How to Ask for Referrals as a Financial Advisor

Turning Happy Clients into Your Best Prospectors

Referral marketing is one of the most effective ways to grow your practice. Your clients already enjoy working with you, so why not leverage this by having them do the prospecting for you? When I ask financial advisors if they have a referral strategy in place, 9 times out of 10, the answer is no. Often, they feel awkward asking for referrals, or they simply don’t know how. Here's a simple strategy you can easily implement to encourage more referrals from your clients:

1. Know Who You Want to Meet

Create a Client Profile: Think about your favorite clients—the ones you love working with. What makes them a good fit? Is it their line of work? Does their financial philosophy align closely with yours? Knowing the type of client you want more of helps your clients know exactly who to refer.

Share Your Niche: Make sure your clients understand the types of people you work best with. Whether it’s small business owners, retirees, or young families, let them know so they can spot potential referrals.

2. Make Referrals Easy for Your Clients

Have the Referral Conversation: Every now and then, remind your clients that you’re always happy to help their friends and family. Let them know that if they have someone in mind, they can easily introduce you. Ideally, create a sense of exclusivity to incentivize your clients to make referrals. Perhaps you aren’t taking on new clients, but if you were able to help Nancy and Joe save $5MM for their retirement, you’re willing to help their close friends so they can all vacation in the Maldives together once they’re retired. Show the value you provide and position it so your clients feel they’re receiving an exclusive offer available only to select people.

Provide Simple Tools: Give your clients easy ways to refer you—a business card, a quick email template with one-click contact information, or a QR code or link they can share. If you choose the latter, ensure the landing page you direct them to offers the simplest way to get in touch with you. The easier you make it, the more likely they are to do it. For HNW clients, you could offer your clients a nice meal or experience and afford them the opportunity to invite a few of their couple friends—they appear sought after, and you get introduced to their closest friends, resulting in a win-win situation!

3. Say Thank You in a Big Way

Offer a Small Reward (compliance-approved, of course!): When someone sends a referral your way, show your appreciation with a thoughtful gift or a donation to their favorite charity. It’s a great way to say thank you!

Give Public Shout-Outs: If it feels right, give a little public recognition. A shout-out in your newsletter or a thank-you note can go a long way in making your clients feel appreciated.

4. Keep the Process Smooth and Simple

Make Referring You a Breeze: Set up a straightforward process for referrals, whether it’s an online form, a quick text, or a simple email. The smoother the process, the more likely clients are to use it. Be sure to think the entire process through ahead of time—what information do you want to obtain? Does the prospect have a clear understanding of the next steps? What are the next steps?—Have it all in place for a positive user experience!

Follow Up Quickly: When you get a referral, reach out within a day or two. A quick response shows you’re eager to help and makes a great first impression. Even if your schedule is packed, keep the line of communication open so you can nurture the lead.

5. Stay Connected with Your Best Referrers

Regular Check-Ins: This isn’t technically a drip campaign, but it’s the same concept—out of sight, out of mind. So keep in touch with clients who often refer others to you. A simple “How are you?” or a quick call can help maintain that strong relationship and keep your referral pipeline from drying up.

Invite Them to Special Events: Host a fun event or an educational webinar for your top referrers. I’ve seen everything from professional sporting events to private wine tastings. If your town doesn’t have an abundance of event offerings, get creative—invite them to a new restaurant or plan an al fresco picnic at the park. Whatever you can do to make your high-referring clients feel special, it’s a great way to show your appreciation and keep the connection strong.

6. Measure and Tweak as Needed

Track Your Referrals: Keep a list of who’s referring clients and how well those referrals are turning into clients. This helps you understand your closing numbers and see what’s working and where you might want to make some changes.

Ask for Feedback: Don’t be afraid to ask both the referrer and the referred client how the process was. Their insights can help you improve and make the experience even better. Also, don’t make it awkward!

7. Use Technology to Your Advantage

Consider Referral Tools: There are phenomenal tools available to help you manage referrals and make the whole process easier for you and your clients. If you’re unsure what’s out there, message me, and I will point you in the right direction.

Integrate with Your CRM: Be sure you’re tracking referrals in your CRM. Not only can you use it for reporting and streamlining purposes, but it keeps everything organized and helps you spot more opportunities.

Final Thoughts

Referral marketing doesn’t have to be complicated, nor does it have to be awkward. By making it easy, rewarding, and fun for your clients to refer others to you, you can steadily grow your practice with the kind of clients you love working with. Keep it friendly and keep it simple!

