In this episode, Jordan interviews Brandon Galici who shares his unique approach to using Smart Asset for lead generation, focusing on clients with assets under $100,000 to maximize potential opportunities. He discusses his systematic follow-up strategy, which includes a seven-day email sequence and automated marketing campaigns, creating multiple touchpoints with potential clients before personal contact.
Through a detailed case study, Brandon demonstrates how this approach helped transform a client’s initial investment inquiry into a comprehensive financial planning relationship, addressing deeper financial needs beyond the presenting problem.
Transcript
Jordan Haines: I want to talk about smart asset a little bit, and let me give you the content context as to why I want to talk about this, and then I want to get your anecdote because I’ve never worked with smart asset before, but in the world of financial advice, right?
There are. You can generate your, we’ll call this lead generation, right? You can generate your own leads and that’s what you do a lot of on Instagram and places like [00:01:00] that. Um, you’re producing content, you’re trying to seem interesting. You’re bringing people to, that’s what we do at Dennis advisors. A lot of advisors in similar situations as you are, you can buy leads from a company, like a smart asset, whose their business is to cultivate leads and then sell them to advisors.
And so you’re buying these leads. Um, there are other companies. I don’t forgive me if I’m like. Late to the party, but there’s people like Zoe financial. I don’t know if they still do that, but there’s like, um, what a smart Vester. I think Dave Ramsey, if you’re a smart Vester person, he has these. So there’s a lot of different organizations.
Smart asset is one that I think many people listening to this will understand. Tell me, let’s just start there. So that’s kind of set the stage. You’ve been using smart asset for some time now. Um, and you’ve used elements particular to kind of help with that a little bit, but tell let’s, let’s just start from the beginning.
When did you first start using smart asset or buying those leads?
Brandon Galici: I started paying for them myself back in November of 2023. [00:02:00] I say that paying for myself because whenever I first connected with the RAA, that’s my back office, I’m technically in IAR, they actually covered my leads for six months and my experiences were totally different between the first six months and now at this point, at the time of recording, about 13 months in.
Jordan Haines: Okay. So you’ve been doing it for some time. Uh, tell me how it works. Like, let’s just start there for people who don’t know how it works. Just tell me what happens typically. So you buy these leads. Is it pay per leader? Is it like you pay a subscription and you get a certain amount of leads on there?
Brandon Galici: It, it’s kind of a blend of the two.
It’s effectively a, you pay a certain cost per lead depending on the level of assets that they self identify. So a person could come in and say they have zero to 25 grand, 25 to a hundred grand. Now don’t quote me on the others, but I think there’s a hundred to 250, 250 to a million and a million plus some around there.
Just check their website and you can find out. And then of course the higher. Assets that they sell again, [00:03:00] they self identify that they have the higher the lead cost is going to be. So typically someone Googles a financial question, you Google any financial question. If you’re listening to this smart assets, probably going to be one of those that pops up.
So their whole thing is from a smart asset perspective. They want to bring people into kind of their world, their funnel, and then say, Hey, we can match you with up to three local advisors, fill out this basic survey. So that’s where they put in their income, their assets, some other very basic information.
And then that will get sourced out to local advisors in that area who are paying for those leads and typically that person is going to get matched with, uh, up to three local advisors.
Jordan Haines: So you’re competing for this lead with two to three other people. At the same time, correct. Okay. Tell me what happens then.
I know I’ve talked to a couple of people that have done this and some of them are like, it sucks. I never want to do that again. Like it’s not worth my time. You, I know like you and I have talked about this. You’ve had some success with it. You’re still doing it. So tell me like, what does that process typically look like?
So you’re, [00:04:00] what do you do? So you get a lead coming in, you know, that you’re competing against these three other advisors. What do you do personally?
Brandon Galici: I’ll take one step back. Yes, I’m technically competing against other advisors, but I think I’m, I have a bit of a unique approach. I at least think so. Maybe other advisors and everyone else out there is doing the same thing, but I haven’t heard it yet.
So for me, what I’m trying to do, Jordan, is I’m only paying for the lead to identify that they have 100, 000 or less. And for those that care about numbers, that means they’re either 20 a lead or 30 a lead. Because what I would like is I want more volume. I want more potential at bats, just more people to, um, to talk to.
And so, because I think so many advisors on this platform, there are some larger firms out there that are AUM only, they don’t really Play in this space much, or their advisors are just getting fed so many leads that likely they’re gonna focus on the leads who have self-identified that they’ve got over a hundred grand or over a million dollars.
