How Much TIME Do Super-Successful Advisers Spend Marketing?

We know that time is money. We know that marketing costs money. But the most successful advisers know that effective marketing costs more time than money.

One of the most successful advisers I know says that he spends his work time thus:

  • 20% in client facing meetings
  • 10% running his business
  • 70% networking and doing client marketing
  • On the surface that seems to be an extraordinary imbalance in comparison to most other advisers, yet this is one of the great producers of the business in this part of the world. It is also an example of the Pareto Principle at work….in personal revenue generating activity he is spending about 20% of this time for the overwhelming majority of the income generated in any given financial reporting period. And his production and revenue numbers rise at a disproportionately high rate year on year – he grows quicker than most every year…year after year…

    BUT he is spending only 20% or so on immediate revenue-producing work, and some 70% of his time on creating future opportunities – and that is what marketing is when you get right down to it. Marketing one's business consists of the financial resources, activities of the practice AND personal energy or time that are required to create future client engagement opportunities. Super-successful advisers consistently spend more time and effort marketing than they do “selling”.

    The most successful advisers often have pretty limited client facing time as a proportion of their total working hours, but they make that time count.

    Client facing time is not spent filling out a gazillion forms, and nor is it having a coffee catch up just to shoot the breeze with them. Socialising over a coffee or anything else certainly happens, but it is not considered client-work. That is a marketing activity.

    The difference is that the successful adviser has clarity of purpose for each of these different meetings. One is to determine needs, discuss concepts and strategies, and determine an optimal way forward. It is results-focussed short-term project management and has clearly measurable outcomes. It also has an immediate value to both the client and the adviser. The purpose of the other is to deepen relationships, increase top-of-mind awareness and create (or become alert to) future opportunities for the adviser to exercise their skills. The first is “sales” focussed; the second is pure marketing.

    It is this second sort of meeting that takes up to 70% of the successful advisers working time. Client events, or networking with influencers, or semi-socialising with clients and prospects are all incredibly time-consuming activities…..but they pay off.

    Some research that Matt Oeschli put out a little while ago from a survey they did with 586 Elite Advisers revealed that 82% of them have social relationships with their top 25 clients. Interestingly it also revealed:

  • 78% get new clients from referral alliances
  • 78% get new clients from personal introductions
  • 76% get new clients from unsolicited referrals
  • 62% get new clients from networking and social prospecting
  • ….and about 50% of the most successful advisers suggest a social get-together as a first step after meeting new prospects.
  • What this type of research shows is essentially the same story that we get anecdotally form individual advisers who are incredibly successful, and that is the most effective marketing tool you have is you.

    It follows that how an adviser uses their time is the most valuable marketing resource they have.

    The advisers time is usually a lot more valuable than the marketing budget allocated to creating future prospects. It also usually a lot more effective too.

    So how much time should an adviser put into marketing and putting themselves into a position to create future opportunities? Something north of 50% would be a good guide if we are to follow the examples of those who are already super successful, instead of the 10-15% which is more typical for most advisers.

    It is worth noting that often the most successful advisers are not necessarily smarter or more technically skilled than average advisers either in my view. They typically produce 3 or 4 x the results though. They are always very good practitioners of course, but are their skills or knowledge 3 or 4 x better than the next adviser? Not usually…..maybe twice as good, but not 4 times as good generally speaking.

    What they are four times as good at is understanding that their most valuable marketing resource is their own time, and that every effective hour of marketing produces almost unlimited future opportunities. Because of the emphasis upon being better at marketing and networking than being a salesperson in the “here and now”, the top of the funnel for the super-successful advisers is perpetually filling up with great opportunities to gain new clients or engage in new work.

    The lesson from the great advisers is to clearly to spend more time working on marketing than selling. And for these types of advisers, the greatest marketing return comes from the time they spend building and strengthening relationships with influencers and clients.