment that will be gone forever
unless the advertiser runs another ad. If you are only going to run one or
two radio ads, you might as well not do any at all. Yes, you might get a few
listeners, but they will be the tip of the iceberg.
What you need to do is ensure that the same block of listeners hears your
ad again and again and again. Let’s use classic rock stations as an example,
since classic rock tends to have the wealthiest listeners. You want to have at
least three or more impressions on that station per week, meaning that most
of the listeners will receive your message three times a week. An extremely
powerful radio strategy is to “own” a block of time on a given radio station.
For example, you might “own” Tuesdays from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.,
during which time, listeners hear your ad three times.
Most radio stations have enough listeners to get you a few prospects every
single day, but most businesses and professionals don’t use it effectively.

43. Narrow down your direct mail to affluent neighborhoods.

The post office offers a neat service called Every Door Direct Mail, which
allows you to send mailings to houses on predetermined routes. You can go
online and pick your route by average income. As an advisor, you probably
want higher-income households, so you can go through the routes on the
postal service website and pick the ones with the highest incomes. From
there, you can work with the post office to get your literature in every single
mailbox on that route. It’s cool, and it’s better than sending stuff out
randomly.

44. Read your local newspaper for movers and shakers in your area.
Look over your local newspapers and publications every so often to spot the
movers and shakers in your area. Did anyone get a promotion at a major
company? Is anyone receiving recognition for their contribution in academia
or business? Reach out to these people and say congratulations. Use their
accomplishments as an excuse to call. Don’t try to sell anything; just say
you’re a financial advisor and you work with clients like them, so naturally
you found them in the paper.
You should also consider sending them a few copies of the article, complete
with a couple of your business cards. They probably have their own copy,
but it’s a nice gesture and it’s way better than going straight for your pitch.
One of the best ways to market to the affluent is to use their
accomplishments and awards as leverage. These people tend to be
accomplishment driven. For example, John Smith might be a successful
dentist with tons of offices around your state. He’s got more money than
he’ll ever need, so what makes him happy? Mr. Smith likely gets happiness
from recognition among his peers. So, when you see his name in some
dentist publication or in the news, be sure to stroke his ego a bit and let him
know. It goes a long way.

45. Use press releases.

I wasn’t sure if I should put this tip in the “expert” section or this one. I put
it in the local marketing section because you will send press releases to all
your local papers. You want your face and name to appear in local
publications as frequently as possible.
Learn how to make an effective press release (Google is wonderful for this –
search for templates too) and get a list of editors in your area. Keep it
catchy, brief, informative, and with tons of quotes. Journalists love quotes.
However, be sure to ask this question before you send any press release:
“Are you the person I should send this press release to?”
Don’t send your press release to the wrong place, because it will get dumped
in the trash. I know you think they’ll call you back or forward your email to
the right person, but they won’t. So, make sure you check before you send.
Check what topics they cover, how your story relates to their audience and
so on. It’ll save you a concussion or two from banging your head against the
wall.
ONLINE MARKETING

46. Get more links.

One of the best ways, if not THE best way to get more traffic to your site is
to get more links from other websites. You can do this in several ways…
First, you want to get “one-way links”, which means that another website
links to you, but you don’t link back to them. Google likes these links more
than reciprocal links, which are the ones where you exchange links with the
other website. You can get a ton of one-way links by using website
directories. Just search for “financial advisor web directories” or “financial
services” web directories on Google and you’ll get a bunch of options. I’m
telling you to only place your links in finance-related directories so that the
links are relevant to what you do. People who are visiting a finance website
will also be interested in what you do. If you’re in an amusement park
directory, it won’t do you much good.
Another way to get links is to post videos on video sites, like YouTube, and
put your website URL in the video description and profile. You’re not doing
videos? Why not? It’s a golden opportunity to get your face in front of
potential clients, and the video won’t ask for food or water once you make it.
You could even put the video on the homepage of your website, or on your
social networks, so people can see you’re a real, personable human being.
One more way to get links back to your website is to comment on forums
and blogs. Now, you should be doing this for both your own industry
(financial advising) AND your client’s industry. If your target prospects are
dentists, be sure to leave a few comments on dentist forums, so you can get
more eyeballs on you. When you leave comments, leave a “signature” with
your name and URL so you can get a link back to your site.

