Prospecting Advice for Millennials

Begin with “High Comfort Level” Prospects

If you are a member of the Millennial generation and are most comfortable around other Millennials, then start your prospecting efforts with them. Survey experts usually define the Millennial generation as people born between January 1983 and December 1994.

 When you are creating a prospect list, look for a group of professionals with a membership made up largely of Millennials. Try it out to see if there’s a fit. Finding a group of people you are comfortable working with is the most important, butbe sure not to make your definition too narrow.

How Prospects Choose Advisors

Over my twenty-two years of working with Financial Advisors across the country, I have observed that prospects will gravitate to advisors with a similar educational level, status, and outlook on life. In metropolitan areas,  I have especially observed that ethnicity, country of origin, sexual orientation, and gender play less a role than the characteristics I enumerated above.

While I want you to focus on high earners, if you are new to the business, polish your prospecting and sales skills with the group of people you are most comfortable being around. Your skills may still be rough, but time and practice will smooth them out. It can be dispiriting to look at top producers in your office and see how smooth they are when prospecting or selling.

Remember, despite how outstanding some of your colleagues are at prospecting and selling, not one of them started out that way.

A Good Place to Start: Health Care Is Largest Employer in U.S.

There are a lot of highly paid people in this field. Taken together, the various branches of health care employ more than eighteen million people. [1] The odds are high that you already know someone in the health care field. Whoever you know in the medical industry should be able to give you a few hints on how to get through to the right people.

Highly Paid Millennials in the Medical Field

Many people in the medical field are not physicians, but they work one level below physicians. These support positions often require extensive training and postgraduate degrees. If you are a member of the Millennial generation, many individuals in these occupations will be your peers.

Hence, if you are relatively new to the industry and looking to build your practice, this group can be an excellent place to begin prospecting. While the majority are not yet in the top tier of  earners, household income is high, especially among working couples. 

Income Levels of Medical Support Employees

Nurse anesthetists are actually the 14th highest paid profession in the U.S., with a mean income of $174,790. It will be easier to reach nurse anesthetists than anesthesiologists, the most highly paid physicians. Nurse practitioners are also highly educated medical professionals and can perform many duties that physicians perform. They must first be registered nurses and receive additional post-graduate training. The average annual wage is $110,000, with those in the higher percentiles making 150K or more. [2]

Physician Assistant Is One of Fastest Growing Professions

Physician Assistants (PAs) are one of the fastest growing of all medical occupations in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Employment of physician assistants is projected to grow 31 percent from 2018 to 2028, much faster than the average for all occupations. As demand for healthcare services grows, physician assistants will be needed to provide care to patients. [3]

Once again, this group, which has an average annual income of $108,000, is a great place for a new Financial Advisor to begin prospecting. There are 120,000 PAs in the workforce now with more coming every year. [4]

A very large number of people with funds to invest are looking for well-informed Financial Advisors, like you, who provide quality investment advice. When you get discouraged, remember, the people you are looking for are also looking for you.

Resources:

[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/01/health-care-america-jobs/550079/

[2] https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291171.htm

[3] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physician-assistants.htm

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Contributing Writer: Subject Matter Expert Charles McCain