Are you tired of those clients who give you the heebie-jeebies when their number pops up on your caller ID on a Friday at 5 pm? You’re not alone. Working with the wrong clients can be a drain on your bottom line and your sanity.
In the world of wealth management firms, one of the smartest moves you can make is to identify your perfect client. It might sound like common sense, but surprisingly, many firms haven’t taken the time to formalize and document their ideal client profile.
According to a 2022 RIA Benchmarking study by Schwab, only 25% of advisory firms have a clearly defined ideal client. Yet, a whopping 81% of advisors agree that having a well-defined ideal client is crucial for success. This gap means that most firms are missing out on a key growth driver.
The study also revealed some eye-opening stats: firms with documented ideal client personas attracted 42% more new clients and saw a 45% increase in client assets. That’s a game-changer!
So, let’s dive into how you can pinpoint your ideal client, explore different client personas, and start attracting more of the right clients to your firm. It’s time to level up your client game and say goodbye to those Friday evening heebie-jeebies!
Steps to Find the Right Client Profile for Your Firm
The first step to finding your ideal client isn’t to brainstorm what traits they should have or what demographics they should fall under. Instead, you’ll want to start by looking at your current clients and organizing them into a client profile based on your current work. The caveat here is to only include the type of existing clients you want to continue to work with (and attract more of).
You can do this by taking a list of your best clients and creating a list that finds the common thread connecting all of them. Add columns like:
- Assets
- Annual revenue
- Career
- Family status
- Age
- Personality
- Source
Once you have an organized list, identify any commonalities between them. Perhaps it’s age, career path, or referral source. This will help you see where you have the strongest connections between the group and what segments start to arise.
Once you’ve identified those connections and named them, there you have it — your ideal client profile. This profile can be very beneficial in helping you find your ideal clients, as it can help you determine where to spend your time marketing to find new clients, what qualities to look for in future clients, and make a stronger case that you’re a fit for their interests (since you already have existing clients that fit a similar profile).
Create Formal Documentation for Your Ideal Client
As we learned above, documenting your ideal client profile and disseminating it across your firm is key for success. Having a formalized and documented profile in place can serve as a north star to guide your future marketing decisions and strategic growth areas in the future.
One method of documenting your client profile is to identify which investor personality they fall under. These five can give you an idea of what this could look like:
- The Protector: A DIY investor who believes in as little risk as possible.
- The Competitor: Has multiple advisors and allocates solely on performance.
- The Collector: Proudly spreads their assets among multiple advisors to diversify.
- The Verifier: Focused on the client experience and wants to establish a relationship.
- The Simplifier: Invests as a lump sum and wants to keep it simple.
By codifying your client profile in groups similar to these, you can figure out which personality is right for your firm’s goals and client profile. Then, you can start to attract and focus your growth efforts on clients who already fit the bill instead of casting a wider net that may or may not yield results.
Where to Find Your Ideal Client
Ultimately, doing the work to find your ideal client helps you more easily attract and win the business of those types of investors. Now that you have an idea of your client profile and formal documentation about what they care about, you can start marketing specifically to their needs.
For example, if you’ve identified that your ideal client is middle-aged doctors, you can focus your marketing efforts on local organizations for doctors, referral programs for your existing doctor clients, and even do digital marketing targeted toward that age group and career path.
As we wrap up, let’s get real about maximizing your time and efficiency in wealth management. PreciseFP isn’t just any data gathering software—it’s your secret weapon for weeding out the good from the not-so-good and drilling down to your ideal client effortlessly. Picture this: no more wasted hours on paperwork, no more guessing games in prospect meetings. With PreciseFP, your client interactions become smoother, more focused, and ultimately more successful.
So why wait? Contact us today to learn how PreciseFP can revolutionize your wealth management workflow. It’s time to work smarter, not harder.
