Attract clients with an irresistible online bio

Do you ever think about how you present yourself to other people? Do you wonder if you are saying the right things?

The way you tell your story makes all the difference in drawing clients to your business, said Gary DeMoss, the director of Invesco Consulting, which helps advisors acquire and retain clients and grow their businesses. For many prospects, your online bio is where you make your first impression, DeMoss said at the 2018 MDRT EDGE in Boston, Massachusetts. If you don’t want it to be the last and only impression they have of you, write an irresistible bio. Allow it to bring clients to your door.

How to be irresistible

Your bio must focus on what your audience — your potential client — wants. What potential clients want are three often unspoken questions. Write your bio as if you’re having a conversation with the reader. Hear their unspoken questions and answer them.

Question 1: Do you understand the complexities of my individual situation?

Your client wants to make sure you are competent to handle their specific circumstances, whatever they may be, DeMoss said. Remember to answer this question in a way that’s not about you. Instead, it’s about them and their needs.

When a prospect is asking about your competence, there are a few additional unspoken questions you have to address. According to DeMoss, these are

• What is your role? Be clear about what part you play in the process.
• What support staff do you have? Clearly describe the support resources you have to show there is depth behind you.
• Who is watching the money? Tell them about the investment firm you work with. Leave them with a picture of what it will mean to them to be a client of your firm.

Question 2: What are you going to do with my money?

Some people want to know more details than others. For prospects who are interested in those details, there are underlying questions. These could be the following:

• What is your investment process?
• Can you explain your investment philosophy? Show that you can explain clearly what you are doing with their investments and that you’re willing to do so as frequently as they want to know.

Question 3: What other services do you offer that might interest me, beyond the investment component?

When clients ask this question, DeMoss said, they may want to know the following:

• Do you handle wealth transfer and charitable giving?
• Can you offer these services through your firm or through another person or group?
• Do you offer concierge services of some kind? Make sure the client knows these services are available to them as well as others your firm may provide.

When answering these three questions, keep in mind that we all have so much to say and not enough time or space to say it. Organize your thinking so it is clear, concise and compelling.

Remember your bio is not really about you. It is about the role you will play in the lives of your prospective clients, and when you concisely answer their questions they will want to work with you.

Learn more in the EDGE presentation from Gary DeMoss, “3 questions clients want answered about their advisors”.

For more about client communication, read

• “Questions from prospects” in the 2019 March/April Round the Table 
• “Creating a backstory that rings true”