Are you holding HNW client events and no one is "bringing a friend?"

‍Are you holding HNW client events and no one is"bringing-a-friend?"

Would you consider yourself an exceptional and trusted wealth advisor yet wondering why your HNW clients aren't “bringing-a-friend” to your high quality events? You aren’t alone. The good news? With a little thought you can break the cycle and differentiate yourself from the incredible competition forHNW clients.

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It's an opportunity waiting just for you.

Inviting your HNW clients to exclusive events created just for them will result in their bringing friends and making introductions. The statistics are out there:

• Roughly 75% of HNWs find their advisors via recommendations by trusted family, friends and colleagues
• HNW clients will give a total of 37 introductions over the lifetime of their relationship with their financial advisor
• HNW clients who have the closest relationship with you and a mutually trustful one will give a minimum of two referrals per year

Why aren’t you experiencing these results? There are many are reasons you can’t control:

• Number one, HNWs are very busy people with many life demands. They are invited to so many events that they need to be selective on where they spend their time. No matter how far ahead you plan, many will wait until a week (or less) before the event to RSVP to make certain they don’t have something that's more necessary for them to attend.
• They don’t talk about money with friends and family
• They don’t want to be “responsible” if things don’t work out
• Their “inner circle” of friends and family already have one or more advisors
• They just don’t refer anyone to anybody

There are a handful of reasons that are easy to change. Brainstorm with your team on how to eliminate these obstacles:

• They don’t think you are open for business
• They don’t know who to invite (instead of “bring-a-friend”, try “bring-a-guest” or “bring-a-colleague”)
• They don’t know how their guest will be followed up upon
• They aren’t completely satisfied with the service they are receiving

‍There are two big reasons that may surprise you but can be overcome:

• They don’t know who the other attendees will be  
• The type of event is generic and/or something they could buy for themselves (cooking classes, wine tastings, chef’s tables, client appreciation, market updates, etc.)

‍How can you break the cycle and get your HNWs to bring guests to your events?

Anyone can throw a party but if you want your HNWs to attend your events and bring friends and family, you must invest the thoughtfulness, time and resources equal to the ROI of retaining and acquiring HNW clients:

1. Be intentional about who you invite to an HNW event. The number one reason why HNWs want to attend an event is who else is going to be there. They want to know there will be people they’ll enjoy or be beneficial with whom to network. Invite those who have commonalities from where they live and work to their personalities, interests, charitable organizations, etc.
2. The second reason HNWs want to attend an event and will bring a guest is the uniqueness of the event. Make the event as personal and tailored to them and not something they could organize easily on their own. Instead of a generic wine tasting, make it a wine tasting that compares wines from vineyards they have visited. If they have an upcoming trip to France, make it a tasting of wines from the different regions they will be visiting or compare French wines to Oregon wines. If they are wine connoisseurs, do a blind tasting to compare wines from different regions or compare a $100 bottle of wine to a $20 one.      
3. Bring a personal focus to the event, such as celebrating a milestone birthday, retirement, wedding anniversary, new business, etc. It will make it very easy for your HNWs to invite guests to celebrate with them.
4. Always, always, keep perception v. reality top of mind. It’s not what you want for your event, it’s what your HNWs want. It must be "all about them" to inspire them to bring guests. One of our Momentum Mantras is, “Don’t guess, ask.” Instead of trying to figure out what would get your HNWs committed to an event and bringing guests, ask them directly what they would enjoy. Be sure to bring a few ideas to the table so that they can brainstorm with you.
5. Be exclusive with your HNWs. Keep the guest list to 18 (+2 for you and a guest) at the very maximum.

If you invest thoughtfulness, time and resources into your HNW events, your HNW clients bring guests to your events and their guests will be willing to have an introductory chat with you!

All my best to you, Paula

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P.S. The ultimate event to get HNW clients to bring guests to your your event is what we refer to as our Momentum Secret Sauce event. The Secret Sauce Event has evolved from the 1,000+ event strategies Momentum has executed with tracking their results. Following the Momentum Secret Sauce Blueprint insures the ROI you want from a HNW event. Want to learn more?

Join me for our Momentum University’s training kickoff event on April 23 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. The introductory tuition is just $99.
Go to momentum-driven.com and select Current Events under Meet Paula.