One of the first things I discuss while coaching financial advisors is how to clearly and conversationally present information about what you do. The goal is to present yourself as a trusted advisor and when you’re unclear on the details you quickly lose the trust of your potential client. 

Over the years I’ve noticed one area that raises a question in the minds of those who are new to the concept of being a trusted financial advisor. You see, I advocate telling potential clients right up front the profile of your ideal client including the amount of financial assets that they must have to qualify as one of your clients.  That, however, raises this question:

“If I tell people that my ideal client have XX amount of financial assets, won’t I be making it harder to get clients by scaring away a lot of potential clients?”

The whole purpose of having an ideal client profile is to keep you focused.  If you’re not happy serving someone, or your firm isn’t structured to really help them, you’re doing them and yourself a disservice by signing them on as a client.

You want to make sure that people who cannot afford you are not taken off guard when they see your fees and your minimums.  Imagine somebody talks to you about what you do and his or her interest is peaked.  You set up a meeting and take up an hour or more of their time. At the end of the meeting, they see your fees and it’s definitely not a fit. They don’t have near enough money to work with you. Both of you will be frustrated at that point.

The good news is that none of your potential clients who actually meet all the elements of your ideal client profile will be put off by your standards.  They'll read your ideal client profile (and minimum requirements), say to themselves, "That's me" and realize they are speaking to a financial advisor who best serves clients meeting their profile.

If you’re going to be a trusted financial advisor offering advice to people about the wise use of money, you can’t have hang ups about talking about money up front.

Establishing an ideal client profile and 9 other financial advisor priorities are outlined in the case study of a financial advisor named Kate Wilson.  You can see how she fine-tuned her answers so she became very articulate and compelling when she talked about what she does as a financial advisor.  Sign up for your free video lessons from this case study here.