Many of the financial advisors and agents we speak with who struggle with prospecting aren't willing, or able, to spend on marketing and prospecting. They think that by avoiding the high cost of prospecting programs they are saving money. Remember, you can spend time, or you can spend money, but you need to spend on marketing and prospecting. 

If you're a financial advisor and don't have anybody to see, you're basically unemployed. But not everybody you meet is a fit for you. Therefore, not all suspects are going to make great prospects and in turn, great clients. You must identify the best potential clients when prospecting so you don't waste your valuable time.

Financial advisors often make simple mistakes that they can correct to improve their businesses. These mistakes reduce their potential and can cause business to slow, or even worse, start to decline. Here are the top six mistakes you should avoid making in your financial services business.

For many years the approach to conveying a specific or broad topic was done by what is called a concept presentation. This approach gave the presenter the ability to discuss or highlight a specific product feature or planning technique without going into specific details. Now clients are looking for detailed information on their own before visiting with a financial advisor.

Financial professionals should be using technology to help their clients faster and with more precision. Financial advisors and agents need these software programs to manage relationships, nurture prospects, and create financial plans. The following tools can improve your interactions with clients along with the effectiveness of your business. 

What separates the most successful financial advisors from average advisors?  It’s pretty simple really. Here are the five traits of the most successful financial advisors...

The independent industry doesn't do a really good job of surveying it's field force regarding what they look for in an Independent Marketing Organization (IMO). Having been around the business for more than 20 years, and having talked with thousands of insurance agents regarding their wishes and wants, I thought I'd put together a listing of the top field requests I've heard over the past few years.

There are several important things to remember when meeting with prospects. We could probably go on and on about what is important, but there are certain things we feel are most crucial to remember when meeting with prospects. We coach financial professionals on these processes on a daily basis which allows them to have more successful appointments and ultimately, more successful practices.

You have decided that you're serious about your business, and your career in the financial services industry is not one you take lightly. You're going to stop making house calls and start meeting people in a professional office environment. You are choosing to control their experience and to make it memorable. Where do you start?

Over the course of the past 10 to 15 years many designations have come and gone. Many were merely alphabet soup behind the person’s name and had little to no value or legitimacy. Several financial advisors have tried to recreate themselves with self-appointed designations that would somehow differentiate them from the rest of the industry or their local competition. Unfortunately, that tactic doesn’t work.