Picture this: it’s the holiday season, and your office decides to brighten a family’s day by buying Christmas presents for them. Establishing a strong presence, both physically in your community and online, is crucial for advisors looking to expand their reach and build meaningful connections. A visible presence not only enhances your brand but also opens doors to valuable partnerships and growth opportunities. By actively engaging with your community, whether through local events, networking meetings, or digital platforms, you can tap into a wealth of resources, expertise, and potential clients that can fuel your business’s success. Don’t underestimate the power of building relationships and leveraging your network to unlock new possibilities and drive sustainable growth.
Join Business Associations
Of course, when you join a professional industry organization, you gain benefits and credibility from your membership. FPA, NAIFA, NAPFA, and Society for Financial Services Professionals are a few examples of associations that provide networking opportunities, education, information, and a built-in community of professionals like you. Through in-person or virtual events, you can meet new people, attend workshops or webinars about topics you’re interested in, and find other professionals whose areas of expertise in the industry can prove beneficial to you.
In addition to industry organizations, joining local business organizations can help you become part of your local business community. Your city may have a small business owners’ association where you can learn about issues that affect businesses in your area, become a trusted member of the community, and share expertise with others.
How Shared Referrals Help Everyone
As a business owner, you may need to rely on outside help when a situation falls outside your area of expertise. You likely will need the services of attorneys, tax professionals, mortgage brokers, real estate agents, bankers, human resources consultants, and other experts you can work with when your clients have questions. Clients often engage with you as they make major financial decisions, which means they also may need the help of other experts who can help them with the details of these decisions. If you have a team of reliable, competent professionals ready to help your clients, your clients and your network will appreciate the shared referrals. Your relationship with these business owners can be less formal, or you can create a formal agreement. Either way, you can both benefit from sharing clients and sharing expertise with each other.
Giving Back Through Partnerships
If you want to gain the trust of your community, you can start by becoming a visible part of that community. Nonprofits often need financial advice. Although some nonprofits may not have large enough budgets to hire you as regularly as you’d like, a nonprofit organization’s clearly defined mission can be an opportunity for you to help these clients reach their goals. Some advisors build careers by focusing exclusively on nonprofit organizations as clients. This can include helping them accumulate or grow mission-aligned assets or setting up tax-advantaged ways for donors to contribute.
Encourage your clients to contribute to non-profits as part of their financial strategy. Not only does this offer potential tax benefits for them, but it also showcases your commitment to community involvement as an advisor. It’s a proactive way to build trust and goodwill while making a positive impact on society.
Whether your firm is well-established or just starting out, networking with people in your community can lead to long-term benefits. You already know you offer value and expertise to your clients. The same is true for potential partnerships in your community — you can each help each other’s businesses grow through your achievements, knowledge, and connections. Sharing referrals, expertise, advice, and services helps you meet new people and establishes your reputation as a vital member of the business community in your area.
If you’re interested in forming new partnerships, you need to have something to offer. PreciseFP can help you build your business and your brand, helping you become a trusted expert in the industry. Strengthen your services and offerings with PreciseFP. Click here to learn more.
