You're listening to “Financial Advisor Marketing”—the best show on the planet for financial advisors who want to get more clients, without all the stress. You're about to get the real scoop on everything from lead generation to closing the deal.
James is the founder of TheAdvisorCoach.com, where you can find an entire suite of products designed to help financial advisors grow their businesses more rapidly than ever before. Now, here is your host, James Pollard.
James: In this week's episode, I'm going to talk about one of the reasons that your marketing might not be working as well as it should and how to fix it. Lots of people make the mistake I'm going to talk about, including me. I've made this mistake so many times throughout my career, and here it is. It's not attempting to shift your prospective clients’ beliefs so they can work with you, because here's what happens—even if your prospects believe you, they might not believe in themselves. [01:01.1]
They might believe you're the most credible, authoritative financial advisor out there. They might believe you're the best around. Nothing's going to ever get you down. They might believe you're valuable and that you can deliver results in excess of what you charge. However, if they don't believe in themselves, they're not going to move forward, or if they have any sort of doubt about their ability to implement your advice, nothing will get them to move forward. Do you understand? It is the ultimate stumbling block.
I'll give you a few examples from my business to illustrate how this works. Sometimes financial advisors will avoid joining the Inner Circle because they believe they won't have time to implement the strategies. Again, they might believe in me. They might think I'm legit and credible and valuable and all that good stuff, but they don't believe they will have the time for it to benefit them. [01:54.2]
I get it, financial advisors are incredibly busy. They're managing client relationships, handling compliance and doing paperwork. They're juggling not just chain saws, but table saws and hack saws and drywall saws. They're juggling all the saws. They're worried that the Inner Circle will become just one more thing on their to-do list. What I want you to understand is that if I never address this limiting belief, then nothing will happen. I could check all the other boxes and it still won't matter. It would be like running a marathon and stopping one inch before the finish line.
In order for me to handle this limiting belief, I need to make it clear that each issue is only 20 or so pages long. Each issue is designed to save time, not take time. I could say something like, “Advisors with busy schedules love the Inner Circle because it makes them more productive.”
I'll give you another example. Sometimes advisors will worry because marketing seems intimidating, and truthfully, it does. It does seem intimidating. Marketing seems complicated for people who have never studied it, of course. Heck, it's still complicated for me sometimes. But if a financial advisor has the belief that marketing is too complicated for him or her, that will prevent any and all action. That advisor will not get started. [03:09.8]
Actually, both the “I don't have time” objection or stumbling block and the “It's too complicated” objection, they are real ones. I get those from financial advisors all the time, and that's why I write the newsletter for real people. I keep it simple. I don't write it for marketing PhDs. I keep it straightforward.
Now, what I'd like to do is run through some of the limiting beliefs prospective clients might have about working with a financial advisor so you know what you're up against. I'll also explain a few ways to overcome them in your marketing.
A very common limiting belief that people have is they believe financial advisors are only for the super wealthy, and while there are some financial advisors who only work with high net-worth or ultra-high net-worth people, there are lots of financial advisors out there who would love to work with you, even if you don't have that much money. If you, as an advisor, help people with various income and wealth levels, you need to communicate that loud and clear. Help people understand that anyone can benefit from sound advice, and truthfully, sometimes the less you have, the more you need advice to maximize every dollar. [04:17.3]
Another limiting belief is that advisors are too expensive or they can't afford it. You've probably heard prospects say advisors charge too much or “I can't afford to pay 1% on my portfolio.” The truth is, most people really don't. They don't understand what goes into giving financial advice. They don't understand what goes into managing a portfolio, creating a financial plan, giving personalized advice, looking at asset allocation, tax-loss harvesting, estate planning, putting all the components together, making sure you're protected on the disability side, the health side, the life side, the property and casualty side, boom, boom, boom, everywhere, right? Again, you're juggling all the sauce.
So, as an advisor, you need to show people the return on their investment, how the guidance you provide is actually worth every penny—and I have stacks of data showing how financial advisors can pay for themselves. Here, I'll give you a few. I have a list here in front of me. I'm just going to read from it. [05:11.8]
Vanguard's Advisor’s Alpha, probably the most famous study in justifying a financial advisor’s value, those studies—or that study, those studies, they've done it several times—they've consistently found that financial advisors add about 3% in net annual returns for clients. That's huge. Russell Investments’ 2024 Value of an Advisor Study found that advisors add about 3.52% in value per year to client portfolios. So, if you think Vanguard's Advisor’s Alpha is a little high, because I've had some financial advisors tell me, “Oh, I don't really think it's 3%.” I've had potential clients tell me, “I don't think it's 3%.” Guess what? Another company, Russell Investments, found it's 3.52%. [05:53.6]
The Retirement Income Institute published a study titled “Using a Financial Planner and Portfolio Performance.” Again, you can fact-check me on all this. That's what the study is called. That found investors who used a financial planner achieved significantly higher returns than self-directed investors for the same level of risk in their portfolios. That's an objection. Sometimes people say, “Oh, yeah, of course, they get a higher return because they're taking so much risk, and the financial advisor has all these clients and they're taking all this risk, and they just want the money because they get 1% on--” No, no, no, that's silly.
