It seems the days of trainee brokers making cold calls to prospects have come to an end as part of a financial advisor marketing strategy. Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch has announced that they will officially end cold calling in upcoming training programs.
Trainees had focused more and more on investing recommendations, dinner seminars, and referrals in recent years. However, the pandemic threw Merrill Lynch’s advisors into uncharted waters. Working from home made in-person meetings impossible, and some trainees resorted to using the National Do Not Call Registry, resulting in regulatory penalties.
For the first time since the advisor training program was first established in 1945, the company is rolling out guidelines that prohibit cold calling. Instead, they encourage internal referrals and LinkedIn messages to grow their client base.
Online leads and dinner seminars work
The shift in the advisor training recommendations is representative of the marketing and sales environment as a whole. More consumers want to do business through a referral. Or they want to get to know their financial advisor through a dinner seminar event. Pre-pandemic, dinner seminars on investing had the highest return on investment for financial advisors. And now those dinner events are back.
When you’re looking to grow your financial business, cold calling is no longer the answer. Our experts can connect you with qualified, exclusive leads through one-on-one appointments, webinars, or dinner seminars.
As the industry leader with over 25 years of experience connecting qualified consumers with financial advisors, LeadingResponse is on the front line of providing you with the qualified digital leads and prospects that can expand your reach.
