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December 27, 2010 at 07:00 PM
The U.S. boasts roughly 29.6 million small businesses. Individuals 50 and older make up about 25 percent of the workforce, yet they comprise roughly 40 percent of the self-employed. But a recent American Express survey indicates that only about one-third of business owners work with an advisor.
How can you tap that pool of candidates? A pipeline of business owners will provide you with a consistent volume of prospects and greater potential revenue. The process of building your pipeline need not be mystifying or intimidating. With a bit of up-front work and a well-designed plan, you’ll create a dependable pipeline of qualified boomers who need financial advice.
As you develop your pipeline, take these steps to ensure that you’re focusing on the right prospects:
1. Identify your strengths. How comfortable are you presenting to a cold prospect? Do you specialize in a specific type of financial planning, or would you consider yourself a generalist? Have you outlined a plan for a first meeting and the steps that will follow? You’ll know precisely what you want when you know precisely who you are.
2. Understand your geographical market and its conditions. When deciding where specifically to prospect, consider local or regional factors that could affect your game plan. Swings in the economy, for example, may affect single-industry regions harder than those with a more diverse base. Political cycles also can impact a region’s economic stability, keeping cautious business owners on the sidelines.
