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Liz Calaman, a financial advisor at SunTrust in Richmond, Va., found a niche on her doorstep-up to 40% of her $100 million book is assets from coworkers, their families and friends.
Most advisors talk about the importance of building a rapport with their branch staff, but Calaman went further by turning those employees into clients. "If they're willing to give you their own money, it's a pretty good indication that they trust you," she says.
Her strategy started inadvertently about 10 years ago when she helped a branch manager with his investments. He "might mention it to a friend in another department and that person might invite me in to talk to his whole group," she says. "After that general group meeting, I'd meet with some people individually."
Calaman usually starts with an educational 401(k) presentation to an internal group or a few employees. While it took her about a year to get her first client this way, it led to plenty of business. "Everybody's got some situation that's changing," she says. "A spouse may be changing jobs, for example, and I just did some work for an employee's mother who had an annuity out of its surrender period that I was able to exchange for a better rate."
Word of mouth continues to create new prospects within the $173 billion bank. One of her branch managers is a friend of the manager of the bank's regional loans processing center, which is a 30-employee group. After the manager agreed to have Calaman do her 401(k) presentation, she picked up five new accounts. "You have access to people you wouldn't normally have access to, such as officers in other parts of the bank you only find out about through their social connections with other employees," she says.
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