Business Advisors: In Marketing, Do This to Win

Plus: 5 Referral Partner Qualifying Questions

In a recent conversation, the Founder of a super successful firm shared marketing data kept since 1986. What does the data show? This firm dominates their space with 91% of clients coming from referrals.  That’s right: although their customers are CEOs, their primary marketing is to Centers of Influence (COIs). Why? Because by constantly focusing on COIs they control the flow of opportunities. They of course talk to CEOs, but they target the people who bring in the business. Shouldn’t you?

If this sounds like it’s worth a try, here are some tips you can apply immediately. 

Start by separating your COI/Referral program from your CEO program. Focusing on CEOs only lends to a feast-or-famine engagement cycle. This may sound familiar: you pedal like mad only to drop marketing when you're engaged with clients. In contrast, marketing to COIs targets folks motivated to deliver an ongoing opportunity flow. And the most powerful motivation isn’t fee sharing, it’s aligned missions. Break the feast-famine cycle by developing Strategic COIs. 

Strategic COIs are like scouts. They are out there actively looking for opportunities to bring you in. Why? Because you make them look good, increasing the value that they are delivering while simultaneously keeping them top-of-mind with your joint client. This is in stark contrast to the simple referral introduction. 

Does this mean you shouldn’t target CEOs directly? Not at all! They are your ultimate client, and the marketing resources you create for CEOs can be delivered through COI’s as guest articles etc. 

With a separate COI program in place, next is to identify and qualify strategic COI targets. The opening question is “Who do you target?” Banks, PEGs, investment banks, accountants, lawyers, financial advisors… all have SME clients. Here’s the rub: just because a firm works with SMEs doesn’t mean they are a good referral source. Here’s what to do.  

Write a profile for your perfect CEO client. Include industry, age, income, business size, location etc. There’s a great guide here. 

Write a profile of the perfect COI who works with these folks, considering five qualifying factors:

1. Does the COI do business with CEOs you target? For example, are the businesses of sufficient size to afford you? In an industry you prize? In your geographic area?

2. Does your work clearly advance the COIs business interests? You need senior-level commitment within the COI to support clients in ways that are beyond the scope of their core business.

3. Does the revenue you will generate overshadow the revenue or value delivered by the COI? This can derail the effort.

4. What is the COIs decision process for green lighting this relationship? Does the COI have one leader who can make the relationship hum?

5. What is the compliance environment in which your COI lives? For example, wealth advisors have lots of business owner clients; but often view business advisory as a no-go - even when performed at arms length.

Armed with a description of the perfect COI, build a list of potential partners. Pro Tip: COI relationships have a lifespan. Keep all 4 stages in play - marketing leads, and partners that are new, established, and maturing (drying up). This strategy has a proven track record of sustained success.

Now you need marketing targets. This is where BizLeads comes in: we recommend them because of the depth and quality of their information. Built using American City Business Journal’s deep resources, BizLeads delivers high quality data through an incredibly easy to navigate search engine and, unique among service providers, delivers all of the contacts in a single firm for each credit you buy. What’s not to like? Get a free demo, you'll see what we mean. 

Recap: focusing your marketing on COIs means fewer conversations and bigger results - it’s like creating a sales force that’s already talking to you CEO prospects. Define your ideal CEO and then the specific COIs who serve them. Qualify COIs and talk to them at several levels to develop strategic, ongoing relationships. Create a targeted list of firms from a quality service like BizLeads, and keep the plan running nonstop. And when you win engagements don’t be a referral, be a collaborator and keep your COI informed about the client. Happy hunting. 

George Sandmann is author of The Growth-Driving Advisor: Proven Strategies for Leading Clients from Stuck to Best-in-Class, coming soon from Forbes Books. A veteran entrepreneur and advisor to advisors, his company Growth-Drive provides knowledge, tools and support to middle market business advisors. Get on the book update list.