PLANADVISER - March/April 2020 - 31

may identify an existing client who knows the client of
interest. This has been her best way to identify those types
of connections, she says.
When Matt Demet wants to ask a sponsor client for a
referral, depending on that person's style, he may do it
during a meeting, or after the meeting over a glass of wine
or beer, or by email. " When I want to send an email, first I
identify, through tools such as LinkedIn, that the client is
connected to a company where I'd like an introduction, "
says Demet, senior vice president - business development
at Spectrum Investment Advisors in Mequon, Wisconsin.
" However you contact
a client, one of the
important things is to
always give them an out. "
" I'll send an email that says something like, 'I notice that
you're connected to Tom at [Company X]. I think we could
add value there, based on our homework. Are you comfortable
with giving us an introduction?' " Demet continues.
" However you contact a client, one of the important things
is to always give them an out. Let them know that if they're
not comfortable providing you with a referral, that's OK. "
2) Make new connections via job-changers. " An area
we've been very fortunate to have really contribute to the
growth of our business is referrals when a key client contact
leaves one company and goes to another, " Kelly says. " Often
we'll hear from that person, saying, 'Hey, I'm settled in
here, and I'd love to introduce you to the team.' " She and
her colleagues always know when such a contact is moving
on, and they sometimes reach out to that person after the
job switch. " We'll say, 'We see you left ABC Company, and
we'd love an introduction to your team at your new XYZ
Company,' " she says.
Washington Financial Group gets about 10% of its new
business through client contacts in new jobs, DeNoyior says.
" We stay in close contact with professionals at our clients
who may leave one organization and go to another, " he says.
" We're hoping the CFO [chief financial officer] or director of
human resources [HR] who is moving to another organization
then introduces us to their new business. "
3) Organize educational events for employers. Washington
Financial Group has the most success getting client
referrals by encouraging current clients to invite their
peers to educational workshops the advisory firm presents,
DeNoyior says. Pre-coronavirus, it had 11 sessions planned
for this year, with five running five hours each and the rest
one hour each. The sessions focus on topics such as fiduciary
responsibility and new trends in retirement plans.
" This way, the potential clients get to see what you're made
of before you try to pitch them on any business, " he notes.
Spectrum Investment Advisors will ask client contacts
about business groups, such as local CFO roundtables,
they might be involved with, Demet says. " Perhaps these
groups bring in outside speakers, and, if they do, I'll ask if
they're looking for one. Are they interested in a talk about
the impact of the SECURE [Setting Every Community Up for
Retirement Enhancement] Act on employers, for example? "
Follow Up
Once a plan sponsor client says he is comfortable making
a referral, Ray asks him to make a brief introduction via
email to the key contact at the prospect. Ray suggests that
the email mention a few points including the length of the
client's relationship with him and the reason for making the
introduction. Ray then follows up with the client prospect
within two business days.
" Where it goes from there is based on how the plan
sponsor is most comfortable handling it, " Demet says of how
referrals proceed. " We ask, 'How can we make this easy for
you?' We have a one-page overview of our services, which
the contact can give to the potential new client if they want
to do that. We also can send them email text content, which
they can change if they like. "
Washington Financial Group follows up in a couple of
ways with client prospects who come to one of its events.
" Once we get them into the 'family'[-i.e., on the mailing
list-]we send them our content 12 times a year, " DeNoyior
says. That monthly content is in the form of a podcast or a
blog article on topics of interest to sponsors.
" We also follow up with them personally, if we're past
that 'warm introduction' phase, " he adds. " We reach out by
phone, maybe quarterly, depending on where they are in the
[new-business] pipeline. Generally, we start to see pretty
soon if there's a potential for us to help them. "
If a client contact has changed jobs and agrees to introduce
his new colleagues to Compass Financial Partners,
how does Kelly prepare for the meeting? " The first thing I
will do is have a debrief with my contact, to understand the
lay of the land at his new organization, " she says. " I want to
understand his new employer's philosophy about its retirement
benefits, how it measures the success of the plan, and
the level of service the sponsor has been receiving from its
current adviser and recordkeeper. It allows us to be better
prepared for the meeting: It is beneficial for me to have a
clear perspective on what resonates with that audience. "
Kelly then assembles the Compass team she thinks
will be best able to address that sponsor's needs at the
meeting: This could include a communications specialist,
for example, or Compass' chief investment officer (CIO).
" Then, at the start of the meeting, the first thing I'll do
is go around the table and ask the committee members
to each talk about what they think is working with their
plan and what isn't, and what they'd most like to hear
from us about, " she says. " That gives us the opportunity
to present new ideas and observations that are relevant to
that committee. It makes the meeting much more about
them than about us. " -Judy Ward
planadviser.com March-April 2020 | 31
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