Growing an advisory firm requires a coherent strategy. A 2023 survey conducted by Janus Henderson Investors and the Financial Planning Association (FPA) examines ways advisor firms can encourage growth. From building a systematic outreach method to increasing the number of people that are communicating with potential clients, there is so much you can do to better nurture leads and grow your advisory business faster. Read on to see the three ways advisor firms nurture leads and grow assets under management (AUM).
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What Is Lead Nurturing for Financial Advisors?
Lead nurturing is the act of building relationships with potential clients in the hopes that they will convert into a customer or clients down the line. It is the act of helping them move down the sales funnel toward making a buying decision. For financial advisors, this can mean a number of things from educating them on proper investment practices to keeping them informed in how your firm is performing.
There are numerous ways that you can go about nurturing leads. Here are three of the most common practices that advisory firms use to nurture leads in order to grow their business.
1. Build a Team
Advisory firms come in different sizes. However, working with a team in an advisory firm has demonstrated advantages in growing AUM. Solo practitioners tend to be less comfortable with their growth rate, according to the survey.
“Of firms managing less than $100 million in AUM, 90% do not have a team,” the survey says. “Regardless of why advisors hesitate to form a team, the research shows that teams can onboard more clients than individual advisors.”
As you grow your team, you grow the number of people who might be able to help nurture leads. This gives you more people actively reaching out to potential clients and helping them to learn more about your firm. Just your ability to communicate with more people on a regular basis can increase your ability to nurture leads and grow your business.
2. Have a Process and System to Generate Growth
“An overwhelming majority (89%) of advisors agree that having the right processes and systems is critical to business growth,” the report says. “However, only 59% agree that they have completed this work.”
Crucial processes may involve following up with and nurturing leads, as well as preventing staff burnout. The advisory firms that don’t have a proper process or system in place grow more slowly than competitors that do. “Firms growing at a significantly slower rate are much more likely to have no process (20%) or an informal process (57%) in place for actioning on prospect leads,” the report says.
3. Identify Ideal Clients and Execute Strategy
Identifying your ideal client is just the first step to growing your client base. Growing firms are also tailoring the office experience, marketing communications, in-house specialists and other firm elements to their ideal clientele.
“Those firms that onboarded 10+ clients in the previous 12 months are more likely to have gone beyond identifying their ideal clients to intentionally designing an experience based on their specific needs, challenges and preferences,” the report says.
Bottom Line
Having a quality strategy, process and system within an advisory firm is a step to long-term success. Advisor firms that are growing tend to work with a team and execute various client- and business-facing strategies to facilitate growth. The right outreach methods for you will depend on the types of clients you’re targeting and how you want to improve your overall firm communications.
Tips for Growing Your Financial Advisory Business
- Let us be your organic growth partner. SmartAsset AMP (Advisor Marketing Platform) is a holistic marketing service financial advisors can use for client lead generation and automated marketing. Sign up for a free demo to explore how SmartAsset AMP can help you expand your practice’s marketing operation. Get started today.
- Expand your radius. SmartAsset’s recent survey shows that many advisors expect to continue meeting with clients remotely following COVID-19. Consider broadening your search. And work with investors who are more comfortable with holding virtual meetings or spacing out in-person meetings.
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