Marketing—your hedge against the future, part 2

Right now, for many RIAs, life is good. The market is at a record high and investors are jumping back in. For many firms, the challenge has shifted from how to market and increase revenue to how to recruit and attract talent to service all this new business. Too often, I see firms pull back on their marketing when capacity becomes an issue.

While rapid and unintentional growth of your business can be just as harmful as unintentional shrinkage, you shouldn’t ignore marketing in favor or handling new business. Getting your marketing flywheel spinning takes a lot of momentum—you don’t want to have to start from scratch when new clients aren’t so abundant. Even if you don’t have the capacity to take on new clients, here is one more marketing strategy you must not neglect:

Developing relationships with centers of influence. Developing referral relationships with centers of influence is a long-term process which can take several years before bearing fruit. It’s a good idea to begin building those relationships now while business is booming. That way, you’ll have another channel funneling you clients in the future when things may not be as bullish.