Your Ideal Client

Think back with me for a second.  Think back to the first time you met a couple of your ideal clients.  You all have those few client that you enjoy meeting with just a little bit more than others.  How did you meet them?  What are the characteristics of these clients that make them more enjoyable?  If your book of business was full of clients like these would you be more energized? 

Have you created a platform to engage with these clients? If not, I would encourage you to do so.  Last year at Horizon we created our first client advisory board.  This board consist of several of our ideal clients and some centers of influence.  There has been tremendous benefit to our firm engaging with these clients and COIs several times during the year. They see themselves as partners, they are smart people with good ideas that can help shape the growth of our firm, and they have become more active referral partners because they know the whole story. 

This is not a new concept, but one we didn’t adopt until last year with some input from our business coach.  It’s one of those things most advisors know they should do, but struggle with getting started so here a few tips to get the ball rolling.  

1. Pick out 3 clients and 2 centers of influence and call them to participate on the council
2. Send them an email confirming the formation of the group and what your intentions are
3. Set up a time and place to bring them together. Just get it on the calendar
4. Tell your firms story. These clients all joined your firm at different times and may not understand the unique story of your firm
5. Ask them for input.  Ask them for what you do well, what areas you could improve on, and what opportunities they see that you might be able to grow your business
6. Follow up with a recap of that meeting
7. Set regular touchpoints with this group
8. Email progress
9. Additional in person meeting during the year

With those steps your council is in place.  There is tremendous value in creating a forum for your ideal clients.  I am happy to help you think through this in more detail and if you have any questions do not hesitate to give me a call.