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: Hey, financial advisors, I hope you're doing well. This week has been a ton of fun for me. I'm recording this episode in mid-December. A few days ago, I hosted another office-hours session for the financial advisors in my Inner Circle, and we discussed . . . . I'm just going to give you a laundry list of stuff here that we discussed. [00:48.1]
We discussed a little bit about setting goals, areas financial advisors should be focusing on in 2025. Pricing, including how to put pricing on web pages, how to structure it, and a little known way to increase profits with a simple tweak to how you present your pricing. A lot about LinkedIn, such as the right way and the wrong way to connect with people, how to follow up with people, why engagement is so important, and so much more about LinkedIn. We spent maybe half an hour on LinkedIn.
We talked about landing pages. We talked about why it's critical to get people to opt in for an email list. We talked about the most important pages on your website and how to structure them, including a specific way I'd use artificial intelligence to improve a financial advisor’s homepage. That alone is worth the price of admission. In my opinion, it’s just absolutely a monster tip for improving your homepage. How to target specific demographics, like dentists, how to target specific psychographics, like conservatives, and a few things to think about when choosing a niche. That's just scratching the surface, in my opinion. We talked about a lot. [01:51.6]
I love hanging out with my Inner Circle members because they represent an elite community of financial advisors who are serious about growing their practices, learning from each other and reaching new levels of success. If iron sharpens iron, then these office hours are where sparks start to fly and advisors get sharper. I am so thankful I started doing these and I'm also thankful that I kept them laid back and casual. They're not webinars. They're not stuffy presentations or buttoned-up lectures. They're more like informal Q&A sessions combined with a high-level exchange of ideas and strategies, and we just talk to each other.
Truthfully, the best ideas in the office hours didn't come from me. I contributed, yes, but the best ideas did not come from me at all. They came from the advisors in attendance. For example, one advisor shared how he got something like 25 clients in six months. I don't remember the exact number, but it was something like that following the marketing strategies in the Inner Circle Newsletter that's not unique either. That is not a unique result. So far, every single office-hours session has featured at least one financial advisor sharing results like that, and that's what I'm talking about when I say the best ideas don't even come from me. [03:04.5]
For the advisor targeting conservatives, two or three other advisors in the group chimed in and gave fantastic ideas on how to help find people in the conservative psychographic and how to approach people. I'm not even sure I was that much help at all in that situation, and I even admitted it in there, because I really don't consume any news media. I don't watch the news. I don't follow politics that much, so I'm not really in the know when it comes to targeting either conservatives or liberals, but the other advisors in the office hours knew what to do, and I even told them, too.
That's why I love having the office hours, because they can help each other. After the office hours, one of the attendees told me he took three pages of notes. I love that. Someone else told me seven pages of notes in one of the previous office hours, and it's just so awesome that this is helping advisors so much. [03:56.1]
But enough about that. This week, I'm going to talk about how to sell one-time financial plans. My hope with this episode is that I can shift your mindset away from thinking about sales as a tactical problem you need to solve to a philosophical shift you make in your business, and actually, there are several philosophical shifts, and the first one involves moving the focus from you and what you offer to your market.
I am constantly talking about focusing on your market and giving your market exactly what it wants, because that's the way to grow a successful business. You get money by serving other people. The value exchange has to happen because that's the way all parties involved can improve their lives. Your client improves your life by giving you some money, and you improve your client's life by giving him or her a one-time financial plan. There's nothing weird or icky or immoral about this. It's actually the best thing to do, assuming you have something of value. [04:52.8]
That's the reason I personally sell so hard, because I know deep down 100% that I can help financial advisors build businesses. That is my gift to the world. It is my obligation to make sure financial advisors know I can help them. If they refuse my help, cool, but my conscience is still clear, because at least I made the offer. If I never made the offer, then I really wouldn't be comfortable with myself, because I just know I have this gift that I offer financial advisors.
Still, some financial advisors really struggle because they think selling is a bad thing or that it's difficult, so with this episode, I want to play devil's advocate and brainstorm some of the reasons why selling a one-time financial plan might be difficult. The reason I want to brainstorm this way is because if we can think of the reasons why it's difficult, we can systematically attack those things and make the entire process easier. I hope that makes sense, because I'm just inverting. It's Charlie Munger's process of inversion. [05:50.2]
In my experience, the biggest reason financial advisors think selling a one-time financial plan is difficult is because there is a lack of perceived value, and really, that's a problem for all businesses, because customers of every business are simply the people who see the value in what that business offers. That's really it. If you break it down, you break down all commerce, whether brick-and-mortar or e-commerce, whatever, that is what happens. You buy shoes because you see the value in the shoes. You get new tires for your car, because you see the value in the tires. You pay for an estate plan, because you see value in the estate plan.