47. Write articles for other websites and blogs.

You should attempt to have at least one guest post per month on someone
else’s website. Some people strive for once per week, but most advisors
should focus their energy on other things. Yet, if you can get a guest post
done once per month, you’ll increase your exposure and boost your “expert”
status. If anything, you can add the sites you’ve been featured on to your
materials.
Can you imagine visiting a prospect and saying, “I actually said this in one of
my recent Forbes articles…”? They won’t have a chance – they’ll have to hire
you! Reach out to finance bloggers and offer to write a guest post for them.
The worst they can do is say no. You can also pitch your ideas to outlets
such as Forbes, Business Insider, Entrepreneur, and Huffington Post.
Note: if you don’t have a website, or don’t have control over your website
(because your company makes it for you) at least have a LinkedIn. You can
still write content and publish it via your LinkedIn page. LinkedIn partnered
with FTI Consulting and Cogent Research to find that investors with $5
million or more are over 150% more likely to trust articles shared on
LinkedIn. Pick your jaw up off the floor and get writing!

48. Make your website look more professional.

Please, please, please don’t have a crappy website. For most people, it is the
first impression they get of your business. Financial professionals are
notorious for having the worst websites in all of humanity. I’m not saying
PersonalFinanceGenius.com is the most beautiful website in town, but after
extensive A/B testing, I am finding what works.
I’m not saying that you need to hire an expensive web designer, but I am
saying you should strongly consider having one look at your website and
giving you their honest opinion. Just find one of the best, send him/her a
message offering to pay them a few hundred bucks to get them to tell you
what to change and how they would change it.
I am by no means a web designer, but I know what works, so here are a few
ideas.
Take a good look at your fonts. Your fonts set the tone for the entire
website. What are they saying about your style and company culture? Use
fonts that are easy on the eyes; this means they’re not tiny and don’t have
bright colors. Lots of advisors assume that because Times New Roman looks
great in print, that it will also look great online. Wrong! People hate Times
New Roman online. I’ve found that the best fonts for online are Arial, Courier
and Verdana.
Make sure your background matches your style and company. Try to err on
the side of simple and sophisticated. Something too colorful and
overwhelming will turn your visitors away.
Put your face on your website. Tons of studies have been conducted to
demonstrate that having a human face on your website will increase your
conversions. Having a human face increases the likelihood of an emotional
connection. It’s more of a driver for people to connect with you rather than a
nondescript logo or icon.
Use the squint test. Get up front your desk, walk a few feet away from your
computer screen and squint. You want to make everything blurry, so only
the most prominent features (large and colorful) are noticeable. When you
do this, you are seeing what a first-time visitor may notice when he/she
scans your website. If you’re not happy with what you see, change it!

49. Forget web traffic. Focus on conversions.

Web traffic does matter, but not nearly as much as people think it does. You
should allot your energy towards your site’s user experience. Traffic is
worthless if it’s not converted into paying customers. I’d much rather have
high-converting sites with 100 visits per day than a no-converting site with
10,000 visits per day.
To improve user experience, make your site easy to navigate with easy to
follow information. Don’t use any financial jargon. Don’t have any broken
links and have a welcoming design. Be sure to have your contact information
on every single page – don’t EVER make your clients search for your contact
info. If it takes longer than three seconds to find your phone number or
email, they’ll leave forever. Also, take extra care to maximize your “above-
the-fold” use. This is the area of your website (the top of the page, they’ll
see it without having to scroll down) that people see as soon as the page
loads.

50. Use social media if your firm allows it.

First, I must say that, no matter how stupid they might be, you have to
follow the rules of your firm. If your managing principal says that you can’t
use Facebook, don’t use Facebook. Yes, you’ll be losing business because of
it, but just be glad that you have someone looking out for you. No matter
what the reasons are, your firm has an obligation to set guidelines and
monitor your social media activity, so get familiar with your firm’s policies.
If your firm doesn’t allow you to use LinkedIn, run. Run as fast as you can,
because the competition is going to destroy your firm. You’ll be the most
overqualified person in the unemployment line. LinkedIn is amazing for
financial advisors because you can see when people change jobs and
instantly qualify high-income individuals. LinkedIn released some stats that
showed over 50% of affluent investors would interact with financial advisors
through social media, yet less than 5% of these same investors are being
engaged by financial advisors online. This means 45% of affluent investors
are eager and waiting for you online!

51. Don’t sacrifice who you are to stay compliant.

Don’t let compliance fears depersonalize your language. Make sure you ARE
compliant but try not to sound like an emotionless robot. Online
communication is already devoid of tonality, verbal and physical signals.
Don’t make it harder for yourself.
Please check the rules of your individual firm first, but I’ve found a few
safeguards to remaining compliant.
Don’t make recommendations on social media. FINRA might count these as
endorsements, which means that you are adopting whatever is being said as
your own. This can get confusing, so include a disclaimer on all your social
media accounts which states that the actions taken on the account do not
necessarily reflect the views of your firm.
Archive everything. If you’ve been an advisor for any period of time, you
know that keeping impeccable records is mandatory. However, advisors tend
to brush off social media. This is a no-no! Make sure that you keep records
of all communication, including social media and emails. Don’t delete any
records and keep them for as long as possible. Most firms archive their
content for a minimum of three years.
Include all proper and obligatory disclaimers. Above all, you must ensure
that your communications are not misleading. Treat any promotion on social
media the same way you would treat traditional print promotion.
BUILDING YOUR NETWORK

