We all know that working harder, working more does not guarantee a more successful business. Instead, we must work smarter. Our most valuable and precious resource is time. If we spend time on non-revenue generating clients and activities, our practice will not grow. One way to work smarter is to find the ideal clients, likely those that have a higher net worth than the clients you typically work with. High net worth clients have problems and more money to solve their problems. So, how can you design your practice to attract high net worth clients? What problems are they willing to pay you to solve?
My practice focuses on high net worth retirees, working executives, and business owners. Yours might focus on NFL players, I’ve done that and it was cool, but it did not work for me. But, if that is your deal, go for it! After nearly 20 years in the business, I think I have a good finger on what my ideal client base is looking for in a financial advisor and their practice.
- Integration of the advice of their various experts – They want their investment person to talk to their lawyer. They do not want to be the go-between.
- Their money in the best places, without being forced to move it to a new advisor and sign a bunch of paperwork.
- Retainer-based planning – They want to pay you upfront, be billed quarterly and pay a flat fee for everything that they do. They don’t want free advice and they don’t want to be charged for every tiny transaction.
- Advice that is tied to real-world solutions, not products – for your business owner it might make the most financial sense right now for them to invest in infrastructure. They want to trust that you are giving them the most sound advice, not the advice that is going to pay your bills.
- Information to make better decisions – they do not want to do research. They want you to provide them with research and guide them to do what is best for their portfolio, family, etc.
Take some time and think about your ideal clients. I’ve created a document that can help you to discover what type of clients are your ideal. Yes, I still have some clients that do not fit into my target profile of, “High net worth retires, working executives, and business owners,” these are considered friends and family. However, the majority of my clients, the majority of my time and my team’s time are spent working on and for our ideal clients. That’s how I have built a successful practice.
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