Rewind back to January when client acquisition was at a seasonal peak. You're likely picturing a pre-COVID landscape where financial advisors leveraged in-person events and appointments to generate new clients dominated. It was the optimal way – get in front of a local prospect, build credibility and demonstrate trust. However, as we all know, the global pandemic has changed our lives and led to what is referred to as the “new normal.”

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Of course, that term is often exaggerated to mean mostly everything these days, but for financial advisors, most of the new normal has been learning how to manage clients and acquire clients remotely. This new normal consists of jumping on a Zoom call, getting more web leads and digging into the CRM. At the beginning, it was typical to see low success rates in these new tactics. By April, May and June, these products and solutions were still considered new and immature. In both business to business and business to consumer sides, there was this understanding to not expect the two models to perform at the same rate…at least not at the beginning, anyway.

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This shift needed time! But despite that sense of grace, there is a sizable portion of advisors who are still determined to wait things out and go back to the old normal once we’ve reached a post-COVID world. Time to Rip Off the Bandage…This has been a hard pill to swallow, for me included, but the old way is gone forever! Advisors need to adjust to a different way of client acquisition than they used to rely on in the past if they want to optimize and grow new business. To help make this a bit more digestible, below are five points to consider while slowly embracing the new normal.

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1. In-person and remote will become permanent options.

Consumers are now trained on virtual experiences and the implications will be massive (they already are). In a post-COVID world, some clients and prospects will welcome going back to in-person, but many will find they still prefer the online experience. Consequently, advisors will need to be agile and follow suit.

2. Geographical borders are evaporating.

The days of exclusively getting clients in your local market are gone. Territorial advisors will need to adapt. Some solutions include extending licenses to multiple states and identifying remote opportunities for new client acquisition. We will see innovations like not linking geographical targets to virtual events while live, in-person events will be for advisors’ own local markets.

3. User experience matters!

Getting in front of a prospect remotely and relying on information and trust is now engrained in the formula. How strong is your presentation? How creative are your slides when virtual? How do you differentiate the experience you deliver to prospects?

4. Marketing is more complex.

There is constant clutter thrown at prospects because of the increasing development in digital marketing – email, SMS, online search, phone, streaming audio/video and more. To cut through the clutter, you need a marketing partner who can target prospects optimally in order to effectively get in front of them.

5. Products are launching and evolving at the same pace as everything else.

Just keeping up with all the advancements requires additional work. However, mastering them requires true investments in patience and commitment. Being a subject matter expert is what will unlock the most opportunities for you. While facing difficult truths like the ones I just presented is never a walk in the park, these are the moments that can mean the most for your career. After all, if your line of work was easy, everyone would do it! This is a very exciting time in your career to develop or strengthen your stance as an expert – don’t let this opportunity go to waste. Need help taking the leap to virtual? Or maybe you have, and you’d like to take things to the next level? Wherever you’re at in your journey, we can help. Give us a call at 844-949-9497 or email info@whiteglove.com to learn more.