Research from the Center for Economic Policy Research observed that investors who delegate to a financial advisor achieve greater diversification, lower risk and lower probability of large losses—that's huge—compared to those managing money on their own.
Morningstar’s Mind the Gap study found that from 2013 to 2022, fund investors’ actual dollar-weighted returns lagged the funds’ reported total returns by 1.7% per year on average. People are underperforming. This is because they were trying to time the market. Financial advisors help people avoid market timing. [07:04.8]
More research from Vanguard and this time it's “Putting a Value on Your Value.” So, if you want to Google this, if you want to search this, you want to fact-check everything I'm telling you, it's called “Putting a Value on Your Value.” It has shown that advisors can create withdrawal plans to help clients minimize the total taxes paid over their retirements, thereby increasing their wealth and the longevity of their portfolios. This should not be news to you, but it is for prospective clients, which is why you have to share.
I’m going to give you two more. A Hearts & Wallets study—this study is called “The Power of Planning: Proven Benefits That Transform Consumer Financial Outcomes”—found that Americans with a financial plan reported increased savings, better asset allocation and more confidence in financial decision making compared to those without a plan. Again, not news to you, but it's news to your prospective clients. If you share this sort of thing, they'll think, Huh, this financial advisor isn't just trying to sell me stuff. This financial advisor is sharing a source that tells me the financial advisors are generally worth it. [08:04.7]
The final one that I'm going to share with you here is more research from Morningstar, this time called “Alpha, Beta, and Now…Gamma,” found that astute financial planning can increase a retiree’s sustainable income by about 29%, so in retirement, working with a financial advisor gives you an income increase of 29%, about 29%. That is insane. That is massive. That's the equivalent to roughly what a 30% larger nest egg would generate. If you are doing it yourself and retiring with a million dollars, then working with a financial advisor gives you the same power as 1.3 million.
So, is hiring a financial advisor worth it? Yes, I would say so. I know so. But, I mean, I have the Financial Advisor Marketing podcast. Maybe I'm biased. But I just gave you a bunch of studies, real-world data on that explains that, yes, a financial advisor is worth it. That is how you overcome that limiting belief. [08:59.4]
The next limiting belief I have here is the belief that a layperson can do all the same things a financial advisor would do and get the same or better outcome. I mean, after all, how can you go wrong if you have a few books and YouTube videos, right? It's funny, because a lot of financial advisors will rag on do-it-yourself investors and then try to figure out how to market their businesses on their own. I could go off on the hypocrisy here, but I'm not going to. Instead, I'm going to move on to the next limiting belief, and this is the big one—it's your prospects being afraid to reveal their financial situations. This is all about vulnerability.
A lot of people feel shame if their finances aren't where they believe they should be. They're afraid the advisor will judge them, and this is where empathy comes in. Empathy can be your best friend. You have to channel your inner Planet Fitness and become a judgment-free zone, which is funny, because Planet Fitness obviously judges people who actually work out for real and take lifting seriously. But, whatever, stupid Planet Fitness kicking me out in 2009 and I set off the Lunk Alarm five times, and they had to come in and it took four security guards to get me out of that Planet Fitness. I'm kidding, by the way. [10:12.5]
I have seen a darn near instant conversion boost on emails by adding a few sentences about how the financial advisor has seen hundreds of people's financial situations, there's likely nothing he hasn't seen. I've also seen conversion increases when the financial advisors openly talk about how so many people believe they have poor financial situations. Everybody does.
