Stop The Insanity

Seriously, this probably sounds absurd, but just think it through. Like most businesses that focus on sales, Financial Advisors require a robust sales pipeline in order to grow. However, if you look around, the numbers show very few Advisors have this pipeline in place.

Why? (and here’s the insane part) Because for years the traditional industry wide sales/marketing/referral model – which has been practiced by a great majority of advisors – in all its incarnations and “new” approaches, has produced mostly modest growth and a limited number of new quality clients.

Advisors are at the mercy of the markets, some referrals, or a variety of marketing strategies for growth. The business controls them rather than the Advisor controlling their business.

It’s time to stop the insanity!

There are, indeed, more productive approaches business growth… some may be outside the Industry.

Of course, it’s true that many Advisors have good reasons to feel skeptical about the new or the different, having been burned by expensive sales and marketing programs that promised the moon and the stars.

But look at other successful businesspeople and entrepreneurs. They practice  “healthy skepticism” while exploring new ideas, no matter how different they seem.

It’s not risky. The only investment is a little time.

The Bad News – Your Marketing Story May Suck!

Wondering why your quality best clients are not personally introducing you to their quality best friends and colleagues? Wondering why you have so few brand new, warm quality first appointments?

It’s probably because your “Marketing Story” is not worth talking about.

It’s not remarkable!

However, we’ve talked with countless Financial Advisors and for the most part, their marketing stories are basically the same. Their focus is on how their firm is different, where they went to school, the degrees they’ve earned, how great their numbers are, their charitable work, family, et al.  

Quality best clients and prospects don’t see this kind of story as remarkable.

As soon as you move away from your old marketing story to a new more Remarkable Marketing Story, everything changes… because your story is perceived as remarkable. Not only will your clients respond to you, they will also talk about you to their friends and colleagues. You have become more remarkable and quality activity goes way up… consistently.

Developing an effective, more Remarkable Marketing Story is a simple and effective process that shows you understand your market and their predominant Worldview…  distrust of Advisors and the Industry (See Darth Vader Post). Any form of puffery or selling will literally and figuratively slam the door.

Think about it.  If you don’t have a schedule that’s consistently filled with quality prospect meetings and first appointments that are warm and personally introduced to you by your best quality clients, your story probably sucks.

Financial Advisors need an authentic story....