I’m Steve Wershing and I’m on a mission to help you attract more referrals.
If you don’t attract as many referrals as you would like, it’s not your fault. Most of what you have been told about referrals is wrong. And I want to help change that.
I am President of the Client Driven Practice, LLC, and we coach financial advisors on how to create referral marketing plans that work. For 14 years I was a broker dealer executive, as Chief Operating Officer of a national independent firm, then President of a regional one. After leaving those positions, I wanted to focus on what was always the best part of those jobs: helping advisors build their businesses. And, after doing some research, the best way to do that came down to one thing – attracting more referrals.
What I was surprised to find was that research done over the past few years has taught us why referrals happen and how we can attract them reliably and consistently. And that very few advisors had learned about these principles. Even more important, that asking is a lousy way to try to get them. I am hoping to change that.
I am the author of Stop Asking for Referrals! (McGraw Hill). I offer tips on practice management and marketing on my blog, and post at least one article a week. I also blog at financial-planning.com.
Biography
I entered the financial services profession in 1987. From representative at Waddell & Reed, I became District Manager and then Division Manager. In 1994 I established an independent practice. By the end of 1996, I was working at the home office of Wall Street Financial Group, eventually rising to Chief Operating Officer. In 2002 I was hired to develop a small independent firm which eventually became Ensemble Financial Services, which I ran until 2010. One of our proudest moments from those years was receiving a Broker Dealer Excellence Award from Boomer Market Advisor magazine. You can download the article about that here.
After leaving Ensemble, I started The Client Driven Practice. I coach financial advisors on referral marketing, strategic differentiation, niche marketing, client advisory boards, and other practice management issues.
I write or have been quoted in most of the industry trade magazines, and have appeared in USA Today. You can see some of my articles and interviews here.
Personal
I live with my wife Gaelen McCormick and our daughter Clara outside Rochester, NY. I have two older kids in college. I enjoy cooking, woodworking, and dancing west coast swing.
Contact
You can contact me by email or through our contact form, follow me on Twitter or connect with me on LinkedIn.
For a downloadable version of Steve's resume, click here.
Disclaimer
We work in a highly regulated industry, so before you implement any of the recommendations on this site, check with your compliance department or compliance officer to make sure the way you plan on implementing an idea conforms with applicable regulations and your own compliance policies.