{"id":88696,"date":"2021-09-20t12:00:22","date_gmt":"2021-09-20t16:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/?p=88696"},"modified":"2021-11-29t23:27:36","modified_gmt":"2021-11-30t04:27:36","slug":"four-ways-to-leverage-your-referral-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2021\/09\/20\/four-ways-to-leverage-your-referral-network\/","title":{"rendered":"four ways to leverage your referral network"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"executive<\/a>how to get the best clients.<\/strong><\/p>\n

by anthony glomski and russ alan prince<\/i>
\nyour $5-million high-net-worth practice<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

most professionals, including accountants, get most of their client referrals from satisfied clients. the complication is that if you want to work with wealthier clients, the likely best way to source them is from other professionals they are currently engaging.<\/p>\n

more:<\/b> high-net-worth business development in four steps<\/a> | 16 questions to set your practice goals<\/a> | conviction + process + expertise = your next $5 million<\/a>
\n\"goprocpa.com\"exclusively for pro members. <\/span><\/strong>log in here<\/a> or 2022世界杯足球排名 today<\/a>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

if you aim to work with the ultrawealthy and even the super-rich, be aware that as you move up the wealth hierarchy, they are less and less inclined to refer you to other people. it is something of a catch-22. in general, the better you are, the more the very wealthy are disinclined to share. that is, they are less likely to refer you to their financial peers. also, if you are maximizing your wealthy client relationships, there is hesitancy by these clients to make referrals because of a strong preference for extreme confidentiality (if not secrecy).
\n
\none more consideration: the wealthy do not commonly discuss the professionals they rely on, while other professionals working with the wealthy concentrate on matters that directly deal with what your firm can do. they are therefore well positioned to direct new wealthy individuals and families to you \u2013 provided it makes sense for them to do so. by employing the everyone wins process, you can often first determine if it makes sense and, if so, help them send you their best clients.<\/p>\n

to build a $5 million high-net-worth practice with wealthy client referrals from other professionals, you need to embrace a few foundational concepts.<\/p>\n

foundational concepts<\/h3>\n

in applying the everyone wins process to working with other professionals, resulting in them referring you to their best clients, you need to know a few foundational concepts.<\/p>\n

1. the rule of transitivity<\/strong><\/p>\n

what is critical to realize is that if the professionals you are looking to for referrals are indeed influential with their wealthy clients, these clients can more readily become your wealthy clients. there are many ways to unobtrusively gauge the quality of the relationships professionals have with their wealthy clients. but, presuming they are indeed influential, in a word, their power to make introductions that deliver is the transference of goodwill. <\/strong>this is referred to as the rule of transitivity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

the hard-earned, high-quality business and personal relationships these professionals share with their wealthy clients through strong introductions are transferred to you to varying degrees. there are significant business risks associated with transferring their goodwill<\/strong>. but, by using the everyone wins process, you can often mitigate the risks and create a pipeline of new wealthy clients.<\/p>\n

2. n.e.x.t.<\/strong><\/p>\n

crucial to building the types of relationships with other professionals that will help you build a $5 million high-net-worth practice is knowing when to walk away, referred to as n.e.x.t. \u2026 never extend extra time.<\/p>\n

it is difficult for many accountants to walk away from another professional who could potentially send them wealthy clients. this is the case even when things are evidently not working. you need to overcome any trepidation you might have about dropping a professional who cannot provide the referrals you are seeking.<\/p>\n

what proves useful for many accountants is to think about all the professionals in their community working or striving to work with the wealthy. there are hundreds, if not thousands, of them. to build a $5 million high-net-worth practice, you need to develop strategic relationships with very few of them.<\/p>\n

3. the law of small numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n

in researching extremely successful professionals who do a phenomenal job of sourcing the wealthy, we consistently find that while they have extensive business contacts, they rely on a handful of professionals to give them the great majority of their wealthy client referrals.<\/p>\n

it is not the quantity of your relationships that makes the difference; it is the quality of the relationships you have with a few hand-picked professionals. these carefully selected professionals will likely be central to enabling you to build your $5 million high-net-worth practice and become seriously personally wealthy.<\/p>\n

the research reveals a striking fact. for most accountants, five<\/strong> professionals (at most) is the magic number. when accountants with high-net-worth practices are working closely with more than five professionals, the relationships become deleterious because the overall number of wealthy client referrals they receive actually goes down.<\/p>\n

it takes a lot of concerted time and effort to help these professionals achieve their self-interests. you cannot possibly \u2013 even with a strong team supporting you \u2013 meaningfully help more than five reach their goals. think of it this way: how many new best friends can you handle?<\/p>\n

if you are like most people, five new best friends is a lot. five professionals who introduce you to their wealthiest clients are all you are going to need to achieve your professional self-interests.<\/p>\n

