Practice Management TrendsettersOctober 13, 2020


Referrals don't get you to the next level 

The same referrals don’t get you to the next level

In the wealth management industry, there is a myth that top financial advisors only build their business by referral. It is a myth because elite advisors know that a client with 1 million invested, does not usually refer someone with 5 million. Someone with 5 million does not usually refer someone with 25 million. So how do financial professionals grow 3 or 4 or 5 times with the same type of clients? 

How do you work with wealthier clients?

Referrals are fantastic and the advisors who receive referrals usually have solid processes and language to generate referrals on a regular basis. But how do you get to the next level of clients, when all of your clients are at a similar level of assets under management or net worth?  As Albert Einstein said, “we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them”.  Change your thinking.   He also said” If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem, and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.

What is the problem?

The problem is we work in our comfort zone and have self-limiting beliefs about who we should be working with, by examining who we currently work with. I was speaking to a financial advisor and asked him” what is the ideal revenue you want to generate annually from an ideal client? He replied five thousand dollars. I asked him how do you go from a $5000 per year client to a $25,000 per year client? That is the problem to work on. There is no easy solution, that is why Einstein said” work on the problem” The problem is we get referrals to someone who is paying $5000 per year. If you developed a vision to work with clients that pay you $25,000 per year in three to four years, then this looking at the problem differently.

Look at referrals differently

Start to look at referrals differently. Know the next level of ideal clients you are looking for and start targeting them.  If you work with clients with one million, start to look for clients with 2 million to invest, and you will find referrals with more than one million to invest, possibly up to 10 million. Get this sentence in your vocabulary “ We do our best work with clients with a net worth of 2 to 10 million”. say it again out loud to see how it sounds to you. “ We do our best work with clients with a net worth of 2 to 10 million”. Net worth is about comprehensive planning and advice. Net worth helps you focus on the total picture and gets you into conversations with people with a net worth of 3, 5, or 10 million. It tells people what you are looking for, higher net worth clients. The financial professionals I work with have changed their thinking with clients, prospects, and themselves by saying that sentence over and over, making it a mindset shift, and changing their thinking.  

What is next for your practice?

Congratulations on growing your business by referrals. We know that elite financial advisors grow their business by the next level of referrals and marketing differently to higher net worth clients and prospects. Write down what your next level ideal target is?  $___________  now change your thinking.

Marketing plans for higher net worth clients – join our next webinars

There are a few secrets in marketing to the next level clients. Successful financial advisors need a marketing plan and unique strategies to get there. Join me and my guest Tom Deans Ph. D as we explore” Engaging offers to ideal HNW prospects, clients  and centers of influence”

Click here for Friday, October 16th  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R0nU6RKfT6Ob9uL-i6kZZQ   to register  OR

click here for Wednesday, October 28th  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_q1lOHUtvSWmxQf3n76jp2Q

 Grant Hicks, CIM is a President of www.advisorpracticemanagement.com a coaching and training firm for elite financial advisors. 

 Advisor Practice Management’s goal 

“ Helping Financial Advisors take action, to create 10,000 comprehensive financial and investment plans for their clients”.  Ask your clients and prospects this question " What does a comprehensive financial and investment plan mean to you?  

Let’s work on your business together. Email us for your copy of our "Exclusive prospecting strategy checklist, or fee audit guide" to acquiring more ideal clients. Email grant@ghicks.com  


Enthusiastically yours,


Grant Hicks, CIM, President
Advisor Practice Management
www.advisorpracticemanagement.com

Suite 1625-246 Stewart Green, SW
Calgary, Alberta  T3H 3C8
Cell 403 970 8895
Email grant@ghicks.com   

PS Where do you want to be in 3 years?

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Grant Hicks
Advisor Practice Management