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Paying for qualified prospects from lead-generation services, such as SmartAdvisor, SmartAsset, and WiserAdvisor, as well as upstarts like MyPerfectFinancialAdvisor and CoveredBridge, can be profitable for advisory firms provided that the proper processes are in place to capture, follow up with, and nurture new opportunities.
Those services partner with financial advisors who want access to new investors. They each have their own strategies to get in front of investors. When they uncover a lead, they pass it on to one or multiple advisors for a fee.
Many advisors receive positive return on investment (ROI). Some do not. Often, advisors receive the leads, do little with them and the prospect just disappears.
Why? There are several reasons.
Some so-called leads were never actually leads at all. Sure, they signed up, but they were never seriously looking for a financial advisor. Others are serious, but not ready to buy now.
Often, though, it is more about the advisor. Advisors are too busy working with clients and searching for strong mutual funds. Some do not have a disciplined, repeatable process in place to follow-up and nurture the leads. And in other cases, the competition does a better job of nurturing and closing the leads than they do.
And eventually, when the advisor does not get enough new clients or find enough value from the service, they stop the subscription.
In this article I will review the best practices for working with lead-generation services for advisors and offer some suggestions to improve the conversion rate from lead to client.
Remember, most leads won’t convert to clients on the first phone call.
Websites that look the part of a serious advisor
Many advisors do not pay proper attention to their website. In this era of online prospecting and digital marketing, that’s a mistake. The website is the first point of contact for prospects from these lead-generation services. Leads that are sent to one advisor are often offered to several others too. Those firms with the most engaging websites are the ones who will get to the next step.
An advisor website needs to be contemporary, informative, and differentiated. If the website has not been updated in a few years, it is unlikely to show up in search rankings. That inattention can also result in a lapse of security protocols, making the website unsecure for visitors.
Online leads do not become qualified prospects until they have spent time on your website. Timely, educational content that resonates with your leads is an attraction. Professional graphics, photos, and video enhance the appeal. Advisors who add these components to their website, and update them frequently, tend to capture more new business.
Follow-up needs to be timely and personal
Leads won’t turn into prospects if you do not follow up on them. This is more about process than ability. Advisors who promptly acknowledge a lead submission and follow up with a call within 24 hours do well. Advisors who wait a week and then “cherry-pick” lose good prospects. The prospect’s urgency disappears over time.
Timely follow-up is important. So is the personal touch. Having an assistant make that first contact is okay, but an advisor making the call is more impactful. Anyone seeking financial advice isn’t just looking at one firm. Personal attention could be the differentiator that closes the deal.
Nurture after first contact
Assuming the deal does not close on the first call, firms without a nurturing system will file it away as lost. The most successful advisors are persistent. It can take multiple emails and phone calls just to schedule that first call. That is not wasted effort. It is relationship building.
Sometimes prospects are not ready to make an immediate commitment. One advisor I know closed a new client deal after five years of email nurturing. With email marketing, it happens often.
Monthly newsletters with reminders to schedule a call are a powerful medium to nurture new prospects. They should not be used to promote services, but rather to disseminate information that will offer some value to the reader. Salesy newsletters tend to get unsubscribed.
An effective nurturing strategy triggers an email campaign immediately once attempts for a phone call sours. Then engage them to register for your educational webinar. Keep track of all the digital analytics and call them at the right time. Your close numbers will go up.
Make it easy to schedule the meeting
Tired of phone tag? Frustrated by the slowness of email tag? Most advisors complain it takes too long to schedule a meeting. To get the initial consultation on the calendar, don’t add obstacles to this process. The lead-generation platform’s confirmation email, your website, and your emails should all include a simple web link that integrates to your calendar. This way, the prospect has access to the times when you are available for the phone call or Zoom meeting. When the prospect schedules the meeting, it will be on your calendar and you will receive an email notification immediately.
Ensure your details are up-to-date
Each platform allows you to target your ideal prospects based on your home town, niche, assets and many other criteria. Be sure the platform knows what you are looking for, or you will waste your time chasing leads that are not worth your time.
In addition, when you are recommended by the platform, you will receive the lead’s contact information and qualification details. The platform will also send the lead your information. So be sure your details are still correct. Your firm name, description, photo, logo, address, phone number, email address, social media links, among other items should be reviewed quarterly.
Wading through the deep waters of online marketing is a time-consuming and tedious process. To assist you in that endeavor, I have listed some of the more effective advisor lead services below, with a summary of their services. If you are shopping for a lead-generation service, start with these – but remember how to best convert the leads to clients as well.
SmartAdvisor
What makes it different: With no initial sign-up fee and a per-lead cost model, advisors can adapt SmartAdvisor to their practice. Investors who answer a 30-question survey about their investment preferences receive up to three leads from matched financial advisors.
WiserAdvisor
What makes it different: Each lead is matched with up to three advisory firms in their geographical area, so advisors with good follow-up habits can do well with this service. WiserAdvisor uses a per-lead pricing model, with budgets determined by the advisor.
MyPerfectFinancialAdvisor
What makes it different: MyPerfectFinancialAdvisor matches the investor to the advisor using personalized data, artificial intelligence and deep industry expertise for $995 per year. It matches the investor to the one advisor it believes is best, plus up to six more. It is an SEC Registered Investment Adviser and must place the investors' needs first.
CoveredBridge
What makes it different: CoveredBridge interviews the lead and then delivers one client to one advisor via a sophisticated matching process that uses public and private data. Advisors pay a small platform fee, plus share a percentage of gross fees generated from the client. It is an SEC Registered Investment Adviser and must place the investors' needs first.
Dan Sondhelm is CEO of Sondhelm Partners, a firm that helps asset managers, mutual funds, ETFs, wealth managers and fintech companies grow through marketing, public relations and sales programs. Click to read Dan’s latest Insight articles and to schedule a complimentary consultation
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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.