By Amy Buttell Crane
Listen to the government, and the verdict is no recession, at least not yet. But look at your clients' assets and listen to your phone ring off the hook, and you know differently: official or not, a recession is likely already here.
What can you do? As difficult as it is to move in new directions during an economic downturn, now is no time to sit still. By increasing your marketing efforts, offering new services, communicating constantly with your clients and seeking opportunities to partner with other advisers and referral sources, you can stay ahead of the curve and even grow your business during the next year or two, rather than tightening your belt. Here are some strategies to consider:
Re-brand Yourself
As the product of a merger between two previously separate practices, Financial Design Group LLC in Fairfax, Va., has launched a new name and logo and adopted a long-range business plan. "While this can be a difficult step to take during 'normal' times, the recent market volatility has added a new dimension to our plans," says Mary Beth Healy, CFP®, a planner with the firm.
"Not only are people very responsive to our new name and logo, we are bringing on more new clients than anticipated," she says. "Our initial analysis indicates these new clients are coming to us because we are reaching out to clients and prospects with educational material and information to help manage their expectations as the market continues on its roller coaster ride."
Offer New Services
Adding services is an important way to differentiate your practice from the competition, according to Dave Mullen, a former vice president at Merrill Lynch and author of The Million Dollar Financial Services Practice: A Proven System for Becoming a Top Producer "When I think of wealth management, I think of a holistic approach to financial planning, and by helping people with estate planning, life insurance, lending and other services, you can add some buzz and revenue to your practice and counteract the fact that your assets under management may be declining due to the difficult market environment," says Mullen.
Branch Into Related Activities
For Stacey Francis, CFP®, CDFA™, president of Francis Financial Inc. in New York, speaking engagements and fee-seminars for clients are bringing in a substantial amount of money, even though both efforts are new to her practice. "There are a number of women who come to me in need of services, who can't afford fee-based financial planning," she says. "Instead of turning them away, I decided to try offering a 10-week boot camp for these women so that they could work on a financial plan and on figuring out their financial goals at a price they could afford that would work for me."
Francis expects the first camp to sell out at $850 a person and that revenues from this camp and subsequent offerings should increase firm revenue by $75,000 a year. She is on track to net $30,000 in the first several months of the year in speaking engagements, even though she is new to that business. Her advice for planners thinking of venturing into this line of business? Keep three thoughts in mind when planning any type of speaking engagement: interactive, involving the audience; different in terms of venues (think spas for women); and visualizing so you give listeners more than words.
Partner With Other Planners
For Paul Ahern, CFP®, ChFC®, principal and senior vice president of planning at WealthTrust-Arizona in Scottsdale, Ariz., now is the time to recruit experienced planners who may be tired of running their own operations. "We can expand our practice, and we offer experienced planners with a good book of business an opportunity to have an infrastructure in place so they can focus on what they do best: working with clients," he says. Now may also be the time to consider merging your practice with another solo planner or group of planners in your area. Or, consider entering into an office-sharing arrangement, where you can share space, staff and technology.
Implement or Increase Your Networking and Publicity Activities
If you don't have a professional network, now is the time to start building one. "Develop a network of CPAs and attorneys," says Mullen. "If you have such a network, stay in closer touch with them now because they are seeing their own clients who may be expressing unhappiness with their financial advisers, so they are in a great position to refer business to you."
Healy of Financial Design Group LLC has made an effort to boost public relations and publicity about her practice. The firm's public relations campaign is part of a larger, new business plan, and it has resulted in positive feedback from clients and more name recognition in the local media. Ads taken out in Radio-TV Interview Report (www.rtironline.com), a trade publication that reaches more than 4,000 radio and TV producers in the United States and Canada, are generating attention and keep the firm's name in front of clients and prospects.
Amy Buttell Crane monitors the ever-undulating U.S. economy from Western Pennsylvania. She can be reached at amybcrane@yahoo.com .
Sidebar
Keep Talking
In troubled times, you can't have too much communication. Both current clients and prospects have insatiable appetites for information about what is happening in the markets and the economy, according to Dave Mullen, a former vice president at Merrill Lynch and author of The Million Dollar Financial Services Practice: A Proven System for Becoming a Top Producer.
"By meeting your clients', prospective clients' and your clients' friends' need for information, you develop the reputation of being an educator; someone who can help sort the situation out for people and help them understand what is going on," he says. Mary Beth Healy, CFP®, with Financial Design Group LLC, agrees. "Just telling people not to worry doesn't help them," she says. "They are worried, so they want information; they want to understand what's going on. We keep in contact with our clients on a regular basis on the theory that the best defense is a good offense."
For Paul Ahern, CFP®, ChFC®, principal and senior vice president of planning at WealthTrust- Arizona, providing ongoing education and helping set appropriate expectations for returns amid market difficulties means the phones aren't ringing off the hook. "We are proactive with our clients in terms of educating them, so we are spending less time reacting to times like these," he says. "Still, when we talk, it gives us a chance to deepen our relationship with them."
Good communication skills may even help increase your assets under management. You can provide current clients a lot of peace of mind by effectively communicating with them and providing them solid information during uncertain times, and you may find that they'll move assets they keep with other advisers to you. "You are basically taking advantage of other advisers who aren't doing the right thing; who are being lazy or complacent," says Mullen. "It's harder to talk to clients when their portfolios are down, so some advisers avoid it. What you can do is keep your clients informed on your view or your firm's view of what's happening. Hold their hands and explain this from a long-term perspective."
