5 ways to improve the quality of your client leads

While qualifying leads is a valuable process, it eats into your valuable time and takes a lot of effort, especially when enquires can be generic or vague.  

So, what if there was a way to streamline the process? 

Here are five strategies you can adopt to help improve your leads: 

1. Ask specific questions 

While someone may think ‘needing help with tax’ or ‘looking for insurance’ are sufficient asks, we know this isn’t enough to go off.  

To leave no room for ambiguity, you need to get specific.  

Let’s imagine that a client asks you for ‘help with tax.’  

To them, the end goal is clear: likely to make sure they’re not paying too much tax or that they’re paying the right taxes. 

However, the world of tax is vast and complex, and a matter relating to inheritance tax could be a world away from an issue with capital gains tax.  

There are ways to ask more specific questions that are easy for everyone to understand. 

Here are a few simple examples:  

• Do you need advice on your personal finances or for your business? 
• Are you concerned about paying too much tax? Or are you worried that you’re paying incorrectly or not enough? 
• Do you need help with taxes right now, or are you planning for the future?  

During the initial meeting with a potential client, ask specific questions about their enquiry. Also, explain why you’re doing so.  

It’s also best to be straightforward with any due diligence questions you need to ask. 

Ensuring your clients know what paperwork you need to see and any legal formalities you’ll need to carry out ahead of time will smooth out the process for both parties. 

2. Use your intuition and experience  

Sometimes, clients are vague because they genuinely don’t know what they want or they’re unaware of their options.  

According to a report from Wealthify and think tank The Centre for Economics and Business Research, three quarters (73%) of Brits fall below the financial literacy benchmark. 

The majority of the 2,250 Britons surveyed struggled to gain a score of at least 6.5 out of 10 on frequently discussed financial topics to be deemed financially literate.  

As a financial expert, it will often fall to you to use your intuition and make suggestions that have worked for similar clients.  

After all, your clients pay you for your knowledge as well as the services you provide. The fact that someone has even taken the time to enquire suggests they respect you as an authority on the subject.   

For example, let’s say you’re approached by a married couple in their 40s who want to get serious about investing for retirement. 

They have a healthy income but a mortgage and children, and they are fairly risk averse. They also don’t have the knowledge to maximise their future pension pot.   

With your experience, you’ll know that a high-risk fintech-focused venture capital fund probably isn’t the best fit. 

Unless they express an interest in something like this or it fits their goals, it’s best not to overwhelm your clients with an array of unsuitable options. 

3. Utilise forms 

While Unbiased provides you with critical enquiry information – such as wealth level, advice query, location, a breakdown of their assets, and how they wish to be contacted – the more information you can glean from a lead, the better.  

After your initial call, you can send them forms to fill out ahead of your first meeting. This allows you to get more information and allows them to go at a pace they’re comfortable with.  

You can tailor your form to their specific advice query with dedicated forms for taxes, insurance, and general financial advice.  

Here, you can get more information that tells you if you’re the right adviser for them.  

It’s important to remember you’ll also need to strike a balance and ensure you’re not asking too much.

Prospective clients could be scared away if you ask them to share sensitive financial information before getting to know you better.   

4. Create a template for vague enquiries 

If an enquiry looks good but lacks some of those finer details, and you’re not a fan of forms, consider drafting a simple template email response. 

This could be all you need to qualify vague enquiries.  

Drafting it ahead of time means you’ll simply need to copy and paste most of it in, allowing you to get the information you need efficiently.  

Creating a template also means you can allow junior members of staff or assistants to respond to initial queries without worrying that they’re out of their depth. 

5. Create a clear service level agreement (SLA) 

An SLA can protect both you and your clients from a lack of clarity and miscommunication around the service you’re going to provide. 

It’s a crucial part of the initial contract you should offer everyone, as it sets out exactly what they can expect from you and holds you accountable to clear terms and standards.   

Although an SLA won’t help you filter initial enquiries, it’s a good way to make sure you and your clients are on the same page before committing to anything in writing.  

It can also form part of your due diligence activities as you can remind your clients of your legal obligations, such as compliance with anti-money laundering regulations and HMRC rules before they sign on the dotted line.  

In addition, a clear SLA will stop people from signing up for a service that you can’t provide. 

For example, if an individual has an enquiry about managing their investments but they’re actually seeking a comprehensive wealth manager, a clear SLA will quickly show what you can and can’t help with. 

Get the most from your leads with Unbiased 

While Unbiased sends validated and verified leads straight to your inbox, we know that sometimes leads need some coaxing to get all the information you need.  

With these helpful tips and utilising your Unbiased Pro account, you can implement tactics and strategies that will help you convert even more of your enquiries.