I mean, the person with 1 million thinks that the financial advisor is going to laugh because he only has a million dollars. The person with 3 million is going to think the financial advisor is going to laugh because advisor is going to laugh because he thinks the financial advisor works all day with people with $5 million, $10 million and $15 million and he's going to be like, Wow, I don't want to work with you $3 million boy. Right? It's just silly, what people think, but it happens. [10:55.1]
People think everyone else has it together and they don't, and that's something that you’ve got to put across in your marketing, and this sort of thing goes a long way in making people comfortable enough to set an appointment with you. Even if you say something simple, like, “I have a bunch of clients. I've had a bunch of meetings with prospective clients. I have seen everything under the sun. You are not going to shock me. You are not going to surprise me. I'm not going to think that you're in an awful situation. I'm not going to make you feel like that. You might be, but I'm not going to make you feel like that, because I've probably seen someone 10 times worse than you.” [11:31.0]
Listen up, financial advisors. This is something special I'm doing exclusively for people who listen to this podcast. If you subscribe to the Inner Circle Newsletter over at TheAdvisorCoach.com/coaching, I will send you a collection of seven copyright-free emails, personally written by me, that you can use right away to begin getting more clients.
I call these my “objection-busting” emails, because they are designed to overcome the biggest objections financial advisors face. All you have to do is send me an email letting me know you’ve subscribed and I will reply with a link where you can download them for free.
I originally offered these in the May 2024 Inner Circle Newsletter issue, and it was one of the most popular bonuses I've ever given away. Today, these seven objection-busting, copyright-free emails are only available to listeners of this podcast, because I'm not mentioning them anywhere else. Go to TheAdvisorCoach.com/coaching to subscribe today. Now, back to the show.
Another limiting belief is that all financial advisors are bad, or that your prospects have been burned before, they're now afraid and they don't want to get burned again. Trust is huge in the financial services world. You know that I know that. We all know that. Clients might have heard horror stories about Ponzi schemes or unscrupulous advisors.
So, as a financial advisor, you've got to highlight your track record. You have to highlight your credentials, your compliance obligations, your fiduciary duty. You have to stress the standards and the ethical guidelines that you follow. People want proof that you're above board. You can showcase client stories and your certifications, and everything you have to show that you're someone who plays by the rules and that you deliver results. [13:14.0]
The whole “I've been burned before” limiting belief, it is similar to trust, but it's slightly different, and this objection comes from personal bad experiences, so it's not necessarily that they don't trust you. They don't trust the industry, right? Maybe they worked with an advisor who was a little shady or maybe not a good fit and now they're jaded.
If you suspect that that's what's going on, acknowledge it right away. Just say, “I'm sorry you went through that. Let's talk about how my approach is different,” or “What was the experience like for you? Do you mind sharing? Do you feel comfortable sharing?” Listen to them. Walk them through your process. Talk about how you communicate, how you follow up, the checks and balances that you have in place.
Obviously, you should do this in your marketing, too, because the overwhelming majority of people who have been burned before are going to be silent lurkers. They're not going to engage with you, because they don't trust you as part of this industry. They're just going to judge you from afar. [14:07.6]
I encountered this limiting belief in my business, too. For example, I once had a financial advisor send me this email. I'm going to read it to you now: “Your emails about the Inner Circle Newsletter are so tempting, but I have been burned by people like”—and he gives a name—“in the past who got me for a $5,000 course.” He then explained how it wasn't a good decision, how he feels bad, and so on. Basically, he's once bitten and twice shy, like many people are.
I told him three things. First, the marketing guru who sold him the course, the $5,000 course, was actually an Inner Circle member. He subscribed for about a year and then he canceled through PayPal. This guy did not even have the guts to email me directly to cancel his subscription. That alone speaks volumes. Whenever people just cancel through PayPal and they don't even contact me, don't ask questions, don't engage, they just do it kind of shadily and secretly, it is a huge telltale sign about the person's entire personality. [15:05.4]
Oh, and the marketing guru's credit card got declined, too. Ooh, it's amazing to me how many people want to appear successful or try to post screenshots about how awesome they're doing online and try to brag to their little friends but secretly can't pay their credit card bills. Ooh, your credit card getting declined for the newsletter, that's not good. You must not be very successful.
And, no, it was not an expired number. It was not an incorrectly entered number. I can see exactly what the codes are on Stripe, my payment processor. Stripe has a code, Code 51. If the transaction has Code 51, it means insufficient funds, okay? That is exactly what it means. I can see insufficient funds. Sometimes these people will lie and say, “Oh, my credit card expired or the number was wrong.” No, it wasn't, goofy goober. I see Code 51. I know you ain’t got no money. [16:01.0]
Second, the advisor that emailed me, he's comparing apples to oranges, because the Inner Circle isn't a course. It's a monthly paper-and-ink newsletter. It gets shipped directly to advisors in all 50 states and multiple countries around the world. Shipping is free no matter where you live. Each issue is crammed full of real-world marketing strategies with actionable campaigns, word-for-word scripts, advice on what to do and stories about what to avoid.
