Why Cold Marketing Doesn’t Make Sense

Attracting the wrong kind of client is like dumping trash into your sales pipeline. So why do so many advisors think that getting a huge list of cold leads rather than looking in their own backyard is the right move? If you cram tons of cold leads into your pipeline, soon it gets so clogged that you don’t have any room for the right clients.

The traditional sales pipeline has schooled many of us to think that we should throw as many leads as possible into our pipeline, including so-called leads from mailers and advertising sent to the masses. The problem is the advisor’s message isn’t reaching targeted groups of prospects - the message is broadcast to ice cold leads. If that’s your strategy, you may as well save a few bucks and open your local phone book and start mailing. While you may get a few sales after spending thousands of dollars sending thousands of postcards out based on a list you got out of the White Pages or a list you bought from the same company everyone else uses, cold marketing strategies are highly inefficient and never pan out the way that you hope.

All cold leads really do is create a ton of busy work and waste your valuable time. To successfully market to a targeted group of qualified people, you only need to work smarter, not harder. The trick is knowing how to generate more customers who are ready to buy with heartier leads. Getting the right people into your sales pipeline is what drives sales, not increasing the number of wrong people.

Your “ideal” clients will not only understand the need for your services but they naturally pass on the information to people they know. Never underestimate word of mouth and the power a client has to bring others just like them to your door. After all, people tend to associate with others who possess similar qualities, have similar financial situations, have similar concerns and have similar planning issues. The more you associate with your “ideal” clients, the better the chance you have at converting their similarly situated friends, relatives or acquaintances into your new clients.

Advisors need to create an inbound marketing approach to building their practice. It takes some skill and specialized planning, but it’s much more sustainable and you will yield better results. By focusing on marketing channels that work, you can systemize your marketing process, increase the number of prospects you touch and dramatically increase your selling appointments.