How to prospect your network (without being salesy)

Your social network may be an untapped and robust source for uncovering prospects. While you may be suffering from COVID-19 fatigue, we believe prospecting and having introductory conversations about the services you provide could be one of the best uses of your time.

I want to share my top five ideas to help you prospect your own network. As you start using this guide, remember to keep compliance in mind.

1.  Overcome your fear

  • Many advisers avoid prospecting for two reasons: Fear of rejection (we’ll talk about that later) or lack of preparation.
  • Take the time to think about potential questions. Consider the salespeople calling you. What would make YOU interested? Preparedness will give you more confidence in your approach.

My personal tip: A special prospecting technique I’ve used is watching myself talk. Recording and listening to your own pitch helps you genuinely assess it. Also, try a positive spin. Whenever you catch yourself thinking, I hate prospecting, try to reframe it as, I gladly choose to prospect today. 

2.  Start with sharing your value proposition

  • Do you have one? If not, it's time to start working on one. If you don’t know where to start, connect with us and we can you help you craft one.
  • Sharing your value proposition lets you do 3 things. It lets you:
    • Shine the right light on the conversation
    • Share your passion around a subject
    • Tell it like it is

My personal tip: With a truly good value proposition that you believe in, you don’t have to fear prospecting. You’ll likely increase your chances of winning over prospects when you’re able to articulate your distinctive value - and when prospects can easily recall and repeat it.

3.  Offer to talk to your family and close friends

  • Demonstrate how you are guiding your clients financially and emotionally through behavioural coaching, investment selection, and financial plans. Connect with us on how to create a custom client engagement road map. This is an easy to use tool to help your clients remember your valuable guidance.

My personal tip: I’ll say it again – when navigating uncertain environments, people simply want to have human, calming conversations with a professional. Let your family and friends know that you welcome these opportunities and give them a chance to hear what you have to offer.

4.  Create and invite people into a forum for professionals and business owners

  • Give likeminded clients the opportunity to meet, support each other and share referrals.
  • Reach out to us for additional guidance on how to create and host these virtual forums.

5.  Host a webinar series

  • Pick a date/time and for the next 4 weeks host a series of 30-minute webinars. Potential topics you could explore for the series could be:
  • You can invite their family, close friends and acquaintances to these webinars as a pure value-add. Allow them to see the things you do above and beyond for your clients.

My personal tip: I have seen many advisers do this and it works quite well. It requires minimal effort and is a real value add to your clients.

The bottom line

Prospecting isn’t always easy and sometimes we need a guide to help us in the journey. These five ideas can give you a solid foundation to start opening your prospecting pipeline.