Derrick Kinney | A Problem-First Approach to Winning Clients

So I'm a former top advisor, but I sold my business a couple years ago and now I solve a specific problem for advisors.

Most advisors are great at what they do, but they're terrible at describing it, and it costs them lots of high net worth clients. I help them fix that problem.

[00:00:30] Doug Heikkinen: So beyond that, what's the biggest mistake you see advisors make?

[00:00:34] Derrick Kinney: Well, the number one is they compare themselves to other advisors, and they try to sell themselves based on the features and benefits of their products and services.

They think what they offer is what differentiates them from other advisors. They think a high network prospect is thinking, I want that feature and benefit. I want that product and service, and they're flat, dead wrong. Instead, what I tell them is when you can solve a relatable problem that a high net worth prospect has, then they want to work with you. When you can say something that makes them say, oh my gosh, you get me? Yes, I'm worried about running out of money in retirement. Yes, I'm successful, but I feel like I'm falling further behind. Yes, I've had a life event that makes me feel stuck. I want someone to help me. When you do that, people don't care about the products.

They care about the problems you're helping them solve.

[00:01:23] Doug Heikkinen: Speaking of when advisors get stuck, when they get stuck, what's the first step they should take?

[00:01:27] Derrick Kinney: Well, the first thing is you want to slow down and you want to ask yourself, what is the unique problem that I solve for my clients? And I give people this exercise, I call it the five and five exercise.

Look at your five most recent clients, and then your five favorite clients. And ask, of the five most recent, what problem did they come to you to help them solve? And then also, what emotion did they feel before they came to you? Were they nervous, anxious, worried, frustrated? And then what emotion did they feel now that they're working with the advisor?

I feel confident. I have peace of mind. I feel like I can, and I'm in charge of things. All of those tell you then the words to use to better articulate what you do. Then you test that against your five favorite clients. These are the people who, they pay you what you're worth. You smile when you see their name on your calendar.

They don't nickel and dime you, and you want to make sure that you're solving those same problems. That's the best focus group I can think of for people to say, okay, now I know what people are actually coming to me to help solve. Do that, you'll find you're attracting clients a lot faster than you ever have before.

[00:02:33] Doug Heikkinen: I think next gen advisors would really appreciate what you're doing. You're probably working with some of them, so for those, next gen advisors and they're struggling to attract clients or high network clients, what should they do?

[00:02:43] Derrick Kinney: Well, first of all, don't panic. So many next gen advisors, they think their age is a liability.

Quick story. I had a panicked advisor call me recently, said, Derrick, I've got this next gen advisor. She's struggling to bring in any types of clients. Can you help her? And I worked on her language because she was being questioned in her mind when she talked to people, is she even worth being a financial advisor?

And so I talked about don't try to connect with that person's problems with this founder, for example, they work with business owners. And I said, think about saying something like, you know how so many business owners, what keeps them awake at night is the thought of the business they've built getting passed to their kids, and their kids screw the whole thing up. We help them fix that. I specialize in helping train your kids be ready to take on your business and manage that inheritance. That founder's eyes got as big as saucers and he said, oh my gosh, that's exactly what I want. So we flipped her age, which she thought was a liability, to the biggest asset.

Now she could bring in high net worth prospects by appealing to the kids of those high net worth prospects. So when you're a next gen, know what your unique superpower is, your age, lay it out there and use it as an advantage, not something to keep kind of hidden.

[00:03:57] Doug Heikkinen: You're doing some great stuff.

[00:03:58] Derrick Kinney: Thank you.

[00:03:59] Doug Heikkinen: Thank you for being with us.

[00:04:00] Derrick Kinney: My pleasure. Thank you.