Ep 363: Finding The Best Networking Approach For Prospects (And New Career Opportunities) with Christa Madison
Dec 12, 2023
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Learn how Christa Madison rebuilt her client base multiple times using strategic networking skills. She shares insights on transitioning from insurance sales to the fee-only RIA channel, balancing work and family, and leveraging networking for business growth.
Building a client base in the financial advisory industry requires consistent networking and personalized follow-up strategies.
Transitioning between different roles and career paths in the financial advisory field necessitates adaptability and leveraging expertise for consulting opportunities.
Consulting services in the financial advisory sector enable experienced professionals to support and guide fellow advisors, emphasizing the value of industry knowledge and skill diversification.
Deep dives
Building a Network: The Key to Rebuilding a Financial Advisory Practice
Krista Madison, a financial advisor, shares her experience of rebuilding her business from scratch three separate times. She emphasizes the importance of networking and building relationships to generate new business. Krista discusses attending multiple networking events every week in the early years, connecting with professionals from various industries. She follows up with personalized handwritten thank-you cards and sets up coffee or lunch meetings with potential clients. Krista highlights the 10-3-1 prospecting ratio, where out of 10 people approached, three show interest and one becomes a client. She shares the importance of maintaining relationships and how networks start producing results in the third year. Krista's story reveals the challenges and rewards of networking and building a client base for financial advisors.
Transitioning in the Financial Advisory Industry
Krista's journey takes a turn when she transitions from a captive representative to a broker status, seeking more flexibility after having a child. However, her request is denied, leading to the termination of her contract due to the inability to meet production requirements while balancing new motherhood. This experience prompts Krista to reassess her career in the industry. She decides to provide consulting services to fellow advisors, leveraging her experience and expertise to help them overcome challenges and improve their businesses. Krista's transition highlights the need for flexibility in the financial advisory industry and the importance of adapting to personal circumstances while maintaining a successful practice.
The Value of Consulting in the Financial Advisory Field
Krista's foray into consulting proves fruitful as she offers her expertise to advisors seeking assistance in various areas. She provides support in sales, market expansion, and implementing effective systems such as CRM software. Krista's diverse skill set allows her to address the specific needs of advisors she works with. Her consulting work enables her to step away from the client-facing side of the business temporarily while still utilizing her industry knowledge. This transition showcases the value of consulting services in the financial advisory field and the ability to leverage experience to benefit others in the industry.
Adapting to Personal Circumstances and Embracing New Opportunities
Krista's journey in the financial advisory industry demonstrates the need for adaptability and resilience. Despite facing challenges such as rebuilding her practice multiple times and navigating career transitions, Krista maintains a positive outlook. She embraces new opportunities like consulting and utilizes her skills to support fellow advisors. Krista's story highlights the importance of finding a balance between personal life and career, and the ability to pivot and explore alternative paths within the financial advisory field.
Building a Career in the Financial Industry
The speaker shares her experience of working in the financial industry, including consulting and her desire to find a stable position where she can work directly with clients. She highlights the importance of working in the fee-only registered investment advisor (RAA) space and how she discovered this community through XY Planning Network. She discusses the challenges she faced due to her insurance background and her struggle to find a suitable position in the RAA space. Despite the setbacks, she persevered and ultimately found a role as a paraplanner in an independent fee-only RAA firm.
Transitioning to Business Development
The speaker talks about her career progression within the RAA firm, starting as a paraplanner and eventually transitioning to a planner and then director of the planning department. She shares her enjoyment of business development and networking, as well as her belief in collaboration rather than a scarcity mindset. She discusses the surprise she encountered with some firms being hesitant to hire candidates with an insurance background. She also emphasizes the importance of work-life balance and maintaining healthy relationships as a measure of success.
Christa Madison is the Managing Director of Financial Planning and Business Development at Sebold Capital, a fee-only RIA based out of Chicago that oversees $300 million across more than 100 households. Christa's distinct approach lies in her adept use of business development and networking skills to rebuild her client base from scratch three times, amidst personal and professional changes. She transformed these challenges into opportunities, adapting to her evolving skills and competencies to seize larger, more profitable ventures.
Listen in as Christa dives into her journey, highlighting the trials and triumphs of her initial foray into insurance sales and the pivotal role of her robust networking and follow-up strategies in rebuilding her client base through various career transitions. She also shares her belief that it takes about three years to transform initial prospecting efforts into a self-sustaining referral network, how she balanced the demands of her burgeoning career with family life, her strategic shift to the RIA channel, and how her early experiences in insurance sales fortified her skills as a financial advisor.