Retain & Scale: 3 Tips for Financial Advisors

Is your primary focus retaining existing clients and growing your book of business? Investors today have a breadth of options when it comes to financial help, from DIY online tools to advisors of varying sizes, credentials, and service offerings. How can you cut through the noise and show your value to achieve your goals? We’ve got some quick tips to guide you down a path towards success.

1. Define Your Target Audience

Instead of trying to service a large swath of investors – or all investors – narrowing your focus to a specific niche can not only differentiate you from competitors, but also help you provide enhanced, more personalized service.

Yes, identifying your niche can be a time-consuming endeavor where you build in-depth audience profiles/personas, conduct interviews, and do research – but it doesn’t have to be! Instead, take a look at your current client base and ask yourself a few questions:

• What are their demographics? Is there a pattern to gender, age, location, etc.?
• What are their professions?
• What are their hobbies and interests?
• What services do they tend to be most interested in? Why?
• What are their financial goals?
• Who do you like working with?

The answers will help illuminate the audience with which you’ll likely have the most success, both in prospecting and over the long term. Once you have that, write it down, and serve that audience across everything you do.

2. Evaluate Your Services

With your target audience in mind, take a hard look at your service offerings. Are there services you could remove because they no longer make sense for your niche audience? For example, if your target audience is largely young professionals, then you likely don’t need family office services. Don’t waste time (or resources) on services that won’t convert. Instead, cull your list down to what you know your audience cares about so it’s easier for them to clearly understand what you do and how it may be valuable to them.

Next, consider if there are services you should add to your lineup that may be appealing to your target audience. Would trust, insurance, or accounting services be worthwhile? Have your existing clients asked for help in particular areas that you don’t currently provide?

Finally, consider if there are new ways to package your service offerings. That may mean pricing your offerings differently (i.e., a monthly fee versus a percentage of AUM) or bundling services to indicate how you can help clients from onboarding through the duration of your relationship.

3. Elevate Your Marketing

Admittedly, this one will take a little bit of work, particularly if there’s a significant overhaul in your target market. But, this step is also one of the most important. With a clear understanding of your audience, you’ll want to reexamine how you market and interact with prospects and clients. This should include:

• Tone and Voice – This essentially comes down to your writing style and word choice. If your target audience is Gen Z, maybe you’ll aim for a more casual tone, whereas if your target audience is baby boomers, you might aim for something more professional. Consider who you’re talking to and what they’ll be most receptive to, then implement that style across your materials.
• Imagery – The imagery you use conveys certain emotions and can also help you visually stand out. If your imagery features retirees or young parents with kids and those aren’t your targets, it’s unlikely to resonate. Similarly, stock photography may not be the right choice for certain targets, so you could lean into iconography. Working with a graphic designer can help you hone in on the right look that you can apply across mediums – your website, social media, brochures, etc.
• Brand Identity – Given your newly defined target audience, you may want to reevaluate your overall brand identity (the logo, colors, etc. you use) to better convey who you are and what you offer. The right brand identity will be memorable and appealing for your targets. Regardless, a refresh can be helpful every five-to-ten years to stay contemporary and in line with modern design best practices.
• Channels – Your target audience likely has a general preference when it comes to how, when, and where they want to receive information. Once you know who you’re dealing with, you can consider how best to communicate with them. This should include everything from routine client updates and outreach (do they prefer email, phone, or direct mail?), events (virtual or in person?), social media (are they on LinkedIn, Facebook, or TikTok?), and marketing and onboarding resources (should they be online, print, both?).

Ultimately, narrowing your target audience has the potential to foster less competition, greater differentiation, more referrals, and improved efficiency. All of this, in turn, can help you more easily retain and grow your client base. Are you ready to get started?

Harbor Capital Advisors

Harbor Capital Advisors is an asset manager known for curating an intentionally select suite of active ETFs from boutique managers. Advisors looking for distinct and differentiated investment options for their clients’ portfolios often connect with our passionate obsession to find what we believe to be the best – bold solutions that have the potential to produce compelling, risk-adjusted returns.

For more information, visit www.harborcapital.com.

Important Information

Investing entails risks and there can be no assurance that any investment will achieve profits or avoid incurring losses.

These views are not necessarily those of the Harbor Investment Team and should not be construed as such. Financial Professionals should consult directly with your firm’s compliance department to obtain precise advice based on their policies, procedures, and any industry-specific regulations.

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