If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up somewhere else." - Yogi Berra

I was chatting with a financial advisor the other day and he remarked that marketing was his greatest struggle.  In fact, the main reason he became a member of EncoreAdvisor.com was to improve the performance of his prospecting routines.  He had heard from other advisors how many great ideas are available on my website.

Unfortunately, even after a few months of membership, he was still struggling.  His main problem was deciding which ideas to use.  Each time he settled on a plan, he came across another idea that made him question his direction.

With this in mind, I've created this coaching session to highlight fifteen of my main marketing themes and strategies; it's like a guided tour of the "Your Prospects" section of EncoreAdvisor.com.  Whether you're a member or not, if you need to strengthen your prospecting results, use this overview to get started.

Part One:  Assess Your Current Plans - Before you can begin prospecting, you need to assess the effectiveness of your current efforts.  These first four coaching sessions will help you get started.

1. Ask these Four Questions before You Spend More Time and Money on Marketing Campaigns - All too often, prospecting takes a back seat to the other important client and team management activities. If you're concerned because your prospecting efforts aren't producing the results you expect - it may be time to do a little self-diagnosis. This coaching session gives you 4 questions to consider when evaluating your current prospecting techniques.

2. How to get Your Prospect Database Under Control - If you decide to move forward with your prospecting efforts, you need to be sure you have a handle on your prospect database.  You may already have all the prospects you need to grow your business.  Plus, you don't want to let your best prospects slip through the cracks.  This coaching session offers a step-by-step solution along with a sample telephone script and letter.

3. Do you understand your niche market?  As a financial advisor, it is critical that you know your niche market. Defining your niche is an essential step in prospecting success. Without understanding your ideal market, you cannot strategically invest your limited time, energy, and marketing dollars.  This coaching session contains a self-assessment tool.

4. Focus on Prospects Who Resemble Your Ideal Clients - One of the best ways to define your niche market is to model your ideal clients.  In other words, you need to find more clients who look like your best clients.  This coaching session walks you through a simple 7 step approach to building a client-based prospecting pipeline, a pipeline that can number 100 or more prospects with just a few hours of work.

Part Two:  Decide on the Right Approach - No two advisors are exactly the same.  You need to select a marketing strategy that fits your personality and your business style.  The next seven coaching sessions offer five different alternatives.

5. Six Ways to Make Referrals an Ongoing Part of Your Business Routines - Referrals should be an important part of every financial advisor's practice, but there are a number of questions that always surround this subject. Should you promote or ask for referrals? When is the right time - once a year or on an ongoing basis? This coaching session highlights six ways to promote referrals and offers a simple referral tool. These ideas can easily be incorporated into your ongoing business routines.

6. Web Class - Client Advocacy, Quickly Create a Stream of High Quality Referrals - Client advocacy tops our list of effective methods for capturing high quality referrals. If you are striving for a more steady flow of references, you should set aside 25 minutes to view this presentation. This coaching session walks you through our advocacy "short course" and delivers a clear-cut process for making advocacy a part of your regular client interactions.

7. Improving Your Networking Results - Networking is an integral part of many financial advisors plans for growing their businesses. But to really make it work, you can't just wing it. Like any other important practice management technique, you should plan for it, practice it and give it the time it deserves. This coaching session serves as a guide for improving your networking results.

8. Low-key Prospecting - Some veteran advisors only have time for a small dose of prospecting.  Some rookie advisors need a campaign to augment their main prospecting routines.  Running a low-key connections campaign can be the ideal solution.  This three-part coaching session walks you through all the steps and gives you all the letters and tools you'll need.

9. Telephone Prospecting - Most advisors, particularly those who have been in the business for a number of years, believe telephone scripts are unnecessary.  Well, I strongly disagree.  Scripts are tools for improving your professionalism; it doesn't matter if you're a new advisor making cold calls or a veteran advisor presenting a fresh idea to your current clients.  A well-crafted script will allow you to add confidence and conviction to all of your client and prospect encounters.  This coaching session covers the basics for improving your telephone techniques.  It also includes five telephone scripts you may be able to implement in your practice.

10. How to Reconnect with Lost Clients - Even the most successful financial advisors lose top clients from time-to-time. Therefore, your former client list could be a good source of future relationships. This coaching session takes you through a straightforward process for recapturing these past relationships and includes a "Lost Client Letter" to get you started.

11. Use Your Expertise to Generate Leads - Expertise based lead generation is a powerful tool for building a prospect pipeline full of qualified future clients. What's more, these prospective clients are looking for professionals with your know-how. If your prospect database isn't where you think it should be, take some time to build a simple campaign. When you do this with consistency, you will find it much easier to keep your calendar full of appointments and your business will grow.  This coaching session will help you get started.

Part Three:  Look for Constant Improvement - Once you settle on a marketing routine, you need constantly look for ways to improve your results.  These final four coaching sessions, will help you take your marketing efforts to the next level.

12. Do you treat your top prospects like they're already clients? Qualified prospects can be hard to find; you can't afford to lose them.  Have you ever lost a big prospect just when you thought you were going to close the business? Although there are no silver bullet solutions, the best long-term strategy for avoiding unexpected prospecting surprises is treating your top prospects as if they are already clients. This coaching session offers 5 steps to make this process a part of your routines.

13. Web Class:How to Create Marketing Materials that Sell - To be most effective, your marketing material needs to highlight your unique client proposition.  You need to set yourself apart from the crowd.  This coaching session is part one of a three-part series of Web Classes aimed at helping you improve your marketing material. During this 15 minute recording we cover 11 crucial questions that will help you differentiate your practice.

14. Seven Tips for Making Your Client and Prospect Meetings More Meaningful - Do you ever scramble at the last minute to get ready for an appointment that has been on your schedule for weeks? Despite your best efforts, some or maybe even all of your preparation is saved for the 30 minute timeframe just prior to your meeting. In the end, you miss opportunities to gather important data, close new business or uncover referrals. This coaching session offers 7 tips for making each of your appointments more meaningful.

15. Prospecting in Tough Markets - Nobody enjoys lousy financial markets, but it can be a great time to prospect. When times are tough, a lot of folks really need your help. After you've finished taking care of your clients, you need set your sites on landing some meaningful new relationships. This coaching session includes a complete campaign strategy with letters, a prospect questionnaire and calling tips. Get started right away and you'll add to your success in the coming months.