8 Habits of Successful Financial Advisors

Every advisor wants to grow, but they don’t all move at the same pace or achieve the same results. If you feel like you’ve hit a plateau with your business, a little inspiration could help you find the motivation to get going again. Studying the habits of successful financial advisors can offer insight into what top performers are doing to achieve their goals.

Ready to grow your client base? SmartAsset AMP can help simplify advisor marketing.

Measuring Success as a Financial Advisor

Success means something different to everyone, and it’s important to have a clear perspective on how you define it for yourself. Without metrics to measure yourself against, it’s difficult to gauge what progress you’re making and what systems or strategies are producing the best results.

Advisors often look to key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate their businesses. For instance, they may be concerned with things like:

Assets under management (AUM)
Year-over-year AUM growth
Percentage of high-net-worth clients
Annual client retention rates
Net and gross revenue
Year-over-year revenue growth
Client revenue per hour
Profit per client

Those are all important to measure, as they offer insight into how your firm is doing financially. But for many advisors, success is more than numbers on a page.

Success can mean the satisfaction of seeing clients achieve their goals and doing work that utilizes your skills while feeding your passion. It’s creating a workplace culture and a brand that you feel proud of. And it’s about striking the right work/life balance so that you’re able to enjoy the things you work so hard for.

Building success habits can help you get closer to the vision you’re trying to achieve. But before you start cultivating those habits, it’s important to have some clarity on what success truly means for you.

Client Acquisition Simplified: For RIAs

Ideal for RIAs looking to scale.
Validated referrals to help build your pipeline efficiently.
Save time + optimize your close rate with high-touch, pre-built campaigns.

CFP®, CEO

Joe Anderson

Pure Financial Advisors

We have seen a remarkable return on investment and comparatively low client acquisition costs even as we’ve multiplied our spend over the years.

Pure Financial Advisors reports $1B in new AUM from SmartAsset investor referrals.

8 Habits of Successful Financial Advisors

The most successful financial advisors make it look effortless, but in reality, it can take years of developing good habits and systems to reach the peak. You also need a growth-focused mindset to get ahead.

With that in mind, here are the habits successful advisors rely on to get ahead:

Become a Top Financial Advisor

Referrals and market gains aren't enough. Grow with the all-in-one advisor marketing platform.

Habit #1: Set Goals

Financial advisors who regularly set goals, with clearly delineated action steps, have an advantage. When you have one or more goals on the horizon, you give yourself a compass to follow. If you don’t have any goals, it’s time to create some. The secret to creating effective goals is to make them SMART, which means:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-bound

This is the SMART goal formula, and it can help you avoid setting goals that are too vague or unrealistic.

Habit #2: Build Relationships

Successful advisors want to gain new clients, but they’re also committed to keeping them. They understand the importance of nurturing strong relationships through:

Excellent communication
Outstanding service that exceeds client expectations
Showing appreciation

This work pays off when they’re able to generate more referrals from their current client base. Solid relationships can also act as a bridge to the next generation if their clients have children or grandchildren who will eventually need financial advice.

Habit #3: Monitor Trends

Advisors who aim for success aren’t oblivious to what’s happening in the markets. They’re on top of the latest trends and pay close attention to anything that could affect their clients.

When a client calls with concerns over how a Fed rate cut might affect their portfolio, for example, the most successful advisors have their responses at the ready. They’re always two steps ahead in considering how to personalize the advice they offer to clients as new trends develop.

Habit #4: Leverage Tech

The digital era has transformed the way advisors do just about everything, with AI technology being the latest innovation. Successful advisors don’t shy away from using tech tools; instead, they learn how they can leverage them to their advantage.

For example, marketing can be a drain on your time and budget, but it’s necessary if you’re trying to grow a brand. Rather than attempting to do it all yourself, you might consider partnering with a tech-driven marketing platform that caters to the needs of growth-focused advisors.

Some technologies have a steeper learning curve than others. But that’s easily outweighed by the advantages tech tools have to offer.

Habit #5: Follow Up

Prospecting may take up a sizable part of your daily schedule, and smart advisors know when and how to follow up to close sales.

First impressions are crucial, but follow-ups are what can keep a conversation with a prospect going. Sending a short and sweet email or text is an effortless way to stay on a prospect’s radar and remind them that you’re standing by to help.

