Part 3: How to Use Razor Leads to Grow your Practice

By Dave Faulkner

In Part 1 and Part 2, we covered the importance of defining a Client Acquisition Process and provided an overview of Razor Leads.

The following sections outline a business development strategy you can use to grow your practice using Razor Leads. Activities are recommended on a daily, weekly and monthly basis and can be implemented by yourself, your administrative support staff or external contractors.

Daily Activity

GOAL – Send a minimum of 3 emails each day introducing Razor Leads to prospects/referrals and clients.

For Prospects & Referrals

Converting a prospect into a client requires a face to face meeting to gain their trust and an understanding of their wants and needs. A personal email from you with a link to your Razor Leads landing page, in advance of the first meeting, offers many benefits to both the prospect and you.

For the prospect, he/she will get the following:

1. Their Potential Retirement Income based on the current plans they have;
2. The chance to adjust their goals to see the impact on their Potential Retirement Income; and
3. Confirmation that you offer more than the typical advisor.

In exchange, you will receive the following important information about the prospect prior to meeting with them so that you can be better prepared:

1. The top five financial planning priorities of the prospect;
2. Their Life Stage, Financial Knowledge and Investment History;
3. How much income they earn;
4. The type and amount of investment assets they have; and
5. What goals (savings, target age and rate-of-return) have they set for their retirement?

Here are two email templates you can use with prospects and referrals, in each you would use the advisor branded link provided by Razor Leads. 

Click the thumbnails below to download the templates in Word format.

For Client Relationships

Your clients know the value that you provide and have come to expect a certain level of communication and service from you. A personal email from you with a link to your Razor Leads page will help to reinforce your commitment to them while encouraging them to share your branded Razor Leads landing page with people in their social network.

Weekly Activity

GOAL – Make a minimum of 2 social media posts each week.

More and more advisors are using social media websites such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to try and connect with new prospects. Although you may have followers, unless you can get them to share your content you will likely not get the results you are looking for.

• Post Your Original Content
  Writing original content that is of interest to your clients and highlights the work you do is an effective way to promote your services. Articles published on your blog or in a newsletter can then be posted to LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter to attract additional followers.

  Remember to add a link to your Razor Leads landing page or better yet incorporate Razor Leads into the article you have written to create a reason for the reader to click on the link.

• Post an Interesting Article
  Posting an interesting article that validates the work you do and is of interest to your followers is another effective way to promote the services you offer. Every week there are numerous articles written by financial publications on the concerns Canadians have about their finances.

  Remember to include a short comment that is relevant to the reader and ties back to your Razor Leads landing page.

• Like or Comment on a Post
  Another way to get noticed on social media is to “like” or “comment” on a post from someone that you follow who is knowledgeable and respected in their field. Many people will return the favour later and “like” your post or better yet share your content with their followers.

Monthly Activity

GOAL – Make a minimum of one Center of Influence (COI) contact each month.

Many advisors have established one or more relationships with a COI that they would like to get more referrals from. To do this you must provide value to both the COI and their clients. One way to do this is to offer the COI content for their website that is relevant and useful to attracting new business for the COI.

Establishing a new COI relationship is also easier when you offer valuable content they can share on their website with existing client relationships.

• Accountants
  Many accountants have clients that are concerned that they will not have enough money to retire comfortably on. The design of Razor Leads respects the client’s right to privacy by letting them calculate their potential retirement income without providing personal or contact information.

  When you demonstrate Razor Leads to accountants they are more willing to refer clients to your landing page by adding a link to the “Resources” section of their website.

  Offer to prepare a retirement case study that can be shared with the firm’s clients incorporating Razor Leads with a more detailed RazorPlan™ analysis.

• Clubs and Associations
  Many people belong to one or more clubs or associations that either meet on a regular basis or send out a monthly newsletter. Offer to write a short paragraph on the value of financial advice and include a link to your Razor Leads landing page.

• Employers
  Many employers that offer a pension plan or profit sharing are concerned that their employees are not getting proper financial advice. Employers that do not offer any type of retirement plan also feel a responsibility to provide employees with access to qualified financial advice.

  Consider offering access to your Razor Leads landing page along with a retirement “lunch and learn” on an as needed basis.

The 30 Second Elevator Speech

An elevator speech is a clear, brief message about you. It needs to communicate who you are, what you do and how you can help the listener. It should be no longer than 30 seconds (70 words) and committed to memory.

The idea behind the elevator speech is that you are prepared at any time to share this information with anyone in the time it takes to ride from the top to the bottom of a building in an elevator.

The Structure:

1. Tell them the what & why of who you are,
2. Give a suitable example as a story,
3. Include a financial benefit.

Example:

“I provide people with advice on everyday financial matters, so that they can feel confident they are making the right decision given the options they have to choose from. Recently I had the pleasure of helping a young couple with refinancing their mortgage. My advice helped to reduce their total payments by 8 years saving them over $40,000 in interest.”

What/Why:

I provide people with advice on everyday financial matters, so that they can feel confident they are making the right decision given the options they have.

Suitable Example:

Recently I had the pleasure of helping a young couple with refinancing their mortgage.

Financial Benefit:

My advice helped to reduce their total payments by 8 years saving them over $40,000 in interest.

Client Acquisition

• Add your Razor Leads Hyperlink to your email signature and website.
• Use the Client Acquisition Worksheet to plan your next week’s prospecting activity.
• Write the first draft of your Elevator Speech.
• If required, ensure all documents/activities are reviewed and approved by your company’s compliance department.