Advisors: Top Ways to Find Your First Clients

Becoming a successful financial advisor is a unique challenge, with many moving parts. Beyond completing the requisite educational courses, many financial advisors also become certified financial planners (CFPs) or chartered financial analysts (CFAs), to stand above the competition. After all, according to the United States Department of Labor, there were 271,000 financial advisors as of 2016 -- a number that's projected to grow 15% by 2026. In such a crowded field, building a solid book of business can be difficult. The following tips can help new financial advisors make their marks and seize market share.

New financial advisors should reach outside their inner circles, to grow their networks and increase their referral bases. While this may be achieved via social media marketing, developing personal relationships tends to be a more effective solution.

“My advice to financial advisors just starting out is to leverage centers of influence such as accountants, attorneys, HR directors, business roundtables, as well as using social media," declares Donald Reichert, partner at Capital Design Associates Group, LLC. But since it takes time to solidify relationships, Reichert’s highlights the importance of networking early on in one's career. (For more, see: Tips for Advisors Who Want to Grow Their Practice.)

While retirees and those nearing retirement are an obvious source of business, financial advisors should also look to comparatively underserved demographics, to drum up clients.

“While most advisors work with retirement aged individuals with lush portfolios, I focus on the underserved young professional space,” says Matt Cosgriff, CFP, founder of Lifewise Advisors, which helps advisors target those in need. (For more, see: How Financial Advisors Are Leveraging Social Media.)

One of the best ways advisors can win new clients is by stepping up personal involvement in their communities. Whereas traditional marketing campaigns cost money, community involvement only requires time. And by volunteering with causes near and dear to them, advisors can connect with other like-minded individuals, who may one day become business clients. (For more, see: 5 Top Ways New Advisors Can Land Clients.)

For new financial advisors, cultivating clients is a numbers game that may be won with the following outreach methods:

• Cold calling
• Knocking on doors
• Providing free meals to encourage attendance at presentations
• Setting up fish bowls at trade shows, to collect business cards

Devin Carroll, founder of Social Security Intelligence, stresses that there are no shortcuts to generating clients, explaining: "For the first ten years as an advisor, I struggled with the client acquisition process. Cold calling, door knocking, seminars and hoping for referrals were my only tools. And while these methods worked, they were painfully slow." (For more, see: Top Tips for Winning New Clients.)

Those looking to hire a financial advisor tend to choose professionals they grow to trust though naturally evolving relationships. By pairing community involvement with robust networking, advisors can build a firm that will grow for years to come.

(For more, see: How to Impress Clients: The First Meeting.)