Client acquisition is one of the key challenges faced by any IFA, but primarily for someone who has started his practice recently and has a smaller clientèle. It is not an easy nut to crack for many, especially when it comes to the clients that you want. With the time spent it happens that client acquisition tactics become tiring, repetitive and boring. There are chances that they might be ineffective as well. In this article, we try to introduce you to an overview of what client acquisition is all about and what we can do to make it much more effective...

Client Acquisition Sources:
Broadly speaking we can classify all of our primary sources of clients acquisition into the five categories. Depending on your focus areas and your size of business, the actual mix of new clients from these sources will vary.

1. Personal Contacts & Networking: This list will include your neighbours, friends and family members who are your primary contacts. This can be extended to your social circles/networks formed through your primary contacts. At the beginning of your practice, this is the primary source of your new clients.
2. Existing Client Referrals: The client referrals is a valuable source provided your clients are impressed and satisfied with your services. Some may give your referrals even without being asked and some will be willing to share their contacts once you have their trust.
3. Marketing Activities: There are number of marketing activities that can be carried out by IFAs. These activities can be related to branding, product promotions, lead generation, customer awareness and assistance. The activities range from say flyer distribution to email campaigns and from stalls to client meets and training programs.
4. Professional Tie-ups: This is an interesting source whereby you can tie-up with professionals who do not offer a product or service that you have in your basket on reciprocal or commercial basis. Thus, you may tie up with accountants, tax consultants, insurance advisors, doctors, vehicle dealers, stock brokers and so on for investment and/or insurance products in your basket.
5. Social Media Presence: Increasingly, social media is fast getting recognised as a key provider of leads and inquiry for many businesses. It can be also effectively used as a tool to share, interact and engage with clients and prospects on topics you want them to. The social media stretches from social networks like Linked-in, Facebook, Twitter on one end and your own website or blog on the other end.

The Client Acquisition Process:
A quick Google search can throw many models from client acquisition process which is almost similar to a lead management process. Your client acquisition process will differ depending of the method or activity that you have planned. However, as IFAs, the following generic 'detailed' process can be effectively practiced to get the right prospects on board. You may skip some or most of the steps given below to suit your activity and scale.

Stage One: Planning The Pitch

• Defining your product offering /solution
• Identifying your preferred client
• Selecting the most accessible medium of finding right prospects
• Gathering data of audience, if needed (for eg. for mass email, SMS activities)
• Drafting the message suited to the solution + prospect + method/activity

Stage Two: Delivering the Message

• Putting your brand presence in place (websites, office, social media, etc.)
• Defining the information needed in inquiry forms, if any (for eg., feedback form during meet, email page, etc.)
• Creating a feedback + data collection process for inquiries to be received
• Executing the activity at the 'right' time/place through the right medium and/or vendor

Stage Three: Interacting With The Prospect

• Regularly tabulating the data received from inquiries
• Reverting timely on the inquiries with the requested information + request for meeting/appointment
• Getting ready with your service /solution /product pitch + your profile
• Meeting client + delivering the pitch which is rehearsed/practiced

Stage Four: Converting Into A Client

• Understanding prospect and his needs
• Preparing + presenting the plan /solution for client needs
• Follow-up till acceptance of plan into actions
• Delivering /executing the actions for the client
• Welcoming the client
• Client on-boarding / New client process

The Five Key Elements:
While doing any client acquisition activity, there are few key elements commanding special attention. Missing any of these key pieces may result in to missed clients.

