Marketing can be a challenging task as a financial advisor. There are always more clients to prospect, referrals to search for, and calls to make.
To market your services successfully, you need to get in front of the right people and at the right time. Such is a lot easier said than done, and it might feel impossible to get your foot in the door. With the right marketing strategy, you can build your existing client relationships and attract new prospects, creating a steady stream of growth for your business.
The question is, how do you get there? Here are a few of the best financial selling techniques you can implement today to start growing your business inside and out.
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1. Maximize financial selling with existing client base
Chasing down new customers can definitely help your business grow. However, doing so can cost you a lot more than retaining an existing customer. If you want to improve your sales in a cost-effective way, the best place to start is with your existing client base: a pool of highly engaged prospects you already have access to.
While finding new prospects is important, it’s just as vital to make the most of the clients who are already using your services. These clients can often be your most loyal customers and your best advocates, making them a huge asset to your business.
Show clients the full range of your services
It’s easy to assume that your clients already know what you offer. However, even if they’ve been loyal clients for years, they may not be aware of all of your products and services. Some clients may have turned to another company for financial services that they could be getting from you.
It’s your responsibility to educate them and ensure that they’re informed on what you can do for them. If you haven’t done so already, it’s time to offer a comprehensive review of your services, including how yours differs from the competition.
Leverage your connections by asking for referrals
If a client is using your services, they likely know somebody else who may need a financial advisor. It might be time to ask them: Do you know anybody who might need to talk to me?
This is an opportunity to remind your client that you are an advisor. If anyone in their circle has questions that need answering — or even just someone to bounce ideas off of — you can sit down with them for a consultation.
Build the next generation of clients
You might know your existing clients well, especially if you’ve worked with them for years, but how well do you know their children? There’s never been a better time to forge a bond with your client’s children. If you already act as a trusted advisor to your clients, they may be able to pass that bond down to their offspring.
While you might be hesitant to bring this up directly, there’s a natural pathway to talk about children. After all, financial planning will inevitably include their children. Ask about their plan for a college fund and inheritance as well as how their children plan to manage that money.
2. Engage potential clients — offer them something valuable
Potential clients don’t just want to hear what you could be doing for them. To make an impact, you need to impress them with the results they could be getting if they were working with you.
This means offering them tangible value. Give them a taste of what your working relationship could look like and all the benefits that could come with it.
Offer a needs analysis
A great way to build trust with clients is to offer them a financial needs analysis (FNA). You can assess their financial needs — retirement, death, disability, college funds — and help them determine what they need to do to meet these needs. You can offer to print a copy of the report for them if they want to review it with you next year.
By doing a needs analysis, you’re offering them something valuable up-front. Instead of being pitched at, they’ll feel like they’re a part of the sales process, making them more likely to trust you and the value of your services.
Educate — don’t pitch
Clients don’t like feeling as if they’re being pitched to. Instead of pitching the features you offer, provide them with concrete solutions.
Offer to do something hands-on instead of solely giving them a presentation. For example, you can evaluate their portfolio and suggest what they can do next. Offer to share solutions that you’ve provided for others in similar situations.
Adapt to the demographics
In financial selling, you shouldn’t address clients with a one-size-fits-all approach. Clients from different age groups will have different needs, and those needs will require new solutions. From millennials to boomers, modify your offers to match the demographics of your clients.
3. Connect on a deeper level with clients
Even if your services are top-notch, you aren’t the only financial analyst out there. To make the most of your connections with prospects, you’ll need to connect with your ideal client on a deeper level.
Connecting with them does not just mean reaching out to your clients when you want their business. If you want to build a deeper connection with them, you must listen and show them that you care. Whether it’s building an emotional connection or getting to know your customer’s needs inside and out, these strategies can help you stand out from the competition.
Build actionable buyer segments and personas
A buyer persona is a fictionalized look at your ideal or target customer. By creating a picture of who that customer is, you can better target their goals and pain points.
Buyer segments and personas go beyond the demographics, including:
- Specific needs and pain points
- Behaviors and lifestyle
- Where they’re coming from and how they’re finding you
- What they have in common with your current clients
Once you have a picture of what your ideal buyer looks like, you can better market your services to address their needs – the more personalized, the better.
Uncover your client’s needs
Once you’ve built your ideal customer, it’s time to take a look at your actual customers. When you connect with each prospect, you should uncover their full set of needs.
This means exploring the entire picture of their finances. Where are they in the pipeline? Are they just starting with their career, at the peak of their earning potential, or gearing up for retirement?
Differentiate yourself from the competition
To set yourself apart from the competition, demonstrate that you are committed to more than just the success of your clients. You have to show what makes your approach unique and how that vision will benefit the client.
The best way to do this is to tailor each approach to the individual client. What are their goals, dreams, and aspirations? More specifically, can you articulate how your vision for their financial future can align with these dreams? Your messaging should focus on exactly how you can help them meet their goals.
The bottom line
No matter what services you provide, the work of a financial advisor revolves around the sales funnel. You need to cultivate a consistent stream of new prospects who are ready to turn into loyal clients. If you use the right financial selling approach, you can ensure that your funnel never runs dry.
Even if you have the right strategies for connecting with clients, it won’t make a difference if you can’t reach them in the first place. That’s where Aloware comes in.
With Aloware’s power dialer, you can connect with more leads than ever — up to 500 in a day. Our technology also enables financial advisors to send automated sequences to nurture potential clients.
Learn more about how Aloware’s unlimited calling and texting technology can help you turn leads into deals, and sign up to get a demo today.
