Most advisors have limited marketing budgets when it comes tofinding prospects and turning them into clients. But the bestadvisor marketers follow some simple, repeatable steps for closingprospects, according to research done by SmartAsset among theadvisor users of its SmartAdvisor lead generation service and other advisors overthe past year.

Related: 4 ways for insurance agents to be a prospectinginnovator

The findings are particularly instructive since the leads thatSmartAdvisor provides its advisor clients have already expressedinterest in speaking to an advisor through links on variouswebsites or financial calculators. They've also been vetted by aSmartAdvisor 'concierge' to match prospects with an advisor'spreferred client profile, and the leads are even geo-targeted, so aprospect will be directed toward a local advisor.

AJ Smith, vice president for financial education at SmartAsset,said the research was prompted by the realization that someadvisors in its program were performing much better than others inturning prospects into clients, even when bothadvisors were in the same neighborhood and had similar practiceniches.

Looking at its data and talking to “hundreds of advisors,” Smithsaid, SmartAsset came up with these four deceptively simple stepsthat are shared by the most successful closers.

1. Take action promptly.

The best closers respond quickly, meaning within the first weekafter they receive their leads, said Smith. They also don't assumethat prospects are keeping their interest in hiring an advisor topof mind. That's why it's a good idea, she said, to remind theprospect how and why they expressed interest in finding anadvisor.

Point out to the prospect that they filled out a form online,Smith suggests, and be specific about what prompted them to fillout that form: “You said were interested in auto insurance,” forinstance.

“Reminding them of why they're getting in touch and how theconnection was made” in the first place “can be a powerful start tothe conversation,” Smith said.

2. Five's the number

In addition to reaching out promptly, the most successfulclosers also communicate in multiple ways to prospects, byphone, email or text. And they don't do so just once. While someconsultants might recommend “reach out a few times or don't give upafter one call,” Smith said those who reach out to leads at leastfive times during the first week after receiving the lead's contactinformation have higher close rates.

Is that being too pushy? Smith points out there may be someurgency to the prospect's request to speak to an advisor, so it'sappropriate to communicate multiple times at first.

3. Expand your workday.

SmartAdvisor's best closers reach out to prospects not justduring the traditional business day but also in the evenings and onthe weekends. “The more flexible advisors are in when theycontact their leads can make a big difference,” Smith said.

While many advisors would only contact leads from 9 to 5 onweekdays, since their nights and weekends are for themselves andtheir families, Smith said “we've found that if you're willing togive some time on the evenings or weekends, it gives you a betterchance” to contact prospects and close them. “So, you may want todedicate one evening a week or one weekend a month” when you'llcontact those prospects, she suggests.

Isn't that a bit of a 'boiler-room' approach to prospecting?“It's a logical assumption to make, that you don't want to bothersomeone on an evening or a weekend,” Smith concedes. She argues,however, that these prospects already expressed interest inspeaking to an advisor by filling out a form online, so finding theright time to respond to that request is, again, appropriate, evenif your first outreach is at night or on the weekend.

“Once you establish that relationship,” the advisor and prospectcan determine when are the best times to communicate, and whichcommunication method is best, Smith points out.

4. Organize your outreach.

The fourth step “combines all the other tips,” said Smith, andagain is deceptively simple: Keep your prospect outreach effortsorganized. You can use your CRM or an Excel worksheet or “even asimple pen and paper,” she says, to keep track of the calls ortexts or emails you send to prospects, including date and timecalled, the response, and what and when and how to follow up withyour next message to the prospect.

“The more organized they are,” Smith said, referring to advisorsusing their service, “the better they do” at turning prospects intoclients.

Even if those prospects don't become clients right away or can'tbe reached within that first week, the most successful advisorsdon't give up, the SmartAsset data shows. Those advisors collectthe leads' contact information “and continue to market to themthrough other channels,” Smith says. “They stay in touch.”

Smith says that while advisors use many methods to find newclients — conducting seminars, using a lead generation service or abroader digital marketing campaign — the best advisorsare always focusing on that “last step”: turning prospects intoclients.

“What we've found,” she says of SmartAsset's research, “is thatyou can improve your close rate.”

James J. Green is editor of Jamie Green Reports, anadvisor-focused editing, writing and shepherding firm. He can bereached at [email protected].