Ep 358: Accelerating Growth By Asking For Referrals After Celebrating Shared Success With Clients With Veronica Karas
Nov 7, 2023
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Veronica Karas, a Senior Financial Advisor, shares her 3-question method for generating referrals from clients. She also discusses onboarding new clients, the firm's structure for associate advisors, and her commitment to ethical practices. Other topics include lead generation strategies, managing a large client base, and building relationships with institutional advisors.
Veronica Karas utilizes a unique three-question approach to generate referrals by asking clients and others to reflect on additional value she could provide.
Veronica Karas developed a blueprint for onboarding new clients, spreading out the financial planning process over 12 months for a more manageable and focused approach.
Veronica Karas emphasizes the importance of relentless determination, embracing the unknown, and becoming an expert in unfamiliar topics to achieve success in the financial advisory industry.
Deep dives
Veronica's Three Question Approach to Referrals
Veronica Keras, a senior financial advisor at CAP Trust, shares her unique three-question approach to generating referrals. By asking clients and others to reflect on what else she could be doing for them, Veronica uncovers opportunities to provide additional value. She then inquires about the specific services that clients find most valuable and asks if there is anyone in their lives who could benefit from those same services. Through this approach, Veronica has been able to generate referrals without being pushy or salesy.
Building a Blueprint for New Clients
Veronica discusses her experience onboarding 52 new clients in a single year. To manage the influx of clients, she developed a blueprint that all new clients would go through in their first year. This blueprint includes a modular approach to planning, allowing the planning work to be spread out over 12 months. Veronica also highlights the importance of structuring associate advisors to work with multiple senior advisors, providing high-touch service and learning opportunities.
Compensation and Ethical Dilemmas
Veronica's firm structures advisor compensation to empower associate advisors and incentivize them to build their own book of business. She also shares how she overcame early career feelings of being too young to serve as a lead advisor. Veronica emphasizes the importance of building trust and doing the right thing, even if it means leaving a job to start fresh elsewhere. She navigates ethical dilemmas with integrity and maintains a focus on the best interests of her clients.
Maximizing Referrals and Prospects
Veronica's three-question approach has proven successful in generating referrals, both from clients and prospects. By asking specific questions that prompt clients to consider people in their lives who could benefit from her services, Veronica has been able to increase her referral rate and receive referrals even from prospects who did not become clients. She integrates the referral questions into conversations with prospects and adapts them to different contexts, leading to a higher volume of referrals overall.
Changing the Approach to Client Onboarding
The podcast discusses a shift in the advisor's approach to onboarding clients. Previously, the advisor would try to complete all aspects of the financial plan within the first two months of the client relationship, leading to a chaotic and intense start. However, the advisor realized that this approach was overwhelming and decided to spread out the different components of the financial plan over a longer period. They developed a blueprint outlining the various categories of the financial plan, such as investment strategy, estate planning, insurance review, tax strategy, and more. Each category is now addressed in one-to-two-month intervals, allowing for a more manageable and focused client onboarding process.
Relentless Determination and Embracing the Unknown
The podcast highlights the advisor's relentless determination and willingness to embrace the unknown as key factors in their success. Despite initial doubts and challenges, the advisor set a goal to tell five people a day about their services for two consecutive years. They used various strategies, including pro bono talks and approaching random individuals, to achieve this goal. Over time, their mindset shifted, and they became more strategic in seeking specific individuals to meet. This relentless pursuit of connections led to the acquisition of clients and strong referral partnerships. The advisor emphasizes the importance of embracing unfamiliar topics and becoming an expert in them, as well as being comfortable with not knowing everything but being able to figure things out. They define success as the ability to guide, grow, and uplift others to achieve equal or greater success.
Veronica Karas is a Senior Financial Advisor at CAPTRUST and works from the RIA’s Lake Success, New York office, where she oversees $360 million in assets under management for 200 households. What sets Veronica apart is her distinctive 3-question method to garner referrals from clients, centers of influence, and even prospects—all while maintaining a genuine and non-aggressive demeanor.
In this episode, Veronica dives into her blueprint for onboarding new clients, leveraging a modular planning method spread over a year, and explains the firm's structure that allows associate advisors to work with multiple senior advisors, fostering a rich learning environment and high-touch client service. We also discuss her early-career challenges, her proactive strategy of daily outreach that bolstered her lead generation, and her commitment to ethical practices, even when faced with tough career decisions.
