To successfully build a financial planning practice online, you need to embrace the virtual model, at least in part, to position yourself as a leader and resource to your potential and current clients.
You have also got put all your effort into building real connections with your clients – relationships that align with their specific missions, visions, values, and goals.
I built my virtual financial planner practice initially for myself to have something scalable, repeatable and that also gave me an awesome life/work balance. A lot of advisors end up asking me how I did it all, which is what inspired me to create Conneqtor.
My Virtual Advisor System, Conneqtor, is a proven program that will show you how to start or remodel your practice into a virtual powerhouse, enabling you with the right tools to acquire and work with your ideal clients from virtually anywhere in the world.
Like myself, you probably have questions such as:
- Where do I begin?
- Will my current clients be OK with the virtual model?
- Do I have to work 100% virtually, or can I do both?
- What infrastructure will I need to be a virtual financial advisor?
- How do I market my financial planning practice online?
- How do I build a virtual team?
The Starting Point
By now you are probably used to catching up with family, or meeting with your employees over video. During the pandemic, it has been the primary means of communication. Well, younger generations actually prefer virtual relationships, be it with any service provider.
Whether via Skype, Zoom, FreeConferenceCall, or FaceTime, this is the primary way you’re going to be communicating with your clients from now on, especially since it is how they want to interact with us to get our services and products. Millennials and Gen Zers make up a combined 48% of the consumer population, so it would be a missed opportunity for a financial advisor not to adhere to the changing demands of almost half of their potential customers.
Get rid of the files and paper too, you’re going to need to migrate everything online, and there are brilliant tools for that.
The Infrastructure
So, you’re wondering what exactly you need to set up as a virtual financial planner? A computer and a stable, fast internet connection. That’s it, really.
The beauty of working online means that your overhead is virtually zero. There are plenty of tools for organizing, administration, and communication, so your infrastructure requirements are low to given how many of these tools are free or minimal in cost.
Part of what Conneqtor teaches advisors is the physical infrastructure they should put in place to conduct virtual meetings and drive inbound sales.
The Ideal Client
Through trial and error and through making the migration myself starting back in 2013, I have designed a virtual financial advisor system that will set you up with everything you need to build a successful financial planning practice online.
My system will show you how to build a robust online and digital presence that will drive inbound leads to you 24/7. By no means am I overselling. After starting my business Intrepid Wealth Partners and going digital in 2013, I have used all my experience to build a system that offers you a repeatable and tested online sales process that has clients asking to buy from you.
Conneqtor enables you to choose the clients you want to work with. The best part about setting up an online financial planning practice is that you can work with clients from anywhere in the world. Your location no longer restricts you, nor do you have to spend money on travel, high office & staff overhead, etc.
You are liberated to go after your ideal clients, and getting in touch with them is simple. Not easy, but simple.
So how do you bring in new clients all while working virtually? Well, I’ve created an InboundSalesMachine webinar to share my journey as a virtual financial advisor and what I designed to help advisors generate inbound leads without ever having to cold call or meet in-person ever again.
Mixing It Up
If you enjoy meeting with clients in person, you can set up a semi-virtual financial planning practice. Once we overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, you can certainly meet with your clients in person again; it’s your choice whether to mix it up or not, but if anything, the pandemic has proven beyond a doubt that the virtual or semi-virtual model works really, really well.
When working with Gen X or Baby Boomer clients, they may still want to meet in-person once this is over. Nevertheless, once you introduce them to the virtual model, I assure you that they’ll be happy to meet via video conferencing. It’s just more convenient for both parties.
Marketing
When it comes to marketing your services, an effective strategy can make or break your business. By catering to a variety of generations, you’ll need to find them where they now live – online.
A powerful strategy will increase your SEO ranking, drive traffic to your website, enhance your social media presence, and convert prospects into clients through inbound marketing.
Virtual Staff
As is the case with client communication, so too is the process of building a virtual team. Whether you need a personal assistant or a junior financial planner to help you with your business’s administrative side, outsourcing is the way to go.
There are professionals of all kinds who are rearing to work online, and finding the right person is all the more possible with the number of companies that offer virtual staffing solutions.
I hope this information answers some of your questions regarding virtual financial planner practice. For a deeper understanding and a full guide for building a virtual financial planning practice, download my free eBook, or purchase Conneqtor straight away.
I hope you enjoyed reading it!
Kind regards,
Derek Notman
