November 23, 2020

Ideal prospecting of families for financial advisors during COVID-19

Family opportunities for financial advisors

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.

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.

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 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, or a potential family meeting.  These discussions will eventually seem obvious to the family.  They will discover 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 ideal households 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 ideal families now.  In the next 12 months imagine if you expanded to 20-25 ideal 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 about 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 from ideal clients, and family values, so this is the opportunity. Find ideal families and ideal family members. 

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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