1. Audience: The audience for any activity has to be the most appropriate for your preferred set of clients. For eg., if you are planning a stall activity, the location for the activity should be such where the 'right audience' will have the highest footfalls.
2. Message: The message drafted should be attractive enough to arouse interest and more importantly action from the recipients. This may sound easy but the fact is that everything, including colour, words, text size, images, etc. should be correct – and this is some science in itself. The message should trigger a need within the audience; projecting you as the one with the solution.
3. Medium: The medium of delivery of the message should is crucial since it should be acceptable, accessible and attractive enough for the audience. It can be seen as a complete package of how and when you deliver the message. Depending on the activity concerned, things like form, mode, platform, location, time, etc. would matter a lot. For eg., it but be nothing but a waste of effort if one sends a SMS at an odd day & time when the audience most likely will be busy. Worst, he may even get irritated.
4. Follow-up: Even after checking all the boxes, chances are that you may end up not getting any new clients. Often difference between a lead and a client is the timely response that you can give. In today's fast paced world, the life of a lead is very short and every effort should be taken to respond to the lead as quickly as possible and with the right preparedness.
5. Price: An element less talked about, price is a one deciding factor for choosing one activity over another. A sound choice has to be made for an activity that has the potential to give the maximum ROI (Return On Investment) for your rupee. The number of audience you touch + the conversion factor + business expected are some of the assumptions that you need to make before arriving at the price equations for different activities. Only your personal experience and some guidance from experts can be of help here.

The ROI: Often the ROI (Return On Investment) for any activity could be hard to calculate. One short-cut method is to divide the total cost of the marketing activity with either (i) the number of leads received or (ii) the number of converted clients. To get a more appropriate measure, one may divide (i) the total business received or (ii) total revenue generated from the customer with the total marketing cost to get the ROI.

Conclusion: Client acquisition is an ongoing, never ending activity for businesses that aspire to keep growing. Even if you have adequate clients, there is always the scope for segmenting your clients and focusing only on the segments you desire to service. Most often you would end up wanting more of such clients.

There is no substitute for marketing activities in client acquisition. You have to be active and be seen in your target audience to get more clients. NJ, on its' part, understands this imperative and empowers you with many cost effective but attractive options in direct and digital marketing through NJ BizMall, not only for acquisition but also client retention.

With this article, we hope that you would now approach client acquisition with more thought, planning and structure before implementation. Doing so can only better the prospects of growth for you...

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Every business has it's own set of core elements necessary to be successful. It is no different for a financial advisory practice. A study of all successful practices highlights few very common things that we believe are imperative for success in the business. In this piece, we highlight the six imperatives for success from the perspective of an IFA.

1.Skills & Education
The financial advisory profession is very closely linked to the IFA's skills and expertise on subjects associated with wealth management. It is a profession where the we need to keep learning and enhancing your knowledge & information. Beyond learning, we also would need to sharpen and improve our skills at preparing plans and presenting our ideas to the customers.

To stay relevant and meaningful to the customers, we will need to invest into technology, products and services again for which our knowledge and expertise will be at test. Running a successful practice as a financial advisor is challenging and it involves having the requisite skills, knowledge related to the below mentioned areas.

• Preparing financial plans and projections
• Asset classes, products & services
• Markets and its' developments
• Operational Processes
• Client desks /reports & Business MIS
• Established rules and regulations
• Managing compliances and books of accounts
• Skills in planning and managing practice

Being weak on any of these areas can hamper prospects for growth for us.

2.Beliefs
We are what we believe. Our beliefs are not to be considered as ordinary as they drive our actions and shape our philosophy and our approach to our business. It will be a win-win situation if we can identify our core beliefs and work at transferring those beliefs into values and actions in our professional lives. For example, if you believe in equities for long term wealth creation, you can do very well to share this with your clients. Understanding our core beliefs can help us greatly in shaping our business and planning for future...

Unfortunately, we do not often know our beliefs on things which are intangible to business. These beliefs can be unveiled when we ask ourselves questions like...

• What is that I good at and feel happy at doing?
• What is the true measure of my success?
• How best can I serve my clients?
• How important are knowledge & skills for me?
• How can I best grow my business?
• How committed am I to my business?

To be successful advisors, we need to have a strong set of beliefs that are positive for our business. As an advisor, we must give highest value to improving and safeguarding our client's interests. Our focus should only be on our business and as wealth management professionals, we must believe that the highest and best use of your professional knowledge and services is to improve and better the client's life. Without having these basic beliefs, it will be hard to succeed.

3.Relationships
Relationships are our most prized assets. And in order to grow as wealth managers, we must all nurture these assets. Over time, relationships which are nurtured rightly, will give birth to trust. And with trust, the relationship has the potential to grow much beyond the initial engagements.

Nurturing a relationship is an art; you can create a picture with many different strokes and colours by...

