5 sales strategies for the African American market

I have discovered that the African American church is an ideal place to meet hundreds of potential clients. Offer FREE financial educational sessions every month and have them sign up for your free digital newsletter or blog so that you can capture their email and personal information. Now you have a warm number of leads that you're able to stay in touch with. When they are in need of financial advice or need to talk to someone about retirement, who do you think they're going to call?

Is there a lot of competition?

Not only is there a shortage of African American financial advisors in the industry, but the majority of these communities are severely underserved and in most cases, untapped. If you're a financial advisor who has the time, energy and commitment to serve this particular demographic, you basically have no competition.

As an African American advisor, it surprises me that the majority of African American advisors I speak with don't claim their own natural market as one of their niches. Out of curiosity I would ask who they market to, who their ideal client is and do they have a niche market. Most of them would normally say, 'I help everyone because I have a real hard time getting black people to listen to me and many of them don't invest.' I can't count how many times I've heard that, but they just haven't learned the psychology of African Americans. Get to know this demographic well and you'll have no competition.

What are the chances of making lots of money?

As an entrepreneur in the financial services industry, if you are able to meet and see many people, solve financial planning issues, help people retire, build strong relationships, network, communicate and service existing clients, get referrals, and work in a few niche markets you have the opportunity to do very well financially if you specialize.

In just about any industry in the U.S. today, those who specialize and work in a captive niche generally make more money. In the medical field, an orthopedic spine surgeon makes much more than a general practitioner. The surgeon typically sees fewer patients in a day than a practitioner because the work requires a high degree of skill, time and knowledge, and he is paid top dollar for solving problems at this level of difficulty. The practitioner's job is equally important, but the orthopedic spine surgeon is a specialist and that's what we should strive to be as financial advisors.

In the African American community, my mission is to become the retirement specialist advisor that they seek out because over time I have established an identity in the community where they have seen me, heard me, corresponded with me, attended my classes, and heard that I have helped others plan strategies to live an extraordinary retirement. I want to be that specialist in this niche market.

Is it possible to grow the business in the future?

The beauty of working in a niche market is that it provides an ideal situation where you can build systems torepeat the process. Let me give you an example. In my community, we are holding semi-monthly lunch-n-learn wealth-building sessions. For 20 or so attendees, we provide lunch and wealth-building techniques that they've probably never seen or heard before. We know it blows their mind and they will tell other people about the experience.

This is one of the most effective ways to build a lucrative business and put systems in place for future growth, as well. But you do have to be very patient and consistent in the beginning as word slowly gets around the community. 

Our largest clients tend to come from referrals we receive from existing clients and from students who attend our classes. It is amazing to see this on a consistent basis. As long as you are providing quality service to your existing clients, following up with prospects, and getting out in the communities by teaching and helping people understand money and strategies to build wealth, your business will continue to grow.