Four tips to effective network as a financial planner

By Kevin R. Clark

My biggest early-career mistake was not intentionally networking. Intentionally is a critical word in that sentence: effective networking requires deliberate action rather than hoping to meet people in passing.

You should ideally be starting before your first day in the industry. If you’re already in the industry and haven’t been dedicating time on a weekly or monthly basis to network, start laying the groundwork today. Here are my best practices to be successful in this regard:

1. Network with other financial planners.

Observing and talking with other people in the industry will dramatically expedite your development. You’ll be able to share ideas and best practices, build up your technical knowledge, and refine your processes and communication. Joining a professional industry organization is an easy way to find and meet other financial professionals, and advisors who are members of these organizations tends to be the most giving with their time and career advice.

2. Network with professionals in related fields.

As financial planners we do a lot for clients, but we can’t do it all. In addition to relying on your advice, your clients will look to you for recommendations of other professionals who can help them implement your advice. You can be invaluable by having a trusted estate attorney, independent insurance agent, tax preparer, realtor, mortgage officer and banker to make it easy for them to execute on the steps in their financial plan.

Make it clear to these professionals that you are also looking for new clients and welcome referrals if one of their customers needs your services. Referrals are the lifeblood of any successful business, including an advisory practice. Joining a referral networking group can fast-track the process of finding and building connections with these people while allowing you to enjoy a relatively exclusive referral relationship (you’re their go-to person when their client needs a financial advisor).

3. Network with professionals in unrelated fields, too.

Even having a professional in a non-obvious industry can be valuable to clients when things happen. Consider if one of your clients gets engaged. In addition to all the steps involved in marrying their finances, you can make their wedding process much easier by recommending a florist, a caterer or a DJ. Is your client having car issues? Personal connections with mechanics, body shops, and auto salespeople can eliminate a lot of headaches.

Having two or three suggestions for any situation can save your client hours of work they would have spent doing their own due diligence and negotiating. You become essential to clients for both offering them vital advice and taking the guesswork out of their lives when stressful conditions arise.

4. Be specific about what you do and how you can help people.

Tying all the above together, truly effective networking requires specificity. The goal of networking is to have trusted professionals to help your clients and, equally critical, to have those partners sending potential new clients to you. It’s important to be memorable and set yourself apart from the dozens of other financial advisors they talk to in-person or connect with on LinkedIn.

Paint a picture for them of your typical client – their demographics, values, and needs – and explain why these people work with you and what you do to help them. An easy-to-remember rule is to avoid saying “anyone.” If you tell an insurance agent you’re looking for “anyone who needs help with investing their money,” they’ll have already forgotten you on the walk back to their vehicle.

Compare that with the following example: “I work with blue-collar business owners like roofers and excavators to help balance reinvesting profits back into their companies with setting money aside for personal goals. I also manage their investments to free up time for them to focus on their operations.”

That same insurance agent likely has five to ten people immediately pop into his mind, and the next time a contractor calls and mentions they need an advisor, your name will likely be the first one they mention.

Kevin R. Clark is a Certified Financial Planner professional and serves as the 2022 FPA NexGen President. He works as a Financial Advisor at Highview Advisor Group in Columbus, Ohio and is the owner of Arch City Tax Services LLC.

FPA NexGen, a community of the Financial Planning Association® (FPA®), aims to provide support and collaboration for those professionals new to the financial planning profession. With more than 2,500 like-minded young professionals, members of FPA NexGen are ready to share their experiences and further the future of the financial planning profession. Learn more about our engaged community and join the conversation on Twitter.