A new client referral training program rolled out by Commonwealth Bank-owned dealer group, Financial Wisdom, has resulted in an average of 50 new clients per adviser.
The program teaches advisers how to effectively communicate to existing clients that they’re willing and able to take on new clients, and also how to simplify their service proposition so that it’s easy for clients to articulate it to friends and family.
Financial Wisdom general manager, Mark Ballantyne, said winning new clients could be as simple as asking clients for referrals, and that advisers should highlight areas of expertise such as self-managed superannuation and aged care and estate planning.
“Success in any business boils down to the ability to attract and retain clients, and often clients don’t refer friends because they don’t think their adviser has the capacity to take on additional clients,” he said.
“Also, many people don’t know what to say when asked for a referral, so advisers need to make themselves referrable and coach clients on what to say.”
Ballantyne said the program showed advisers how to recreate the appeal of farmers’ markets in their business community.
“People like farmers’ markets because they’re where people can meet local farmers and buy produce directly, and similarly financial advisers should engage with their local communities,” he said.
The rules of attraction
Following the success of the client referral training program, Financial Wisdom is also coaching its 370 advisers on how to form relationships with centres of influence, such as local accounting and legal firms.
“Advisers are attractive, but we need to make them more attractive,” Ballantyne, pictured right, said. “There are all these statistics which show demand for advice has never been higher, yet consumers aren’t knocking down advisers’ doors. That’s because people don’t jump out of bed in the morning and say, I’m going to seek financial advice. It all depends on getting referrals.”
Last financial year, Financial Wisdom grew from 147 to 172 practices, largely due to the addition of practices formerly licensed by WB Financial Management and Whittaker Macnaught. Both groups handed their Australian Financial Services License back to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Financial Wisdom now has $10 billion in funds under advice and $160 million in inforce premium.
Ballantyne said the increasing compliance burden bought on by the Future of Financial Advice reform was creating opportunities for well resourced licensees with a strong culture of sharing to attract self-licensed practices looking to give back their licenses.