So there have been very few times, even in this last year, that when I [00:05:00] have gotten ahold of someone, they’ve said, oh, I’ve, I’m already connected with another advisor. That really hasn’t happened. I mean, I can probably count on one hand how many times that’s happened. And I’ve been getting about 20 leads a month for the last year.
So you can do the math on, on how many that is. So I think because of that, even the speed to lead that you hear from all these lead gen programs, that’s actually not as much of a priority. Now, I don’t want a lead to come through and then not talk to them for a week or two weeks, but I try to, you know, get back to them same day if possible, if it’s not a weekend.
Or, you know, with it, yeah, within 24 hours, I would say I tried to get it, get, get back to them.
Jordan Haines: Yeah. Okay. So you’re, you’re trying to get back to them really quick. I like that. Um, but not immediately.
Brandon Galici: There’s a difference. Like I see, I see a name come through and some say you have to call right away or you’re going to lose the lead.
I’ve tried both. I’ve tried to do that and I actually connect with them less versus I found the two to three o’clock works for me or even four to 6 p. m. can sometimes work. So I just kind of [00:06:00] fill people in depending on when, when I’m making calls that day.
Jordan Haines: Yeah. You know, I listened to, I don’t remember who this was.
It was a fascinating, um, interview with Kitsis on his podcast. Might’ve been a year ago where like this guy, like he was like, drop everything for that client right away. You want to be the first person in their inbox. You want to be there. You’re going to be fresh. But as I’m hearing you say that something comes to mind is like contrast is a really interesting thing, right?
Like it almost makes it easier to make a decision when there’s some contrast. Yeah. And sometimes that first person, so you’re probably expecting that maybe these advisors email them or send them a text or call them right away. Well, then you can come in after the fact and offer some contrast. And ideally, I think you’re confident enough in your services and maybe your unique approach where maybe that contrast is actually a really good thing.
Rather than just always being first to the punch. Is that, like, react to that. Do you agree with that to some extent?
Brandon Galici: Yeah, I think so. And I do remember that same episode. I think that person actually took out a business loan and was having massive success on smart asset. Now, again, [00:07:00] from hearing that episode, they were targeting, I think, million plus leads.
So again, I think that is going to change things. There is going to be much higher competition. So speed to lead is Probably is, is much more important in those cases. So I do think contrast is really important though. Back to your original question, Jordan. So, one thing too that I do that I think separates is some advisors that get smart asset, uh, well everyone is able to get access to that.
to what they call deft sales. It’s basically like a CRM specifically for prospecting. So before you’d move them into your wealth box, HubSpot, Redtail, or whatever else, they would go here. Now you can set up automations where they automatically go into your other CRMs, but then you can create campaigns. So a text will automatically go out that just says, hi, we’d like to connect you to Brian and Galici, reply here with any financial questions.
So they do at least see my name right away. I do have a seven day email sequence as well, where in those emails, it’s not, Hey, come meet with me. Hey, come meet with me. Hey. And you haven’t responded yet. Come meet with me. It’s, it’s not that desperation type marketing that [00:08:00] I would describe it. But I, in the first email, I think I have my reviews on Google.
Hey, instead of me sharing what, what I do or how I differentiate, here’s what some of my clients have said. And I try to lead with value, even in those seven emails where really. I know that the majority of people aren’t checking those emails that much or they’re not diving deep into them. I very rarely get responses from those emails, but Jordan, what it does is I’m typically, at least from even talking to other advisors, some firms or broker dealers don’t even allow them to do marketing like this.
They don’t have access to def sales, so there’s not this email campaign. So the only thing they’re doing is. Personally reaching out whenever they have time, which is not near as good of a process as obviously an automated email campaign. But what it does is I think it’s creating that awareness. Oh, so when I do call and leave a voicemail, send a text message, like, oh yeah, I’ve, I’ve seen this person.
That seems familiar. People are also automatically added to my Saturday newsletter that I send out. So they’re [00:09:00] getting significantly more touches from me in some way, even before I’ve even factored in my, my proactive follow up strategy over the phone and text messages.
Jordan Haines: I love that. Um, there’s a, We talked about Demand Side Sales, that book.
I’m pulling this up right now. There’s a diagram he has, like a buyer’s journey. Shoot. I got to find it and I’m going through it right now for someone. Here we go. We got it. We’re almost there. Ah, I found it right here. You can’t see that. Whatever. Perfect. I’ll just read it. So basically the, he calls it customer systems, buyer systems.
