Stop the prospecting madness

July 31, 2012 at 08:00 PM
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As advisors, we all wear two hats as a prospector and an advisor. The problem is, we really only get paid for the work we do in the advisory role, which is why it's critical to develop systems that generate a consistent stream of new prospects on an ongoing basis. This is the only way to really grow your business to the level you're striving for.

So what does this look like practically?

In my business, I decided that if I just committed myself to prospecting for strategic alliances with CPAs­—regardless of how long that took me—I'd be running my business smarter than my competition and in a much more enjoyable way.

I realized that I was spending money on all kinds of marketing campaigns, all with the goal of creating a base of qualified prospects who both needed my help and saw me as the expert that could help them with their problems. By focusing my efforts on building strategic alliances, I realized the first of these two aspects would be accomplished very quickly, since I could tap into the CPA's base of clients, which became my "target market." Due to the fact that this was a very concentrated base of prospects, it made it much easier and much more affordable to implement the marketing strategies necessary to become known as the expert among the CPA's clients.

The reason that most advisors never really achieve market penetration in any demographic is because they are trying to market themselves to too many people in too many different ways. Sure, you can send out a mail campaign, or put up a billboard by your office with the hopes of generating a few calls or setting a few first appointments, but the problem with this and every type of "mass marketing" is that your "chasing days" never end. As long as you try to build your business using these and other mass marketing strategies, you'll always be frustrated on some level with either the lack of prospects you have to talk to, or the amount of money you have to spend to reach them.

So consider refocusing your prospecting time and efforts to "chasing" strategic alliances. The reality is, each strategic alliance you form can introduce you to hundreds of prospects you never would have reached otherwise and position you as the expert much faster than you can position yourself while at the same time drastically reducing your overall marketing costs.

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Brandon Stuerke, CRPC, is president of Golden Financial Group, LLC, a Columbia, Mo.-based independent financial advisory firm, and creator of the Winning with CPAs referral program. For more information or to contact Brandon Stuerke, please call (800) 260-2927 or e-mail [email protected].

 
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