Many advisors struggle to generate meaningful leads and conversations with retirement plan prospects. If you ask them how they go about finding and targeting their leads, you will often hear such basic techniques as “driving around and looking at storefronts.” But based on interviews with leading retirement plan advisors, we see a set of similar techniques used to find 401k plan sponsors that are worth converting. Here are their key tips:
1. Segment and target their leads. For this, data is key. It is important to know the size and characteristics of the companies you are targeting. The more specific you can make your search, the better. Often our best advisors target in a narrow range of asset size (say $2-5M) a limited geography (20 miles from this zip code) and focus on a set of industries. Work with your segmentation until you get a list of not more than several hundred potential prospects.
2. Identify “opening lines” to start the conversation. It’s important to understand your prospect’s needs, and also to identify any potential selling points. One of the most straightforward ways to do this is screen for key criteria which can open a conversation. Low surety bonds, low participation in the retirement plans, high cash, or high retiree percentages can all be indicators which merit a conversation on the retirement plan for the sponsor.
3. Get after call activity! Nothing beats outreach. While some advisors are focused on emails, the best advisors say the phone is still the best chance to get plan sponsors to start a conversation. Come armed with your opening lines and you WILL get a conversation.
A36 Analytics Retirement Plan Data has all the information you need to segment and target your prospects, develop and opening line strategy based on plan history, and get you the contact information you need to generate leads for retirements plans. Based off a deep analysis of ERISA 5500 forms, we allow you to search, segment, and analyze our database of all retirement plans in the USA. Get started today with a Free ERISA search!