So it’s like what, what most people go through when they make a buying decision. Um, and we’ve all heard some version of this, but he starts, there’s six stages. There’s first stages, first thought, then passive listening. Or passive looking, active looking, deciding, first use, ongoing use. And the description he has is this.
The first thought is creating space in the brain for solutions to fall into. So it’s like asking the question, like, maybe there’s a better way. Maybe I need to [00:10:00] do this. Like it’s a lot of maybe. We’re not really doing anything, but it’s like kind of the first thought. Usually it’s like that’s triggered on something.
So people, I’m going to assume with the smart asset leads, like they’ve already had that first thought. because it’s triggered them to go do something. Then there’s passive looking. Passive looking, he defines as learning, framing, and prioritizing to do, to know what to do next. Right? So it’s, it’s like when, um, we found out we were pregnant with our third, I was passively looking for a new, a van, like a bigger car.
And it was like everywhere. It was like, Oh, I was driving on the road and I’m looking at the cars driving by and I’m looking for the, like, it’s, it’s like, I’m not actively researching yet. I’m just kind of like when things come my way, it’s just coming a passive and then active looking is like actually looking for possibilities.
You’re framing trade offs you’re ruling things both in and out inclusion and exclusion, and then deciding. And I, I think what I’m hearing from you is like a lot of the people here, like When I think about that buyer’s journey, I’m going to smart asset. I’m looking up a question and it pops up and says, do you want to talk to someone about this?
I might still be impassive because that was like [00:11:00] given to me. Like I didn’t actively seek out that situation. So I’m sure a lot of the leads that come through are kind of like, sure, why not? Right. Like might as well. Maybe I listen, maybe I don’t. And I think what you’re just, this has a point because what you described to me on that, like seven day content, um, drip, that’s, I mean, what a, what a person is going to do to capture someone to passive looking is just be relevant.
Right? Like you want to drip, drip, drip, drip, drip. So that like when, if, when it finally comes to active looking, like where they’re actively researching and wanting to talk to someone, well, then you’re going to be the first name to come up. And then you’re also covering your bases where there’s probably some of those people who are actively looking and they’re going to respond really well to the actual conversation that you have with them later.
So I want to talk about here in a second, but, uh, what do you, what’s, uh, what’s your response to that? Do you feel like that captures kind of what a lot of people are at when they come to you?
Brandon Galici: Yeah, I think so. And it’s just, you’re, you’re getting the gamut. Also, I’m not connecting with every single person.
You know, there’s people that all leave calls and voicemails and send those emails. Then I will never hear back. So, and I also should, should back up. I don’t want to, [00:12:00] uh, to, to make people think that I’m some sort of smart asset expert or anything like that. Perfect. Yeah. I’m just trying to share, share my experiences and what’s worked.
I do think there’s a lot of variables and into what could have success. Maybe we can talk about that. Later. But yeah, because it’s interesting. Sometimes I’ll call someone and they’re like, wait, who are you? What, what, what did I do again? And almost confused, like what, what did I sign up for? Sometimes those are the older folks.
Um, that, that, that happens. But then other times it’s like, oh, great. Thank you so much for following up. Like I could have. You know, left several voicemails. Again, I try to be professionally persistent, not annoying or anything like that. And sometimes I’m like, oh, this person’s not ever going to pick up.
And then all of a sudden, oh, thank you so much, Brandon. I’ve seen your emails. Thank you for getting back to me. And then they start talking about their acute pain point or the reason why they wanted to have a conversation in general. So I’ve had enough of that experience to see that you’re going to get people that are more passive, but then once they learn a [00:13:00] bit more, maybe about what I do and how I could potentially help, they get more into active and maybe we’ll actually have a strategy session and then other people.
These are always the fun ones when they’re just like, basically, thank you for your call, like I was hoping someone was going to reach out and those are great because then you just jump straight into. Basically, consulting, asking them some questions and, uh, and then figuring out the next steps are from there.
Jordan Haines: So I want to hear an example. Um, I know you’ve shared a few with me separately, uh, privately. Tell me like a recent example of a smart asset situation, you know, how it went, what the outcome was, things like that.
Brandon Galici: I’m in the middle of a few right now that I’m excited about, but I’ll share one from last summer.
