How 'cold calling' helped one adviser boost his pensions business

Many IFAs might look back at the ‘man from the Pru’ era with a sense of nostalgia, but one adviser says this model also has a place in the future advice landscape...

Andy Sheppard, investment adviser with Edinburgh firm Rowanbank Financial Consultants, said he has returned to cold calling as a method of generating business as auto-enrolment (AE) into company pensions approaches.

“I used to work for Edward Jones where we regularly knocked on doors in residential areas, and it was not very efficient,” Sheppard said. However, in a corporate setting, the old-style method can be much more effective, he added.

Sheppard said he had been visiting an existing corporate client for whom he had set up a group personal pension (GPP).

Having driven a considerable distance already, Sheppard thought he may as well knock on the doors of the three other companies sharing his client’s industrial estate. The results were surprisingly positive.

“None of the companies knew about AE and they were all interested to find out,” he said.

He added the initial call was not a sales pitch, but more of a nudge, mentioning auto-enrolment, which he will follow up with a formal letter.

“A company with ten employees is ten potential clients you could reach with one visit,” said Sheppard.

“After RDR, when advisers will be securing ongoing service contracts with clients rather than doing one-off sales, they will need good relationships with clients and making early contact helps.”

The pressures brought by AE, which will require all employers to auto-enrol their eligible staff in a pension scheme by 2017, does help to increase interest in advice, Sheppard said.

“AE is easy as it is starting next year. Something like protection would be more difficult. It works better if the company has a policy in place already and you are offering to save them money, rather than selling them something new,” Sheppard said.

However, although Sheppard is having success in this area, other advisers feel the direct route risks frightening potential clients off.

Steve Hennessy, IFA at Myers Davison Ginger, said: “I cannot exaggerate the difference in dynamics at a meeting with a prospect if you have approached them rather than the other way round.

“That is why I go after their lawyers or accountants rather than direct to them.”
Dennis Hall, founder of Yellowtail Financial Planning, said he prefers generating business via the company website, referrals from existing clients, and professional connections.