3 Tips for Enticing Next-Gen Advisors

Indeed, many college students think being an advisor involves sitting in front of a terminal all day crunching numbers. Others, meanwhile, may have formed impressions based on “The Wolf of Wall Street” or other not-so-pleasant depictions of financial services in popular culture.

To combat these misperceptions, it’s useful to provide real-life client scenarios. Something as simple as how sound planning helped a single mom send her son to college can be a very effective way to demonstrate the positive force advisors play in the lives of their clients.

Making it clear what an advisor does day to day is another useful way to tell our story. Talk about everything from client reviews, to market research, to prospect event planning. A realistic illustration of daily tasks helps the next generation grasp precisely how they will spend their time.

The common thread between these two strategies is that they both focus on stories. Some may be concrete and tactical, while others are high-level and uplifting. The point is that storytelling helps young people imagine themselves in a financial advisor’s shoes, going a long way toward creating a positive impression of what it is like to fill that role.

3. Tell them about the tech.

In addition to telling positive stories, advisors should leverage our industry’s growing technology savviness to serve as an entry point for young people. Many students don’t realize the extent to which technological tools and platforms enable virtually every aspect of a financial advisor’s role and how, in a sense, they’ve been training to use those tools their entire lives.

Since this generation has come of age during a time when it’s routine to have important personal interactions through messaging and social network platforms, they are unbothered by — and usually excel at — making connections in this type of environment. Therefore, the same communication skills (subject to relevant rules and regulations) can easily be applied to prospecting for new clients and communicating with current ones.

The lesson is that many young people may already have the skills to succeed in our field, but it’s up to advisors to connect the dots for them and inspire them to explore our profession more seriously.

There is no question that some aspects of our industry are unglamorous. Few people get excited about regulatory complexity or having to get professional licenses.

At the same time, however, there’s plenty about financial services that make it an attractive career destination. We must to do a better job of making it relatable and approachable, which will help young people picture themselves having a bright future in this field.

Amy Rehn is chief operating officer and chief marketing officer of Triad Hybrid Solutions and senior vice president, Advisory Services, at Triad Advisors, subsidiaries of Ladenburg Thalmann. She is a member of the Ladenburg Institute of Women & Finance Committee and a coordinator for the Link to the Future student outreach program.