Putting your best—and possibly most imaginative—foot forward to clients and prospects is an optimum way of building a thriving advisory firm, according to Susan E. Kay, vice president and a director of business development at MFS Fund Distributors, a subsidiary of Boston-based MFS Investment Management.
Hosting a “pet portrait” day for clients, neighbors and their friends was one of the unusual ways of getting an advisor in front of a number of new faces in a fun format that Kay suggested during the opening event for the Invest in Women Conference sponsored by Financial Advisor magazine Wednesday.
Or an advisor can host a wine tasting competition, rather than a simple wine tasting, to reward clients and get the firm’s name out to new people. Kay described the events, for which she gave details during her remarks, as “riotess,” as well as memorable.
The ideas were only two of a host of examples of ways Kay said advisors can build a more successful practice.
Marketing plans should be made at the end of the year, possibly with the help of an intern who is hired while he or she is off from school. The intern can help carry out the ideas and set them to be accomplished automatically throughout the year. That requires a marketing plan.
An example of a good marketing plan is one that includes a way to connect to the next generation.
“Only 26% of adult children say they plan to work with their parent’s financial advisor,” which is a statistic that should spur advisors to action, Kay said. For instance, “put ‘beneficiary connection’ into the marketing plan as a line item. It should not be an afterthought.”
She suggested holding a mother-daughter brunch around Mother’s Day each May as one way of reaching the next generation.
Or help a client set up a Roth IRA for their child who wants to save for a car. “The child will be coming into your office, meet you, and will see what a financial advisor does,” she said.
Another idea: Use age-based planning so that you are six months ahead of any major life event in your client’s life, Kay said. Or have regular dinners or lunches with other professionals you have clients in common with. In this way the advisor builds a strong referral network with CPAs, attorneys and other professionals.