If you’re anything like the financial advisors we work with, you’ve helped hundreds of clients successfully exit their businesses—and now it’s your turn. You’ve worked hard to build your legacy, and now that you’re approaching retirement, you want a smooth transition for both you and your clients.
Finding it hard to know where to start? You’re not alone: a recent Investment Planning Counsel study found that only 11% of financial advisors had a formal plan in place even though they were nearing retirement. But regardless of whether retirement is right around the corner or a few years out, it’s crucial to have a solid succession plan in place to help ease the transition.
So, let’s take a look at exactly how to navigate each phase of the process and how a well-executed marketing strategy can help you stage a professional and profitable exit to your financial advisory business.
Start Here to Simplify the Process
You already know this from working with your own clients: if you want to clarify and simplify the process, you need a formal succession plan. And the sooner, the better. (If you work with a broker-dealer, you should contact the Business Development team; they can help you with this plan and pair you with another advisor looking to purchase a book of business if needed.) But what you may not know is that having a solid marketing strategy in place is one of the easiest ways to future-proof your business at every phase in the succession process.
An effective marketing strategy can help build your brand, solidify a successor, and focus on client retention long after you retire. When done right, your marketing can support client conversations and connections through each of the three phases: pre-retirement, transition period, and post-retirement.
Pre-Retirement Phase: What You Need to Know
In the 5-plus years leading up to your retirement, you’re nurturing client relationships and building credibility. Even more, you’re emphasizing your expertise and working toward leaving a legacy. Your clients rely on you for connection and regular touchpoints, which is why building an online presence is so vital at every stage of your business—especially pre-retirement.
Whether you connect through monthly articles, email marketing, or engaging social posts, this is all made easy with an effective content marketing strategy in place. In this stage, this consistent contact with your clients provides the perfect opportunity to gradually—and seamlessly—introduce your successor.
The fact is your business is built on trust and relationships. If you’re able to choose the right successor early on, you’ll ideally have plenty of time to mentor, train, and integrate this individual into your business.
It’s no surprise that clients are more likely to welcome and trust a new face if they have plenty of exposure ahead of time. When you structure your outreach to provide that warm introduction, you not only set the tone for your successor, but you also ensure your clients continue to receive the same level of service they have grown accustomed to.
Stepping Back: The Transition Phase
Once you’re ready to transition the business, you’ll want to focus your efforts on long-term relationships and client retention. It’s during this phase that your existing content marketing can help reinforce your successor’s credibility and capabilities.
If you’re looking to ensure business continuity and client confidence, you’ll want to maintain consistent branding and messaging throughout all your content channels. This can help ensure a smooth transition for both your clients and your successor by providing familiarity and a recognizable voice.
You can also address potential challenges and obstacles ahead of time. Marketing at this stage may include surveys to flush out any concerns clients may have regarding the transition. Your content strategy could also leverage case studies that clearly demonstrate your successor’s capabilities.
Living Life: The Post-Retirement Phase
By this point, you’ve worked hard to build your legacy and want to make sure it continues well after you retire. Whether you’ve gradually phased out or left in a blaze of glory, you finally get to enjoy the product of all your business efforts, including your marketing efforts. Should you choose to sell your business, your client base, email list, and unique brand will all contribute to a higher business valuation.
Your successor has the double benefit of building off your strong foundation while still incorporating their unique personality into the business. Here they get to inject their advisor style into their marketing efforts and make the business their own.
While the goal in this stage is client retention, they have the flexibility to test new content ideas to help spark referrals or reach a new audience. Now’s the perfect time to test new article ideas, refresh the website, update social media strategies, and consider a rebranding strategy.
How a Solid Marketing Plan Can Help at Every Stage
Whether you’re at that point in your career where succession planning is either important or becoming important, it’s best to have a strategy in place that covers all phases of the transition. When done right, careful planning can set you up for a much easier and more profitable exit—while avoiding common pitfalls along the way.
Already have enough to worry about? We get it! That’s why the marketing experts at Indigo Marketing Agency are here to help. We can help you create a solid marketing strategy that guides you through every phase of your succession plan. Schedule your free strategy session today!
