Dave has nearly 15 years of operations management and sales experience in small business and client service organizations. An avid sports fan and aspiring musician, he received an MBA with Distinction from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Management with concentrations in Operations and Human Resources from University of Wisconsin-Parkside. He studied international business while attending school in China and also completed a sales certificate program at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside which is only 1 of 2 programs accredited by the University Sales Education Foundation in Wisconsin, and 1 of 55 nationwide.
What does every new advisor need to do when they first break into the industry? Generate business. Advisors, however, often run into problems such as having enough time, man-power, or a small prospect pool. Advisors certainly have plenty of prospecting and marketing tactics available such as newspaper ads, television spots, partnering with other industry professionals for seminars, direct mail, or email. Although, these can be very pricy endeavors – especially for an advisor just starting out.
The effects of not having a website on your prospecting strategy
One obvious prospecting tool that is greatly underutilized is your website. Whether your website is not living up to its full potential or you do not have one at all, it could be costing you potential new clients. If you spend all your time and energy on seminars, advertising, or other traditional marketing tactics, you could be missing a key component for enticing those people you have targeted to leverage your services. If you do not have a website, you must rely on a prospect contacting you directly to even have a chance of acquiring them as a client.
Nowadays, consumers want to conduct their own research before they commit to engaging with your business. You can streamline that whole process with a website that has thorough information about you and your services; educational content; and embedded tools designed to grab a prospect’s attention and invite them to reach out. If you have a website but nothing that convinces a client to reach out, that can have the same negative effect as not having a website at all.
Turning your website into a prospecting machine
It is clear that not having a website has a negative impact on prospecting, but the impacts of not utilizing a website properly for lead generation may not be as clear. Let’s begin with an example:
Think of your bank. Banks have seen branch foot-traffic decline considerably since the age of online banking began. We even see branches closing due to the lack of in-person banking. If you are a financial advisor working in a bank, decreased foot-traffic means less referrals coming from tellers and other channels in the bank because there is less of an opportunity for people to know you are there. This change in client expectations of their banking experience is, in turn, causing the advisor to have to do more active prospecting to gain new clients.
Now imagine if your bank’s website had a tool on it designed to capture a visitor’s attention, allow that client to quickly assess their financial outlook as it relates to their long-term goals, and seek assistance if they have questions. This type of tool could be the push that customer needs to reach out to the advisor — or at least get them to come into the bank to learn more about reaching their goals. Now, that website is bringing the foot-traffic back into the bank where you will have a better chance of gaining new long-term customers.
Whether you are an advisor at a bank, large enterprise firm, or independent business, your website must let people know you are there and provide a compelling reason to connect to gain new customers.
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