The Low-Hanging Fruit

When it comes to advisor marketing, the most effective (and typically the most enjoyable) way to grow is by building and strengthening relationships—and this holds true for your C-level clients just as it does your A-level folks. This segment of clients (those who engage you only for a specific service but not full-fledged planning or may have “fallen off the radar” for other reasons) represent an incredible opportunity for growth in your practice. They are your low-hanging fruit—they already know, like, and trust you on some level, so you’re a step ahead of the game when it comes to growing their relationship with you.

In this blog, we’ll cover a few ways to connect with your lower-level clients—all with the goal of encouraging them to engage your practice at a higher level.

First things first: segmenting your client database

If you haven’t already done so, the first thing you’ll want to do is segment your client database. (For more information on this, check out our previous blog, “How To Create and Use a Segmented Client Database Like a Pro.”) Essentially, the goal is to organize your clients so you have an easy reference point for marketing. For example, if you want to reach out to lower-level clients who are nearing retirement, it’ll help for you to have a database that’s organized by age range, services clients currently engage you for, and other criteria.

Implement Frequent Client Touchpoints

One of the most important parts of any relationship is communication. If a client hears from you often, it shows that you care and keeps you top of mind in their world. The reverse is also true—if you “go dark” because you don’t have a specific reason (e.g., a review meeting) to contact someone, it’s easy for them to assume they’re not that important to you, and you run the risk of falling off their radar as well.   

Here are some great ways to stay in touch with lower-level clients and keep the relationship alive:

Send “Thinking of You” Content

This is a super simple strategy to implement, and the key is to plan ahead. Find five to ten articles, podcasts, and/or videos that are engaging, relatively short, and relevant to your target markets. They can be about anything from work-life balance to building a healthy company culture in a small business. From there, make a schedule that outlines when you’re going to send what to whom. Then, all you have to do is craft a simple email every quarter or so that says something like, “Hey, I read this article the other day and thought you might like it. Hope you and Rachel are doing well!”

Create a Company Newsletter

Following the same principle as the “thinking of you” content, this is a great way to stay top of mind with clients you wouldn’t otherwise communicate with often. (And you can send the newsletter to everyone, not just your lower-level clients.) The best approach is to include a mix of content, and the more personal, the better. You can include a short section with financial updates, but we recommend lifting the veil as much as possible—have each of your team members write a section with a “life update,” include photos from team events, or highlight a time your team volunteered to support a local organization. The key is to show clients a more personal side of you, which builds trust and strengthens the relationship. You should also include a short section about the services you offer, which is a great reminder for those clients who engage you for something specific like life insurance but may not realize you offer retirement planning or business succession planning.

Respond to Financial News

This is especially important in today’s economic client—there is no shortage of news for clients to worry about, and it’s your job to quell those fears. Whether someone engages you for comprehensive planning or you service their 401k, you can be the person they rely on for financial truth and consolation.

Any time something noteworthy happens in the financial world, send an email to your clients briefly explaining the situation and how it could affect them (along with the things you’re doing or can do to protect them). Better yet, send a short video (if compliance allows)—it’s more personal, and clients will get to experience your passion and expertise in a more tangible way. 

Make it a Junior Advisor Project

Another great way to love on your lower-level clients is to “assign them” to your junior advisors. The reality is, principal advisors typically don’t have the time to offer red-carpet service to every client in the firm—and honestly, if someone isn’t relying on you for full-fledged planning, it doesn’t make sense to. But these clients are great “warm leads” for advisors who are just starting their career, and there are several ways your junior advisors can cultivate relationships with them that lead to more business in the future. 

You can have junior advisors reach out to your C-level clients and have one-on-one meetings to see how they’re doing, how their life as changed, and how the practice can help them moving forward; your junior advisors can host educational events specifically for the children or grandchildren of your top clients (building a relationship with the next generation before they’re successful is not only beneficial from a business standpoint; it shows your clients you care about their family); or you can have them implement some of the relationship-building activities you would typically reserve for A-level clients, like calling them on their birthday or sending a Christmas gift (although the gift should be different than the one you would send an A-level client).

Create a Plan

There are lots of ways to reconnect with your lower-level clients, and the important thing is to create a plan for how you’re going to engage them. It’s always better to start small and remain constant than to aim for the moon and fall flat. (That’s why when it comes to initiatives like a company newsletter, for example, we recommend starting with quarterly, rather than monthly—you often don’t realize the time it takes to put something like that together until you’ve done it once or twice, and it can quickly become overwhelming.)

If you want help putting together a strategic communication plan, we’d love to talk with you. We’ll help you outline specific goals and strategies to grow your practice through the people you already know—simply schedule a consultation below to get started.