I connected with this person, and they came to me with an investment problem. Oh, I need to be investing more, or I want to make sure that my investments are in a good spot. We pull up the Elements scorecard, and we’re going through it. And they first start, they were a bit worried about their spending, but [00:14:00] I think their debt rate was 35%, maybe it was a little bit higher.
Their burn rate was in a healthy spot, which is their spending. So then it was like, hey, your debt rate is actually more of the issue. So they were able to see that, so it wasn’t just an overspending. They had bought some investment properties, so that had increased their debt rate recently. And then also, again, we haven’t even talked about investing yet, their liquid term score was only, was I think a 0.
3 or a 0. 4. And for, for those folks, so they didn’t even have six months worth of, of liquidity, uh, saved up for those that aren’t familiar with liquid term. So they were nervous about their whole situation again, came to me for investments, but then he was able to realize. Oh, that’s because I don’t have any liquidity.
We need to build up this liquidity before we’re even talking about investing. And so he came to that conclusion, ended up signing him on as a, as a financial planning consulting type subscription, uh, model. And he has built up his liquidity. We’ve had lots of conversations even about term life insurance.
He [00:15:00] had a, um, a mediocre IUL type of policy. So we were able to do some term and, uh, invest the difference. As well as now starting to actually make some investments because he’s built his liquidity up, um, to some degree. And again, that’s with someone who, if you just write someone off because, oh, it’s not an investment problem, like, oh, that’s clearly not it, but just use that presenting problem, take that next step with them, and then he was able to realize, Here’s the actual issues.
Let’s take steps. Let’s take steps. Let’s take action on those things and then you know We can get we finally got to the original question, which was the investing
Jordan Haines: Yeah, so orienting him to the situation seemed to be really powerful Let me let’s let’s go one step before this. I want to get a little bit more clarity on this so when Uh, use when this, so that the lead came in, right?
And how, when, at what point did they start filling out their elements information? When did you invite them to that?
Brandon Galici: So my typical process is as part of my followup strategy. [00:16:00] So say that I were, I was able to get you on the phone, Jordan. If they have time, and I can tell that they have time, and we just want to go into what I would call a 15 minute discovery call.
Hey, what are you hoping to accomplish with an advisor? What financial questions do you have? Why did you reach out, or why did you even fill out that smart asset survey to begin with? And then if we, you know, those answers make sense, and we both agree, yeah, I would probably, uh, Um, be ideal to connect on what I would call a zoom strategy session, or sometimes I’ll meet people locally, uh, at a, at a coffee shop or something like that.
Once we decide that that makes sense at the very end of that 15 minute call, I’m saying, Hey, so one thing that’s going to help us have a much more meaningful discussion and help answer, insert their question, pain point, answer. Problem what they’re hoping to accomplish right there is reviewing your financial health scorecard.
I’m gonna send you an email It’s gonna come from elements It’s gonna be some basic information should only take you about seven minutes to fill this out fill it out to the best of your Ability I’ll shoot you a message if I have any questions about it But it really is going to help us dive much deeper [00:17:00] into your situation so we can start answering Questions based on on again your situation and and not speak directly to you So before I ever have, we’ll call it a face to face with someone, they have almost a fully completed scorecard.
Again, they might have missed a couple things along the way, but I have almost their entire financial picture going into what I would call that first real meeting, which is very
Jordan Haines: helpful. Yeah. And so that’s where we pick up with this client where you were able to orient them to their situation, help them see it a little bit differently.
That’s probably one of the first times he’s been able to understand it is actually how I’m doing right now. Right. And so I think that that’s where that contrast comes in. What would you say, just wrapping up on this, um, Brandon, as you think about smart asset in particular, um, what is something that you’re curious about that maybe you want to test or try with that specific motion that you’re exploring right now?
Brandon Galici: More, more video and text directing more people to either my Instagram or I repurpose content across the different social platforms, but try to experiment with that a bit more because I have a lot of text [00:18:00] templates that after I leave a voicemail, even through deft sales, I’m able to type it right there and send compliant text.
All the archiving. Thank you. For those concerned about compliance, all compliant there, um, which is really helpful, but I want to start experimenting with using some of my content or if I see they’ve indicated something on the survey, you know, they have a really high income. Maybe I had a really high income or a high income video that might be relevant to them that I could then send, send them in video form.
So I think elevating that, that, uh, that seven day email, making sure that that’s sharper, uh, as well as, Trying to incorporate a bit more video to, um, maybe get some more people to respond that wouldn’t have otherwise reached back out.
Jordan Haines: Super interesting. I love it, man. Thanks for sharing.