It happens all the time in sales. You do some research on a prospect and think to yourself “this person is unreachable”.
This is a common misconception most advisors young and old have, and can quickly cause a younger advisor to drop out of the career.
Wrong.
Let me tell you something you need to remember every time you decide to perform outreach to a potential client.
You are doing them a disservice by not educating, informing and providing something they NEED.
99% of the time, they will thank you for reaching out to them, even if they are not interested.
So lets dive into a story of how this worked with a very unlikely prospect that most of you reading this would think was a bad prospect just from their title and workplace.
Remember When You Were Just Starting Out?
“The world is your oyster”, just waiting to be cracked open.
There is no prospect or client you cant handle, and you press the clock, phone, and email to get a hold of someone you want to do business with.
Didn’t matter their title, net worth, current profession, how many Financial Advisors they had or even cared if they were a current client of the firm.
You still reached out, trying to earn their ear with something.
You would hear war stories of the Financial Planners talking about “the old days” of being armed with a yellow pages, B-Class Bear Stearn’s Mutual Funds and being chewed out by their manager if they sold anything different.
Well, the environment has changed quite a bit and a phone book might get you in trouble.
But the idea of putting in the work, realizing there is no magic pill to earn clients goes a long way in this field.
The Unlikeliest of Clients Came From This Firm
Getting in front of retirements before they happen is key. Getting them WHEN they do is also OK but you want to be there at least a few months before.
The difficult part is that retirement plans can come and go for some prospects.
However, the most lucrative client I have ever had came from this firm…
CitiGroup
Sounds strange doesn’t it?
He had just retired (putting together a tutorial on how to find them)
I reached out and said the following…
Congratulations on the well earned retirement!
I know you are probably feeling a range of emotions, plans and items you need to take care of with you, your family and work place.
You have worked with a host of Financial Professionals and would like to offer an outside perspective on whats to come as you manage your Wealth and retirement going forward.
I could share some of the perspectives and concerns that others have had in your situation which might shed some light on some unknowns.
Please let me know in you would like to explore some of the above and I look forward to speaking soon!
That client closed and had $5m of retirement assets with a “golden parachute”. We had a mix of Trust Planning, Alternative Investments and tax friendly investments due to his bracket.
I would have NEVER closed this if I thought that this individual had Advisors lined up waiting outside the door.
What You Should Do Now
Don’t overthink it.
Even Hedge Fund Managers need services provided by Wealth Advisors.
I would approach the prospect with something unique to catch their attention. Worse case scenario is that they tell you they are not interested, to drop dead or something along those lines.
Who cares?