1. Knowing: Knowing the customer's financial & non-financial aspect important for your advisory role.
2. Respecting: Respecting the client for his beliefs, objectives in life and the mandate he has for you.
3. Caring: Being truly caring for the client's concerns and managing his priorities in his best interests.
4. Communicating: Keeping the communication channels healthy, substantive, informal, regular and open.
5. Connecting: Connecting at a personal level and exploring client's real objectives, concerns and motivations.
6. Collaborating: Adopting a two-way approach to preparing solutions and executing plans with client's active involvement.
7. Facilitating: Working effectively towards facilitating achievement of client's needs/objectives/goals as expected.
8. Delighting: Making clients feel satisfied and delighted with the association with you.

4.Products & Services
No business can sustain itself unless it has the right set of products and services for the segment of clients that it intends to serve. Being in the evolving financial services industry, it is also imperative for the advisor to have the right mix of product and service basket to meet the wealth management needs of the evolving clients becoming more aware and demanding. In a fast paced era where loyalties can be easily switched, the advisor needs to offer one stop solution to his client's needs.

The following are the reasons why having the right products & services is essential for any advisor

Client oriented

• Single window for meeting all /most of the client's needs
• Holistic review and planning for client's financial needs
• Consolidation of transactions and portfolio for clients
• Ease and efficiency in administration /operations

IFA oriented

• Attracting new clients for products/services not offered by other advisors
• Demotivating clients from moving /shifting to other service providers
• Increased share of wallet and client profitability by cross-selling & up-selling opportunities

5.Technology
Technology, systems and processes have today taken center-stage in almost every business. Traditional businesses and market places are also being shaken up by disruptive technologies. In financial advisory business as well, the there is growing trend for automation of client related processes, technology enabled transactions and communications.

For any IFA to grow the business, it is imperative today that he seeks maximum usage of technology and systems in activities that do not require his/her core knowledge or expertise. The IFA should ideally only focus on the role of client acquisition, advising, managing relationships and leadership. Further, it is also only logical that the technology be outsourced as the time, expertise, efforts and costs for developing these solutions by the IFA cannot be justified for the business he manages.

Applications of technology /systems in advisory business

• Business monitoring and MIS
• Transaction processing
• Consolidating client reports
• Communications & alerts
• Customer relationship management
• Financial planning & advisory tools
• Client Servicing
• Query and complaint management
• Marketing & sales promotions

6.Leadership
Perhaps no element is more critical and imperative for growth of your firm than skilled and effective leadership. The journey from a local area practice to a great business cannot be undertaken unless we have the leadership skills to do so. Leadership is much beyond just writing a designation against your name in a visiting card. Leadership is a role, a responsibility that encompasses all the following...

• Having the clear, collective and shared vision for future
• Recognizing talents and sharing responsibilities with others
• Setting realistic but bigger goals and guiding progress
• Setting processes and establishing service standards
• Taking ownership and leading change
• Creating the 'right' culture and ethics in the firm
• Establishing relationships and nurturing networks

Conclusion:
Establishing and growing a business is not easy in a competitive environment for IFAs. However, the market and the opportunities for growth are immense. There is clearly a gap in the market and it is upto the IFAs to equip themselves and grab the opportunity present. The six imperatives for success are like a check-list for those advisors who have a vision to expand their scale and capabilities and for whom the success is placed at a much higher pedestal. At NJ, we have tangible answer to few of these imperatives like product & services, technology and skills /education to some extent. However, for the imperatives of Beliefs, Relationships and Leadership, the NJ Partner has to outgrow himself. The stage is set for you, and now it is upto you to set up the play and deliver your blockbuster show. All the best.

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Financial advisors and distributors often wear many different hats while practicing. The roles can be broadly described as – Advisory, Administration, Marketing or Sales & Operational in nature. Most of the roles are very basic or primary to the nature of our business. However, to excelling as a financial advisor to a client means a lot more than handling queries and submitting application forms. Financial advisors will need to act and be financial guides or mentors to their clients. In this piece, we will talk of some of these additional, refined 'other' roles which financial advisors should look forward to play with their clients...

