How to make 2021 a year of growth

With two lockdowns behind us but the threat of more to come after the relative freedoms over the Christmas period, it’s likely that attracting new clients between now and mid-next year will continue to be challenging for advisers.

A recent survey suggests 58% of advisers found acquiring new clients ‘significantly harder’ during the pandemic and they had little confidence that anything would change. Anecdotal research makes us think as few as one in ten advisers have written new business of any significance since March.
‘The trade press has written plenty about the issues facing advisers but there’s been very little practical help available in an easily digestible format. In response, we’ve researched effective strategies being used by advisers to sign up new clients throughout the pandemic, and interviewed a number of them for their insights. We’ve then put that together as our 10 top tips for advisers in 2021:

1. Referrals from existing clients

• Make sure your existing clients know you are ‘open for business’.
• Build structure into your referral process. The time Mark Finster from Helm Godfrey has put into focusing on this delivered him nine new referrals in the seven months from March 2020.

2. 3^rd party referrals

• Identify other businesses that share your best-fit clients but that don’t compete with you (solicitors, accountants etc)
• Explain your offering to them clearly and succinctly so they can advocate on your behalf and be clear about what you can give them in return.

3. Social media

• Learn how the main platforms operate (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram). Get help from someone who knows what they are doing.
• Connect with local communities. Facebook is proving highly effective for Kate Gannon of Themis Wealth Management. She says her firm has joined a number of local community groups where they get regular recommendations and can clearly see how this generates new prospects.

4. Website

• Use tools such as Google Analytics to enable you to understand who is using your website and what resonates with them.
• Post regular new content, including blogs and information on issues to keep the site engaging.

5. Become a subject matter expert

• Get to know your local newspaper business editor and let them know you are open to commenting on financial and economic issues.

6. Events

• Run virtual seminars or workshops on topics that interest your clients.
• Ask clients to invite friends and family.

7. Client communications

• Increase the frequency of your communications and use interesting content that they can share with friends and family.

8. Behavioural finance techniques

• Use lead magnets (also known as attraction marketing devices) – give away something valuable for free.
• Create a sense of urgency around issues such as tax returns and ISA deadlines.

9. Trusted professional sites

• Consider signing up to sites such as VouchedFor and

10. Lead generation firms

• Not particularly popular with the people we’ve spoken with so approach with caution.

You can find more details for each of these points plus other helpful tips in “The Insiders’ Guide on How to Grow Your Business During Lockdown”, a free-to-download guide that brings together a wealth of collected wisdom from experts, advice, tips and adviser case studies.

Read more articles such as this, on our insights page

About the author

Ben Peele, UK Managing Director, PortfolioMetrix

Ben Peele joined PortfolioMetrix in April 2019. He has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining PortfolioMetrix Ben ran equity sales teams at UBS Investment Bank and held senior positions in the fintech industry.

The information, materials or opinions contained on this website are for general information purposes only and are not intended to constitute legal or other professional advice and should not be relied on treated as a substitute for specific advice of any kind.

We make no warranties, representatives or undertakings about any of the content of this website (including without limitation any representations as to the quality, accuracy, completeness or fitness of any particular purpose of such content, or in relation to any content of articles provided by third parties and displayed on this website or any website referred to or accessed by hyperlinks through this website.

Although we make reasonable efforts to update the information on this site, we make no representation warranties or guarantees whether express or implied that the content on our site is accurate complete or up to date.