Jonash Go’s meteoric rise in the financial services industry has been fueled by his knack for keeping advisor activities fresh and fun. Go said he believes advisors and clients need dynamic, interactive ways to stay connected to his 46 agencies in Manila, Philippines.
One of his primary methods is gamification, a method of using game-like activities and incentives to create meaningful, memorable interactions.
Go’s intent is to motivate his 10,000 advisors across 46 agencies to make lead generation and client interactions more enjoyable. That spirit also resonates with clients and recruits on social media, he said, and has helped him scale his business at a remarkable rate.
Based on Go’s 20-plus years of experience, here are eight ideas to enliven your agency.
1. Referral contests
Encourage your advisors to participate in friendly referral challenges. Go’s agency has hosted “referral races” where advisors bet small amounts on who can secure the most referrals first. These competitions generate energy and enthusiasm around referrals while strengthening camaraderie among team members, he said.
Consider making referral tracking easy with a shared spreadsheet or leaderboard that updates in real time, creating a visual representation of each advisor’s progress.
2. Social media challenges
Go’s agency leverages TikTok and Facebook to appeal to Gen Z and Gen X prospects, respectively.
By creating challenges or interactive posts, advisors can catch the attention of potential clients and connect with them in a relatable way. A simple social media challenge, like sharing financial tips or fun “get to know us” posts, can engage clients and encourage them to share your content with their own networks.
One of Go’s advisors goes live on TikTok weekly and fields questions from viewers. He averages about eight new leads each time, while viewers of the video gain a sense of his energetic personality, knowledge of financial services and desire to help others.
3. Gamified advisor training
Training doesn’t have to be dry or formal. Go uses team-based challenges, trivia and interactive exercises that make professional learning more entertaining. To promote collaboration and foster mentorship, newer advisors are often paired with more experienced ones during these challenges.
Consider starting a trivia game on financial regulations, or a contest to see who can craft the best client pitch, to reinforce skills and build confidence and camaraderie among advisors.
4. Family-tree lead generation
Go’s team makes lead generation more collaborative by building “family trees” with clients — a mapped-out sheet of potential leads from their extended family and social networks.
“We try to find out who's the cousin of the client, who's the auntie, the uncle,” he said. “This activity is done every month to make sure new advisors have clients for the following month, and the stream is continuous.”
Go said advisors find this to be an enjoyable, effective way to learn more about their clients and identify prospective new ones within their sphere of influence. He encourages advisors to follow up with leads from family trees in a friendly, non-salesy manner, building on the warm introduction provided by the existing client.
5. Co-branded events
Go’s agency has partnered creatively with organizations to reach new clients in specific markets such as pharmaceutical, automotive and IT. Doing so builds the agency’s credibility and exposes his team’s energy and expertise to multiple prospects simultaneously, he said.
His team recently participated in a series of co-branded pharmaceutical events where they presented financial planning topics to doctors. Go said this one-year partnership allowed the agency to access a captive audience several times during the year, while the pharmaceutical company increased attendance at their events and received positive feedback about the helpful content Go’s team delivered.
6. Leaderboards
To motivate advisors to hit their targets and to recognize top performers, Go uses leaderboards that rank advisors based on key performance metrics. Leaderboards can track everything from client meetings to new referrals.
7. Themed social media nights
One night each week, Go’s team designates time for social media recruitment. Advisors reach out to their contacts, post engaging content and respond to inquiries. The practice has been instrumental in his efforts to continually expand the business, and can be applied across various themes, from client success stories to live Q&A sessions on financial planning.
8. Client contests with simple rewards
Friendly competition works well for clients, too, Go said. The goal is to create easy ways for clients to help grow the business while feeling appreciated for their contributions.
One example: Clients who refer a prospect could enter a drawing for a small but thoughtful prize, like a gift card or exclusive consultation.
By trying some of the eight ideas above, leaders can build a more memorable client experience and a work environment that inspires consistent results, Go said.
Jonash Go shared this advice during the 2024 MDRT Global Conference session, “The multiplier effect in agency building.”
Darin Painter is a freelance writer and editor in Strongsville, Ohio, USA, and owner of the content development business Writing Matters (www.writingmatters.com).