In 2021, when people were going crazy over NFTs, they bought NFTs, yes, because they saw the value in them. Whatever it is, it's not up to you to decide what is valuable to one person versus another. The people who don't buy the shoes, tires, estate plans or NFTs are the ones who don't see the value. That is all it is. If you want to convert more people, then you need to help more people see the value in your planning services. [06:59.0]
Sometimes people might see a one-time financial plan as clutter, just more junk, just stuff that is added to their lives, and if that's the case, you can simplify. That is how you improve your value proposition. Sometimes people might see a one-time financial plan as information they can find for free online, and if that's the case, you need to explain why that's not true. Some people might see the value, but not at the price you charge. Again, this is a problem shared by nearly all businesses. I say nearly all because luxury businesses would suffer if they lowered the price. I mean, Rolex, if they changed the price to $100 and just totally flooded the market, that wouldn't be a good thing for their Rolex business long term.
But let's take it back to the car tires example. If brand new, high-quality car tires were only $10 and you knew, you were assured that they were exactly the same tires on your car right now, don't you think you'd purchase them a little bit more often? Probably, right? And so it is with financial planning. [08:01.2]
If you're currently charging $4,000 for a one-time plan, it is true that you would likely get more prospective clients by lowering your price to $2,000, but then you'd have to think about if you're hurting your profitability, if you're hurting your long-term viability and all that, which is a story for another podcast episode.
The flip side of this pricing challenge is that, instead of lowering your price, you can actually keep your price the same while communicating more value, and that should, in theory, increase conversions. I'm going through a price increase right now. By the time you listen to this, the Inner Circle will be $199 per month instead of $99 per month. One of the biggest reasons why I'm increasing the price is, quite frankly, it has more value, and yes, it's real value, not made-up guru value, where people say, “This bonus is worth $72,000, but it's yours free if you act in the next 29 seconds.” No, no, no, it is real value because I currently charge $5,000 per hour for private consulting. [09:01.4]
This is 100% verifiable, by the way. It is literally on the contact page of my website. If you go to TheAdvisorCoach.com, you click on the Contact tab, you can see it right there where you can make the payments. They sometimes say, “Oh no, he doesn't do that. He doesn't charge that.” I literally do. It's right there on the page. So, if you take that consulting rate and apply it to office hours, then I could theoretically market that alone as a $10,000 value because it's two hours of engaging with financial advisors on Zoom.
Of course, I don't do that. I don't market it as a $10,000 value, because a) it sounds too good to be true, so people won't even believe it, even though it's 100% true and verifiable, and b) with consulting, it is different, because I get to work with one person for the entire time, and with Office Hours, it's a group of people all benefiting from the questions and answers among the people in the group. It is not the same thing and it would be disingenuous of me to say, “Oh, it's a $10,000 value,” because it is not the same. [10:00.8]
But let's chop that in half to a $5,000 value, and you know what? Just for kicks and giggles, let's chop that again to $2,500. Do you think giving me $199 per month in exchange for a $2,500 value, at least, is a good idea? If you don't think that, then you need to reconsider your career as someone who is good with money and investments, because, ooh, that is a red flag.
Another reason selling a one-time financial plan is difficult is that the immediate ROI is limited. It is what it is. Can there be some immediate ROI? Sure, I've heard financial advisors help clients get an immediate ROI by putting money into a high-yield savings account or getting immediate tax deductions. However, I think we can all agree that the bulk of financial planning benefits happen long in the future. This makes a lot of things difficult to sell because the value isn't always tangible or immediate. People are wired to prioritize short-term rewards over long-term gains. If you're into behavioral economics like I am, you'll recognize this as temporal discounting. That is the fancy term. That's what it's called. [11:10.2]
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.
Financial planning often requires people to trade money today for benefits they may not fully realize for years or even decades. This is where your communication skills as a financial advisor become crucial. It's why I frequently talk about the strategy of becoming a better communicator, not the tactics of “Say this, not that. Do this, not that.” It is the strategy of communication, because if you're a better communicator, then you will thrive here compared to other financial advisors.
