New Tool LinkedIn ProFinder Helps ‘Link’ Members to Financial Advisors
The professional social network LinkedIn developed and released a new tool called “ProFinder”. This professional services marketplace is designed to help members be able to find and connect with local professionals, including wealth managers and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS™.
How does this affect you?
Although still fairly new, LinkedIn ProFinder may prove to be a useful application for both its members looking to be connected with a professional, as well as any business wishing to grow their clientele base. At this current time, LinkedIn is asking members if they need services from professionals including CFP® (CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS™), Chartered Financial Analysts™, Certified Public Accountants, wealth management, insurance, personal taxes, retirement planning, or accounting professionals.
Take the first step and set up your profile.
In order to use the features that ProFinder has to offer, one must first register as a member with LinkedIn. Whether you are a professional or a prospective client, it is encouraged to create and complete a comprehensive profile, so that both parties have the necessary upfront and introductory information available to one another.
Bonus: Here is a quick video on how to set your account.
How do people connect?
LinkedIn will ask the member to choose which type of professional they are looking for or would like to be matched with. Most often, once a member clicks on their choices, a list of professionals will appear for their review and selection. When a match is made and the request is filed, the adviser will have the option to accept or reject the request. If a request is accepted between prospective client and advisor, they can then go offline to continue to discuss other services, and see if a more solid and productive client-professional relationship can be built.
Bonus: Make sure emails from notificationsnoreply@linkedin.com doesn’t go to your spam folder.
The cons.
As with anything, ProFinder is not without its pros and cons. First of all, it’s all very new and improvements are still being made. Also, professionals should be aware that this is not the ideal network to find and secure affluent clientele. Very rarely do clients with large amounts of money to invest turn to sources such as ProFinder to find highly qualified financial advisors or wealth managers. Your business will probably not gain mass traction or interest from this tool either. Given the fact that ProFinder matches members with local professionals, there may not be a lot of prospective clients searching for your type of business within a close enough distance to your area.
The pros.
The benefits however to using ProFinder is that it’s quite easy to use and only takes a few minutes to set up. It could help expand your branding and visibility as well. Any chance to further market and make your company accessible is always a benefit, so why not at least give it a shot?