Whether you’re fresh out of NYU, transitioning to self-employment, or just need a clientele boost, growing your financial advisory business is essential to staying afloat. With so much economic instability of late, consumers are looking for something reliable and reputable when it comes to managing their money, so finding the right advisor is going to be at the top of their list.
There are many ways to grow your business with some requiring more effort than others. Finding your niche and defining your audience may bring in more prospects, but it’s things like great customer service and setting up a referral program that will ultimately lead to more clients. Nonetheless, these ways to grow your business as a financial advisor should at least point you in the right direction.
- Find your Niche.
Accessing the niches financial advisors can serve is probably the most exciting part of your job, besides, who doesn’t like socializing? This means networking with various social groups to generate prospective clients in a manner that services that particular group in a special way. There are six different niches for you to work within: affinity, values, educational, experiential, psychosocial, and technical.
The affinity niche includes building business relationships with the people with whom you socialize, like the parent group or your pals at the golf course. You can also serve a niche based on clients with shared values or philosophies; the value niche. The education niche can be helpful for those clients who are in a transition and need someone to help explain things as they go along, similar to the psychosocial niche, which helps individuals with issues beyond their financial challenges.
- Use automated processes.
Using automated processes can boost things for you in a variety of ways. While there’s some controversy surrounding whether or not robots will someday replace humanoid financial advisors, it can’t hurt to employ a few, In fact, it can help. The benefits to some automation combined with a personal interest in the client’s wealth management may be a good approach for some advisors.
Humans are designed to make errors, thus learning in the process, but a huge blunder that negatively affects a client’s portfolio may not go over so well. The robot advisor probably wouldn’t have made that mistake. Also, if some of your work can be done efficiently and effectively by artificial intelligence, then that frees up more time for you to network in your selected niches.
- Set up a referral program.
Free image from Pixabay.
Not all financial advisors have a list of connections comparable to Peter Lynch, so setting up a referral program is vital if you want to grow your clientele. For most financial advisors, referrals to new clients are the lifeblood of the business. The most important thing you can do is be professional with a client-centered approach. You need to do a good job so that existing clients will tell their family and friends about you and how amazing you are.
You can use incentives, social media, and professional networking to help get your name out there and build your reputation. Another way to get referrals is to offer a
link on your website that is easy to find. This approach along with an incentive for current clients to refer others is a very easy way to get clients once the initial setup process has been done.
- Build brand awareness and trust.
Your financial advisory business won’t go very far if no one knows you’re available to advise, so yes, you need to build awareness. Trust is just as important as building awareness; this means you need to do good, consistent work, with follow through and follow up. This is where reviews come in.
Many consumers will take to online search tools to find a financial advisor so if you’re listed there, make sure you have good ratings and reviews, this is the trust part clients are looking for.
It’s up to you as a professional to do a good job, leading to clients that trust you enough to stick around long-term. But when it involves building brand awareness, the options are limitless. Think along the lines of using social media posts to remind consumers you’re out there.
You could also get your name out there by sponsoring a local sports team or creating a podcast. From building relationships on LinkedIn to offering free advice to potentials, there are so many creative ways to build brand awareness.
- Use paid ads.
Most often, a paid ad campaign is the easiest way to grow your business as a financial advisor. While this costs some money, it’s an easy way to reach a large audience, especially if the ad is aligned with those in the niches you serve. This is a particularly good way for someone starting from the bottom to generate some new clients.
There are many avenues you can take when it comes to paying for advertising. While print, radio, and television advertisements cost more than website or social media ads, you can reach more people in the niches you serve if you place your ads strategically; like placing an ad in a real estate magazine geared toward those in the education niche who may need some advice since they are planning to buy a home.
- Create a strategic partnership.
Creating a partnership may be one of the best ways to grow your business. There are many benefits to this! From sharing the workload to having access to more clients, the right partnership can get things moving quickly.
Things like building partnerships with a job search company, or a webinar on how to manage your finances if you’ve recently become unemployed. You could even link up with a university or high school and speak to students about the basics of investing.
There are countless benefits to creating a partnership with a company or individual. The saying “two heads are better than one” applies in this situation. Realistically, most financial advisors don’t know everything so having a partner can certainly fill the gap.
Also, if you decide to partner with a company, you can increase your brand awareness and attract new potential clients from a new audience. You get your name out there, and your partners get your expertise. If you can find the right partnership it can be a win-win situation and a great marketing boost.
The bottom line.
Photo by fauxels from Pexels
It takes time and effort to grow any business, especially if it involves finance and consultation. The best strategy begins with giving 110% effort in everything you do for your clients and partners. Word of mouth goes a long way when building your clientele, so being the best at what you do and having compassion for your clients should always be at the forefront.
There are many ways to expand your business as a financial advisor, whether you employ a robot or partner with a company, any amount of growth is worth recognition. But the bottom line is, if you are hardworking, honest, trustworthy, and compassionate, your business is bound to progress at a level that matches your effort.
