Four Prospecting Myths it’s Time to Leave Behind
Changes in the retirement industry landscape often require a reexamination of the assumptions and beliefs that drive our growth strategies. In a shifting, saturated market, we must be able to recognize when what we once held true no longer serves us or our clients and prospects. This reflection is vital in order to ensure not only our own success, but that of the people and organizations we serve. This is especially true in the search for new clients.
If you’re still hanging on to one or more of these common myths, it might be holding you back from the growth you’re looking for.
Myth #1: Prospecting is a long, lonely game.
Of course it can be, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s all in how we approach the process.
We can spend our time alone researching a plan, gathering data, and trying to piece together the story of a sponsor’s challenges. It takes even more time to develop strategies, look into possible recommendations, and collect resources to ensure we have a well-informed conversation—assuming we land a meeting.
That research and preparation doesn’t have to be so time-consuming or isolated. The leading advisors are using specialized tools and strategic partnerships to save time and, simultaneously, improve the quality of data that they can access.
Simply by partnering with retirement plan experts as part of the O3 Edge platform, one advisor was able to uncover de-risking strategies that could save his prospect millions of dollars.
Myth #2: There’s just no way to establish a competitive edge in today’s market.
In this market, not only are we up against a sea of competition, that sea is teeming with highly specialized competitors. It can feel like an insurmountable obstacle separating us from the prospects we know we could help if given the opportunity.
Where did this myth come from? It’s based on several common—but erroneous—assumptions:
Here’s the thing: Even if those statements may once have rung true, they no longer do.
Fresh solutions are out there, but we may struggle to recognize them. This is often because we simply don’t have the full picture of where the plan has been, exactly where it is today, and we don’t have the data to tell the plan sponsor where the plan is going. A powerful prospecting tool, like O3 Edge, can provide a clear illustration of a plan and help us understand what may be causing our prospects pain. With the support of plan experts, we can provide much-needed relief to our clients—establishing us as trusted, valuable partners.
Myth #3: Plan research is overwhelming and viable prospects are impossible to find.
The blueprint of a fruitful—and even enjoyable—search is drawn from how we look at things, and of course, where we look.
Traditional ways of lead prospecting can overwhelm us, Without enough information to know which leads deserve our focus, we wade through endless data. But by filtering strategically, we can identify prospects that align with our growth strategies and allow us to identify customized solutions for their unique situations. October Three’s prospecting tool, O3 Edge, can help you sort through the mountain of data to quickly find even the most elusive prospects.
Myth #4: Meeting preparation needs to take a long time.
Identifying prospects by hand and developing customized solutions without good data is time-consuming and challenging. But sophisticated prospecting solutions exist to save time and provide deeper insights through more robust data than we will come to on our own. Beyond the data, effective prospecting tools should provide access to industry-leading content and meeting starter kits, all supported by plan experts, so we can not only prepare quickly and efficiently for meetings, but arrive better informed and able to more clearly communicate our value as advisors.
The O3 Edge suite of prospecting support tools quickly illuminates the best prospects to help you meet your goals and provides elite industry experts to make the entire process of finding new business more efficient, enjoyable, and effective.
To learn more about O3 Edge or schedule a demo, click here.