The Ryan Sullivan Show

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Closing a prospect doesn’t have to mean pressuring them to make a decision. I’ve found that the close often depends on what happens earlier in the conversation: setting expectations, checking that you’re aligned, and helping prospects talk through their questions.

In this video, I share a simple process financial advisors can use throughout the sales conversation. It starts with shifting from “I” to “we,” then checking in as you discuss potential solutions. I also explain how to ask whether a prospect is speaking with other advisors and how to make the next step feel natural.

📌 Jump In Here:

0:00 - Why closing starts before the close

1:24 - Use “we” instead of “I”

2:32 - Check and recheck as you go

4:19 - Ask whether they’re exploring other advisors

5:34 - Bring the conversation together

6:04 - Offer a clear next step

6:28 - Put the approach into practice

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👉 RIA Marketing Plan: https://youtu.be/SpPmemMPhmo?si=2xoFUpCtRvdzp27j

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🎬 Ready to record your first video? Steal my free script and title ideas below.

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When a prospect says, “Let me think about it,” I don’t try to talk them out of it or launch into another pitch. I ask questions to find out what they still need to work through.

In this video, I share how I handle that moment in a sales conversation with a prospective financial planning client. I’ll walk through questions you can use, the common response that puts you on the defensive, and how to keep the conversation moving without pressuring someone to decide before they’re ready.

If you’re a financial advisor looking to have better conversations with prospects, subscribe for more practical videos each week.

📌 Jump In Here:

0:00 - Why “I need more time” can be an opportunity

0:44 - The mistake that puts advisors on the defensive

2:03 - Questions that uncover what the prospect needs

2:44 - How not to respond

3:05 - Staying neutral and continuing the conversation

4:01 - Finding the real concern

4:43 - Continuing discovery without pressure

5:07 - Why the first call shouldn’t always end in a sale

5:55 - Next week: how to close a prospect

__________________________________________________

👉 RIA Marketing Plan: https://youtu.be/SpPmemMPhmo?si=2xoFUpCtRvdzp27j

👉 Start Your Podcast Today: https://calendly.com/podcastprinciples/discover

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🎬 Ready to record your first video? Steal my free script and title ideas below.

https://mailchi.mp/podcastprinciples.com/script

Many financial advisors try to explain their services and close every prospect. But a better sales conversation starts by helping the right prospects see how financial planning connects to what they want.

In this episode, I break down how to shift the conversation from your process to the client’s goals, and how to address the two common reasons prospects hesitate: time and money.

The first meeting isn’t about forcing a close. It’s about asking better questions, listening to the answers, and building a connection with the people you’re best positioned to help.

Subscribe for more sales and marketing strategies for financial advisors who want to grow beyond referrals.

📌 Jump In Here:

0:00 - Prospects Have to Close Themselves

0:59 - Stop Explaining What You Do

1:45 - Turn Products Into Outcomes

3:27 - The Two Main Objections

4:23 - Questions That Move Prospects Forward

5:14 - What Actually Closes a Prospect

6:08 - Ask, Listen and Wait

6:34 - The Goal of the First Meeting

__________________________________________________

👉 RIA Marketing Plan: https://youtu.be/SpPmemMPhmo?si=2xoFUpCtRvdzp27j

👉 Start Your Podcast Today: https://calendly.com/podcastprinciples/discover

🎤 Podcast Links - https://linktr.ee/sullybop

▶️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sullybop/recent-activity/

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🎬 Ready to record your first video? Steal my free script and title ideas below.

https://mailchi.mp/podcastprinciples.com/script

Most financial advisors are using LinkedIn in one of two ways: posting content and hoping for leads, or sending cold DMs and hoping someone responds. Neither approach works particularly well on its own.

The better approach is to combine content and outreach into a system that attracts the right prospects without spending hours on LinkedIn every day.

In this video, I break down how financial advisors can use LinkedIn to generate qualified leads, book more calls, and build a content strategy around the clients they actually want to work with.

I'll also walk through a simple three-step process for identifying your ideal client, why your best niche might already be hiding in your existing client base, and how to use that information to make your LinkedIn marketing more effective.

Want to start creating content that speaks directly to your ideal clients? Grab my free Script Science guide using the first link in the description.

