5 Sales Strategies for Financial Advisors

Financial advisors rely on sales strategies to close the deal, but success is not measured in conversions alone. Your firm’s growth also hinges on your ability to nurture genuine relationships with your clients, meet them where they are and deliver superior service that exceeds their expectations. Sales and service are intertwined, and the advisor who can balance both has a distinct competitive advantage. If you need some innovative ideas on how to sell to clients, there’s no shortage of inspiration.

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5 Winning Sales Ideas for Financial Advisors

When comparing sales strategies, consider the time and financial investment required, as well as the potential return on that investment. Focus on activities that are most aligned with your firm’s mission and the type of ideal clients that you’re hoping to attract.

Here are five effective sales ideas for financial advisors to consider.

1. Enhance the Client Experience

A personalized approach to service can yield dividends if you’re building a base of loyal, steadfast clients. Encouraging loyalty may indirectly lead to more opportunities to sell your services to a broader base of prospects if your current clients are a reliable source of referrals.

Highly satisfied clients tend to work with advisors who:

Consistently check in and respond promptly to phone calls, texts or emails.
Personalize their approach to fit each client’s needs, lifestyle and goals.
Actively listen and use the client’s feedback to shape their planning strategy.
Utilize technology to make account information more accessible and easier for clients to digest. (For example, you may offer a secure client portal or use portfolio visualizer tools to show clients potential outcomes.)
Regularly show appreciation with special client events, birthday and holiday greetings, and the occasional thank you note “just because.”

Talking to your clients or asking them to complete an anonymous experience survey can indicate those areas where you may be lagging behind client expectations. Asking clients for their feedback in itself shows that you value what they have to say and consider them a contributing partner in your business’s success.

2. Follow Up

A simple follow-up email or phone call may be all that’s standing between you and a new client. Following up with existing clients could also lead to more sales if life changes shift the scope of what they need from you.

Here are some tips on how to follow up strategically to boost sales:

Don’t wait too long. Once a lead goes cold, it can be a challenge to warm that lead up again. Prompt follow-ups leave less room for a lead to get lost in the shuffle, or worse, find another advisor to work with.
Don’t rush it either. Too many follow-ups can be a turnoff for prospects and cause them to perceive you as pushy or desperate. Decide how many times you want to follow up before giving up a lead as a lost cause, and how far apart to space each one.
Use scripts. A follow-up script can help you communicate a message to a prospective client that piques their interest and encourages them to get in touch. Scripts, along with automated scheduling, can help you get into a follow-up rhythm so you don’t miss a chance to stay in touch.

With existing clients, you may check in less often. For example, if you typically meet with a client once a year, you might send a follow-up email at the beginning of each quarter to see how they’re doing. They may have changed jobs, had a baby or experienced another life change that needs your attention. A follow-up message is a gentle reminder for them to get in touch.

3. Expand Your Services

Developing a new service offering could generate more sales if you’re providing something useful to your existing clients, or meeting a need for prospective clients that your competitors have overlooked.

Analyze your buyer persona and ask yourself, What does this person need that they’re not getting? What could I offer that a prospective client wouldn’t be able to resist?

The intersection of what’s missing and what you’re equipped to provide is where you’ll find ideas for your new service offering.

What if you don’t have the time to focus on creating a new offering? You could increase sales with a simple portfolio review instead. Here are some ways you could do that:

Ask about assets held away. If your clients have assets held away, talk to them about the benefits of bringing them under your management. Use a portfolio visualizer to show them potential outcomes, or walk them through the estimated fee savings by making the switch.
Crunch the numbers on cash. Clients who are sitting on a pile of cash could be missing out on growth. Show clients how investing that cash instead may translate to more wealth.
Offer a discount. If you already offer multiple services, but your clients are only taking advantage of some of them, a discounted rate could persuade them to turn more of their financial planning over to you.

4. Host an Event

Marketing events can help you make connections with prospects who are tentatively ready to work with an advisor, but need a little convincing. Online seminars and workshops may be easier and less costly to set up, while in-person events give you a chance to get to know prospects face to face.

Finding success with marketing events is all about choosing the right topic and promoting your event in the right places. Go back to your buyer persona again. Who are you hoping to attract? What is the most pressing financial issue they’re facing right now?

Once you have some insight into what you want to cover, you can start building buzz around it. Here are some of the ways you can do so:

Create a search engine optimized (SEO) landing page for the event on your website that includes a sign-up form.
Add a countdown or timer so that visitors are aware how long they have to enroll before the sign-up window closes.
Use a drip email sequence to tell prospects who have subscribed to your newsletter what they can expect, or try an email blast to spark interest and create a sense of urgency.
Promote the event on your social media accounts and include a link to the landing page on your website.
Create a pinned post at the top of your social media accounts that includes a mini FAQ about what the event covers and what attendees can expect.
Consider running digital ads to gain exposure in search engines and on social media.

You can also mention to your existing clients that you’re hosting an event and encourage them to share the details with anyone they know who might be interested.

5. Connect With the Next Generation

Your next opportunity to make a sale may come from your clients’ children or grandchildren, so don’t forget to include them in your marketing plan.

Talk to your clients about what their plans are for transferring their wealth to the next generation, and how they’d like their assets to be handled. You could even suggest a family meeting to answer questions or address concerns that their heirs may have.

Transparency and authenticity can help you make a good impression on your clients’ family members. Show them, rather than tell them, what you do and how you’re serving your clients’ needs to help them preserve their wealth. Encourage them to schedule a separate meeting if they’d like to talk about their financial planning needs.

Bottom Line

Channeling your inner salesperson may be easy. Then again, it may be one of the most difficult aspects of building your business. Developing some go-to sales strategies can keep you on the right trajectory to scale.

Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business

Your brand is one of your most valuable assets as an advisor, and visibility matters for attracting new clients and building credibility. Partnering with an advisor marketing platform like SmartAsset AMP can help you build brand recognition while you match with qualified leads. 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.
A reliable customer relationship management (CRM) platform is a helpful tool for facilitating sales. You can use your CRM to organize and segment prospects to identify cold leads that could benefit from a follow-up. You can also analyze your current clients’ portfolios to pinpoint areas where you may be able to expand your services.