Best practices for cultivating prospects

To grow your practice, you’ll need a steady stream of prospects. Trying to meet new contacts through cold calling, emails, and direct mail can be stressful, time-consuming, and often fruitless. As we continue to outline ways that Flourish helps drive organic growth, we’re sharing some best practices that can help you make more connections – the first step in the path to conversion. 

Build your professional network

Other financial professionals are constantly meeting new people who may need a financial advisor. Insurance agents, estate planning attorneys, CPAs, and local business owners are a few natural referral partners.

Since you don’t directly compete, you can share leads and work together. Having a trusted network you can refer to clients also adds value to your firm.

You can cultivate these relationships by attending Business Network International groups, the local chamber of commerce, or networking events. Alternatively, reach out to other local professionals and see if they’d like to meet for coffee.

Being quoted in the media is another way to build your brand and establish yourself as a reputable member of the local business community. Build relationships with local media and journalists as someone who is trustworthy, reliable, and available to quickly respond to inquiries.  

Invest in hobbies and volunteering

Prospecting is all about meeting more people and building genuine connections. Think beyond traditional networking events and consider the activities your ideal clients might enjoy – and that you find fulfilling as well. 

Start by identifying overlap with your ideal client profiles. Do they enjoy golf, sailing, fine dining, travel, fishing, skiing, or specific cultural events? Then, consider which activities align with your genuine interests. 

Showing up is an excellent start, but aim for deeper engagement by taking on leadership roles, joining committees, or helping to organize events. Active participation increases your visibility and creates opportunities for meaningful conversations.

Volunteering at the causes you care about is another way to make connections. Choosing causes that reflect your personal values – which might also be important to your ideal client – can create a powerful foundation for connection.

Offering pro bono workshops or individual guidance can be a meaningful way to give back while showcasing your skills to a wider network of people who care about the same causes you do. This demonstrates your commitment and builds trust with others in the organization who may be interested in your work.

Listen for opportunities

Not every conversation should be a sales pitch. Introduce your firm, but don’t sell your services whenever you meet people. Instead, be on the lookout for opportunities where you can share advice, even if it’s not a formal client arrangement.

For example, if someone starts talking about selling their business down the road, you could share tips about managing the cash after this liquidity event. You could suggest Flourish Cash^† as a way for them to earn a competitive interest rate while they decide their next move.^§

Try to stay informed about any significant events in the lives of prospects, such as marriage, divorce, new children or grandchildren, retirement, inheritances, etc. That can be an ideal time to bring up how your services may support them, as times of change are often when people are often to a new approach. According to the 2025 Orion Investor Survey, 47% of investors would consider switching advisors after receiving an inheritance of more than $1 million.¹

It's also important to note that a significant percentage of heirs choose a new financial advisor, with studies showing that more than 70% of heirs are do not continue with the same financial advisor after inheriting wealth.²

Building a relationship with all family member, and not just the current clients, starts with early engagement by including them in certain meetings or hosting events for younger audiences. Utilizing technology can also be a powerful way to stay connected. With a Flourish Cash account that is branded with your logo, you can closely associate your firm with its ability to support the financial lives of next-gen clients.

Give before you get

A prospect might not be ready to invest or even meet with you immediately. You can build a relationship and demonstrate your knowledge by giving away something small, such as running an email newsletter with financial tips or hosting seminars that prospects can attend.

Flourish is a value-add tool that many advisors use to stay connected with prospects. You can invite potential clients to Flourish Cash and help them earn a competitive rate on their savings up to 9x higher than the national savings account average.^# Since Flourish is invite-only, it gives you a reason to reach out to prospects that you've connected with over the years, start a conversation, and stay in touch – particularly for those who weren't yet ready to invest, business owners, or those who were nervous about market volatility.

Be patient

Research has shown that it takes about eight touchpoints to convert a new business lead.³ The people you meet while networking may not even be explicitly looking for an advisor, so it could take even longer. By continuing to show up and support them, you’ll build quality relationships that can turn into long-term clients. Read how one advisor successfully used Flourish to stay on top of the mind before converting several new high-value clients years later.

By cultivating prospects regularly in your personal and professional networking, you can build your practice with much less cold outreach.