Finding the Right Centers of Influence to Grow Your Practice – Episode 57
Centers of influence—such as CPAs, estate planning attorneys and other financial and legal professionals—are the single best source of affluent referrals for top advisors. For many years, our research has shown that to be true. And recently, when we brought together a panel of high-net-worth individuals and interview them, 90% told us they were introduced to their advisors by their CPA or attorney.
That said, you shouldn’t be trying to build relationships with every COI out there. Be selective. You don’t need 20 “just OK” COI relationships—you want a handful of extremely powerful ones. CEG Worldwide’s Elite Advisor Strategist Jonathan Powell recommends looking for COIs that have the following traits:
- They’re part of a boutique and agile firm. COIs with an entrepreneurial mindset—that is, they want to grow, move upmarket and build equity—are often best suited for likeminded entrepreneurial advisors who share those types of growth goals. Such COIs are often found among owners of relatively small firms with both the willingness and ability to be agile as market conditions evolve.
- Their clients are your ideal clients. As an advisor, you want to focus on serving clients that are ideal for your goals and skillsets. Therefore, you want to work with COIs who are already serving these types of clients. A good rule of thumb: If a COI isn’t currently working with at least 50 clients who match your ideal client profile, move on and look elsewhere. Otherwise, you risk wasting time meeting with clients who aren’t a good fit for your practice.
- They can demonstrate strong growth. You want to know their track record over the past five years or so. What’s their annual growth rate been? What is their revenue mix? How have their fees increased? If they’ve been growing by only 2% or 3% a year, they’re likely not ideal candidates.
- They have ambition and capacity. Ideal COIs won’t just have good past results—they’ll also have the drive to keep growing and improving. To achieve that, they’ll need to show they have the capacity to take on a healthy number of new ideal clients in the coming years—which is important to you, because those are the people who will likely become your new clients as well.
Next step: Do a COI audit. Make a list of your existing professional contacts and assess them on the traits above. That’s the low-hanging fruit. Then ask your contacts if they know peers who possess those traits, and reach out to them to explore the possibility of working together.
SCHEDULE YOUR FREE PLAY TO WIN CONSULTATION NOW