Many financial advisers think that the best way to rebuild their businesses after the economic downturn is to find new clients.
Many financial advisers think that the best way to rebuild their businesses after the economic downturn is to find new clients.
They also consider layoffs and cost-cutting to be last resorts, according to a survey conducted by SEI Advisor Network, a business unit of global asset management and outsourcing provider SEI Investments Co. of Oaks, Pa.
Of the 205 independent advisers who responded to the online poll taken May 15, 58.7% ranked client acquisition as the top strategy for restoring revenue.
At the same time, 14.9% of respondents cited expense reduction as their primary strategy for rebuilding revenue, while just 1% said they were reducing staff. Meanwhile, 12.9% named securing more assets from existing clients, and 12.4% said adding products or services.
The poll also asked advisers about techniques for attracting new clients.
When asked which strategies they had never used before or used only minimally, 43.9% of respondents said that they were specifically asking clients for referrals.
In addition, 16.6% said that they formalized referral arrangements with other professionals such as accountants and attorneys, 13.9% said they used niche marketing, 10.7% said they used direct mail, 9.6% said seminars, and 5.3% cited advertising.
A full 37.2% of advisers attributed their success in adding new business to clients' dissatisfaction with the service they got from their previous advisers. And 18.6% said that the primary reason cited by prospects was that they no longer wanted to manage their own investments.
Also, 18.6% said that the clients were looking for additional services such as tax or estate planning, and 16.1% said the clients were unhappy with the performance of their investments and left their old adviser. Still, 9.5% said that new clients were unhappy with their advisers but weren't ready to leave completely.