📌 Jump In Here:

0:00 - Why financial advisors struggle to get LinkedIn leads

0:42 - Combining LinkedIn content and DMs

1:20 - Using content to generate inbound leads

2:17 - The three steps to finding your ideal client

3:31 - How to define your financial advisor niche

4:13 - Turning LinkedIn impressions into booked calls

4:56 - Finding your niche in your existing clients

5:50 - Building a targeted LinkedIn content strategy

6:03 - How to attract more ideal prospects

6:15 - Free Script Science guide

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👉 RIA Marketing Plan: https://youtu.be/SpPmemMPhmo?si=2xoFUpCtRvdzp27j

👉 Start Your Podcast Today: https://calendly.com/podcastprinciples/discover

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“Cheesteak wealth management was already taken.”

In this episode of RIAdio, our host Ryan Sullivan sits down in-office with the great Alan Cohen, founding partner and CEO of Spectrum Wealth Partners. With over 40 years of industry experience, Alan pulls back the curtain on his journey from a high-volume wirehouse stock broker in 1985 to building a highly successful, independent, fee-based RIA.

Alan shares the exact marketing blueprint that allowed him to scale from 80 households to over 200 in just three years, increasing his revenues by well over 200%. He also digs deep into his tracking metrics, his "three-bucket" investment philosophy, and why radical fee transparency is his ultimate competitive advantage.

Key Takeaways

- The Evolution of an Advisor: Alan discusses his early days at EF Hutton, where he made up to 200 cold calls a day, and explains why he transitioned away from a 100% commission sales model to financial planning.

- The Power of Independence: Why leaving Wells Fargo to launch an independent practice backed by Fidelity and Concurrent opened the door for rapid asset growth.

- Radical Transparency Wins Business: How providing clear, line-item fee reporting via Black Diamond builds deep client trust and differentiates his firm from traditional broker-dealers.

- Transitioning to a CEO Mindset: How Alan structure his team—including a rising-star financial planner and a dedicated marketing director—to prepare the firm for multi-generational succession.

Connect with Alan Cohen

Website: spectrumwp.com

Podcast: The Retirement Spectrum (Available on Spotify and major platforms)

Office Location: Marlton, New Jersey

Connect with Ryan Sullivan

Website: podcastprinciples.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sullybop/

Scaling an RIA or CFP business?

Watch “Why Financial Advisors Get Views But No Clients” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D87NiU-v5j0

🎬 Ready to record your first video? Steal my free script and title ideas below.

https://mailchi.mp/podcastprinciples.com/script

Your prospects are already asking ChatGPT and other AI tools questions about money. If you're a financial advisor, you want them to find your expertise when they do.

In this video, I talk about why “I work with business owners” is too broad to make you stand out, and how to describe your niche around a specific person and outcome.

I also share a simple way to start making videos about the questions your prospects are asking, even if you've never recorded one before. Download the free Script Science framework using the link below to plan your first video.

Episode Highlights:

0:00 - Why financial advisors need a marketing plan

1:12 - Showing up as a source in AI search

2:33 - Why your niche needs to be more specific

2:58 - The niche x3 framework

4:30 - How to start creating content

5:43 - Using Script Science to plan a video

__________________________________________________

👉 RIA Marketing Plan: https://youtu.be/SpPmemMPhmo?si=2xoFUpCtRvdzp27j

👉 Start Your Podcast Today: https://calendly.com/podcastprinciples/discover

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▶️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sullybop/recent-activity/

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🎬 Ready to record your first video? Steal my free script and title ideas below.

https://mailchi.mp/podcastprinciples.com/script

Financial advisors do not need to follow the same LinkedIn formula to get results. You have probably seen the posts: a client success story, a carefully chosen personal photo, and a hook built around an ideal prospect.

That approach can work, but it is not the only way to use LinkedIn. The better question is whether your strategy sounds like you, reaches the people you want to work with, and is sustainable enough to keep doing for years. Because impressions are nice, but they do not automatically turn into clients.

In this video, we talk about building a LinkedIn strategy around your own voice, focusing on the platforms where your prospects already spend time, and using content to start real conversations.

Episode Highlights:

(0:00) - The LinkedIn formula advisors keep copying

(1:52) - Building a content strategy in your own voice

(3:04) - Impressions versus actual clients

(4:51) - Why strong marketing principles outlast trends

(6:38) - LinkedIn’s biggest advantage for advisors

(8:20) - Turning LinkedIn activity into a broader marketing strategy

__________________________________________________

👉 RIA Marketing Plan: https://youtu.be/SpPmemMPhmo?si=2xoFUpCtRvdzp27j

👉 Start Your Podcast Today: https://calendly.com/podcastprinciples/discover

🎤 Podcast Links - https://linktr.ee/sullybop

▶️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sullybop/recent-activity/

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sullybop/

▶️ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sullybop

🎬 Ready to record your first video? Steal my free script and title ideas below.

https://mailchi.mp/podcastprinciples.com/script

Some financial advisors are hunters. They know exactly who they want to work with and go after them directly. Others are farmers. They build a firm, delegate the day-to-day marketing, and invest in multiple channels that generate opportunities over time.

