PLANADVISER - July/August 2021 - 32

growing your practice / sales champ
rule. Deringer recommends that firms with prior solicitation
contracts in place review them to determine whether
they need to renegotiate and rewrite the agreements to
comply with the new rule.
Looking Ahead
Larger adviser firms might have the ability to approach
name brand companies, provided that the existing master
services agreement allows the adviser to name the client
publicly, Hourihan suggests. " I think that if you have a name
brand company [as a client], it's such a wonderful way to
show how much experience and trust you really have as an
experienced adviser, " she says.
For the largest firms, Hourihan imagines the possibility
of celebrity endorsements. " We're going to get Hollywood to
come into our industry and to be the voices, " she speculates.
" We're going to have Robert Downey Jr. hosting financial
wellness classes, or we'll have Salma Hayek doing a whole
presentation on mortgages. "
Smaller advisory businesses probably lack the resources
to land top-tier endorsements. Nonetheless, getting testimonials
from well-known businesses in the adviser's locale
or target industry could prove more influential. A solid
recommendation from the human resources (HR) director
who oversees her company plan's operations could carry
more weight with her peers than a paid celebrity endorsement,
and it will certainly cost less, even if it lacks star
appeal. -Ed McCarthy
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
M
aybe you have the good " problem " of plan sponsors
constantly approaching your firm and asking you
to take them on as a client. You are already operating
at full capacity, but they will gladly accept a spot on
the waiting list.
This is a nice fantasy, but the reality for most advisory
firms is that there is no lack of competition for new
business. Creating a business development plan
and determining its elements can help you
reach the right prospects. PLANADVISER asked
several industry participants for their suggestions
on how to do this.
Rebecca Hourihan of 401(k) Marketing
Every one of our clients has a formal
marketing plan, and this primarily focuses on
content marketing, meetings, blog articles, newsletters,
graphics and videos. Everything is tied with
email communication to their target market lists and social
media, as well. The goal for having content first is that
you're delivering value to your audience over and over again
with different topics-for example, the SECURE [Setting
Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement] Act last
year. Now we're talking about financial wellness, fiduciary
plan governance and Cycle 3 restatements[-a Department
of Labor (DOL)-required periodic update of retirement plan
documents]. You're constantly giving your clients or prospects
and centers of influence great information, and then
you're tying that together through email and social media
to maximize your distribution. If you add testimonials in
the future, you could have a landing page on the website
devoted to that theme. An adviser could have a landing page
that talks about financial wellness, for example, and pick
three different clients who have given a testimonial about
how great this adviser is with supporting plan participants
on their journey toward retirement.
Marie Swift of Impact Communications
The leadership team at the advisory firm should schedule
an annual meeting to internally review the three M's:
market, messaging, mediums. Targeting the right market-
the " who do we serve and why? " -should precede developing
strategic messaging that resonates and aligns with
the targeted entities. Demographics, such as plan size
and geography, as well as psychographics, such as
company culture and leadership style, should be
considered during the target market exercise.
Abbey Yvon of Vestwell
One way we've seen advisers have tremendous
success is by partnering with other centers of
influence, be it payroll providers, accountants,
benefits advisers, associations or otherwise. In
order to make the most of these relationships,
there are a few important steps to take:
1) Find the right partners. Start with your existing plans
and wealth clients, and see who works with centers of influence
that might be of value.
2) Showcase what is in it for them. If it is an association,
offering a proprietary 401(k) could help it increase
engagement and retention; if it is an accounting firm,
cross-selling 401(k)s allows it to add value as well as a new
revenue stream.
3) Create the right offering. Coming to market with
the right product is critical to success. Ensure that you are
working with a recordkeeper/third-party administrator (TPA)
that can help you scale and support your new partnerships.
You want your process to be easy and repeatable.
4) Customize your partnerships. It is OK to be different
things to different people as long as you do so in a repeatable
way. Start with a pilot plan. See what works and what
does not, and understand your new client base thoroughly
so you can continue to grow similar relationships. -EM
32 | planadviser.com July-August 2021
http://www.planadviser.com
PLANADVISER - July/August 2021

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