BLOG. 4 min read
Amid the laundry list of requirements to be a top product partner, wealth platforms want asset managers to help their advisors grow their business.
Marketing teams dutifully respond with wide-ranging practice management content, and sales teams serve it up to advisors in their various interactions. But rarely does the content help make headway on a sale.
This disconnect leaves distribution leaders scratching their heads: is there a way to extract value from these “value-add” programs, or is it really just the cost of doing business with big wealth management platforms?
Some managers choose to do the bare minimum to keep home offices happy and move on with their day. Success stories from across the industry show, however, that the right content delivered in the right formats can indeed move the needle with advisors.
Our Advisor Insights research, conducted in association with Horsesmouth, finds that advocacy for value-added content is strongly correlated (0.80) to firm advocacy, but less than a quarter (23%) of advisors, on average, would recommend a given firm’s value-added content. Just two in 10 advisors associate a particular firm with their practice-building or management expertise.
Perhaps this is not surprising as much as it may be disappointing to marketers—value-add programs are, like their name, additive and it takes a lot for an advisor to get excited enough to highly recommend the services. However exceptional practice management content stands out with advisors in less obvious ways. Here are three ways to think about creating worthwhile value-added content.
- Showcase your understanding of individual advisor practices and your ability to help them with business problems.
At its core, practice management or other value-add programs address a huge gap for salespeople in their perception of advisors. Less than 10% of advisors, on average, associate an asset manager’s salesperson with understanding the nuances of their practice, and fewer see salespeople as able to solve their problems.
Source: 2023 Advisor Insights survey, in association with Horsesmouth
Understanding the practice is more than just using sales data to know what they are buying. It’s understanding how the advisor thinks about serving their clients—which often extends well beyond portfolio management—how they build their book of business, how they work with their parent or affiliate platform and how they think about the future.
Our research shows that advisors generally share a handful of practice-oriented concerns: acquiring clients, existing client retention and service, and growing revenue and/or profitability. Having a library of not just content, but networking and consulting-type services, that help advisors think through the types of clients they want to acquire, the services and considerations demanded by those clients and how that client base (and product selection) impacts the advisor’s P&L—those are the types of customized supports that can establish a firm as a real partner and not just a commoditized product provider.
- Deliver content in a format appealing to the skeptical – or just busy – advisor.
Some managers will try to use famous people or gurus of the business circuit to pack conference halls or webinar slots. This may work, but will the advisor link the content provided with the firm and its salespeople or products, or just the celebrity? Podcasts and multimedia content are another way to attract engagement, but the speakers need to have a clear point of view and actionable information beyond just an easygoing vocal delivery.
Marketing leaders do remark that their content often is best received in a mass-market format, like a conference, but that’s likely because advisors are choosing to be at those events and are less distracted by other demands. Extending that concept, asset managers should make value-added content that can be “snacked on” in free moments during the day and delivered in both pushes from salespeople and pulled off of digital channels by the advisors.
Advisors do not express a clear preference for how they choose to acquire practice management content, emphasizing the power of a multi-channel practice management distribution strategy.
Source: 2024 Advisor Engagement survey, in association with Horsesmouth n=425
- Arm salespeople with information on practice management needs, and train them how to incorporate it into advisor interactions.
Value-added programs serve as a conversation starter—a medium for which a salesperson can better understand an advisor’s needs so they can position the right products and services for them. This opportunity is wasted, however, when sales and marketing are not communicating on what value-adds are available and which ones individual advisors consume. Conversely, wholesalers who “spray and pray” practice management content to all of his or her clients without considering why the advisor may find it useful could dissuade individuals from further engagement.
Having wholesalers involved in the construction of value-added programs can build buy-in and better delivery of the programs. Coaching wholesalers on how to use value-adds to link sales pitches to individual practice needs and goals can ensure the programs advance the sales cycle versus being a nice-to-have. And KPIs that can highlight when, how and for whom value-adds truly differentiate the firm are invaluable to marketing for continued refinement of such programs.
Advisors aren’t against value-add programs on principle; they’re disinterested in ones that don’t add value to their particular practice. Understanding the specific pain points and support gaps within a firm’s key client segments is the first step to creating content that they will want to consume and implement in their practice. Probe home offices for information and direction on how to match value-adds with the nuances of their firm’s advisors, and get them to be active collaborators and promoters where feasible.
Perhaps most importantly, train wholesalers on how to incorporate value-add content to customize client engagement and fortify ties with advisors. It’s not enough to pepper the client base with content and check in a month later to see what stuck. The best practice management programs add texture and depth to an already valuable service and product offering.
To learn more about how to understand advisor behavior, read more about SS&C's Distribution Solutions offerings.
