Boost Client Acquisition Success by Closing the Intention-Action Gap

As business coaches who work with the very best of financial advisors, we do a lot of observing. One observation with respect to client acquisition. For successful financial advisors who excel at finding new clients, there is little gap between intention and action. Psychologists refer to this as the intention-action gap.

You may have heard the old proverb, “The road to h*** is paved with good intentions. That's what I'm talking about.

In other words, the best of intentions are meaningless unless followed through to the completion of the action, e.g. to lose weight, to quit smoking…or to build a superb client acquisition process.

It’s one thing to say…I am committed to doing all that it takes, professionally and ethically, in growing my business. It’s quite another to actually do it.

Therein lies the intention-action gap. And we observe that the leading financial advisors know how to reduce this gap from a chasm to a slight crack.

How do they do it?

While there are no magic beans that mystically ensure client acquisition success, the best-of-the-best seem to have some common characteristics.

Here are 5 foundational structures that you can build:

1. Your intention is in place – with a goal and plan, i.e. you have client acquisition goals, and a plan to get there.

2. Have a positive attitude toward the client acquisition that you intend to do. Find a client acquisition process or approach that you enjoy. In other words, don’t do client acquisition activities that you hate because you know that you'll only do them for so long.

3. Surround  yourself with people who want to grow, and aspire to do so. Most obviously, this includes teammates, but it can extend beyond that to encompass the bigger social network, i.e. peers, clients, advocates, friends, etc.

4. Believe that you are capable. This means that you have a goal and plan in place, AND the perception that you can make it happen. Psychologists call this “perceived behavioral control.”

5.Have a positive attitude toward your intent to build your business. Believe in your goal and the plan, and believe that your underlying value proposition is beneficial to your clients and prospective clients.