The practice management advice is almost ubiquitous - if you run a financial planning practice, you should eventually carve out a specialized niche for yourself. If you don't already have one, look through your book of clients for similarities, and use that common thread to expand on a niche you might have unwittingly already started. The ultimate goal: to have carved out some unique space for yourself, whether that's financial planning for fly-fisherman, working with public school teachers, or having a specialized skillset for doctors running a medical practice. Yet in reality, many (most?) planners seem to resist this advice; "if I specialize, don't I leave a whole lot of other business on the table?" is the most common objection. But focusing on the clients you won't get by specializing completely misses the point - which is significant increase in referrals you can generate by clearly defining a niche and conveying it to the clients and affiliated professionals who might refer you.
It seems that the common wisdom in the financial planning world to improve client referrals is either "ask more often for referrals" or "do a better job when you ask for referrals." However, it may be that the single greatest reason why most planners don't get very many referrals is simply because... well, they're not actually that referrable.
- « Previous
- 1
- …
- 8
- 9
- 10