Getting financial planning clients is the number one challenge for many advisers.
But why is it such a challenge?
It turns out that it is not for the reasons that most people think…
I was once working with a financial planner who was based in South London and he told me how difficult he found getting new financial planning clients.
So, I asked him a question.
“If we draw a 10 mile radius around your office (on a map!) how many people did he think lived inside the circle?”
He replied, “Probably about 7 million!”
As he said that the film ‘Crocodile Dundee’ popped into my mind and the moment he arrived in New York.
Richard Mason says, “New York City, Mr. Dundee. Home to seven million people.”
And Dundee says, “That’s incredible. Imagine seven million people all wanting to live together. Yeah, New York must be the friendliest place on Earth.”
Why does getting new clients seem difficult?
The next question I asked was, “Why do you find it difficult to get clients with so many people on your doorstep?”
I saw him begin to doubt his thinking. Then he asked, “Ok, if there are so many people then how come I am finding it so difficult?”
Great question!
I have had many times in my life when getting clients seemed difficult. I felt bereft of ideas, lacked enthusiasm, and discouraged. If part of your role is getting new clients then you have no doubt been through the same thing too, right?
The “How do I get clients?” trap
It is so easy to think that all you need to know is what to do. Yet this will rarely be of much help.
Why?
It is because the reason getting financial planning clients seems difficult is because of the state of mind we are in. And in that state of mind even if someone did tell us precisely what to do, we would still find it difficult.
Your state of being can shift in a moment
The most helpful coaching I have received has never been about what do do. Instead, it has helped me to stop taking my erroneous thinking seriously.
Once you do this you find that you experience a new freedom of mind, see possibilities, and often find a joy to life that you many not have experienced for a long time.
I once worked with a client who had made a steady £80k a year for nine years in a row. He wanted to grow his revenue but always seemed stuck. It was as if he had a kind of internal thermostat set at £80k.
But, his ‘stuckness’ was not out in the world, it was in his thinking. With a new understanding of how his mind worked, he stopped taking his insecure thinking seriously and suddenly his world began to open up.
His next financial year showed he made £400k, and he sustained it. None of this came from a “How do I find clients approach?” It was a shift in his being.
The universe is on your side
Albert Einstein said, “The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.”
You do not need to worry yourself into better performance because this will never work. Berating yourself for not doing better is a waste of time too.
Over one hundred years ago, beginning with physicist Max Planck, scientists began to explore the quantum world; the world below the size of the atom.
Science is beginning to understand is that instead of the universe consisting of separate objects, it is one giant interconnected field (a great read on this is, ‘The Field’ by Lynne McTaggart).
You are connected to what you want
You are no less a part of the interconnected field that anything else or anyone else.
In his book ‘The Divine Matrix’ Gregg Braden explores this deeply and writes:
“Our connectedness gives us the power to stack the deck in our favour when it comes to the way our lives turn out. In everything from searching for romance and healing our loved ones to the fulfilment of our deepest aspirations, we are an integral part of all we experience each day.”
The ego creates the illusion of separation. It turns our attention inwards, creating feelings of insecurity.
This is not a useful energy to operate from.
It makes anything we do feel like walking through thick, cloying mud. So, instead clearly seeing opportunity and acting upon it, we get lost in our thinking.
Mastering the process of getting clients is, first and foremost, about being, not doing (click here for 10 book recommendations about being).
Through greater understanding, you begin to see that obstacles, like the false belief “it is difficult to find new clients” were just thoughts that seemed real. As soon as you stop believing them they have no power over you whatsoever.
P.S. You can download my new report, ‘Magical Client Meetings Every Time!’ and discover the 10 essential keys to magical client meetings. Click here.