In this episode, we break down the difference between freelance advisors and business owner advisors, along with a practical system for LinkedIn outreach. That includes outbound connection requests, inbound requests, profile viewers, follow-up sequences, and the numbers needed to make the strategy worthwhile.

We also talk about why outbound can take six months to gain traction, when it makes sense to delegate it, and how a single new client could pay for the entire system.

Episode Highlights:

0:00 - Why outbound takes time to work

1:13 - The numbers behind LinkedIn outreach

1:40 - Three sources of outbound opportunities

2:30 - Building a complete LinkedIn system

3:21 - Why profile viewers should not be ignored

3:39 - Compliance and outbound software for advisors

4:08 - Delegating and testing the process

4:36 - How one client can pay for the system

4:43 - The real cost of DIY marketing

5:31 - Freelance advisors vs. business owner advisors

6:32 - Are you a hunter or a farmer?

__________________________________________________

👉 RIA Marketing Plan: https://youtu.be/SpPmemMPhmo?si=2xoFUpCtRvdzp27j

👉 Start Your Podcast Today: https://calendly.com/podcastprinciples/discover

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▶️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sullybop/recent-activity/

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sullybop/

▶️ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sullybop

🎬 Ready to record your first video? Steal my free script and title ideas below.

https://mailchi.mp/podcastprinciples.com/script

A few years ago, I joined Rob Dyrdek on Build with Rob from the podcast studio in my parents’ garage. I thought we were going to talk about growing my podcast business.

Instead, Rob challenged the way I thought about clients, scale, time, and what I actually wanted the business to do for my life. We talk about choosing quality over quantity, building a business that doesn’t depend entirely on you, and how Rob designed his career around freedom.

I still come back to this conversation today, and I think you’ll get a lot out of it too.

Episode Highlights:

0:00 - Revisiting my conversation with Rob Dyrdek

2:03 - Building a business from my parents’ garage

2:42 - The challenge of scaling creative services

6:07 - Quality clients over more clients

8:43 - Lessons for young entrepreneurs

10:26 - Building a business around your life

11:35 - How Rob turned television into an advantage

14:39 - Reducing 250 episodes to 4% of his time

16:25 - Defining your ideal life

17:29 - Avoiding shiny object syndrome

18:21 - Rob’s final advice

__________________________________________________

👉 RIA Marketing Plan: https://youtu.be/SpPmemMPhmo?si=2xoFUpCtRvdzp27j

👉 Start Your Podcast Today: https://calendly.com/podcastprinciples/discover

🎤 Podcast Links - https://linktr.ee/sullybop

▶️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sullybop/recent-activity/

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▶️ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sullybop

🎬 Ready to record your first video? Steal my free script and title ideas below. https://mailchi.mp/podcastprinciples.com/script

You don’t need millions of YouTube views to make money from YouTube. Our channel brings in roughly one new email subscriber every day.

That may not sound impressive, but it adds up to nearly 400 new prospects every year from videos we’ve already created. Those people aren’t immediately pushed toward a discovery call.

They join our email list, spend more time with our content, and raise their hands when they’re ready to work with us. Even if only 10 of those 400 subscribers became clients, the channel could generate an additional $25,000 a year with a pretty terrible conversion rate. That’s the real advantage of YouTube.

A social media post gradually disappears from the feed, while a useful video can continue attracting views, subscribers, and customers without requiring more work. YouTube works for businesses when it’s treated like a long-term asset instead of a lottery ticket.

Episode Highlights:

0:00 - Does YouTube actually work for businesses?

0:27 - How our channel adds 400 email subscribers a year

1:57 - Why an email list is still incredibly valuable

2:43 - The mistake we made with our YouTube calls to action

3:06 - Keeping prospects in your orbit

4:16 - Why patience matters when building an audience

4:44 - Letting potential customers raise their hands

5:31 - Moving our YouTube traffic toward the email list

5:46 - Why YouTube videos become more valuable over time

6:57 - YouTube is an asset, while social media is a liability

__________________________________________________

👉 RIA Marketing Plan: https://youtu.be/SpPmemMPhmo?si=2xoFUpCtRvdzp27j

👉 Start Your Podcast Today: https://calendly.com/podcastprinciples/discover

🎤 Podcast Links - https://linktr.ee/sullybop

▶️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sullybop/recent-activity/

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