All financial advisors need to prospect. More specifically, they need a constant inflow of new prospects and clients.** ** Consider the bathtub analogy: (Yes, I know – everyone has walk in showers now!) The drain in the tub represents client attrition. They move away. They die. They get seduced by an advisor at another firm. It happens. The drain lowers the water level. The faucets and tap at the top bring in fresh water. These are new clients. Even if your objective is a steady state book or business, you need to replace those losses. Prospecting is the solution.

Technology has brought new tools to the industry, but the principle is still the same. You need to connect with people who meet your client profile, then make the case for them to bring in money, cross the threshold and become clients. You sit among a group of fellow advisors at the office. If you work from home some of the time, you sit among your fellow advisors at sales meetings. You see two advisors prospecting. One succeeds, the other fails. 

What makes a strategy successful?

**1. It must be proactive. **

You drive near term results. This means you can ramp it up when necessary. When visiting a financial publication in the UK, an editor explained the client acquisition strategy of some UK advisors: “If they want to do business, they will walk through that door.” However, a strategy focused on referrals also can run into problems. You cannot “lean on people” to speed up the referral flow. Your strategy needs to be one where more time or more money will increase the incoming flow.

**2. Attracts your target audience. **

Suppose you held a seminar open to the general public. Everyone is welcome! Now suppose your ideal client profile is represented by the top 5% of the local population. Your seminar drew 60 people! That’s great! Only three attendees fit your profile. What are you going to do with those 57 other people? What did it cost to attract those 57 people? Your strategy must be focused on attracting prospects with a specific client profile.

3. Delivers your message.

This is where educational seminars and communication falls down. The message is. Do business with my firm. Do business with me. Do business now. When your message has reached it’s intended audience, is there an obvious call to action?

**4. Is cost efficient. **

Consider the cost of your prospecting strategy, not including the value of your own time. What does it cost to “fill the funnel” and what have you gotten out as a result? Today a US postage stamp is 82 cents. Priority Mail envelopes cost $11 to ship. What does a client/prospect dinner cost on a per head basis? How much revenue will the new client initially generate? Are you getting a good return on your investment?

**5. It must ne measurable. **

Sales managers are very familiar with anecdotal stories. “I have a great prospect who is almost on board.” “My prospecting strategy is doing just fine.” You need numbers. Everyone in the financial service industry agrees success is measured by numbers. This includes prospecting.

Why do some prospecting strategies fail?

**1. You quit too early. **

You did not give the strategy a chance to succeed. You brought it to the edge of success, then determined “this isn’t working” and switched to a different strategy. Measure your results. Do some analysis. Modify as you go along.

**2. One and done. **

You try public seminars. Actually, you only tried one. It yielded few if any prospects. You considered it a failure and walked away. You often need to do a series before you see significant results.

**3. Falling down on follow up. **

Someone talked with you. They are interested! Maybe they are interested but won’t have cash for three months. If they did not do business immediately, they fell through the cracks. Every prospect needs a follow up strategy.

**4. No cultivation afterwards. **

The prospect became a client but the account is small. You did not nurture the relationship to the point when they are comfortable brining in more money. Years ago, when muni bonds were a big thing, an advisor might have told our manager “I got a new client. They bought a bond. He would reply. “You have a prospect who now owns one bond. They are not a (full) client yet.”

**5. Outsourcing. **

You despise prospecting, so you hire someone to do it for you. You pay on results. You are amazed how high the turnover is for this role. If you don’t like the task, why will someone else want to do it full time?

The technology might have changed but getting someone to send you serious money is still requires a personal connection.