Are 3 common mistakes costing you clients?

By Ali Hashemian, CFP, MBA

Sometimes simple oversights, such as the confusing use of jargon, can cost you clients.

It could be you’re not getting as many prospective clients contacting you as you’d like, or after meeting with clients, you’re not closing as many cases as other advisors. It’s frustrating. And fixable — sometimes for no- to low-costs. I’m both a financial advisor and the owner of an in-house brokerage firm. So in addition to having my own clients, my firm is honored to have helped more than 150 advisors take their business to the next level.

Generally, I see three common mistakes advisors make with clients that costs them business. These are:

1) Thinking clients know what you’re talking about

Watch Ali Hashemian in the video “How to skyrocket your business.”

If you’re speaking in industry jargon, it could be language that the client has never heard, and, quite frankly, is a little bit embarrassed to ask what it means.

It’s so important for advisors to put themselves in their clients’ shoes and imagine what they’re going through. For example, when you go to your doctor and she starts using language you don’t understand, how comfortable are you moving forward with the procedures she’s recommending? That’s what you need to think about when you’re speaking to your client.

The best part about this solution? It costs you nothing to ditch industry jargon.

Watch “Less jargon, more communication.” 

2) Not following up 

If your dentist does more follow-up for a teeth cleaning than you do for a client, especially if you’re interested in high-net-worth clients, you’re probably not doing enough follow-up.

I can’t stress how important follow-up is when it comes to marketing and branding. One advisor we worked with was doing approximately $2-3 million of business annually. The advisor didn’t change anything related to his marketing and branding campaign. The only thing that advisor changed, and he didn’t need to spend any additional marketing money to do it, was follow-up better with potential and current clients.

He’s now on track to do $23 million of new business this year and has continually grown his practice by almost double what it had been the previous year for the last three to five years.

Watch “Is communication costing you clients?” 

3) Not offering holistic plans

I worked with a financial advisor who continually brought in good quality leads. However, the advisor could never transact. I found the advisor was simply presenting a product or presenting a portfolio without doing any analysis and without making comprehensive recommendations.

As soon as the advisor started to implement a case design and analysis process, we saw his business skyrocket overnight. The advisor was doing everything right on the front end, except when it came to actually providing value for clients from a financial planning standpoint. As soon as the advisor fixed that issue, he saw incredible success in his overall practice.

Holistic planning involves good case design and analysis, which is the practice of looking at a client’s complete situation — all of their financial needs, all of their financial statements and all of their goals and objectives. You then analyze everything and create recommendations and proposals about how the client can improve their overall financial life. Look at five areas to create a holistic financial plan. These are

• investments
• taxes
• retirement
• insurance
• estate planning

If your business is not where you’d like it to be, see if there’s anything you can improve when it comes to making sure clients understand you, following up with clients and giving clients value by offering holistic financial plans. You may be surprised at your results from a few simple changes.

Watch “Holistic planning through a unique business model” (MDRT Top of the Table qualfiers only) 

Ali Hashemian, CFP, MBA, is the founder of Kinetic Agency in Los Angeles, California, which is an in-house brokerage firm that works with more than 150 advisors. He’s been an MDRT member since 2013, and he’s a Top of the Table qualifier.  See more from Hashemian in the video “How to skyrocket your business.”