Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 463rd episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!
My guest on today's podcast is David Stevens. David is the president of Stevens Capital Partners, an RIA based in Omaha, Nebraska, that oversees approximately $500 million in assets under management for 475 client households.
What's unique about David, though, is how he is able to generate 10 to 15 client referrals per week by coaching his clients to make more effective introductions to friends and family members who might be good-fit clients for his firm.
In this episode, we talk in-depth about how David helps clients understand that making referrals is a 'normal' practice (encouraging them to do so without being asked to do so directly), how David raises the topic of referrals during the discovery phase with prospects (sometimes introducing the possibility of aggregated fees for family members that come on as well), at the recommendations meeting with new clients (after his firm has been able to show that it's able to address the client's pain points), and at the 60-day mark with clients (after they've had first-hand experience with the firm's service offering), and how David encourages clients to make a warm introduction through texting, with the referred prospect and the advisor on the message (which he finds tends to produce higher response rates compared to an email or simply passing along the firm's phone number).
We also talk about how David's firm has developed four client segments (based on their wealth and complexity) and how the firm's advisors typically work with a single segment to match their skills to that segment's needs, how David created a service offering for next-generation clients who might not meet the firm's minimum asset requirements but can be served effectively and efficiently by having one advisor focus on this entire segment, and how David, after recognizing the depth of service his firm provides, raised his fees for new clients and transitioned existing clients to the new fee schedule over time (doing so in a one-on-one conversation rather than with a blanket email), finding little pushback based on their experience and relationship with his firm.
And be certain to listen to the end, where David shares how he created a written guide to business development that lays out a step-by-step process, from handling an initial contact through ten years working with a client (to support advisors who come to his firm without formal sales training), how David overcame the challenge of having to let staff members go when they have strong technical skills but might not be a culture fit for the firm, and how David ultimately views success as how many people are better off because of his work (including how his firm gives away 10% of its profits to charity).
So, whether you're interested in learning about generating more client referrals by having clients make more effective introductions, establishing client segments, or effectively communicating a fee increase to clients, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with David Stevens.
