7 Pillars of Successful Networking for Advisors
The latest episode of the Kitces.com podcast series features Lisa Brown, a partner and wealth advisor at CI Brightworth, offering advice about the pillars of professional networking and practice development that any successful financial advisor must know.
In addition to serving her own book, Brown’s role includes leading one of CI Brightworth’s four main practice areas: corporate professionals and executives. Given her success at the firm, Brown has begun to train and guide the next generation of advisors, both about how to serve their clients most effectively and about how to become effective business developers by identifying their own areas of interest and specialization.
As the podcast’s host, Michael Kitces, points out, there are more roles than ever for individuals interested in the advisory profession. According to Kitces, the growth of firms that assess fees based on assets under advisement rather than commissions has allowed leaders to open up new career opportunities for emerging professionals who may not have much experience or even interest in business development. He says these advisors can play a key role in the success of their firm by ensuring clients receive an excellent level of service.
However, as Kitces and Brown agree, at some point, from a career perspective, an advisor with leadership ambitions must figure out how to bring in new clients and grow the business. This is where the pillars of professional networking and client development become absolutely essential, Brown says.
See the slideshow for a summary of Brown’s tips for successful networking. Some of them resemble more universal professionals’ networking strategies while others are specific to the role of financial advisors, but all will be useful for advisors who want to participate more directly in the growth of their firm.
