Where, Oh Where is my Calling List?

November 15, 2017

by Crystal Butler
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not
necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.

In my last article, Marketing Funnels for Financial Advisors, I gave an overview of

marketing funnels and their important role in marketing for financial advisors. This
article will cover the first step – lead generation – and why sales is no longer about the
calling list.

What is a lead?
A lead is a person who has shown interest in your company in some way. It is a “potential sale.” They
may come from website visitors, social media or blogs. Based on their interaction with you (or your
content) they are slightly interested in what you have to say.

But how do you know if someone is actually a lead or just a visitor? Let’s break it down. If 100 people
visit your website in a week, and 10 are really interested in your services, those would be your leads.

What is lead generation?

Great, you have 10 leads! Or do you? The question is, how do you capture those 10 people’s
information so you can reach out and contact them? You have to have a process in place to do so -
this process is what is called lead generation.

It's the process of collecting the right information from the right people.

You have to have a process in place to identify and cultivate potential customers for your financial
advisory firm. It is all about gathering the information from potential clients and individuals that have
shown interest in your business, product or service.

Lose the calling list

Things have changed over the years. Twenty years ago someone would go to their local insurance
agent or family banker and ask for a recommendation for a financial advisor, or financial advisors

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would pay for a list of potential clients that they could send out mass emails or make impersonal cold
calls to all afternoon.

While both of these ways of connecting with new clients are still used today, they are no longer the
only, or the best, options. As a person doing business you have to ask yourself – how are my potential
clients looking for me – and meet them there.

In today's world, a person is also no longer limited to only local options and they are no longer limited to
the recommendations of only their friends. They can search the internet, find a list of hundreds of
advisors, and research the company without leaving their own desk.

They are not interested in getting cold calls at dinner time or even a cookie-cutter email reaching out to
them. They want to be in control of the interaction. They want to make the first move. They want to get
to know you, build a relationship with you, and begin to trust you before committing to doing business
with you. The best thing you can do is give them as many opportunities as possible to do so.

Leads don’t just happen

Not everyone who sees your website, or other branded material, is a good fit to be a client. Not
everyone that reads your latest blog or even follows you on social media is going to decide to have a
relationship with you. You have to do the work to get the right ones to let you know they are interested.

You have to give them a way to let you know that they are interested, that they want more information,
or they wouldn’t mind having you reach out. The second part is to convince them to take action. You
have to convince them to fill out the form and click the “learn more” button. All you can do is give them
the opportunity; they have to take the action.

What to do next?
You have to publicize yourself and your business and do everything you can to engage with the right
people.

First, know exactly “who are the right people.” You need to define your audience and then target them.
In the past this was done with a large net, hoping to catch a few, with cold calls and emails. Now you
use your website and social media to interact with people. Potential clients will have a need, and, at
some point, they realized that you could fill that need. Now you just need to figure out how to make that
connection and get their information.

Closing
The number of people that visit your site, or see your information online, is unlimited. What is limited is
the number of people that are actually interested in doing business with you. By having a well thought
out process in place to capture leads you can increase your chances of making the right connections
with the right people – potential clients.

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In the next article in this series I will cover the details of how to create a successful lead-generation
process.

Crystal Lee Butler, MBA, is a creative marketer and results-oriented business consultant with over a
decade of experience collaborating with independent advisers. At Crystal Marketing Solutions, she
delivers exceptional insights for financial professionals enabling them to create a consistent
marketing presence so they can focus on the things that matter most to them.

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