When you’re creating a marketing plan for your financial advisor business, a lot of your efforts may be focused on gaining new leads. You build social media profiles, launch beautiful websites, write blog posts, and send out email newsletters. But once you get all that financial advisor prospecting done, how do you convert those leads into revenue?
Lead conversion can seem like a tricky business, but it really comes down to a few basic strategies. Read on to discover how you can improve your lead conversion and turn those undecided prospects into loyal clients for your business.
Set Deadlines
It may sound counterintuitive, but one of the best things you can do to improve your client conversion rate is set deadlines. If you don’t get a response from a lead within a certain time frame, let them know you’re going to stop contacting them. This will do a couple of positive things for your conversion process.
For one thing, setting deadlines ensures you don’t waste your time on prospects who are never going to sign up for your services. This enables you to focus your efforts on more promising leads, giving you more conversions.
Setting these deadlines may also push prospects who are on the fence into a decision. If they’re interested in your services and just haven’t made up their minds, this may be the encouragement they need.
Ask Questions
Oftentimes, lead nurturing can feel like you’re talking to a wall. You can list all the benefits of your services you like, but you may not know whether your messages are resonating with your prospects, or even whether they’re reaching them at all. One great way to break this cycle and start engaging more with your leads is to ask questions.
Instead of telling your clients about all the benefits your services offer, ask them what they look for in a financial advisor. Instead of telling them about your pricing structure, ask if they’d like to hear how they can grow their wealth for less. Put the power in their hands and you’ll create more engaging conversations.
Resolve Pain
When you’re asking your leads these questions, you want your focus to be on resolving pain. The truth of the matter is very few people care about why your company provides superior service or what makes you stand out from the competition. All they care about is the inconveniences and challenges in their lives and how you can resolve that pain.
Ask your leads about the sorts of financial challenges they face every day. Train your salespeople to ask with an aim of understanding where these leads are coming from and what their personal experience is like. Once you have a foundation of understanding, you can start to address those pain points and explain how your services can help.
Answer Questions
Throughout your sales funnel, you want to make sure your leads have easy access to the information they need. Of course, you should encourage them to reach out to you with any questions they may have. But oftentimes, prospects may not take that next step, so you want to present that information to them in other forms.
Put together an FAQ page on your website to answer any questions that may arise for your leads. And make sure you do your homework – these should be questions you actually get from leads and clients on a regular basis, not just what you think leads want to know. Also add easy-to-access contact links on your FAQ page so clients can get answers to any questions this page doesn’t cover.
Have Fun
When you’re trying to engage your leads, especially with something as serious as financial advising, it can feel like you have to keep a stiff upper lip about everything. But maintaining this austere persona can actually drive prospects away, rather than making them respect you. They won’t feel as connected to your company and will have an easier time ignoring your messages.
Don’t be afraid to relax and have some fun with your lead nurturing. Make jokes, use current pop culture references, and aim for a sense of authenticity in all your communications. Showing your more personable side like this will make it easier for leads to connect with you and engage with what you have to say.
Tell Stories
The other great way to connect with your leads is to use your storytelling skills. With our world becoming more impersonal than ever before, your leads don’t want to feel they’re entrusting their money to another faceless corporation. They want to know that you have the same fears and struggles they do and that you’ll handle their money with the same care you would your own.
Tell the story of how your company came to be and why you work so hard for your customers every day. Talk about success stories you’ve seen with previous clients and how you’ve overcome challenges along the way. The more you can help prospects connect with your story, the more invested they’ll be when it comes time to make your sales pitch.
Give Gifts
Everyone’s favorite word is “free,” and using it generously can help you move prospects along the sales funnel. For one thing, giving free gifts and samples can incentivize leads to listen to your sales pitch. They may feel that they owe you some of their time and attention after you’ve been so generous with them.
Free samples and trials can also be a great way for leads to test drive your services. They can see that you’re as good as your word and that you can deliver on the promises you’ve made them. They can also get a taste of what their life could look like without those pain points we discussed, which can be the most convincing sales pitch of all.
Follow Up
These days, it seems like everyone has a miles-long to-do list both at work and in their personal lives. When things get busy, it can be easy to push some items to the “I’ll deal with it later” stack. And, unfortunately, financial planning and investment are the sorts of things it can be easy to put off for too long.
Every so often, if you go too long without hearing back from a promising lead, send them a little nudge. Ask if they have any questions or concerns with your service and maybe include answers to some of your biggest FAQs. However, do be sure you don’t cross the line into pestering, something that will drive your leads away every time.
Send Reminders
When you make those follow-up calls, make sure you send your prospects a little reminder of what they’re missing out on. If they’re in a time of high stress, they’ll be looking for ways to make their lives easier and reduce their pain points. Your company is in a perfect position to make that happen, and those reminders can let them know that.
Try to include hard facts and numbers in these reminders so that your clients aren’t just seeing vague promises of “we can help you grow your wealth.” Make sure you include specific CTAs and links that make it simple for leads to contact you. You want to make them feel as though they’re taking things off their to-do list by contacting you, not adding more on.
Plan Ahead
No matter where a lead is in your sales funnel, you always need to have an idea of what the next step is for them. For one thing, this will help build their trust in you, since they’ll learn that they can rely on you for answers and guidance. If you’re confident and informed throughout the sales process, they’ll have an easier time trusting that you’ll bring the same expertise to their investment profile.
Giving your customer the next step will also help to keep them moving through the sales tunnel. You can avoid long delays where no one is sure what needs to happen next to make the sale. Instead, everyone involved will know what to expect and can focus on taking that next step at a time.
Be Direct
There’s a perception in sales that it’s a bad idea to be direct and ask your leads for a sale. People may think it seems self-serving, forward, or tactless. But asking for a sale outright can both save you time and make your prospect respect you more.
It is true that you’ll need to lay a lot of groundwork and build a good working relationship with your leads before you take this step. But if you’ve given them all the information they need and answered any question that has arisen, don’t be afraid to ask that final question. Asking, “Are you ready to move forward with this process?” will either get you a sale or move you to the next concern you need to address.
Learn More About Financial Advisor Prospecting and Lead Conversion
Transforming your prospects into clients can sometimes seem like a delicate and uncertain process. And while each lead should be treated with individual care, there are a few strategies that can help you improve your lead conversion. Focus on your leads’ pain points, keep lines of communication active, and always be looking forward to the next step.
If you’d like to discover more tips for successful financial advisor prospecting, check out the rest of our site at Stephen Oliver’s Advisor Wealth Mastery. We can help you lead your business off its plateau and break through to the next level. Contact us today and start creating the business you deserve.
