Next Generation Planner: December 2020
Cameo Roberson, AAMS®
Business Coach and Operations Strategist, Atlas Park Consulting and Finance
www.linkedin.com/in/cameoroberson/
One of the biggest problems newer advisers face is building relationships with centers of influence (COIs). Truth be told, seasoned advisers may have challenges in this area as well. COIs can be a great referral resource for any firm, regardless of the length of time in business. Relationships with COIs are a good way to grow your business through referral marketing and the opportunity here is to find a way to bring value to this new relationship. I will share more on this.
How to Use a Niche When Networking
An initial item you want to consider is how to make it easy for a COI to refer you. If a COI has to figure out who your ideal client is, chances are, they may not refer anyone to you.
A common description I hear is, “I work with high-net-worth individuals and families who want to simplify their finances.” Who is that exactly? Can you visualize an image of this person? If a COI cannot pinpoint exactly who you want to work with, your efforts to connect with ideal prospects may fall flat. When you use a niche description—which translates into a highly customized group—you give the COI a chance to make a connection with the niche and easily identify who in their client base may be a good referral for you. An example of a niche description, who could also be a HNW individual, is a “technology professional with complex compensation who wants to simplify their financial lives.” Imagine painting a picture of what this ideal prospect does and problems they often face. By doing so, your COI can get a mental image of what this prospect looks like.
An Initial COI Target Strategy
Advisers do not have to look far to connect with COIs. An extension of a wealth management team often includes CPAs, tax experts and estate planning attorneys. Given the complementary nature of these professionals in a client’s financial life, they can be the first line of COIs you target. In my experience, while coaching advisers, there are a few questions you should ask yourself in advance.
For example, let’s consider a CPA firm.
- Are there any competition concerns?
- Does the CPA firm have a wealth management arm to their practice?
- Does the CPA already have an adviser they work with?
Finding a CPA who already has someone they are working with is a good person to connect with. Why? Having a backup adviser often makes good business sense. Additionally, if they have someone they’ve worked with in the past, they may be open to building relationships with new advisers.
However, I encourage you to be cautious of a COI who isn’t working with anyone, or who is hesitant to do so. They may not be interested in working with someone for a number of reasons, including compliance concerns, a prior bad experience, concerns about making a bad referral to their clients, etc. As you figure out who should be on your COI list, don’t forget to consider out-of-the-box COIs, including life, business or executive coaches. The possibility for COI relationships extends to whomever the end client is working with across their personal, business or financial lives.
Finding COIs in Your Own Backyard and Building the Initial Relationship
An easy way to find COIs to connect with is to start at home. Do a census of your existing clients’ households. Find out who your clients are working with for their estate planning, insurance, tax, employee benefits or coaching and consulting needs. Build a spreadsheet of those individuals. After you have created your census, reach out to your client and ask who they’re working with. If they provide you with a few names and they know the COIs well, ask for permission to use their name when contacting the COI. It is easier to reach out to another professional when there is a client in common between the two of you.
Draft an introductory message explaining who you are, your firm and the client you share. Reach out to this person via email, LinkedIn, etc., and ask to set up a call to learn more about their business. Remember, this is a numbers game, so the more COIs you contact, the greater chance you’ll have to make a beneficial connection.
After you have connected with the COI, set the right tone and expectations and go about your normal relationship-building activities—including adding them to your email newsletter (with their permission), inviting them to events of interest and sending interesting and relevant articles that would be valuable to them. Keep them in your tribe. Rinse and repeat this process with each COI, and before you know it, you will have a network of COIs who can become valuable referral partners for your business. These actions will help you build the “know, like and trust” factor. These are all important considerations for building mutually beneficial referral opportunities.
Cameo Roberson, AAMS®, manages Atlas Park Consulting & Finance, helping financial advisers and service-based entrepreneurs clarify business vision, move ideas from concept to profit, organize business operations, drive revenue, escape burnout and save time.