February 13, 2023

 Financial advisors should target ideal families

Meeting strangers online during the pandemic is difficult to build trust. Working with existing family members who already work with you and trust you is easier than meeting cold prospects, or online marketing. Spend more time with your ideal clients and find out about their families.

When I ask financial advisors, how do you generate more introductions from ideal clients, there is a variety of answers, but no process. Here is a simple process to implement. First, meet with your ideal client and go over their wealth planning and advice. Second, plan a secondary meeting after the meeting. For example, meet at 11 am and take them out for lunch. Then you can bring up conversations about the family that takes time, which is difficult to do in a progress update meeting. These secondary meetings are where family introductions can happen, but it takes time. Imagine if you had 10 family meeting conversations, do you think you will get introduced to other family members? Family members have been the number one source of new business during the pandemic and last two years.  (Source July 2021 Ensemble practice survey) Think of moving upmarket with siblings and parents of your wealthiest clients. 

Change your language

The financial industry needs to change their language and how they grow their practice. What I mean is, financial advisors, talk about clients and households but we need to start talking about ideal families. For example, a client might pay you $5 to $10,000 per year a household might pay you 10 to $20,000 per year and if you get the whole family they might pay you $20 to $100,000 per year if you include all the family members parents aunts uncles relatives, cousins etc. Typically it is 3 times more revenue when you go from an ideal client to an ideal family.

So how do you have family conversations and what are the questions you need to ask here are a few questions to start engaging people in family conversations. Tell me Mr. and Mrs. client what was money like growing up in your household?

Client answers

Tell me more about what money was like growing up in your household?

Client answers

Who in your family did you get your money values from?

Client answers

Who in your current family do you talk about money with?

Tell me more about those people

client answers

When you look at the potential opportunity sitting in your existing database you need to figure out two things. First, asking the questions and having the conversation, and second, digging deeper into those people in the family where you should consider having a conversation with a potential family meeting or additional discussions this will eventually seem obvious to the family that you should be talking to these family members but if it is not obvious then you want
to be very subtle about bringing it up.

Now let's look at the potential opportunity in your current database. how many households do you currently manage and how many families do you currently manage?
_____ Clients
_____ households
_____ families

How many households do you have?

Now, how many households were clients do you think you could convert into additional family opportunities. Let's give an example let's say you have 200 clients or 100 households and currently you're only managing 10 families now in the next 12 months imagine if you expanded to 20-25 families

$5000 per client x200 = $1 million

$10,000 per household x 100 households = $ 1million revenue

Each family represents $20,000 + revenue

Add to existing or find 10 new ideal families in the next 12 months = $200,000+ revenue lift

Do your own math- figure Out how many potential family opportunities exist in your current database and build a database of 20 to 30 potential ideal families to have this discussion with. Now you have a potential opportunity of $20,000 per family times 20 to 30 families equals 4 to $600,000 of potential opportunities

your job is to get the data and turn that into an opportunity. The trust is already established with current family members so it's easier to establish trust with other family members instead of going after perfectly total strangers and trying to engage them this is called finding the money because it currently exists in your database we just don't know where to start in 12 months from now if we now have the data on our top 50 clients Anne had a family discussion then you will see how to flush out those 25 opportunities to acquire 10 more ideal clients and add at least $200,000 of potential revenue to your business this year with existing family members.

Build your database of family opportunities current families potential families and potential prospects. Now you have a database of $500,000 of potential opportunities just by having really valuable conversations with your ideal clients and their families and finding out their values.

Roy E. Disney of Walt Disney Co. said, "When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier."

So, if you don't use your values to make decisions and guide your actions, then why have them? If you do not value your values, no one else will. Most financial advisors never get values so this is the opportunity. Go ahead, make a list of potential ideal families. 

How about your goals for your practice in 2023?

Comprehensive Practice Management checklist

https://practicemanagement.getresponsepages.com/ 

Sample: Comprehensive Financial Advisor Practice Management Benchmarking Report

Key data and KPI's Key Performance indicators. Do want a sample benchmarking report to help you understand how to get the edge on your practice and your competition? 

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Updated 2023 Technology Checklist for Financial Advisors  

This checklist is five years worth of research on the best processes elite financial advisors and their teams implement to acquire and service ideal clients, while running an efficient practice. 

https://technologychecklist.getresponsepages.com/ 

We are here to serve your practice, let’s talk

Contact us to help get clarity around your goals on paper, and have the goals conversation by contacting
Grant at grant@ghicks.com or click on the link to set up a no-obligation 20-minute
discussion https://my.timetrade.com/book/JMTNJ regardless if we work together, let’s have a chat and listen to your biggest practice management concerns to help you get clarity around your future business.

Grant Hicks, CIM, is President of Advisor Practice Management and co-author of “Guerrilla Marketing For Financial Advisors” 1st and 2nd editions. www.advisorpracticemanagement.com for speaking,
workshops, or coaching, contact Grant at grant@ghicks.com Grants combined financial advisor clients manage over 5 billion AUM, and earn over $50 million dollars combined! 

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

PO Box 382 Lantzville BC V0R 2H0
Cell 403 970 8895
Email grant@ghicks.com 

To book a meeting click here https://my.timetrade.com/book/JMTNJ  

PS Where do you want your financial practice to be at the end of 2025? AUM, Revenue, and time off? 

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