Steve Molesky, ChFC, CLU • Ellicott, MD
Stephen M. Molesky & Associates • Kalos Capital Inc.
To cultivate new clients, we host many educational seminars for the public. We are not trying to sell anything, per se. Rather, we are trying to get the word out on important issues in planning for retirement. My staff uses a direct mail company and identifies an area with the right demographic makeup: individuals or couples between the ages of 55 and 70 with a net worth substantial enough that they may consider financial planning and investment services.
I make the presentations informative and provocative, identifying challenges most people face in reaching the type of lifestyle they would like in retirement. Many people have requested individual meetings after the seminar—hopefully because they have seen that we are planners first, not salespeople.
For our existing clients, we hold continuing education seminars. We actively seek out the topics they want to learn more about and structure presentations accordingly. They are invited to bring friends, relatives, and co-workers, and that works well in terms of new prospect introductions. We have covered a wide range of topics, including estate planning, changes in the tax code, and quantitative active investment management. Sometimes we bring in an outside expert speaker to address a specific investment topic, which is always very popular.
In the end, converting positive feedback from existing clients into a stream of new clients is really the most effective way to market a practice. There is really no better time to ask for a referral than when a client is expressing satisfaction with your services. One of my priorities for this year is to make good use of those opportunities during client review sessions.
Disclosure: Securities offered through Kalos Capital Inc., and investment advisory services offered through Kalos Management Inc., both at 11525 Park Woods Circle, Alpharetta, Georgia 30005, (678) 356-1100. Stephen M. Molesky & Associates is not an affiliate or subsidiary of Kalos Capital Inc. or Kalos Management Inc.
This article first published in Proactive Advisor Magazine on March 19, 2015, Volume 5, Issue 11.
Photography by Mike Morgan
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