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These are some of my favorite topics to speak about with financial advisors.
They are also the ones I get the most questions and feedback on, so I’m putting my practice management advice (greatest hits edition) together in one place – all here for you to use at any time!
I hope you’ll read on to find out what language to use in specific situations, why the words you use matter so much and how practicing your language helps you stay top of mind with your clients.
Use referral language that actually works
I worked as an advisor years ago, first at Morgan Stanley, then at an RIA based in Northern California, where we used this very language because it works.
I still use this consistently with my clients and share it with advisors for a couple of specific reasons:
1. You can roll this language out as often as you would like.
How do we have existing clients share their experiences — ideally great experiences — of working with you with their friends and family so that new business comes your way? With repeatable, confident language to maximize every opportunity.
2. As a financial advisor, you are a professional speaker.
It’s true. You earn your income, initially at least, through speaking.
Don’t fumble your words. Don’t stumble through an answer. You want words at the ready to lead conversations and learn what you really want to know.
Listen, headlines are pretty intense right now. It's understandably leading to a lot of emotional angst, particularly about their finances.
So, when you hear a stat stating that 65% of Americans don't work with a financial advisor, it’s a reason to be encouraged. It means there are a lot of people out there who need to be hearing from you.
And it can all start with the people who already like working with you.
What language will help you get these referrals?
When talking with your clients, at the end of a strategy meeting or portfolio review, it's simply saying this:
“[Doug and Heather], it's been great meeting with you today. If you have friends or family who have questions or concerns about [Social Security, guaranteed lifetime income, retirement cash flow], please have them give me a call.
Or better yet, have them pop me through an email mentioning you in the subject line. That will get my attention for sure.
I'm more than happy to answer any questions they might have.
I don't promise to bring them on as a client because it's got to be a great fit, but I'm more than happy to talk with them for 10 or 15 minutes answering any questions they might have and hearing any fears that they're experiencing right now. There’s a lot of angst out there right now, and I'm more than happy to see how I might be able to help. And, again, don't promise to bring them on as a client, but happy to talk with them.”
And that's it.
If you want to dive into why this exact wording works – I go through each line here.
Develop profitable referral partnerships with centers of influence
First and foremost, practice patience here. Referral partnerships take time and are worth it.
- Identify two or three people within your area who you’d love to be doing business with but are not working with right now.
- Develop the correct language to approach them (and this has to be honest language). You want to have written wording that states exactly who you’re looking for — one or two more estate attorneys, more CPAs, or a new divorce attorney because your business is growing. (We are providing this kind of content in our Fiduciary Foundations course. It’s language that works in the real world, and this is one of our modules. It’s all about growing centers of influence and how to use effective language to get on board with them. Shoot me an email if you want more on this topic!)
- Be consistent in your follow up. Be helpful with the content that you send them. In fact, look for opportunities to help them first. Don’t just give in a quid-pro-quo approach, where you’re expecting something immediately back.
Remain top-of-mind with clients
Basically…what can you say when you have nothing to say? Hint: it’s NOT “just touching base!”
I recommend using this simple, effective language that would sound something like this:
“Hi [Doug], it’s [Paul Kingsman from Ash Brokerage]. I’ve got 10 minutes before my next meeting, and I wanted to connect with you on two things. Firstly, earlier this morning, I looked over your accounts. Everything looks great. Everything’s going to plan regarding what we spoke about several months ago. So, I wanted to let you know that to begin with. And secondly, I was wondering what you and [Heather are doing over the summer].”
You’ve let your client know you’ve checked their accounts and how those look. Then you’ve asked a quick question about their plans for the summer. A couple of things can happen from here.
You are likely to get a response back regarding summer plans. Perhaps your client may also say something like, “While I’ve got you there, Heather and I were talking. We were wondering about 529 plans (or some other issue). Do you do this?” And that’s a perfect opportunity for more business.
Basically, reach out even if there isn’t a pressing issue, but make it count!
Describing what you do and how you work
Don’t. Waste. This. Question.
“So… what do you do?”
This is all about practice, practice, practice. You've got to be confident with your words so that you know exactly what's going to roll off your tongue. You need to be confident with your tone.
You're going to know words to emphasize. You're going to know when to turn the tone up.
This is rehearsed, so you know exactly the words to emphasize at the right time.
Plus, you have choices to be flexible. And what I mean by that is, regarding the particular group you might be mingling in, you want to be open to clarifying that you can be of service to that particular person or group. It could look something like this:
“I'm a financial advisor and work primarily with [tech professionals] who want to make the best financial decisions now, so they have the most ideal choices later.
And I say primarily because we used to focus specifically just on [tech professionals]. However, they then refer their family and friends. And so, while we do have a number of [tech professionals] we work with, we also have more a general group of clients. The main priorities are they've got to be fun, and they've got to be focused.
They've got to be fun to work with, and they've got to be serious about the choices they want, be it five, 10, 20 years from now. That's a little bit about how we work and who we love to work with.”
Define exactly who and how you help. And then you redirect.
Challenge yourself to be tight with verbiage.
For the redirect, it's easy to parrot back, so what do you do? That'll just keep the conversation going while allowing you to find out more about them.
“So, do you work around here? Do you know the bride or the groom?”
I often get asked this by advisors as a follow up: “Should I hand them a business card and ask for one back?” No.
If they ask about something specific as it pertains to your job, you can mention something along these lines:
“In case we don't see each other again, I enjoyed getting to know you a bit. If I can help or answer any questions you might have about, [retirement and cash flow during retirement, Medicare or how to enroll, when to enroll for that], please let me know. Here are my contact details - email me mentioning that we met here at [Susie and Ron's wedding].”
Measure the metrics that matter most
It’s easy to confuse change with growth. To have real, sustainable business growth, you need to be increasing in these three areas (measured in the last quarter or month):
- Number of new clients.
- Total net new assets and AUM
- Number of new referrals
You might make changes. You might tweak things in the name of growth. But these are the metrics that matter most to understand if your business is truly growing.
Phew. That was a lot of information.
I lead the practice management efforts at Ash and am hyper-focused on helping advisors:
- Establish practical solutions for tackling day-to-day priorities
- Run their businesses efficiently in a changing financial services industry
- Change behaviors within their control
Related: When Referrals Aren’t a Good Fit