Sprint into Summer. What Top Financial Advisors Do.

At ClientWise, we have observed an interesting pattern among top-performing advisors in the summer. They don’t coast.

In other words, when the summer months arrive and temptations outside the office beckon, top-performing advisors are able to stay focused on their priorities. That isn’t to say that top-performing advisors don’t take time off. On the contrary, the most successful advisors are very adept at keeping their lives balanced. Spending time with family, connecting with friends, maintaining physical well- being...are all part of the DNA of the best-of-the-best...and a key success factor in staying re-charged and re-vitalized.

At the same time, top-performers do not put it on cruise control for the 92 days that lie between Memorial to Labor Day. When they are working, a “summer hours” mindset does not apply.

Without judging what might be beneficial for your advisory practice, here are four ideas that might allow you to “sprint into summer”:

Engage in a “larger conversation” with your clients. Engaging in a larger conversation could mean any one of a number of things regarding recognizing the many facets and interests of your best clients. The summer months are a perfect time to get to know your clients outside of the office, where the both of you can share your motivations and passions surrounding work, family, hobbies, and other outside interests.

Segment “loyal client advocates”. Advocacy -- through loyal client advocates and other trusted advisors -- are the single most effective way for financial advisors to grow their business. Our research indicates that more than 70 percent of new assets and new client relationships originate from referrals from one of these two sources. Top-performing financial advisors use June, July and August as a critical strategic time to build even stronger connections with their “loyal client advocates”, i.e. clients who appreciate and value what the financial advisor does, can articulate this to others, and who are actively engaged in introducing the financial advisor to other prospective clients.

Review your 2012 marketing plan. With the year almost half done, it is a brilliant time to take a step back and review your 2012 marketing plan against the yearly goals that you’ve set for yourself. If you are on track to exceed your goals, you may want to raise them. If you are falling short in critical areas, re-commit yourself to the objectives that you set in December and January. If you neglected to set any specific goals at all, build a six-month marketing plan that takes you from July-December. A bonus thought would be to schedule an entire day out of the office and away from all distractions. We have observed that spending strategic time to work on your business is a key best behavior of the most successful financial advisors

Identify “at-risk” clients. Rarely do disgruntled or dissatisfied clients leave their advisor with big fanfare. More likely, the dissatisfaction happens slowly over time, with many months, or even years, of mounting warning signs. Most often, clients withdraw from their advisor by first entering a period of inactivity, before they get to a point of actually leaving. The good news is that this means that clients leave plenty of clues as to their unhappiness.

Here are some markers that can raise a red flag with regard to at-risk clients:

• Has the client refused to commit to a date for a quarterly/annual review?
• Have they continually cancelled appointments at the last minute?
• Has the client gone “inactive” and/or hard to reach?

If you detect one of the above signs, and you wish to protect the relationship, consider changing your approach. In some cases, there is nothing that can be done to prevent the departure of a disgruntled client. However, it is easier to salvage an existing relationship than to find a new one.

These are only a few thoughts. They might apply to your practice…or not.

The important takeaway is to use the summer months as a springboard that maintains your pace at a high level.

How could you dial it up this summer?

For some additional client acquisition insights and strategies, feel free to download the ClientWise Learning Tool below: