Lead Generation
Lead generation is the activity that firms struggle with the most. (In fact, it deserves its own article.) For most firms, the leads should come from a combination of the networks created by each professional, including existing clients and the firm’s “institutional network.” Firms that do not foster substantial lead generation from these networks (referral programs, banks, CPA firms, etc.) need to find a way to manage and encourage the networks of each professional.

Fortunately or unfortunately, networks are a lot like vineyards. Once planted, the vines need quite a bit of time to mature before they turn productive (three years or more, depending on the grape variety). The process of building a network needs to be patient but persistent. Unfortunately, many professionals do not invest the time in the network or become discouraged by the lack of quick results. But much like grapevines, professional networks can be very consistently productive once they are well established.

To help professionals network, firms have to find the right combination of encouragement but also persistence. Perhaps the answer is a sound process.

Sales Process
The process starts when firms and professionals document the leads they receive and follow the leads all the way until the client is either brought on board or the lead is closed as “dead.”

A surprising number of advisory firms have trouble with pipeline management, or tracking leads, by generating reports on things like 1) how many leads their firms had last year, 2) what was the source of the leads, 3) which professionals received the leads, 4) what happened to the leads.

In the absence of data, it might often be unclear to these firms why they are struggling. There is usually a sense that there are not enough leads, but there is not enough information to turn the sense into action.

Firms that have access to “institutional leads” (leads that arrive for the firm rather than for a specific professional) tend to be more disciplined and better at managing the sales pipeline and distributing the leads to the right professionals. Firms that rely on individual effort tend to not document and monitor the results. Instead, they leave that job for the professionals. This unfortunately rarely works with professionals who struggle.

Following A Sales Process
Like any activity in a firm, the more it is documented and the more it follows a process the more it can be replicated, improved, managed and taught. Most established business developers rarely think about their sales process, but it is very difficult to train professionals to sell without one. It is much like grammar in a language—most native speakers rarely think about the grammar rules, but any adults trying to learn a language need to learn those before they can forget them.

The sales process can be as simple as identifying the high level steps:
Discovery: in which the advisor learns about the clients and understands their situation. Standardized data requests and questionnaires can help here without turning the initial meeting into an interrogation.

Analysis: a collaborative process with the clients—in which the advisor considers their options and presents potential approaches—can help establish rapport and build the credibility of the firm.

Proposal: a written document describing the goals of the client, the general approach of the firm and the parameters of the relationship. This may help professionals think through and structure how they present what the firm does.

Feedback and changes: the point at which advisors collect the feedback on the proposal. Written or verbal feedback can improve the communication between the prospect and the firm and further establish a collaborative dialogue.

On-boarding: the clients’ process of joining the firm. As obvious as it may be, sometimes firms struggle with launching the client relationship. There is a sense of excitement when the client signs the documents but that can sometimes be followed by a loss of focus.

This process is both high level and basic. But it’s better than “We meet with the client and we listen to their needs.” It may be OK for experienced professionals to create their own processes, but the more there is to the process, the more you can train others.

Practicing Friction Points
In every sales process, there are always familiar points of friction with the clients, known in sales folklore as their “objections.” These include the clients’ hard questions about a firm’s fees or its investment philosophy. It’s hard for advisors to come up with comfortable explanations for these things, but it is essential to the success of the sales process. One of the best training ideas I can come up with is identifying those points of friction and practicing the solutions. This does not mean memorizing scripted answers, which is always ineffective and, in fact, counterproductive, but instead finding the right answers and then understanding the best ways to present them.

Sales Training
Though most large firms understand the need to train salespeople, they struggle to identify good resources for training. Sales coaches specializing in financial services are few. Those who understand the softer, more consultative approach are even fewer. The advice offered by business development books can be valuable, but it’s often described at a fairly high level. Applying it to the practical activities of financial advisors is challenging and a bit like giving advice on how to lose weight—it is well known what you need to do, but it is an entirely different matter to actually do it.

Perhaps training people in sales is more about encouraging the development of habits among professionals. The training is not so much about what is being done but about the frequency and the activity. The best function of sales training perhaps is to keep encouraging professionals to implement their marketing plans and, through a combination of praise and urging, steering them to the results.

Motivation And Compensation
Sometimes firms believe that if they offer a bigger bonus they will see different results from their professionals. But I have not seen that in my experience. The logic is tenuous and suggests that if you paid me more money, I could compete for a heavyweight boxing title. In the short term, this will just get me beaten up, bleeding and discouraged. In the long term, I may be able to achieve a little better result, but only after many years of patient training and dedication.