Primary Role:
Before we start talking of the 'other' roles, here is a brief listing of the primary role /responsibilities which advisors are expected to play. These roles, depending on your business practice, should never be ignored or compromised for any reason.

• Identifying risk appetite
• Managing asset allocation
• Ensuring protection
• Helping in tax planning
• Doing Financial Planning
• Distribution of financial products
• Handling grievances

Other Roles:
As earlier said, financial advisors also need to act as financial guides /mentors to their clients. It is something which is very subjective and wide in scope. Here is a listing of the roles/responsibilities which trusted and skilled financial advisors can play with their clients...

• Controlling emotions: The real role of the financial advisor is actually controlling emotions of the clients. It is about making him act rationally and logically, even in face of extreme scenarios. Controlling emotions will require skill, confidence, facts & proper communication from the advisors.
• Encouraging Savings: All advisors carry this role of encouraging savings behaviour in their clients. And it is time that we advisors adopt a proper strategy and pitch in order to do so instead of trying to firing on all cylinders.
• Helping out of debt: As a financial guide, one is expected to help clients avoid debt trap and to payoff debts as soon as feasible. Given the credit savvy generation with high income, this becomes an important role of advisors. One should again prepare and follow a proper method of comparing and evaluating debt repayment strategy for clients.
• Regular communication: This is something that forms of the essence of a relationship. A powerful, relevant, informative, interesting, regular and brief communication strategy has to be adopted by advisors. The communication strategy can cover different modes /channels where appropriate messages/contents will be communication for purpose of information/updates or promotion.
• Putting financial records, accounts & documents in place: A financial advisor must follow this important bit of role wherein he helps consolidation of all information, records and documents in place for the clients. One can effectively use online Client Desk for consolidation of financial records. Beyond this, one can also guide clients in managing/ updating accounts w.r.t. - nomination, joint holding, contact information, etc. Consolidation of documents can be done as per convenience/scope of engagement with the clients.
• Help in tax fillings: Beyond tax advice, clients would also appreciate if we can help them in filing tax returns by informing of due dates, assisting with online filling, etc. Some advisors often also help clients register and enter records on many online sites offering tax return preparation /submission services.
• Handling issues in financial products: It is obvious that advisors will be handling queries/issues in financial transacted through them. But how about helping the client & family for such complaints/issues which are through other financial advisors? This is a good way of winning the trust of clients and many advisors are very happy to play this role.
• Ongoing financial guidance: As a financial guide and mentor, you should be the go-to person at the top of the mind for the client for any matter where an expert opinion is required on any financial matter. On an ongoing basis there are many things where the financial advisors can be of help, provided that some prior study and research is done by the clients. With proper inputs, financial advisors can help clients to - decide between options with varying financial implications (ROIs), do cash-management, do repayment of loans, make buy /rent decisions for properties, structure salary packages, decide on choice of home loans and so on.
• Financial literacy: Financial advisors are expected to help clients become savvy investors with adequate financial literacy. One is expected to help client become aware of areas like – asset classes, investment products, insurance coverage types, tax saving avenues, comparison between different financial products and so on. One is also expected to help clients become careful and smart enough to not fall prey to the many online scams, phishing accounts, identify theft, etc. in an era where e-commerce has gained prominence. One is also expected to help clients become aware of ponzi, quick-money, multi-level marketing schemes which make huge promises.
• Writing of Wills: An important element in overall wealth management is wealth transfer. Financial advisors should also help clients in this aspect, subject to the nature of relationship and engagement enjoyed with the client. An advisor can help in creating awareness, updating records in the accounts with financial institutions, preparation of Will, playing the role of an executor to the Will, and so on.

Conclusion:
Carrying out the 'other' role by the financial advisors helps one to build trust, get closely involved with the clients and their family and ultimately become financial guides & mentors to the families. This should be the aim for any financial advisor. However, it is something that will take time, will need effort and hard-work and will also need better time management and organising skills. To begin with, we should first decide to what level we wish to extend the scope of our services /relationship and how do we plan to make sure the expected results are delivered to the clients? It is something that needs good thought and planning on your part. The possible benefits though are attractive enough for those who can answer the questions in the most cost-effective, productive and planned way.

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