Developing some follow-up scripts or best practices can make it easier to avoid missed opportunities to convert a prospect to a client.

Habit #6: Benchmark

Benchmarking can yield insight into what’s working in your business or what’s not, compared to what your competitors are doing or how the industry is moving as a whole. If you’re not doing any benchmarking, you may be overlooking key areas in your business that need to be addressed to move your success forward.

Advisor benchmarking is as straightforward as:

Choosing the metrics you want to measure
Collecting the relevant data
Analyzing the data to interpret the results

Once you have your results, the next step is to decide how you can use them to further business growth.

Habit #7: Build Skills

The most successful advisors are always learning new skills and expanding their knowledge. Advisory services are always evolving, and smart advisors understand that they need to evolve along with it.

What skills should an advisor have? Some of the most helpful digital skills include:

Search engine optimization (SEO)
Social media marketing
Content creation
Email marketing

If you feel out of your depth in these areas, pick one skill to learn to start. Then work on adding new ones to expand your skill set.

Habit #8: Prioritize

Successful financial advisors are intentional about how they use their time and energy. Rather than reacting to every email, request or market headline, they focus on the activities that have the greatest impact on clients and the business. This means clearly identifying what matters most each day and letting go of tasks that don’t move the needle.

Prioritization also shows up in how top advisors structure their client relationships. They devote more time and preparation to high-impact conversations, proactive planning and complex client needs, instead of spreading themselves too thin. By setting boundaries around meetings and availability, they protect time for deep work and strategic thinking.

Just as important, successful advisors regularly revisit their priorities as their firms grow. What mattered early in a career may not be the best use of time later on. Advisors who consistently reassess and realign their focus are better positioned to scale sustainably, avoid burnout and deliver higher-quality advice over the long term.

Other Tips for Being a Successful Financial Advisor

Beyond core habits and growth strategies, long-term success as a financial advisor often comes down to how you operate day to day. Small, consistent behaviors can reinforce trust, improve efficiency and make the business more resilient over time. These additional tips focus on mindset, execution and sustainability.

Communicate clearly and proactively: Clients value clarity, especially during uncertainty. Explaining recommendations in plain language and setting expectations upfront can prevent confusion and reduce anxiety. Proactive communication builds confidence even when markets or circumstances change.
Document everything thoroughly: Strong documentation supports both compliance and client service. Recording meeting notes, rationale for recommendations and follow-up actions creates continuity and protects the firm if questions arise later. Good records also make it easier to deliver consistent advice.
Delegate earlier than feels comfortable: Many advisors wait too long to delegate, which can slow growth and increase burnout. Handing off administrative or operational tasks allows advisors to focus on higher-value work. Effective delegation requires trust, training and clear processes.
Stay disciplined during market volatility: Emotional discipline is critical when markets are unpredictable. Advisors who remain calm and consistent during downturns help clients avoid reactive decisions. Modeling steady behavior reinforces credibility and leadership.
Invest in your own well-being: Sustainable success requires managing stress and avoiding burnout. Maintaining boundaries, taking breaks and protecting personal time can improve decision-making and client interactions. Advisors who care for themselves are better positioned to care for clients.

Success in financial advising isn’t driven by one habit alone, but by a collection of thoughtful practices carried out consistently. By refining how you communicate, operate and manage yourself, you can strengthen client trust and build a more durable, rewarding career.

Bottom Line

Becoming a successful advisor starts with developing the right habits.

Successful financial advisors build their practices around consistent, intentional habits rather than short-term tactics. From client service and professional development to time management and prioritization, these behaviors compound over time to drive growth and resilience. Advisors who adopt these habits are better equipped to manage complexity, deliver meaningful value and sustain long-term success.

Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business

One of the biggest challenges many advisors face is creating the “perfect” marketing plan. The reason? There’s no such thing. It’s more important to find a strategy that works for you, which might include social media, email or partnering with an advisor marketing platform. SmartAsset AMP takes a comprehensive approach to marketing that can help you generate leads. Schedule a demo to learn how you can leverage it to grow your business.
Here’s one more trait of successful advisors: They know when to delegate, outsource and automate. If you feel overwhelmed by front or back office tasks, consider what you can do to implement systems and workflows that would allow you to automate or hand off tasks to someone else. There may be an upfront investment required but it can be worth it to get time back in your day.