Is your referral strategy as effective as it can be? If not, it’s a common challenge for today’s advisor. Some may discover they are too busy serving their current clients to find time to pursue new prospects. Others may dedicate hours and lots of money to hunting for new business, only to come up relatively empty. Or they may find that the returns hardly justify the effort and expense, perhaps because the prospects they find are not a good fit for their business.
What if you could just clone your 10 best clients? Wouldn’t that be a great way to revive your referral marketing strategy? This idea may not be as far-fetched as it might seem. If you can determine what makes you so valuable to your best clients, and leverage these advantages to close new business, you might find greater success in your referral efforts. While there is no secret formula for finding and signing ideal clients, a more targeted, thoughtful approach can pay dividends over time
Identifying your best clients Before you attempt to replicate your best clients, you first have to know who these clients are. This process starts with some reflection on your goals, and some analysis and segmentation of your current book of business. Client segmentation starts with identifying a number of metrics you can use to score your current clients. Assets under management or total revenue are obvious parameters, opportunities, the number and quality of past referrals, and time spent to service the account. (Clients who are relatively easy to service, especially relative to their AUM, would receive a higher score.) You may also want to assign a score for personal qualities. Do you enjoy spending time with this client? Do you have interests in common? This is an important consideration when it comes to finding your niche, especially if you’re going to look for similar clients. Click here to read the entire white paper.
