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Make Prospecting Fun

Let’s be honest — we live in a world that can become too focused at times on impersonal, quick communication methods like texting or Facebook posts. But clients still appreciate the personal touch, especially those 50 and older who are near or in retirement. They also seem to respond to a non-threatening and social way to introduce their friends and family to their financial advisor.

If you are looking for a way to set yourself apart, you may want to consider implementing social prospecting into your firm’s marketing plan. Here are a few quick tips shared by some MDRT top producers who have focused their marketing efforts on fun.

Don’t go cheap

Sarah J. Kaelberer, CFP, ChFC, a 14-year MDRT member from Wayzata, Minnesota, recommends members don’t scrimp on the details or the expenses for these events. If you are going to do these types of events, she said, then you need to do them right. From the invitations to the refreshments, clients will notice your attention to detail. Kaelberer recently hosted a dinner for her very top clients. Clients and their guests were picked up by limo and driven to the first location for wine and cheese. After, they were taken to a second location to enjoy a full-course dinner. Finally, they stopped for dessert. Kaelberer said it was the “perfect way to thank my best clients and get introduced to others like them.”

No sales pitch

1. Kyle Atkins, CLU, CFP, a 16-year MDRT member from Spartanburg, South Carolina, recommends keeping these events free of any sales pitch. They are meant to be fun, social and non-threatening, he said. They are the perfect place for existing clients to invite family and friends. Guests don’t need to worry about feeling pressured to buy a product or to even set a follow-up appointment. Atkins hosts an annual Valentine’s Day lunch for his widow clients. These ladies and their guests meet at his office, where they are then taken by limo to a quaint shopping area. After a few hours of shopping, they are driven to a restaurant where Atkins is waiting to host the lunch. Before they get back in their own cars, he presents them each with a red long-stemmed rose.

Relationship building

Kaelberer said she loves building long-term relationships with her clients and spending time with them. The events they plan always have a little twist. Her firm has been hosting a unique golf outing for 30 years now with its own set of rules, she said. Some of these rules include being able to throw or kick your golf ball or being able to swap your shot with another golfer’s. It’s just simply fun, unique and “a little crazy,” Kaelberer said. Many visitors come annually to have fun and support a charity the event is benefitting.

Set yourself apart

“Any advisor can send direct mail, but social prospecting sets you apart,” Atkins said. “The return on investment on these events has far exceeded the expense and has yielded far more than the direct mail strategies we may have used in the past.” Each year, Atkins hosts a holiday dinner for about 100 clients. Clients and their guests are treated to an amazing meal, live entertainment and small gifts typically donated by vendors.

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