Your network determines your net worth! Networking can be one of the most
valuable uses of your time if you do it right, because it will be a constant
source of new leads coming into your advising business. Here’s the situation
that you’re going to deal with if you want to be the top 1% of the top 1% in
your field: you (and any employees you might have) only have so much
time in the day, so you need to attract new and higher net-worth clients, but
these clients are incredibly hard to reach via traditional methods. How can
you get to them? Easy – you establish a referral network.
Marketing the highest level of financial advisory service is no longer about
who you know, but who knows you. Networking isn’t about attending
meetings and get-togethers to shove your business card down people’s
throats. It’s about making connections and building lasting, mutually
beneficial relationships. You should seek to include the right people in your
network to expand your sphere of influence.
I know you’ve probably heard this a million times, but people do business
with those they like and trust. I would also add that people do business with
those who help them succeed too. Financial advisors help their clients
succeed, sure, but to get clients, you must be attuned to creating win-win
relationships with other people. Those other people are awash with pitches,
advertisements, emails, phone calls and other clutter. Your personal
relationship and the advantages you bring to them will help you rise above
the noise. You will be the go-to financial advisor for those in your network
and their network as well.

52. Make more friends.

This could probably be spread out across multiple tips, but I’ll just fit it into
this one. You need to make more friends. Doctor friends, lawyer friends,
accountant friends, center of influence friends. Your goal should be to
develop a referral network with these powerful people. You help them grow
their business, they help you grow yours.
I try to organize my life around the 80/20 rule, which states that 80% of
your results come from 20% of your efforts. If you were to ask me to only
pick one center of influence to align with, I’d have to pick the accountant.
I’m saying if you have absolutely no other time to network with anyone else,
stick with accountants. People tend to ask their accountants all types of
finance-related questions, and some questions will lend themselves to your
services. For example, a successful business owner might ask an accountant
how to keep his family business inside the family, which is an opportunity for
estate planning. If you hit the links every other Friday with this accountant,
who do you think he’s going to call?
Once you align yourself with a few (at least three) quality accountants, your
business will skyrocket. Don’t be stingy though – make sure you send some
business their way too. Just, at some point, casually ask your clients “Are
you happy with your current accountant?” Then, no matter what they say,
tell them: “Well, if you ever feel you might want to change accountants, I
know a wonderful choice”, then hand them the accountant’s business card.
Accountants are incredible resources. Let me start naming some of the stuff
they deal with on a daily basis. What to do with excess profits, how to
manage their retirement plans, how to simplify their huge investment
portfolios, how to reduce taxes, how to reduce volatility in their portfolios,
how to invest the proceeds from the sale of a business, etc. Is your mouth
watering yet? Get the phone number of five superstar accountants in your
area. Call them tomorrow, introduce yourself and take them out to lunch,
your treat. Explain how you can help their business and add value to their
clients. You’ll make them look great in their own client’s eyes!

53. Attend Chamber of Commerce meetings.

What if I told you that there was a place where a ton of business owners get
together to talk and mingle? Would that be something you’d be interested
in? Don’t worry – it’s real, and it’s your local Chamber of Commerce
meeting. Okay, okay, I realize that most financial advisors already know
about the Chamber of Commerce, but they don’t use it the right way.
Most advisors are too aggressive with the Chamber of Commerce. Yes, it’s a
great opportunity, but too many people ruin their chances before they start.
“Here’s my card – call me if you need financial planning!” Congratulations,
you’ve now ruined your chances with that business owner and all his/her
friends.
You need to take it slow with these events. Don’t worry about quantity,
worry about quality. There will always be another meeting next month, and
you can make more friends then. I’d much rather see you have two quality
connections per meeting over handing out twenty business cards any day.
I’ll even take it a step further and say that you shouldn’t bring up your
services at all. Be completely interested in the other person. Ask them what
they do, what they enjoy most about it, how long they’ve been doing it, how
they got started… the works. Don’t talk about yourself AT ALL! Plant the
seeds of referral by asking them, “What are some of the telltale signs of a
perfect client for your business? How can I spot someone to refer to you?”
Their eyes will light up like a kid on Christmas! Eventually they will ask what
you do for a living, and then you can lay it on. Don’t you think that you’ll be
more likely to get some business using this method, rather than just
mindlessly jabbering on about yourself?
Note: there will be some people who just shove their business card down
your throat. That’s cool. Just make sure you follow up with these people,
because they probably don’t remember you at all. All you want is to stay
top-of-mind for as many people as possible. Just tell them that you
appreciated meeting them. Try to make conversation with them and tell
them that if you or anyone you know needs a
contractor/doctor/dentist/attorney/plumber you’ll call.

