How to Reach Younger Clients: 6 Things Millennials Need From Financial Advisors

As millennials are earning and inheriting more wealth, they’re looking for advice on what to do with it. But unlike their parents, they’re not getting much help from financial advisors. With the rise of apps, digital platforms, and robo-advisors, many millennials are choosing to get advice online instead of in person.

While this trend aligns with millennials’ affinity for virtual convenience, it doesn’t mean financial advisors like you can’t help this generation. After all, human connection and personal relationships are as important as they’ve ever been. But if you want to take on more millennial clients, you can’t do things the way you’ve always done them.

As has always been the case, values change with each generation. What works for your baby boomer or Gen X clients won’t necessarily work for millennials. And with the average age of financial advisors being around 55, you may have no idea what millennials need. After all, there’s more to millennials than avocado toast and iPhones!

If you want to reach this demographic but don’t know what millennials need from financial advisors, you’re in the right place. We’ve put together a helpful list of six things you can do to better attract and serve your millennial clients.   

1. Educate Your Millennial Clients

This might sound obvious, but there’s a distinct difference between “educating” and having a more traditional financial advising approach. 

Millennials have lived through a lot of uncertainty. The Great Recession and pandemic-related layoffs have left a lot of them seeking more autonomy in their professional and financial lives. And it makes sense — they want to control what they can so they can better prepare for hard times. 

But the traditional role of a financial professional — to manage clients’ assets with minimal back-and-forth — won’t work here. Instead, you need to work with your millennial clients, not for them. 

Acting as a guide, a teacher, and even a partner in their financial plan will go a long way in building a positive relationship. Transparency is key. They want to understand the big picture and have the ultimate control when it comes to their finances — they don’t want to simply take your word for it.

2. Offer Virtual Appointments

Sure, we’ve all had more than our fair share of Zoom calls, and while we might be sick of them, it’s hard to deny the practicality of virtual meetings. With more millennials prioritizing remote work or even a digital nomad lifestyle, in-person meetings might be a barrier that keeps them from working with you. 

Recent years have shown us that while the in-person connection is undeniably important, virtual connections can expand opportunities in all kinds of ways. Millennials living in more remote areas or small towns, for example, can now access services in bigger cities.

With the ease of virtual services, millennials may be more inclined to work with advisors who offer the option of virtual appointments. In addition to being a more attractive option to millennials, you can also eliminate the limits of your geographic reach. 

3. Help Them Create a Debt Payoff Plan

Many millennials are delaying getting married, having kids, and buying homes. 

With the incredible amount of student loan debt that millennials hold, it makes sense that they’re pushing these milestones further into the future. 

The price of college has increased dramatically since the first millennials graduated high school, and this generation collectively owes more than $500 billion in student loan debt. 

And here’s another crazy statistic: When baby boomers were the age millennials are now, they had 7 times the wealth millennials do now. 

So, what does this mean for financial advisors? You can bet that millennials will want help with a debt repayment plan. Some of them have enormous amounts of debt that — even with a considerable paycheck — seem overwhelming to deal with. They’ll want your help to manage this debt so they can focus on other financial milestones that came more easily to the generations before them.  

4. Help Them Invest in What Matters Most

Millennials are very value-driven, and this applies to their financial lives, too. Most of them won’t be happy with a portfolio that’s solely designed to turn a profit. While wealth matters, millennials don’t want to build it at the cost of the causes they believe in.

When it comes to their portfolios, many millennials care about the mission behind the companies and stocks they’re investing in. They care about environmental impacts, sustainability, social justice, and mitigating climate change. You’ll want to help them find investments that, yes, have a good ROI — but also support causes they believe in. 

5. Offer Accessible Pricing

With large amounts of debt, an increasing cost of living, and the rise of affordable robo-advisors, many millennials might be hesitant to fork over the amount of cash many advisors charge. Even though financial guidance may be the very thing millennials need, they may have trouble justifying the expense — or simply may not be able to afford it. 

Financial advisors with high asset minimums — or any minimum at all — may have trouble attracting and retaining millennial clients. A 2020 article from Business Insider noted that millennials’ net worth is less than $8,000, thanks largely in part to student loan debt. With a lower net worth than the generations before them, paying a generous chunk of change is a big hurdle keeping many from seeking these services.

For millennials to start working with a financial advisor, the traditional pricing structure might be outdated. Instead, offering services with no- or low-minimum account limits will appeal to this generation.

While this might sound unappealing in the short term, think of millennials as an investment. Millennials are the largest generation in the labor force and are finally building substantial wealth! By securing client relationships with this generation now, you’re building a solid base of clients for your firm for decades to come.

6. Have a Solid Online Presence

Gone are the days when clients will look you up in the phonebook or simply show up at your office. In today’s world — and in millennials’ world — you need an online presence. 

We don’t just mean a phone number in an online directory, either. (Millennials don’t like talking on the phone!) You need a fully-fledged website if you want to attract younger clients. 

Having a website is a necessary part of being a service provider in today’s world. Your potential clients are going to want to get to know you, see your pricing, and get a feel for your services before they even contact you. After all, a simple Google search will turn up limitless results, and you can bet potential clients will be vetting you against others before they consider giving you a call.

That doesn’t mean you can’t attract tons of great clients — but they do expect to see a professional-looking website before talking to you directly.

Let Gale Creative Agency Help You Attract More Millennials 

Even though it’s just one of the things you can do to attract millennial clients, your online presence often makes the first impression. A nonexistent or outdated website will turn away most potential clients before you even have a chance to talk to them. 

At Gale Creative Agency, we help financial advisors like you attract the perfect clients through copywriting and content marketing. In addition to creating or refreshing your website, we create valuable content that helps educate and build trust with your clients — which is crucial for the millennial generation.

Want to chat about how we can help you attract more millennial clients? Schedule a free 20-minute consultation call by emailing hillary@galecreativeagency.com or by choosing a time on my calendar.