I remember the day I met Bob from Maryland. I was at an insurance conference years ago, and he stood out because he said he got all of his new clients automatically. Naturally, I wanted to know what he was doing to automatically get clients because, at that point in my career, every new client I got was a lot of work. I pulled Bob aside and asked him to tell me his secret. Luckily, he told me, and I am sharing those ideas with you.
As financial professionals, we have two goals: take care of current clients and add new clients. Unfortunately, managing time effectively is vital to business success. If an advisor is focusing on growing his or her business and current clients are put on the back burner, long-term the business suffers. At the same time, if the advisor doesn't gain new clients, current income can be unpredictable. Bob taught me I can have both by automating the expected, so you can humanize the unexpected. What he shared with me changed the way I do business.
Develop or improve a client communication campaign
Poor service still is the No. 1 reason a client leaves a financial professional. The solution is to develop or improve a client communication campaign. If you don't talk to your clients, someone else will. In our office, we created a client communication calendar. It consists of a monthly e-mail, a quarterly print magazine, an audio education series and a variety of other well-defined steps to communicate with clients and the public. This helps ensure our clients receive communication on a regular basis. Technology solutions, such as contact management software, can automate this process for the advisor. The key is to make these contacts personalized and educational, avoiding a sales pitch.
Develop an ongoing communication campaign one step at a time. The great thing about developing an automated process is once it is done you don't have to recreate it. Whether it's a current client or a potential client, once the process is put in place it can be easily automated for the future. Prioritize the most important follow-up systems one at a time. Focus on completing one a month for the next year.
