Gentle Rain Affluent Marketing Blog

Tenacity.

It’s probably the most important factor that separates those who are successful in building relationships with the affluent and ultra-affluent, from those who do little more than dream about it.

I remember back many years ago, attending a lecture by one of the world’s most prominent investment bankers. He said, “Ask 100 people if they would like to become a millionaire, and you’re likely to have 100% say ‘Yes’. However, outline specifically what they need to do in order to achieve that status, and I doubt you would get more than 2% who would be willing.”

At the time I thought that was a bit harsh, but after 17 years of advising advisors on how to build more brand new relationships with the affluent, I think that percentage may in fact be high.

What I do believe is that any advisor can be successful in achieving that goal. I’ve had some clients who are extroverts and others who are painfully shy introverts. Those with awe-inspiring intellect, and those who I sometimes wondered how they found their way home in the evening.

Yet all of them were successful in their desire to build strong, long-lasting and numerous relationships with the wealthy.

Their one common trait?

Tenacity.

So what exactly does that mean? Interestingly for each of these individuals the path was pretty much the same.

First they decided upon Who they wanted as clients. Sometimes this was defined by groups/niches (i.e. affluent dentists, affluent retailers, ect.) and on occasion it was defined by actual individuals with whom they wanted to do business.

The “Who” never was defined as “affluent clients”. That’s way too broad. Much too general. A bit like saying let’s go eat American Food.

What they did next (and all false modesty aside-this was where I played my most helpful role) was to develop a plan for building relationships with this group.

Not a general plan. Not a plan that begins with “and then when I get a meeting I’ll talk about..” No a real plan. One that addresses the real-world reality that the affluent clients you want to do business with have absolutely no interest in meeting you.

Remember-Tenacity?

This is the first test.

Most people drop out at this stage. Sure they’ll do business with the affluent if it’s easy to get. But the reality is that it isn’t. It’s hard word. It requires creativity. It requires a plan.

If you’re serious about getting more affluent clients, it requires a lot of “heavy mental lifting” to create a plan that deals with reality, and then the tenacity to implement it.

If developing and implementing a plan for building more new affluent client relationships is important to you, you should sign up for this right here.