Independent Advisors need a strategy-led, systematic growth program.
The Financial Advisor SMART BOOK™ outlines the Revenue Architecture Methodology that financial advisors can use to add structure and predictability to their revenue engine. We introduce nine steps and advisor-specific marketing and sales strategies that are helping advisors capture client value.
The comprehensive guide helps independent financial advisors build a strategy-led, systematic growth program with 9 proven strategies. The goal is to help advisors:
- Increase Volume: Generate More Visits & Inquiries
- Increase Client Value: Get Better Qualified Inquiries
- Increase Velocity: Increase your Conversion Rate
- Increase AUM and Revenue: Optimize Engagement for AUM growth and Revenue Impact.
Having a vision and game plan for growth is essential for financial advisors to thrive in a challenging marketplace. The Smart Book™ outlines how you can achieve more predictable and sustainable revenue growth by establishing a Revenue Architecture that fits your firm. The key is to commit to a systematic sales and marketing process by following the 9 proven strategies to guide your approach.
Initial Steps Advisors Can Take to Build a Revenue Strategy:
Identify Ideal Clients and Segments
- Segment existing clients into A, B, and C tiers. Use your best ‘A’ clients to help define your Ideal Client Profile (ICP). Consider demographics, geography, and distinctive characteristics. Build Personas for your priority ICPs (e.g. physician with a spouse and family, ultra-HNW business owner, college professor, power couple, mass affluent, college family sub-HNW, business owner).
- Identify and quantify (at a high level) your Target Addressable Market (TAM), the available opportunity for your services, and select segments based on intent and need, attractiveness, and competitive position. For example, a target addressable market for one segment might be the number of people with more than $2 million in assets who own their own businesses and live within 25 miles of your office.
Position Your Value Proposition
- Start with your Brand Value Proposition (BVP). This short “elevator speech” and tagline articulate your overarching and differentiating brand value proposition.
- Your offer value propositions (OVPs) are then articulated for different services (planning, asset management, risk management etc. as they pertain to your audience. You can also create OVPs at the audience segment level.
Envision a Go-to-Market Strategy
- Start with a diagnostic of what is working now and what channels and strategies might work best for your audience segments and for your firm. This helps focus the campaign and program archetypes that make the most sense for your firm.
- What is a reasonable share of this market for your firm? How many new clients are you targeting this year? Identify top-down S.M.A.R.T. goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-based): current revenue, # clients, AUM tiers long-term goal, years to reach the goal, and rate of growth. The CLTV (customer lifetime value) helps you consider a budget for client acquisition. Consider what you need to improve your pipeline, e.g., more leads at the top of the funnel (attract stage) or better performance in the middle of the funnel (interest/consideration stage).
- Create a calendar of programs, content, and campaigns that address your market priorities and highest-value engagement strategies.
Tip
Ideal Client Profile
- Look for your best-existing clients to inform your ICP:
- Break down your Funnel into stages that your team can agree with. This becomes the language of sales. Based on how your pipeline is performing, consider what areas need to be improved.
- Do you need to feed the top of the funnel (TOFU) with leads that are aware or to convert more middle of the funnel (MOFU) leads by nurturing them from consideration to close?
Financial Advisor SmartBook
As a recognized leader in Digital Marketing Agencies For Financial Services, we work with a range of FAs / RIAs as well as asset management firms, to help them get to the next level of marketing and sales effectiveness. For additional insights on financial advisor strategies for growth, please download the Financial Advisor SMARTBOOK™.
