A timely topic was tackled recently at the EXCEL 401(K) Digital Series featuring an all-star panel of top advisors.
“It’s a new day, and advisors need to be nimble,” according to host Jake Rushton, Vice President of TrueNorth said, and the discussion centered on how to adjust the 401k advisor prospecting process in a new virtual environment.
“The servicing aspect has changed the most, and we were doing most of servicing in person,” Jeanne Fisher, Managing Director with Strategic Retirement Partners in Nashville, began. “From a business development prospecting perspective, we did quite a bit digitally anyway. Early on, we were doing a lot of in-person CE sessions for SHRM and other organizations. There was a push to switch that to the virtual side, which meant shortening and condensing the presentation, and to try to keep them as lively as possible when speaking to a computer screen.”
Participant education and moving clients through the sales cycle were two areas of adjustment mentioned by Jake Winegrad, Partner with Moneta Group Investment Advisors.
“I’m a face-to-face, old-school relationship person and that is really what I’ve used in the past to move clients through the sales cycle,” Winegrad said. “I was forced, from an internal communication perspective, and with existing and prospective clients, into this Zoom environment.”
Noting that he struggled with it at first and that wh wasn’t emotionally connecting with people, as time went on he realized there were significant advantages to a virtual environment.
“We’ve seen some of our sales cycle speeds increase as a result, which is the result of scheduling and the fact that it’s easier to get people together,” he added.
Another benefit is seeing the person as opposed to a phone call, which means developing a faster.
Rushton hoped that the “stigma” of a Zoom meeting is now gone, and people are able to be comfortable on camera sharing their best selves.
Having a virtual, digital presence also helps clients and committees get comfortable and more familiar with him before he attends a meeting.
“One of the biggest benefits of being active on social media in video or causal picture-form, is that people know you before you walk in the door,” Fisher responded. “We hear it all the time from prospects. One of the biggest points, though, is slowly building the relationship online. You don’t connect with some and say, Oh, but the way, I want your business.” You say, “Oh, I also went to that school,” wait a bit and say “Oh, congratulations on the award your company just received. It’s still a slow roll, just done digitally.”
The warmer a relationship, the better positioned the advisor will be when the need comes to explore a change, Winegrad said.
“One of the things we’ve had happen is to have a client set up a [virtual meeting] with a referral. In the past, that probably would have been an email, but now not only is it a warm handoff, but they know each other and can speak in that meeting about the work that we’ve done for them, and then you’re off and running. That sales cycle has catapulted way forward.”
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