If you're selling something with a delayed payoff, like a one-time financial plan, then you need to paint a vivid picture of what the future might look like with and without your plan. This picture can help prospective clients feel the weight of their decisions that they're making today, and they can get the benefits, or at least visualize the benefits. [12:57.7]
For example, what happens if they don't start saving for retirement now? How might their children's college dreams be affected without a clear savings strategy? Will they be financially free in 20 years or will they be stressed about how to make ends meet? Your job is to make those future scenarios feel real and immediate. The goal is to shift their focus on what they're, quote-unquote, losing today in the money they're paying you to what they're gaining tomorrow in the benefits you are providing through the one-time financial plan.
Again, I hope that makes sense. I'm trying to give you a lot of information in this podcast episode. I am trying to make it valuable to you, and, heck, I am actually trying to shift your philosophy, really. I know that's one of the things that you can do with your prospective clients. I'm trying to do that with you here and that's difficult to do in a 20-minute podcast episode, but I'm trying my best. [13:48.5]
Another hurdle to selling one-time financial planning is some prospective clients might believe they can do it all themselves. They've read a few books, watched some YouTube videos. They've maybe even dabbled in personal finance apps. They don't see why they should pay a professional for something they think they can handle solo.
But here's the truth: even the most self-motivated DIYers often lack the experience, the tools and the perspective—there's that word again, perspective—to craft a comprehensive financial plan. As a financial advisor, your expertise goes beyond just assembling numbers on a spreadsheet. It is not paid by numbers. It's about understanding nuances, anticipating roadblocks and optimizing opportunities they don't even know exist.
That's the message you have to get across to people, not just with one-time financial plans, but with all financial planning, all financial advice. When you're addressing the DIY mentality, you need to emphasize three things. If you're going to take notes with this podcast episode, this is something that you want to write down. You want to emphasize complexity, customization and accountability. [14:55.2]
Complexity because certain financial strategies require knowledge that is not readily available on Google or ChatGPT, and even if it is, they could mess it up. I'll give you an example. How many DIYers have you seen try to do backdoor Roths while having IRA type assets? A lot, right? It’s not a smart move, but you might miss that when watching a five-minute YouTube video or a 30-second TikTok.
Customization because a one-size-fits-all plan will not work. We don't all have the same financial lives, values, beliefs, and so on, so why would we ever expect to get a one size fits all financial plan? Sometimes I see this with people who say they'll just buy some Vanguard index funds and that's it. I love index funds and nearly all of my investments are in index funds. However, investing alone does not constitute a financial plan. There's so much more than that.
And accountability—so, we have complexity, customization, and finally, accountability, because having a professional advisor can keep people on track and ensure they stick with the plan. Some people will see the value in this. They'll see the value in accountability and other people won't. Some people will be hard headed and believe they don't need anyone to keep them accountable. [16:10.5]
I see financial advisors like this, too. I'll bring up something like the office hours with the Inner Circle, which we talked about earlier, and they'll say they don't need them because, oh yeah, they can figure everything out themselves. Oh, and not only that, but they can do everything themselves, too. They're just so great and so awesome and so fantastic, they can just do it all, and to those people, I say more power to you. You do that, my friend, and let me know how that works out for you.
Moving on, another barrier to selling one-time financial plans is the real or perceived—there it is again, perceived—lack of follow-through. The reason I'm sharing these obstacles with you again, just to give you a refresher, is because I want you to understand that simply by overcoming these obstacles, your sales process will improve so much, because you'll be removing the barriers to working with you. [16:57.3]
Now, to be candid with you, this one largely falls on your prospective client's shoulders, because they might worry about their ability to implement the plan without ongoing guidance or support, and if they don't think they'll be able to implement it, they won't be interested in buying it. I mean, why buy shoes that you'll never wear or a car that you'll never drive, right? Financial planning is the same way.
The key to overcoming this obstacle is to instill confidence in your prospects that they can implement the plan effectively, and to provide just enough structure to make them feel supported without turning the one-time plan into a recurring service, because they're distinct things.
Next week, I'm going to talk about how to sell, quote-unquote, “sell” recurring financial planning and advice, so I'm going to save several strategies for that episode. But in my opinion, recurring is better for a whole host of reasons we'll talk about. Still, there is a place for one-time financial planning, and if you're going to do it, one of the best things you can do is to set expectations about implementation. You might even include something like a step-by-step implementation guide. This could be as simple as a checklist with deadlines or a prioritized list of actions to take. [18:08.7]
For example, Step 1, open a Roth IRA by this date. Step 2, set up automatic contributions of $583 per month. Step 3, adjust your portfolio allocation to these funds. What you're doing is breaking the plan into digestible, actionable steps, because when people see a clear path forward, they feel less overwhelmed and they feel more empowered, both awesome things to happen when you're a financial advisor trying to help people.
