Ever think, "My pipeline has run dry. What am I going to do?" Successful financial advisors and insurance agents are always adding new clients. They look for business because they know it won't just come to them. What am I doing wrong? How can I fix this problem?
12 Reasons the Well Has Run Dry
Let's examine the problem together and find a solution.
1. You're looking for the silver bullet. Over the years, advisors have looked for the magic strategy that will get prospects lining up at their door, without much effort on their part. In the '90s, it was the internet. In the 2000s, maybe you felt an email campaign was the answer. Today, it's social media.
Solution: Technology helps, but you must sit yourself opposite your prospect and look them in the eyes. Technology should be a tool that helps you talk live with a prospect and schedule an appointment.
2. You don't have a formal procedure. You've heard trainers explain an A to Z process. Your prospect is at point A. Signing the paperwork and handing over a check is point Z. What has to happen in the middle? Do you have a series of steps or do you just keep talking to them, as they put you off?
Solution: You need a series of steps you can move people through. Talking, getting an appointment, doing a plan, presenting the plan with recommendations, follow-up.
3. It's not a daily activity. Many established producers prospect every day. In the past, they shut the door for an hour and get on the phone. They would chase away people who interrupt them. They get it out of the way early in the day.
Strategy: Does your daughter take violin lessons? Is your son on the basketball team? Do you tell them "Practice when you feel like it?" No. You hold their feet to the fire. Follow the advice you would give your children.
4. You aren't persistent. A California advisor told me "You can chop down a tree with a hammer." Persistence pays off. Prospects distribute themselves along a bell-shaped curve. Some commit immediately, others never will. The big bulge is in the middle. Some advisors bring a strategy to the point where it's about to start getting results, then abandon it because "It's not working." They start with a new strategy.
Strategy: Pick a strategy. Stick with it. Fine tune along the way.
5. You think "one and done." You hold a seminar. No business comes. "That's the last seminar I'll ever hold."
Solution: Many successful advisors plan a series of the same activity. A seminar a month. They recycle attendees from one to another, adding new ones along the way.
6. You don't invest in your business. You want wholesalers or the office to cover all the costs of a seminar or client/prospect dinner. If someone else won't pay, you aren't interested.
Solution: The people who put up money want to see a level of commitment from the advisor. You know you will work harder if your own money is on the table. Think about companies that reimburse employees for college courses they take. If they get top marks, they might get everything covered. Just squeaking through or failing will cost you money.
Bryce Sanders is president of Perceptive Business Solutions Inc. He provides HNW client acquisition training for the financial services industry. His book, "
