Doctors, nurses, heavy-equipment operators, lawyers: They're everywhere! (Credit: Shutterstock)
Advisors need to keep the prospecting pipeline filled. This presents many challenges, including knowing which jobs and professions pay well. Many confident advisors can feel awed when talking to professionals like doctors or lawyers. This feeling increases if the other person considers the advisor or agent a salesperson. Let's look at a four-step process to address these problems.
Step 1: Find Those High-Paying Professions
This will be far easier than you might imagine. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks this data. Do an internet search on "BLS Salary" and the name of your metro area. The results should include "May 2019 State Occupational and Wage Estimates," followed by the name of your city. In some cases, the 2019 report isn't available. You will likely get the 2017 report.
It lists hundreds of job titles. Using New York City as an example, you might find there are more than 112,000 accountants and auditors earning about $98,000 a year. There are also more than 77,000 lawyers averaging $168,000 a year. These seem like obvious prospects for advisors.
Here are some professions that might surprise you. Dentists make about $167,000 a year. Real estate agents (4,700 of them) average $111,000 a year. Executive secretaries and assistants average more than $73,000 a year. The city's 820 boilermakers average $86,000 a year. Pile driver operators come in at $103,000 a year. The city's 178,000 registered nurses average $87,000 a year.
Your project: Review the professions. Build a list of jobs that pay well.
Step 2: Who Does These Jobs?
You have a list of professions. Some jobs on the list are there because you know people in the field. They might be current clients. Others are on the list because they look like good referral sources (accountants, lawyers). Others are unlikely jobs that pay well.
The website searchsystems.net is a collection of more than 70,000 public access databases. Most are free. This is where you will find licensing information. It varies by state — there isn't a uniform system for accessing data. Choosing a state, then choosing licenses should direct you to a list of a couple hundred professions. Many have a search feature, used to verify that a practitioner's professional license is in good standing. The same feature can often be used to "Show me all the CPAs in this town or zip code."
You have other, more intuitive sources. You have friends doing these jobs. Now you have an idea what the profession pays. Do they have the cash flow to qualify as a client?
Your project: Build a list of people doing these jobs in your local area. Try to get detailed contact information.
