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Remember the good old days when you didn’t have to hunt for referrals? They just came your way, like blue birds dropping in your lap. The nostalgia for those days is probably still alive in the back of your mind.
Back then, just reaching out to your market probably seemed effortless. New clients engaged you without resistance, business was easy, and it was hard to imagine it could be any other way.
The good old days aren’t coming back any time soon, however. It’s a harsh reality to accept when you’ve lived in that previous world.
When the market shifts, as it has in the last few years, along with the advisory profession becoming commoditized, referrals begin to dry up. That can leave you in a precarious and fragile position.
If you’re dependent on referrals as your single source of new income, a source you no longer have control of, it becomes increasingly difficult to get clear visibility on how you’re going to grow your firm.
If you’re finding referrals aren’t as plentiful or as easy to activate as they used to be, it’s time to ask yourself: is concentrating on referral hunting really worth your time?
A business that depends only on referrals is fragile.
To become anti-fragile, you need a systematic inbound trust-based marketing approach to fuel the growth of your business.
You need a unique message you can put out to your market, specifically in the ponds where your ideal prospects are, with a carefully crafted process to draw them out from their world into yours.
This is inbound marketing (your market comes to you), which means you need a dependable capture system installed in your business, so you can operate knowing the majority of the opportunities you bring in will become paying clients.
You need to shift to a “by-appointment only” business model.
Think of it like a doctor’s office. First, you diagnose the patient: determine their capacity and commitment to resolve their issues with you. Then you prescribe a recommended treatment.
You need to become a “financial doctor” to break the referral drought.
Here’s the secret: they’re not assessing your treatment, they’re assessing your ability to go way beyond the problem they are presenting to you.
If all this sounds foreign to you, then chances are you’ve been defaulting to the reliance of “If I can just get more referrals, I’ll be ok”.
Referrals are nice when they come in, but they aren’t predictable, forecastable or a sure thing. So create your own “doctor’s office” inbound ideal client model instead.
To learn more about making your business bulletproof, order your complimentary book and consultation below.
Get your Free copy of Ari’s best-selling book "Trust In A Split Second!" here and you’ll also receive a Complimentary Sales and Lead Generation Consultation (value $995.00). Ari Galper is the world’s No. 1 authority on trust-based selling and is the most sought-after high-net-worth new-client acquisition expert for financial advisors. His latest book, “Trust In A Split Second!” has become an instant best-seller among financial advisors worldwide.
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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
