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Prospecting Strategy Step 3: Expanding Your Centers of Influence

I believe it’s a given that most retirement advisors looking to expand their business will tap obvious centers of influence, such as soliciting existing clients for referrals or joining the local Chamber of Commerce or similar business groups to develop rewarding referral or cross-referral relationships. This strategy is a business development staple that not only can result in new plan business, but can also be an effective way to attract personal financial planning or wealth management clients.

In my discussions with advisors, however, I find that association marketing is an underplayed card that with a little imagination and research, can lead to very green plan prospecting pastures.

There are literally thousands of professional trade associations you can consider joining, both national and regional, that can open new doors for your practice. Not only will you often find a warm reception, but sometimes even encouragement to prospect member firms in order to introduce your services. Professional trade associations are often eager to provide quality value-added services to members to enhance their own perception of value to their membership base.

Quality professional trade associations will often host periodic regional events, where for a very nominal fee, various vendors that support that membership can set up a table and “meet and greet” with potential new clients. You would be surprised by the number of executive level decision makers, for example, at a regional conference of architects, who are eager to talk about anything other than architecture.

To maximize your impact with association marketing, here are a few important factors to consider.

Selecting the Right Associations

• If your retirement practice has a national footprint, select national trade associations that might host both regional and national conference events where a variety of vendors serving that industry are present. In time, you can brand your practice as the retirement consulting firm for a particular industry.
• Small market practices should research and select state or regional associations that host events accordingly, such as your state’s chiropractic association, for example. This will ensure that the majority of attendees at events will be geographically viable prospects.
• Select trade associations that have substantial membership numbers. Depending on the industry, I recommend a minimum of 300 member firms.
• Select trade associations that appeal to your interests or background. A retirement advisor that grew up in a construction industry household might find comfortable turf in their state homebuilders association, for example.
• Select trade associations based on average account balances or similar quantitative data. Researching Form 5500 data by industry can give you insights into industries where participants maintain higher average account balances or plans have healthy matches or higher flow rates.
• Avoid well-worn paths. You are likely to find stiffer competition at the local or regional Bar Association, but don’t necessarily discount any association until you review the membership.

Association Marketing

Aside from “meet and greet” or conference opportunities, collecting a list of association members and using that list to send periodic prospecting letters to executive members, followed by a phone call, is a highly effective prospecting strategy. Such a letter might start with something like this:

Dear _______,
As co-members of the (ASSOCIATION NAME), ABC Retirement Advisors has a commitment to serving the needs of our valued clients in the (INDUSTRY) industry. Recent regulatory changes and heightened regulatory oversight by the Department of Labor impacting company 401(k) plans have many employers asking …

However you structure your letter, it should be agenda driven and followed closely by a phone call to discuss the specific agenda you’re addressing. This strategy provides an added edge that can help you land an appointment to review an employer’s plan.

Researching to select right association(s) to join is more difficult than you might think. It will take a little homework. There a few good online resources to aid you with the task on a national level, and it’s often easier to search by industry and region. To narrow your search criteria or get some ideas to start with, here are some broader online resources:
Weddles Association Directory
JobHunt.com
USA.gov’s Trade Association Directory

Read the rest of the NAPA NET Plan Prospecting Strategy articles here. And for more information, feel free to email me at [email protected] or visit www.sell401k.com.

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