You could also provide accountability options when you're selling a one-time service. You can still offer additional follow-up sessions. You could do that as an included thing or as an add-on. Lots of financial advisors do this. They break their one-time financial planning process into two or three or even four Zoom meetings.
I'm thinking of two Inner Circle members right now who talked about this with me recently and they have stuff like this on the website: “This plan includes a complimentary 30-minute check-in after 90 days to ensure you're on track.” That's it, and that's gold for reducing overwhelm and intimidation about the process, which I found in my private research to be the number one reason people don't hire financial advisors. [19:14.8]
Again, we're going to talk about recurring revenue next week, but one-time plans can be challenging to sell because they don't foster that ongoing relationship by default. People may see them as transactional, because they kinda sorta are, instead of a partnership, and who can blame them? That's the problem with things like books and courses and programs. I should know because I have more than a dozen one-time products designed to help financial advisors. But the weakness of those programs is they don't work to build an ongoing relationship.
From a marketing perspective, it might be best to frame your one-time plan as a gateway to the ongoing relationship. You can position it as a way to test drive your services before committing to that recurring revenue model, to that ongoing relationship. You can include implementation guidance as part of that plan, like the follow-up session mentioned earlier. You can highlight the one-time plan and how it serves as a foundation for the future relationship. [20:13.8]
I actually discussed this exact concept with an advisor during the most recent office hours. He shared his offers, his pricing. He had different 1, 2, 3 levels of pricing. He had a one-time financial plan followed by two other recurring options, and I explained to him he should set stronger expectations for the recurring options and how they should be treated as the default.
I talked with him about a concept from Richard Thaler, who is a Nobel Prize–winning behavioral economist. He highlighted how default options can influence people's decisions. In one of his books called Nudge, if you want to read it, he explained how opt-in and opt-out systems affect organ-donation rates and I know this might seem like a strange example, but stick with me. [20:57.5]
First, you have opt-in systems. In these systems, individuals are required to actively choose to become organ donors. For example, in the United States, people typically need to check a box on a driver's license application or whatever form they're using, I guess, to enroll as an organ donor. I know I had to do it on my driver's license. This active decision-making step results in lower organ donation because people have to actively choose to do it.
Second, you have opt-out systems. Not opt-in, but opt-out systems. That's where individuals are automatically enrolled as organ donors, unless they’ve explicitly declined. They start as organ donors and then they have to say, “Hey, I don't want to donate my organs.” That has dramatically higher participation rates. For instance, countries like Austria and Spain, they have opt-out systems, and their organ donor rates, it’s 90% or higher. But opt-in countries, like Germany, have consent rates closer to 12%. That's a huge difference and you can see how that can impact your conversion rate in marketing. [22:05.6]
That phenomenon is tied to what's called behavioral inertia. Basically, that's when people don't change things. They like to stick with the same old, same old. In financial planning, positioning an ongoing relationship as the default option will make it significantly easier to convert clients into long-term engagements.
Behavioral inertia works against you if the one-time plan is all you talk about and then you scramble at the end to try to have an ongoing relationship. You can say, “Oh, by the way, and we can work together for years and years and years.” No, it's a lot harder. But behavioral inertia works in your favor if you position it as the expected and obvious thing to do from day one. Clients are more likely to stick with a decision that feels like the natural thing to do. If the ongoing relationship is positioned as the natural next step or the default choice, they're less likely to opt out of it. This is not my theory. This is not my opinion. This is literally from a Nobel Prize–winning behavioral economist. [22:59.2]
We'll talk about that a little bit more in next week's episode. Until then, I'm going to give you something to do. Check out the About Me page over at TheAdvisorCoach.com. You can find it by clicking on the “About Me” tab. I'm bringing it up now because it has a bunch of podcast interviews I've been a guest on and I recently added a few more. I think, altogether, there's more than 10 hours of absolutely free marketing content for you to enjoy. All you have to do is go to TheAdvisorCoach.com, click on the “About Me” tab and then just start clicking on the podcasts and the YouTube videos, and enjoy. And I will catch you next week.
This is ThePodcastFactory.com
