11 Lucrative Cold Calling Tips for Financial Advisors
NOTE: If you’re a new financial advisor, make sure you check out Your First Year As A Financial Advisor, where I reveal several things every new financial advisor ought to know.
Despite what some people may believe, cold calling is not dead. Of course, it’s not as effective as it once was but it’s still a viable marketing strategy for financial advisors. There’s no better way to make a lot of personal connections with prospects and do it at scale. Here are some of my favorite cold calling tips for financial advisors… 1. Research Your Prospects Before You Call.
Even though it’s called a “cold call”, it doesn’t mean you should go in cold. Because if you research your prospects beforehand, you can deliver value and keep their attention.
Without research, you appear selfish by showing zero investment in the prospect. Plus, people don’t have the patience to answer basic questions whose answers are readily available with even the most cursory search. A rule of thumb is that the more personalized your outreach is, the better the conversation will be. To get your juices flowing, here are some places you can do your research:
ALSO READ: Best CRM For Financial Advisors 2. Start With A Strong Opening.
Your opening is arguably the most important part of the entire call. It’s what gets your prospect’s attention.
Unfortunately, most financial advisors completely botch the opening by asking something like, “Did I catch you at a bad time?”, which is one of the worst ways to start a call. In fact, research from Gong (an intelligence platform for sales) found that calls which started with “Did I catch you at a bad time?” were 40% less likely to book a meeting. One opening line which DID work was this: “The reason for my call is…”. This line worked so well that it increased the average success rate by 210%. Why? I think it’s because humans crave reasons, even if they’re not particularly strong reasons. When financial advisors use this cold calling opening line, it puts the prospects’ mind at ease. In any case, your opening line should establish credibility and give a strong reason why people should listen to you. You want to answer these two questions:
3. Tailor Your Value Proposition.
Ideally, this should be related to your niche because it makes everything easier. If you’re a financial advisor who specializes in working with dentists, you shouldn’t have a problem clearly articulating that you work specifically with dentists to achieve a specific outcome for them.
ALSO READ: 5 Best Niches for Financial Advisors If you’re struggling to identify your value proposition, write out some of the best success stories you’ve had with your current clients. What challenges did your clients face? How did you help your clients overcome those challenges? Use your success stories as a starting point and begin to outline some ways you can explain that to prospects in a sentence or two. Why a sentence or two? Because your value proposition should be short and sweet. If it’s too long, your prospect will likely get confused or tune out. ALSO READ: The Secret Behind Awesome Financial Advisor Value Propositions 4. Don't Say These Things.
I know I already mentioned that you shouldn’t ask, “Did I catch you at a bad time?”, but I wanted to list some other things you shouldn’t say during a cold call. They are:
5. Have A Goal In Mind.
I’m always surprised at how many financial advisors will make cold calls without any specific goal in mind. Sure, they may SAY they’re making cold calls to set an appointment, but they darn sure don’t act like it.
They sheepishly ask questions, beat around the bush, and do whatever they can to avoid asking for the actual appointment. When you make cold calls, have a mission in mind. For financial advisors, that goal is typically to set up another call or an in-office appointment. Keep your goal clearly in mind as you make your calls and don’t stray from it. 6. Don't Sell On The First Call.
Many financial advisors make the mistake of trying to sell the very first time they speak to a prospective client. In many cases, they’re so eager to talk to prospects that they start spilling features and benefits about everything they do. They sell themselves, their company, AND their services all at the same time.
While having enthusiasm is a great thing, trying to sell on the first call only sabotages a financial advisor’s cold calling effort because it scares away prospects. You should keep it simple. Remember, all you’re doing is seeing if the prospect is qualified for an appointment with you. Nothing more, nothing less. 7. Use A Script As A Guideline.
Different sales trainers say different things about scripts. Some say you should use one and never deviate from it, while others say you shouldn’t use a script at all. I’m in between the two.
Some financial advisors worry that they won’t sound like themselves when using a script. Any financial advisor who thinks that needs to watch TV for about ten minutes - most shows are completely scripted. It’s just that the actors rehearse and practice. They keep doing it until the script sounds natural for them. The same is true for financial advisors. I believe you should have a script as a guideline for what you want to accomplish during the call. You don’t want to sound like a robot, but you want your calls to have structure, too. 8. Focus On Your Prospect.This is another cornerstone of success for financial advisors because the best financial advisors view cold calling as a discovery process. They ask lots of questions and gather information to see if the person they’re calling is qualified to do business with them.
You should plan your questions in advance and put them into your script which you’re using as a guideline. Again, if you have a niche this will be significantly easier for you because you’ll understand your niche and know which questions to ask. ALSO READ: 12 Questions Great Financial Advisors Ask 9. Keep Your Pipeline Full.
Financial advisors fail when they don’t consistently prospect to keep their pipeline full. Cold calling isn’t the only way to fill your pipeline but it’s a tool you should have in your toolbox.
I also want to caution you that your pipeline can become unwieldy if you don’t manage it correctly. That’s why I recommend that all financial advisors use a CRM to manage everything. Also, I’d rather have a pipeline with fewer high-quality prospects vs. many low-quality ones. I’ve noticed that financial advisors who have a huge pipeline tend to run through all their opportunities as fast as they can, hoping to land a new client. On the other hand, top financial advisors play a different game. They’re constantly qualifying their list and trying to get people OUT of their pipeline. They make it their life’s mission to find who their best prospects are and focus all their efforts there. ALSO READ: Best CRM For Financial Advisors 
Gotta keep that pipeline full!
10. Overcome Call Reluctance.
Call reluctance is essentially all of a financial advisor’s thoughts, feelings, and “avoidance” behaviors which keep them from taking revenue-generating action such as cold calling. Here are some eye-opening stats about call reluctance:
Perhaps the biggest sign that a financial advisor struggles with call reluctance is a constant strive toward perfectionism. The advisor is constantly refining his or her script and always preparing for things which MIGHT happen. Rather than dialing the phone, the advisor goes on a “what if” rampage and tries to make everything perfect. ALSO READ: 5 Ways to Overcome Call Reluctance 11. Find The Time That Works Best For Your Prospects.
There are tons of “studies” and articles online all touting the best times to make cold calls. For example, one article says the best time to call is between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., while another article says the best time to call is right after lunch. Yet another article explains how the best time to call it between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.
What’s a financial advisor to do? Simple. Test your cold calls and figure out the best time for yourself. Keep track of your dials and contacts (which you should be doing anyway) and see if there’s any noticeable, repeatable improvement during a certain time of the day. Discover The Secrets That Can Transform The Humble Telephone Into A Revenue-Generating Machine...
If you want to get better at making cold calls, keep reading…
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