If you need additional assistance in creating a referral strategy or having one created for you, email me at tamra@bluecactusmarketing.com.

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Top 5 Marketing Mistakes Financial Advisors Make

By TAMRA GAINES • August 4, 2023

Effective marketing is the bridge that connects financial advisors to their potential clients. However, it all too often happens that financial advisors' marketing activities fall apart, resulting in limited reach and effectiveness, and ultimately frustration with marketing. In my experience as a marketer, I’ve seen advisors make just about every mistake in the book, from not understanding the importance of a website to high value missed opportunities to promote and build their brand. I get it - you’re an advisor, you’re good with money, you aren’t supposed to know marketing too. Below are the top five mistakes that I’ve seen financial advisors make in marketing along with insights into how you can avoid them. 1. Ignoring a Niche Focus You’ve heard it before, many financial advisors make the critical mistake of casting too wide a net. By trying to serve everybody, they end up having too vague of messaging for anybody to really relate to. A targeted approach lets advisors fine-tune their messaging and services to speak to the exact needs of their narrowly defined audience, ultimately creating a better pool of prospects. Solution: Identify and embrace a niche. A well-focused niche—be it helping millennial families with children under the age of five to plan for financial security for their growing family, or assisting retired educators with their financial planning—will make marketing efforts more relevant and effective so that you can specifically speak to your clients' pain points. This will help you improve not only your client acquisition but also your client retention, as you'll be able to offer your services in a better-customized way for a specific target audience. 2. Ignoring the Power of Digital Marketing A strong online presence is no longer an option in today's world - there, I said it! Yet, many financial advisors still put too much focus on seminars and print advertisements at the expense of the huge potential of outreach that digital platforms provide. Even if your target market isn’t digitally savvy, they will have children and grandchildren who are, and who will go online to ensure their elderly family members aren’t taken advantage of. Another important reason to have a strong online presence is SEO. Just like with investing, proper search engine optimization is a long-term game. Google likes to change the rules of SEO rather frequently and starting sooner than later will set you up for success. Solution: Invest in a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that includes a professional website, social media presence, and an email marketing campaign. If you can find a quality marketer (ahem!) they can make all of these components work together for lead generating and client retention. Make SEO efforts to increase the visibility of your company on the Internet and to reach more potential customers through natural traffic. 3. Ignoring the Importance of Personal Branding The importance of personal branding cannot be underestimated in a field so sensitive to trust as financial advising. Clients want to know who is behind the advice that is being given to them. Therefore, failure to develop a good personal brand is part of what has held many financial advisors from ever attracting and retaining clients. Another perspective on this is that this industry is saturated with advisors all preaching the same thing - financial planning, retirement savings ... .stand out in the crowd by making yourself more personable. Solution: Create a personal brand around what you value and know, showing how you'll be beneficial in unique ways. Share free content—blogs, vlogs, podcasts—that will provide value and create credibility with potential clients while connecting with them on a personal level. 4. Overlooking Customer Feedback Ignoring your clients’ feedback is a suicidal strategy. Feedback is the goldmine of various pieces of information with which financial advisors can finetune their services and marketing strategies. Sure, we’re all ultimately trying to obtain financial security but how you advise us to get there differs depending on where I am in my financial journey. Solution: Seek feedback constantly. You can do this informally through focus groups, surveys, or just casual conversation. Take what you have learned and integrate it to enhance your services and message. Show the clients that you appreciate their input and that you are always working to make your service better. Trust me, they will appreciate it! 5. Not Using Technology in Marketing Fully The final common mistake is underutilization of marketing technologies. Today, with CRM systems, analytics platforms, and automated marketing software, your effectiveness will be highly increased. You can also use these technologies to repurpose your marketing efforts. Solution: Adopt technology and embed modern tools within your marketing strategy; for example, CRM systems that help maintain better relationships with clients, and analytics platforms that help manage success through marketing strategies, thereby accordingly modifying them. Conclusion By avoiding these typical marketing mistakes, your reach and involvement with clients will be significantly enhanced. It, therefore, becomes a constant need for you as a financial advisor to refine your strategies and embrace those innovations which might come in the market to even better your connections with your audience. Approach your marketing with high-tension branding, strategic use of digital marketing, and ongoing feedback that builds a firm base for long-term client relationships and business growth.

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