MASELLI: Yes, in Stone World magazine. And I want him to attend the Stone World Annual Convention. You probably won't see another financial advisor with a booth at their annual convention. I love situations like that.

GLUCK: And you think advisors already have a lot of these hidden gems-excuse the pun-but fail to see them.

MASELLI: If an advisor looks at his client list, he may find three or four clients in the same industry. But without looking for it, he may never make that connection. And most advisors could never tell you about a client's stature in his industry. You may have a client who is revered in an industry, who writes articles, sits on boards, directs the future of the industry, and you may not even know it. That one person can be very influential in giving you numerous referrals.

GLUCK: How do you uncover those gems?

MASELLI: You have to analyze at your client base. If you have a client who is a doctor, what kind of doctor is he? Google your clients. Say you find out he is a nationally known orthopedic surgeon, specializing in knees. Take him to dinner and ask him about his specialty. He probably knows all of the other big-name knee surgeons in the country. That's an interesting niche.

GLUCK: How do you pick a niche?

MASELLI: Find an industry that interests you. You're going to have to learn quite a bit about the field. If you're not curious about it, then it's going to be more difficult for you. It's also good if you already have some clients in the industry, people you can ask about what's going on. Then you have the nucleus and can begin to build a network.

GLUCK: Contrary to the popular notion that you want to ask all of your clients for referrals, you say advisors should limit it to ten or 20 top clients.

MASELLI: Yes. By focusing your effort on just your top ten high-net-worth clients, you can reap rewards most efficiently. Wealthy people tend to socialize with other wealthy, successful people. Those top ten clients are not the people that you would ever approach for a referral by saying, "I need your help to grow my business."

GLUCK: What you're suggesting is a systematic approach.

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