It is also, obviously, written in real time, so it's not a course from years ago. I mean, yes, courses can be extremely valuable. Some are evergreen. I mean, I've taken courses from 2003 that I still go through today and they help me every single time. But it's kind of nice to have a newsletter, like a resource, where if something is happening in July, you get to learn about it in July or August, and you get to come to the office hours and it's just better, and it's only $199, too. It's not $5,000 like this guy's course.
I found that $199 per month is cheap enough so that anyone can afford it, if that person tries and is serious, and it has an actual business. It's not just playing business, but has an actual business. Yet it's expensive enough to keep the freebie seekers and tire kickers at bay. Still, you could get years of newsletter issues for about the same price as that one course, the $5,000 course that the advisor mentioned. [17:16.5]
Third, I told the advisor he should not let a bad decision burn him twice. And what do I mean by that? This is the objection, the limiting belief that I'm talking about here. I mean, he should not let a bad decision from the past prevent him from making a good decision today. It would be like failing a test in school and dropping out entirely or getting bad food from one restaurant and never going out to eat again, or having a delayed flight once and then vowing to never fly again. You get the point.
The lesson is, you should not let negative past experiences prevent you from making positive choices in the future. Sadly, so many people do. They let other people who do bad things, these bad actors, control them long after the interaction is over. This financial advisor was being controlled by this marketing guru who scammed him essentially out of $5,000 for this lame course. This marketing guru was controlling, do you get it? Still controlling this financial advisor's moves. This guy was preventing him from making good decisions. [18:17.8]
I'll give you two more limiting beliefs and then I'll wrap up this episode. The next limiting belief is when your prospective clients worry about losing control over their finances. This one is all about empowerment. Some people think that once they hand over the reins, then they're at your mercy. They might fear you'll do things without consulting them, or you'll push them into decisions that they don't understand.
As an advisor, you need to explain how you're really a partner. You're making decisions together. They always have the final say. If you use the client portals or monthly statements and all that, still just talk about that transparency and say, “You have the final say.” Of course, they do, but they just need to hear it. [18:54.3]
A lot of stuff isn't that complicated. You don't have to do anything strange or complicated. You just have to talk about the stuff like this in your marketing and in your meetings. If you're giving a presentation or hosting a seminar, that means inserting literally one extra slide talking about how you're a partner instead of a controller, how they don't have to relinquish control to you, that you will work together to make decisions and you will guide them down the right path. Or if you're sending a direct mail piece, it could be a few sentences about how you take pride in working with people and you take pride in working with them side by side. You would be amazed at the difference it can make.
The final limiting belief I'll share with you is when your prospective clients believe they could just do it later, and lots of people think this way. Young people think they can start saving for retirement at a later age. It's too early. They have to live life. They have to go have fun. That trip to Madrid is calling their name, and retirement is . . . meh, that's in the future. Who cares? Middle aged people believe they can do it when their kids go back to school or when the kids are off school, or when they're out of school completely. Older people believe they can do it when they're finally settled, whatever that means, or after the next big life event, or once they've gotten this project off their plate or once they're done golfing, who knows? People always have excuses. [20:07.3]
No matter the stage of life, there's always a reason to push it off a little longer, but here's the problem—later almost never arrives. It's kind of like saying, “I'll do it tomorrow. I'll do it tomorrow. I'll do it tomorrow.” Tomorrow is not going to be here. You only have today. You only have the present. Life doesn't suddenly become calm and spacious for everyone to handle the important stuff. There's always going to be another project. There's always going to be another vacation, another crisis, another something.
As a financial advisor, it's important, it's critical, it's crucial that you emphasize why later might cost your prospects far more in the long run. Whether it's lost wealth or increased stress, or restrained family relationships, when money issues pile up, you just can't put this off. You're not just helping people with their money. You're helping them reclaim their time and live better lives, and just all that feel good stuff that us marketers like to put in our financial advisor marketing materials. [21:02.5]
When you recognize that people might not trust their own ability to implement your advice or they're scared of being judged, or they think they don't have enough money, whatever these limiting beliefs are, you can speak directly to them. You can show them the path forward. You can gently nudge them, and that is what will make your marketing work so much better.
Thank you for listening to this week's episode. If you found it helpful, please share it with another financial advisor who needs to hear this message. Post about it on social media. Get the word out. The most helpful thing you can do for me as someone who produces a podcast, and honestly, podcasts in general, is just share it. Get it out. Help me get more listeners.
As always, if you want to dive deeper into the strategies that really move the needle in your marketing, head over to TheAdvisorCoach.com. And I will catch you next week. [21:51.7]
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