Chris Hobart was drawn to the retirement market because of his grandmother.
"I know, it sounds staged, but it isn't," he says.
After retiring as a special education teacher, she received questionable financial advice that led to excessive losses and unnecessary taxes. In turn, Hobart left his job at a Fortune 500 company to start his own firm to help others avoid the issues his grandmother encountered.
Helping others seems to be a consistent theme inside and outside of Hobart's practice. He serves as a board member at Junior Achievement, which aims to teach children financial skills.
Hobart talks about the program, and also discusses the value of constant communication with clients, issues baby boomers face and the challenges of growing a bigger business.
On challenges with growing his practice: My biggest challenge is the delicate balance of strategic growth and quality control. As my firm grows, so does the list of responsibilities and challenges. I'm continuously looking for creative ways to grow my practice. However, anytime I add another component to my multipronged marketing strategy or acquire an advisor's practice through our succession planning strategy, I have to reconfigure our resources. It's an exciting time for my firm, but it can also be exhausting.
On prospecting new clients: My prospecting process is a multifaceted marketing strategy that builds brand awareness and converts prospects to clients through various communication mediums, such as television, radio, public relations, college classes, seminars, social media, landing pages, event sponsorship and client outreach. Typically, a prospect who attends our seminar has already listened to our radio program or seen a local or national television appearance, making my firm and me familiar. Familiarity is powerful when it comes to establishing trust. If a prospect doesn't become a client through the seminar process, we make a point to use a strategic follow-up process.
