Don’t blow referrals: CEG

Referrals can be a valuable source of new business for financial planners, but many advisers still don’t know how to use them to their advantage, according to training firm CEG Worldwide.

The company has actually identified three common mistakes financial planners make when managing the referral process.

The first of these is that advisers simply don’t ask for them. The training organisation believes most happy clients are only too willing to give referrals but will only do so upon request.

As such CEG recommends advisers include asking for referrals as part of the routine of their client meetings. The company’s best tip is for planners to do so in a sympathetic manner.

CEG has also discovered that many advisers do not follow through once they have received a referral. In doing so the training house thinks planners could be throwing away solid revenue streams, particularly if the referral has come from a top existing client.

However, CEG also feels referrals should not be followed blindly.

The company suggests advisers need to identify the referrals with which they are most likely to achieve success.

And, according to CEG, net worth does not necessarily have to be the determining factor.

“If the occasional prospect does have a large amount of money, but if you do not have the skill set to meet his or her particular needs, you may be better off in the long run to pass. For the most part, the more you distract yourself from your core competencies, the less successful you're going to be,” the training firm advised.