54. Familiarize yourself with employers in your area.

Most employers will have 401(k)s and other benefit plans. If you network
with employers and human resources in your territory, you can gain the
name of employees nearing retirement age. From there, you can get
referrals to their coworkers.
At least offer to come in and speak to their employees about investing and
retirement. Get a list together of large (and small too, I suppose) companies
in your area and get in touch with human resources. LinkedIn is great for
this, because you can narrow your search by keyword and geographic area.
Call or email them cold to introduce yourself. Explain that you want to come
in and talk to their employees, completely free. They’ll be wary about you
soliciting, so if you assure them that you won’t solicit, you can come in and
talk. Just have a presentation ready in case they ask to see it. When you go
to speak with the employees, put your name, email address and phone
number on every piece of material they see. Papers, PowerPoint slides,
everything. You won’t be soliciting, but you’ll keep your contact information
visible at all times. Ask the company if you can do an exit survey. If they let
you do one, you can get the employee’s information and contact them later.
The reason this tip is so effective is because all the steps are ready-made.
You don’t need to do much work to find the human resources. You shouldn’t
encounter much resistance, because the employers will view it as a benefit
they provide to their employees. The employees who attend obviously care
about their finances/investments, so they’re already qualified. All you need
to do is go in there and knock it out of the park, so you can go home with a
few warm leads.

55. Prospect for people who associate with your clients.

It might seem awkward to prospect for someone who isn’t your ideal client
but hear me out. Lets’ assume that you’re looking for clients who are
transferring into pediatric environments, since you are “The Pediatrician’s
Advisor”, spend some time meeting people in that field. After all, they likely
deal with hundreds of your potential clients every year.

56. Hold volunteer/leadership positions in community organizations.

Not only will you be able to give back to those in need, but you’ll remain
visible to those in the community. When you join an organization, you
should immediately vie for a leadership role. You’re a leader in your field, so
it’s only natural. It’s important to join something you genuinely care about,
since you’ll be giving some nights and weekends to the group. You don’t
want to join an organization simply for the sake of being visible. You’ll hate
it and burn out quickly. Don’t go into this with the sole intention of
advancing your career; that’s just a nice byproduct of helping an
organization or activity you care about.
Join a local nonprofit and volunteer to serve on the board. You’ll bring your
knowledge and an entirely different skill set to the table. Since you’re “the
money guy”, they might make you treasurer or co-treasurer! It doesn’t have
to be a nonprofit – just get involved in something! You could join your child’s
school board, a church, a service club (Kiwanis, Lions, Rotary), a social club,
etc.
Tons of high-income individuals and other professionals volunteer their time
within the community. By serving on the board and remaining visible, you’ll
have a chance to build more relationships and showcase your abilities. This
works wonders for your credibility and can easily lead to referrals. But
remember, you can only receive back what you give!

57. Join or start a Meetup group in your area.

How cool has the internet made our world? You can literally hop online, find
a group of pug owners in your area and get together to let your little pugs
romp around and play with each other. Of course, that’s not what you’ll be
using Meetup for… or will it?
Meetup.com is a site that allows you to organize a group of people to meet
up, usually at a restaurant, park, or other area, to discuss common
interests. Don’t make the mistake of joining investment/finance related
groups. I have never heard of anybody getting any clients from these
groups. The members of the investing groups are usually managing their
own money and they are “the guy” for investing in their family, so your
chances for referrals are slim-to-none. Join things that aren’t
finance/investment related. All you want to do is meet people and expand
your network. If you like Harry Potter, join a Harry Potter group.
Well, those are all 57 tips. I want to thank you for taking the time to read
through these and I sincerely hope you picked up a few bits of advice that
can help your career. If you’ve found this book helpful, please be kind
enough to leave a review on Amazon. I know this isn’t some 400-page
encyclopedia about financial advising, but I wanted to make something short
and sweet to help all the time-crunched professionals out there.
Marketing is the backbone of a financial advisor’s business, so it is critical to
become great at it. I would go so far as to say that you’re not really in the
advising business; you’re in the people business. You’re in business to help
people make smart money decisions. However, the elephant in the room is
getting to those people in the first place. To build your million-dollar book of
business, you must commit yourself to prospecting and marketing. You could
be the best financial advisor in the world, but if nobody knows about you, it
doesn’t matter. When you become an effective marketer, the rest of your
business takes care of itself.
Thank you so much for spending time with me here today. If you have any
questions, do not hesitate to send an email to [email protected].
I am here to help you, and I want to be a partner in your success.
Your friend,
James Pollard
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