How Nitrogen Boosts Retention for RIA Firms

Financial advisors need to tap into the potential of innovative tools and strategies to thrive in this highly competitive landscape. Enter the growth platform—a game-changing solution key to unlocking new opportunities and propelling advisors toward greater success.

By leveraging growth platforms, advisors can streamline their operations, optimize client experiences, and engage with their target market more meaningfully. Financial advisors can elevate their practice with the right solution and drive sustainable growth.

This article will explore how effective growth platforms in financial advisory services work and what parts of the client acquisition and retention processes they affect. 

What is a growth platform?

A growth platform encompasses a comprehensive range of technologies, software, and methodologies designed to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of financial advisors. How each solution approaches growth may be different. At Nitrogen, for example, our tried-and-tested method emphasizes improving the client journey without increasing the workload for advisors.

Growth platforms vs lead generation tools

Lead generation tools are essential for any advisory firm. However, these platforms have a narrow focus, and tend to only support the attracting or nurturing prospects. A growth platform takes this a step further.

For example, a sound growth platform will not only identify and store lead information but also facilitate meetings, automate successful proposals, and help generate referrals. Furthermore, many features should apply to client retention, not just acquisition. 

The client journey: From prospect to referrals

Successfully signing a client (and keeping them) hinges on understanding the client’s journey. At each stage, client needs and expectations differ. At the same time, it’s important to ensure every stage is tailored to the prospect or client. 

A growth platform can help you maintain personalization at every step of the client journey. Here’s how: 

Prospects: The search for value.

Most marketing advice recommends that advisors develop a “lead magnet,” an item of value prospects are ready to trade their email addresses for. And one of the most powerful tools for advisors is a personalized assessment.

The most common automated assessment is a type of calculator. However, there are a few issues with this approach. First, most calculator apps don’t take in enough information to give an accurate picture of a prospect’s financial situation. Furthermore, these assessments often don’t provide the guidance necessary to understand the data. It’s also possible that the data isn’t saved in your CRM system alongside the prospect’s email, so you start from scratch at every discovery meeting.

A growth platform should allow you to save a prospect’s pre-meeting assessment. For example, advisors can add a Risk Number assessment to their website. This feature is a customized visual representation of a prospect’s risk alignment. As the Risk Number is easy to understand and personalized for each lead, it effectively generates leads and fits into any marketing strategy. 

Effective meetings

Effective meetings are vital for both client acquisition and retention. An advisory’s CRM plays the role of easily booking discovery or review meetings and storing client information. However, there is much more to a successful meeting than what a CRM provides.

A growth platform should connect your CRM with other client data—such as their risk assessment or portfolio information. This integration allows advisors to generate relevant and specific reports, scenario analyses, and questionnaires. As a result, advisors can improve the prospect or client experience by simplifying complex financial data. All of which leads to retention.

RIAs must also consider compliance requirements such as recording client conversations and presenting. A growth platform should be able to log or store this data or integrate it with a document manager.

Emphasis on retention

Growth platforms should offer a streamlined sales process and improve the prospect experience. However, it also acts as a significant client retention tool. 

By leveraging customer data and insights, advisors can understand clients’ unique needs, preferences, and goals. This enables them to tailor their communication, offer relevant advice, and provide customized solutions that resonate with clients. Personalized engagement strengthens client relationships, builds trust, and increases the likelihood of successful deal closures.

Communication prioritization features (such as Nitrogen’s check-in feature) also offer advisors a proactive approach to client management. For example, short surveys can help advisors determine a client’s current market sentiment and schedule a follow-up meeting or call. As a result, clients feel taken care of. 

A growth platform should facilitate seamless collaboration among financial advisors and other stakeholders. It provides a centralized platform for sharing information, tracking progress, and coordinating efforts. This fosters teamwork, enables effective communication, and ensures everyone is aligned in providing the best possible client experience. 

The power of referrals 

Referrals are critical to the success of any firm. One 2021 study on clients finding and working with financial advisors discovered that 1 in 4 prospects with over $5 million in assets found their financial advisor through referrals from family and colleagues. For prospects with $1 million to $5 million in assets, nearly half of all respondents used referrals. 

In other words, a steady stream of referrals is essential for rapidly scaling your firm. But what does it take to get a referral?

With a growth platform, financial advisors can tailor their services and communications to meet their clients’ specific needs and preferences, increasing the likelihood of receiving referrals. RIAs and advisors can effectively manage client relationships, keeping track of every touchpoint and interaction along the client journey. This comprehensive view allows advisors to identify potential referral opportunities and engage with clients at the right time, strengthening their relationships and increasing the likelihood of receiving referrals.

Start to scale your firm

In conclusion, a growth platform offers RIAs and advisory firms the opportunity to take their marketing to the next level. This solution personalized the client journey, centralizes client data, and offers innovative features to attract and retain clients. 

To see how to scale your firm with a growth platform, check out how New Jersey firm PIP Wealth streamlined its client journey.