Prospecting In A Pandemic

By The Lerner Group on January 4, 2021

Prospecting is the lifeblood of a growing, thriving practice. But lately, pandemic headwinds have many of us rightly focused on client connectivity and retention of current clients. This make sense.

However, one of the unintended consequences of this “attention to retention” is a likely thinning of our new client acquisition pipelines. Frankly, too many advisors fall far short of their prospecting objectives even in normal times. Thus, the amount of time advisors spend talking to people they do not know today pales in comparison to the amount of time they spend talking to people they already know.

To on-board new clients tomorrow, we have to speak to people we don’t know today, plain and simple. Ask yourself, how much time each week do you spend talking to people you do not know today? Is it what it needs to be? Is it enough?

To get us all going in the right direction, here are three (3) best practices for returning our prospecting activities to levels that can over time result in systematic growth of your practice:

1. Set Boundaries: firewall enough “pure space” for true new client acquisition marketing
   • We all pride ourselves as “client first” advisors. So, when our current clients call or email with a question, request or issue we naturally turn our attention to addressing their needs. It is a necessary distraction but a distraction none the less. How often have we found that our day “just got away from us.”
   • Good boundaries can take many forms: Working from a different location, blocking out time on your calendar, only returning calls at the end of the day or even turning off your email till aftermarket hours.
   • Unless we set intentional boundaries to protect pure marketing time / space the cumulative effect of these “interruptions” on our new client acquisition pipeline over time can be as devastating as cheating on our new year’s resolution (e.g. like my committing to stop eating snacks between meals!).
     • Best practice #1: “Get On The Scale” – record the amount of time spent each week in pure new client acquisition activities and / or the number of new people you spoke to each week vs. existing clients. Notice any trends.

2. Create Routines: a prospecting system, just like working out at the gym, is all about creating weekly rhythms, routines and cadence.
   • Ever notice how elite athletes seem to have a specific routine that they go through each time they step up to the plate, on the tee or at the free throw line? This is because they have created a defined set of behaviors that put them in the position to get the outcome they expect every time. Well-honed routines intentionally block out the randomness of their process. It affords a deeper focus than if they merely approached their work intermittently. Through a well rehearsed series of steps they minimize the risk of arbitrary outcomes.
     • Best Practice #2: “Get In A Groove” – start each day with a defined roadmap of where you want the day to go. Put boundaries in place to serve as your guardrails. Then, double-check at the end of each day to see if you got there. If not, what got in the way? What could have been delegated, minimized or eliminated?

3. Find Your Voice: Once we have committed to set aside enough pure space to speak to new prospects, what will we say? More importantly, will we even be heard? Will what we say be remembered by the prospects?
   • With the whole world pivoting to social media and virtual marketing all at the same time, the bandwidth potential clients have left to hear YOU and your message is greatly diminished. Many advisors limped along with unremarkable “elevator pitches” even before the pandemic as their marketing message got “lost in the clutter?” Thus, the successful advisor today must reexamine the power and relevance of their value proposition and delivery effectiveness. Your “edges” will need to be more apparent than ever in a sea of sameness. With everyone forced to connect by walking through the same social media and remote marketing doors, our prospect’s attention spans are understandably narrowing.

    

   Done right, your team’s Value Proposition can be one of the single most powerful tools you can use to acquire the right clients faster.  Unfortunately, too many advisors and / or teams fall far short of engaging prospects with a compelling reason to start a relationship or enter into an advisory engagement.

   Far too often, the prospect walks away saying to themselves, “tell me again why I should do business with you, you sound like everyone else.”

   A highly differentiated and compelling value proposition can play a critical selection and sourcing role in the marketing, branding and growth strategy of a high performance financial advisory practice.

   • Best Practice #3: Find Your Voice – “Get a Signature Story” – According to Dr. Jennifer Aaker of Stanford Business School, our brains are wired to remember stories. Stories are the currency of human contact. They help us inspire, move, and connect to people. Stories are up to 22 times more memorable than facts or figures alone. Stories are an effective tool to advocate for your ideas, especially when you can weave facts and figures into your story.

    

   • Stories are important for three reasons:

   1) Stories shape how others see us. The stories people tell about us influence how they see us: whether they would hire us, buy from us, or like us.

   2) Stories are tools of power. When you tell a story, your audience slows down to listen. Sharing a story lets people hear your insights more effectively.

   3) Stories persuade. Story can move people to action. You can persuade others by taking them on an engaging journey.

               (source: Dr. Jennifer Aaker, Stanford Business School)

   This last point is probably the most timely given the backdrop of the pandemic. Gone are the days when it makes sense to open up a conversation with a client or prospect without first sharing some sense of how we both are adjusting to the “new normal” of building trust at a distance. We tell stories about how our kids are adjust to distance schooling. We tell stories about how our parents or grandparents are dealing with isolation. We tell stories of common misery and loneliness. In doing so, we connect as humans forged together by the common bond of survival.

   Emotional Intelligence (EQ) experts have long reminded us that “people don’t care what you know until they know that you care.” Our ability to make real, lasting connections grounded in a genuine and abiding sense of empathy will likely win the day.

   The successful advisor today will do well to demonstrate a full appreciation for our shared human burdens we all must carry through this turbulent time. If we do this well, we are likely to enjoy new relationships that will far outrun the arc of this pandemic and enrich our practices and lives mutually.

   Getting on the scale, getting in a groove and getting a signature story will go a long way in creating the prospecting top spin our practice will need to come into the new year with a pipeline ripe for growth.