The News: Seventy-seven percent of advisers ranked acquiring more clients as their top goal for 2012, but negative news and opinions about the economy may dissuade clients from making referrals. Read More »

The News: According to a recent study, 46% of advisors say they hope to add at least 16 new clients in 2012. However, nearly one-third of advisors surveyed in 2011 said they didn’t have enough time to spend on business development and a quarter said they lacked sufficient expertise.

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Today, advisors must meet unprecedented client demands while simultaneously courting new business for their firm. To ensure advisors spend their time most effectively during the sales process firms must instill a more disciplined approach to pipeline management.

One leading firm, Blackwell Private Bank (pseudonym), develops a pipeline system comprised of three phases:

1. Search Phase – confirm lead quality and gather prospect information
2. Action Phase – schedule prospect meeting and develop proposal
3. Closing Phase – present proposal and introduce the service team

The three-phase process allows advisors to calibrate the likelihood of closing sales opportunities in their pipelines and thus, determine key next steps. Since implementing the strategy Blackwell has seen significant increases in sales productivity, measured by the number of proposals made, meetings completed and an increased flow of net new assets.

Forum members, learn how to ensure a greater degree of advisor accountability in the sales process.

More than three-quarters of wealth management executives report delivering a consistent client experience as highly important to their business in the next year, so it’s not surprising that firms are investing significant resources in their client experience strategies.

At the VIP Forum, we recognize firms are trying to meet this challenge head-on, but it’s hard to know where to start given the broad scope of the client experience. One leading firm, Slater Bank, takes three key steps to re-design its client experience, ultimately leading to a 24% increase in net new assets year over year.

Slater creates a consistent client experience by taking three steps:

• Co-locating advisory teams
• Building advice teams around the client
• Rewarding advisors and specialists for active team collaboration

VIP Forum members, read more to discover how Slater’s efforts led to a consistently high-quality client experience.

The News: According to a recent SEI survey only one in five financial advisors say that seeking a referral is a regular routine. Moreover, nearly half say they’ve asked only a small percentage of their clients for a referral.

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The News: A new report by Scorpio shows the rate of new money coming into institutions slowed by close to 19% last year. Though assets under management across the industry were up 11%, Scorpio attributes much of the increase to market movements boosting the value of client’s investments rather than banks rapidly booking new business.

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When asked about how they’ll hit their revenue goals, 91% of wealth management executives cite client referrals as a significant opportunity for achieving their target. With client referrals converting at the highest rate among all sources of new businesses and yielding the best fit for the firm, it is no surprise that firms are looking to this high-potential source as the path to growth.

While identifying client advocates and asking these clients for referrals are crucial, today’s advantage will come from deploying the most loyal clients in strategically targeted high-value sales interactions to yield the highest returns. One leading firm, Hampton Bank, takes two key steps to leverage its advocates in new client acquisition:

1. Stringently selects and deputizes a small group of client advocates
2. Selectively deploys advocates in high-value sales interactions

Forum members, see how Hampton leverages client advocates during the sales process.

The News: A recent study by Aite Group reveals that many wealth management firms are missing an opportunity to expand relationships during the onboarding stage, with 70% of respondents viewing client onboarding as primarily a back-office function or a front-office automation issue.

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Wealth management firms recognize that client referrals are a high-converting source of new business, yet advisors have historically resisted asking clients for referrals. Moreover, firms typically fail to incent advisors to ask clients for referrals or support them in identifying and leveraging client advocates.

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The News: Seventy percent of high-net-worth clients found their advisor through a referral from a friend or family member, according to a recent Spectrem Group survey.

Our View: Double down on client contact and advice to build advocacy. Clients who are contacted every couple of months are nearly twice as likely to act as advocates compared to clients who are only contacted twice a year. Similarly, clients who receive advice on five to six personal financial issues are more than twice as likely to refer their advisor, compared to those clients who receive advice on only one issue.

How We Can Help: Learn how advisors can build client advocacy in The VIP Forum’s Understanding the Client Advocate.

Click here to read the full article from Millionaire’s Corner.