4. leverage your partners\u2019 wealthy client relationships<\/strong><\/p>\n

when you think of the professionals who can refer you business, do not forget about your partners at the accounting firm. depending on the work they do, they may be able to send you wealthy clients.<\/p>\n

to facilitate these possibilities, as opposed to waiting for one of their wealthy clients to ask for your expertise and hoping your partner thinks about you at that moment, you use the everyone wins process. it is often useful to think of your partners in precisely the same way you would a lawyer or banker. your aim is to understand and help your partners achieve their self-interests.<\/p>\n

your self-interests<\/h3>\n

you need to specify what you want to achieve \u2013 as precisely as possible. we usually hear from accountants that they want to be introduced to wealthy individuals and families. unfortunately, this answer \u2013 which is quite common \u2013 is too vague if you sincerely want a $5 million high-net-worth practice.<\/p>\n

let\u2019s get more specific: you want to be introduced to the wealthy who recognize the need for your services and are inclined to take action now.<\/p>\n

these wealthy individuals and families are primed to do business with you. this way, the distance from prospect to client is very short. you can even get more specific.<\/p>\n

you can refine your self-interest by going back to what clients you previously calculated you\u2019ll need to build your $5 million high-net-worth practice. if you concluded you need 20 wealthy clients generating, on average, $250,000 each (after you subtract what you already have and the referrals you anticipate getting from highly satisfied clients), you know what you require in referrals from other professionals to hit your goal.<\/p>\n

let\u2019s keep going. to generate $250,000 from a wealthy client, you need to have some ideas as to what expertise you and your firm will provide and the accompanying fees. you will most likely need to maximize most of these relationships to reach this number. your resource grid can come in handy at this time. moreover, if you choose to adopt the family office model (assuming you have not already done so), you might find there is a longer sleeve of additional services and conceivable financial products you could provide. this possibility then makes it that much easier for you to generate significant revenues.<\/p>\n

by working through this exercise, you become very clear on the number of wealthy clients you need and their characteristics that will enable you to build a $5 million high-net-worth practice. it is not about taking any client referral provided. instead, you must communicate the nature and characteristics of the wealthy clients you want to be referred to you by other professionals. by educating these professionals on the wealthy clients you want to be referred, you save yourself a lot of time and energy and get much better results.<\/p>\n

to make this work, you will also need to educate these professionals on how to refer you. saying you are a good accountant might be enough, but rarely helps you assuredly win the business. the more you can help these professionals focus on and customize your introduction, the greater success you will have.<\/p>\n

identify potential professionals:<\/strong> to have professionals refer their best clients to you requires you to reach out and identify them. there are many types of professionals who are possible candidates, such as lawyers, wealth managers, bankers and others. also, do not leave out your accounting firm partners as potential professionals who can refer you business.<\/p>\n

at this point, all you are doing is determining who might be able to refer you to a fair number of wealthy individuals and families. until you understand them and their self-interests (the next step), you are only making a somewhat educated guess.<\/p>\n

most accountants see sourcing the wealthy from other professionals as though these professionals are doing them the biggest favor when they send business their way. for some accountants, this point of view is accurate. but it is not the case for capable accountants using the everyone wins process. while you should certainly be appreciative of professionals sharing their wealthy clients with you, remember:<\/p>\n

you select the professional, and you are going to help achieve their self-interests. they do not choose you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

we find this perspective is a very different and distinctive way of thinking about wealthy client referrals from professionals than many accountants are accustomed to. we have found that this viewpoint actually scares some accountants. just keep in mind n.e.x.t. and the law of small numbers.<\/p>\n

to make this work for all involved, you need to understand the self-interests of these professionals.<\/p>\n

their self-interests<\/h3>\n

you need to extensively learn about the perspectives and practices of professionals you are considering. you need to have an excellent and extensive understanding of their business models, their goals, the obstacles they are facing and so forth. you want to know their critical concerns and what they are doing to remedy the problems and overcome the obstacles they face.<\/p>\n

like the open-ended questions you use at the start of the discovery process with your wealthy clients, you can use the same type of questions with professionals \u2026<\/p>\n