Angie Herbers on Organic Growth for Financial Planners in a post-COVID World

In this week’s episode, Angie Herbers of Herbers & Company joins On the Circuit to discuss the challenges of organic growth for financial professionals. 

In today’s podcast, Angie Herbers discusses the process of selecting the right consultant for financial advisory firms. She categorizes experts into three groups: specialists (who focus on a specific area like marketing or management training), coaches (who work on changing executive team behavior),and consultants like Herbers & Company (who look at the business as a whole and offer holistic solutions). 

“We look at the whole organization, determine where the issue is or the opportunity is and then we come up with a solution that fits the business and helps the business grow,” she says. 

Herbers emphasizes the importance of understanding the real problem before implementing any solution. She also discusses the challenges of organic growth and how advisors often get it backward by focusing on marketing first instead of hiring talent and serving existing clients. 

“​​Great organic growth starts with the clients, goes to the employees, and then ends at the prospects – it doesn’t begin with the prospects,” Herbers explains. 

Finally, she encourages advisory firms to expand their target markets beyond high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients to make financial advice more accessible to a broader audience.

“Today, the largest market is the mass affluent, particularly the do-it-yourself advisor. So if any advisory firm wants to gain an edge, they need to do consumer research. They need to understand the bigger target markets that are out there, and they need to understand the services that those target markets really want,” she says, adding: “We can serve any consumer regardless of what they bring to the table.”

Hit “Play” to listen to the full episode, and be sure to check out our other On the Circuit episodes!

Key Takeaways

1. Discover how specialists, coaches and consultants each serve different purposes depending on your firm’s goals.
2. Examine the immediate shifts in financial advisory roles triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. Explore how the financial advice industry is unique in that the price of services depends on what the client brings to the table, rather than the value the advisor provides.

Key Timestamps and Topics

• 00:01:06 – Herbers explains the three types of experts available: specialists, coaches and consultants. 
• 00:04:01 – Herbers highlights that many advisors come to consultants with a solution in mind, rather than identifying the actual problem. 
• 00:07:00 – Inorganic growth through mergers and acquisitions has become a major competitor to organic growth. 
• 00:11:21 – Instead of focusing solely on marketing efforts, advisors should prioritize finding and training the right people to serve clients and continue to generate referrals. 
• 00:17:02 – Great organic growth starts with the clients, then extends to the employees, and finally reaches the prospects. 
• 00:18:09 – Herbers discusses the factors that contributed to the increased awareness of financial advice during COVID-19, including people having more time at home, government relief programs and the mainstream adoption of digital assets.
• 00:20:38 – The financial advice industry is unique in that the price of services depends on what the client brings to the table, rather than the value the advisor provides.
• 00:21:51 – Herbers highlights the importance of innovation and expanding perspectives in the advisory industry. 

Relevant Links

• Download our free ebook, The Advisor’s Guide to Starting a Podcast
• Connect with a member of our podcasting team
• Learn more about starting your own podcast
• Herbers & Company

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