Three easy ways to boost your firm’s impact this summer

Clients tend to go on vacation this time of year, and advisors often have a bit more time to assess their activity. I’m often asked what else advisors could do to grow; should they brainstorm a campaign to reach prospects, start a social media campaign, or redo their website? Or perhaps they should film a relevant video, create a podcast, cultivate COIs, or host a client appreciation event? 

All of these individual activities, of course, offer great prospects for growth. But doing more isn’t necessarily going to gain results. Based on my thousands of interactions with financial advisors, I’ve learned that many advisors are great at idea generation and starting new projects – but only fair to middling at capturing impact. And that’s not what you want. The last thing advisors should want to do is spend time, money, and energy without reaping any benefit.

So how about taking time this summer to reassess some easily controllable activities within your office, to first make sure you’re gaining all the impact you can from things you are already doing. This will help you position your practice better for the next wave of growth and still leave you time to enjoy some days off yourself. 

1. Elevate your communication

You know what advisors don’t like to talk about? How their firm answers the telephone and responds to basic emails from clients, when they return phone calls, and how they get back to people. Basic stuff, and SO not sexy. But guess what really matters to your clients? 

• In a recent survey by CapIntel, 42 percent of respondents said they would leave an advisor due to lack of availability; having their advisor available when they really need to talk to him or her is critical. 
• The research also revealed that 46 percent of people would leave their advisor due to overall poor communication alone. 

Advisors know these things are important but perhaps don’t realize how important. Given that you probably have far more interactions with people via phone and email than anything else, it would be well worth your time and careful consideration to talk to your team about improvements. 

Do you currently have service standards that you commit to and that you discuss with clients?  If so, make sure your team knows what they are, and why you set them. (If not, gain input from your team and put a plan in place—quickly.)

2. Spruce up your email subject line

Given recent market volatility, world events, tariff discussions, and other economic factors, it’s safe to say investors probably have some questions or concerns. Many advisors take the time to curate information and send out timely, engaging economic updates and videos to clients. Which is a wonderful way to stay relevant with clients – but only if the content gets read or watched. Far too many advisors kill all interest in it with a boring subject line that says something like, “Here’s your July economic update.” If you want your clients to read it, make it compelling or don’t waste your time. Would you be more inclined to open something titled “Economic Update” or “A Look at the Fed’s Interest Rate Decision, Inflation Concerns, and Why This Volatility Isn’t Normal”? 

And while we’re on the subject of emails, summer is a great time to take a look at your metrics. What were the top emails that your clients opened, and what links did they click for more information? This is valuable information that you can easily obtain, and it can help you better understand both client concerns and topics that they want to hear more about.

3. Target your content to clients  

Once you’ve captured someone’s attention, make your content relevant to a specific client segment. Content is tremendously important; it can convey your brand, highlight your expertise, and help prospects to engage with you. But generic content doesn’t usually capture attention; the better strategy is to target specific niches or groups of people you want to engage. Mentioning the Social Security COLA increase might encourage retirees to read on, or discussing how small business owners could be the big winners of tax proposals might better engage that audience. Or simply say why you chose a post for social media: “As a millennial myself, this article on why millennials find it so hard to save really hit home.”

These ideas can help you gain more impact from things you are already doing – and can be easily implemented in just about every practice. This summer, change a few simple things in your practice, and capture additional growth potential without any additional strain on time or money.

Please consult your member firm’s compliance policies and obtain prior approval for any ideas discussed in this article before moving forward.  

Kristine McManus is the chief advisor growth officer at Commonwealth Financial Network, where she helps financial advisors expand their businesses and achieve sustainable growth.