Helping Insurance, Investment and Financial Advisors
Build a Superior Practice by Attracting More Ideal Clients


 

CASE STUDY #1
 
Right-size or Super-size?


Which advisor would you rather be more like?

The results above are from the same advisor! The super-size advisor was 26 years in the making. The transformation to right-size this advisor’s business took just under 12 months.  Advisor A continues to work harder than ever before because his attrition rate is almost equal to his growth rate. His business has hit the proverbial plateau; i.e. working harder and harder with only minimal gains and unable to get off the treadmill. After right-sizing his business, the results were immediate. Despite a temporary step back in gross revenue, profits were higher and the advisor will take his business to new heights as the transformation progresses over the next 2 to 3 years. It is a fallacy to believe that you must continue to grow your business to be successful. Your objective should not be “more is better”, but rather, “less is more”.

Are you running your business or is your business running you? You are familiar with Pareto’s 80/20 Principle; i.e. 80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients. Yet most advisors spend 80% of their time dealing with clients who give them only 20% of their business. Are you spending 80% of your time with 20% of your clients that give you 80% of your business, the ones that deserve your time and attention? Or are you spending 80% of your time with 80% of your clients who give you only 20% of your business? Read this paragraph again, it may dramatically improve your business.

Take the 80/20 Principal even further and most advisors will find that 50% of their total business comes from just 5% of their clients. Let’s look at our case study again.

Would you rather work harder year after year to find another 100 to 125 customers, each generating $116 in revenue? Or would you rather work smarter and find another 25 clients, each generating over $4,666 in annual revenue? Compare the lifetime value of a client generating $4,666 vs. a customer generating only $116. Most advisors spend a disproportionate amount of time prospecting and servicing low-return clientele using “spray and pray” methodologies. The old school philosophy was “bigger is better and quantity=success”. Our philosophy is “smaller is better and quality=success”.

Let’s take a more in-depth look at this case study and see how this advisor became more successful going from a stressed-out Super-size advisor to a highly successful and relaxed Right-sized advisor.
 

The Problem:

Our Super-sized advisor was over-whelmed working 60+ hours each week “in” his business rather than working “on” his business. He was a highly polished and experienced financial product salesman, getting 100 to 125 new clients each year with little effort. Everyone was a prospect for his products. He was a jack of all trades and a master of none! The advisor was getting tired of selling lots of little investments and insurance policies and selling to almost anybody who wanted to buy from him. He wanted to transition into a niche market in which he could become a true expert and enjoy working one-on-one with this select clientele and develop deeper long-term relationships. He wanted to transition from being a financial salesperson to a trusted professional advisor with a laser focus.
 

The Solution:

a)  The first step was to analyze and determine the mix of his business …  after 3 months of segmenting his entire block of clients, he found that he had a total of 9 “A” clients, 23 “B” clients, 87 “C” clients and close to 1,400 one-time transactions, sales and customers. Upon further analysis, 7 of the 9 “A” clients and 8 of the 23 “B” clients had desirable demographics and/or psychographics

b)  Advisor developed a well defined target market and ideal client profile to clone these individuals and become an expert in their market.

c) He produced a prestige custom made multimedia business card from The White Knight Group that clearly articulated his story, value proposition, target market, expertise, and the many advantages of doing business with him vs. the competition. This inter-active tool and laser marketing process made it easy for his top clients to introduce him to numerous ideal prospects who fit his ideal profile. Remember the old saying “birds of a feather flock together”? Or “the herd mentality”?

c)  A commission split was arranged with 5 “junior” advisors in the firm to service and “mine” the 1,400 “D” clients and selected “B” and “C” clients.
 

The Results:

a)  In the first 12 months ….. this advisor went from 9 “A” clients to 28 “A” clients, with each “A” client generating a minimum of $10,000 of commissions. 8 of the “B” clients became “A” clients and 25 “C” clients were upgraded to “B” clients.

b)  Staff has been reduced to 1 FT and 1 PT. The other staff are on the “junior” advisors’ payroll and office space had been reduced to under 1,000 sq. ft.

c)  Gross revenue declined 30% over the year before, but profits were up by 10%

d)  The objectives of this case were to: 1) add 2 “A” clients/month, each generating $10,000 annual commissions, to a max of 100 “A” clients over 4 years; 2)  have fewer clients, less expenses, and more profits; 3) work “on” his business and get his life back; and 4) work only with select clients that meet his ideal profile.  

 
You can continue to work harder and harder every year or you can get off the treadmill and work smarter to attract more ideal clients, work less, earn more, and build a superior practice.

Work smarter, work less,  earn more
with
The White Knight Group™

CASE STUDY #2
 
Why Should Prospects Do Business With You?


Situation 

- Investment advisor has been in business for 5 years, has 220 clients, $12M
   AUM, 57 life insurance policies, and about $100,000 gross revenue
 

Problem 

-  Advisor knows she is honest, trustworthy, knowledgeable and represents a
    major company, but how can she set herself apart from all the other advisors

-  Competition is fierce, the financial services industry has become one large
    commodity and it is getting harder for the consumer to differentiate products,
    services, companies, and even advisors

-  Advisor would also like to start to develop a niche market
 

Solution 

-  After developing her ideal client profile and segmenting her business, she had     
   11 “A” clients and 23 “B” clients

-  The White Knight Group worked with the advisor to develop an ideal client profile,
    a niche market, a personal brand, a simple yet highly effective referral process,
    and a marketing plan to follow over a 12 month period

-  The White Knight Group also allowed the advisor to articulate her unique story
    and value proposition and to distinguish herself within her niche market to her
    targeted ideal client
 

Results 

“Peter, I just wanted to drop you a quick email to say thank you. I was in competition with 2 other equally qualified advisors for a $750,000 pension roll-over and a $1,000,000 UL policy for estate planning. This was by far the largest single sum of money I have received in my 5 year career, wow!  I brought in our insurance specialist to make the UL sale for me. 

Fortunately, I just received my custom made CDs 3 weeks earlier. My CD differentiated me from the other 2 advisors to give me the edge that I needed to get the sale(s). This client was referred to me as a direct result of The White Knight Group Business Enhancement System. From this one client alone, I already recovered my entire investment 3x over.

Thank you White Knight Group”.                  

J. Campbell, Ontario
 

Work smarter, work less,  earn more
with
The White Knight Group™