Regular follow-ups are key to closing sales with prospects. And they can also help you stay connected with your existing clients between meetings. If you don’t want to pester prospects or clients with frequent calls, you could follow up via email instead. Before hitting send, it’s helpful to know what goes into a winning financial advisor follow-up email.
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Why Should Advisors Follow Up?
You want to grow your business, but you can’t do that without clients. If you connect with prospects, but never follow up past that initial contact, you may have a much harder time building a thriving practice.
Why? Because “out of sight, out of mind” is all too true. If you’re not keeping yourself on a prospective client’s radar with follow-up calls or emails, they could easily forget about you. And when they’re ready to sit down with an advisor, someone other than you will be on the other side of the table.
Follow-ups are also essential for nurturing relationships with your current clients. A friendly check-in call or email every few months lets your clients know that you’re there for them should they need or want to chat. More importantly, a follow-up could spark a conversation about new products or services you could offer if they’ve experienced a significant life change since your last meeting.
7 Financial Advisor Follow-Up Email Tips
While advisors should be ready to follow up, there’s a right way and a wrong way to approach it. These tips can help ensure that your follow-up efforts don’t fall flat:
- Be original. There’s nothing wrong with using email templates for follow-ups or other marketing activities. But you can run into trouble if your template is just a copy-and-paste job of a template that lots of other advisors or marketers are using. It may take a little time to craft original templates, but the effort is worth it if you’re sharing your unique voice with prospects and clients alike.
- Be authentic. Authenticity is key to building trust with prospective clients. So be yourself and speak naturally, as if you’re talking to a friend.
- Be positive. A common tactic in advisor email marketing is relying on the fear factor. If you don’t do this, then XYZ terrible thing will happen. While fear can trigger a response, it’s not always the one you want. Keeping the tone positive and encouraging may elicit more responses than making prospects or clients feel even more worried than they might already be.
- Be timely. Follow-up emails work best when the timing is right. Wait too long to follow up, and a prospect could be snatched up by another advisor who’s quicker on the draw. With existing clients, follow-ups may be most effective when they’ve experienced a life change or hit a milestone, like changing jobs or getting married.
- Be brief. A follow-up email shouldn’t be book-length; prospects and clients just don’t have time for that. Short and to the point is better; you want to make every word count.
- Be responsive. If you send a follow-up email to a prospect or client and they send a message back, don’t leave them hanging. Respond to their message promptly, answer their questions and suggest a time to meet for a more in-depth discussion.
- Don’t be annoying. Space out follow-up emails so that you’re not deluging a prospect or client’s inbox with unwanted messages. Otherwise, you could end up on the block list.
Financial Advisor Follow-Up Email Templates
How do you follow up with prospects or clients? What should your email say?
Those are good questions to ask. And to help answer them, we’ve created some simple email templates to use in different scenarios.
Follow-Up Email #1: Initial Contact
Hi [client’s name],
I saw that you [filled out our contact form/joined our email list] and wanted to say a quick hello! Reaching out to an advisor is a major step and I’m excited to learn more about your goals.
So I’d like to know: What’s one BIG thing you want to do with your money right now?
We all want to feel good about the decisions we make with our financial plans, and that’s what I help clients like you with. I’d love to have a chance to chat with you a little more about where you are now financially, where you’d like to go and how I can help you get there.
What’s the best way to reach you and when would be a suitable time to connect?
Looking forward to hearing from you,
[Your name]
Why it works: This template assumes that a prospect has reached out and expressed interest in your services. It works because you’re leading with excitement, instead of the typical “what are you worried about?” line that many advisors use to start the conversation.
Follow-Up Email #2: After the First Meeting
Hi [client’s name],
I thoroughly enjoyed our chat today and I appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to meet. I feel good about the ground we covered, and I hope you walked away with more clarity on your goals.
When we were chatting, you mentioned that you were a little concerned about when you’d be able to retire based on what you’re currently saving. I think it would be beneficial to run some scenarios through a portfolio visualizer tool so you can see what retirement pathways you might have. Sometimes seeing a thing can be more helpful than just talking about it.
If you agree, let’s get a meeting on the calendar. I’m excited to walk you through the possibilities for planning your retirement.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
[Your name]
Why it works: This email template continues the conversation, addresses the prospect’s concerns and demonstrates a little of the value that you have to offer. It also brings the client back into your sphere by encouraging them to schedule a follow-up meeting.
Follow-Up Email #3: Current Clients
Hi [client’s name],
How have you been? I’m dropping a little note because you popped up on my LinkedIn feed today with a new role. Congrats!
Last time we met, you mentioned that you were contemplating a job change. Since that’s come to fruition, I’d love to sit down with you and discuss what it might mean for your retirement plan and answer any questions you might have about what to do with your 401(k) at your previous employer.
Let’s get a meeting on the calendar when it’s convenient for you. And in the meantime, I’m always just a phone call or email away if you want to chat.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
[Your name]
Why it works: This template strikes a personal note and offers encouragement. It also prompts the client to think about how a job change could affect their financial plan and what next steps they need to take.
Bottom Line
These financial advisor follow-up email templates are designed to motivate you to reconnect with prospects and clients. If you’re not following up, it’s time to get into the habit so you can grow your client list.
Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business
- Marketing spans so many things, from email to digital ads to social media, and it’s enough to make a busy advisor’s head spin. If you’re looking for an easier way to connect with leads, you might consider working with an intuitive advisor marketing platform. SmartAsset AMP uses a holistic approach to help independent advisors grow. Schedule a demo to learn how you can put it to work for your business.
- Email marketing can help you grow your business but how do you get prospects onto your email list? Offering a tempting lead magnet is a proven way to gain new subscribers. If you’re looking for some lead magnet ideas, you might offer a free case study, calculator, or financial planning checklist.
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