Building a Practice by Building Community
Franklin Mohri has built a thriving practice in Los Angeles over the past 17 years with over 300 relationships and 500 clients. Starting out, Franklin’s goal was simply to find clients; he didn’t have a particular business plan. But about 8 years ago, he became more strategic. Focusing on his Persian background, he started his outreach via community newspapers, magazines and even direct mail. However, it was a regular weekly radio program, discussing different financial topics, that helped him attract professionals and build credibility with members of the Persian community.
Now he has further narrowed his focus to serve small business owners and doctors over the age of 50 and their families – still within his community. He has built strong relationships with accountants who refer clients who might benefit from tax-advantaged retirement plans. These clients are an increasingly important part of his business.
Franklin says, “I’m Persian and involved in my community by participating in various charitable activities and have an active involvement in my Rotary Club...
I believe that money should bring peace of mind in your life and should allow you to live life to the fullest. It shouldn’t be a source of pain, greed or fear that ties you down and prevents you from sleeping at night. “
Strategy
Accountants tend to be quite conservative and often do not know about defined benefit plans. Franklin has identified and created a niche market for himself by educating accountants and their high-income self employed clients (specifically medical professionals) about defined benefit plans, how they work and their advantages.
To learn more about how doctors are using defined benefit plans, click here.
For Marketing Resources to use with CPAs, click here.
Franklin has opened retirement plans for 8 Medical Practices since 2011 with Assets Under Management (AUM) exceeding $3.9 Million even before most had made their contributions for 2017.
RESULTS
Defined Benefit + solo 401(k)
$541,000 for 2011-2017
Defined Benefit + solo 401(k)
$596,000 for 2012-2017
Defined Benefit + profit sharing
$931,000 Orthopedist, spouse and 7 employees for 2012-2017
Defined Benefit only
$338,000 Medical lab, Owner and spouse for 2013-2017
Defined Benefit + solo 401(k)
$837,000 Doctor and spouse for 2014-2017
Cash Balance + 401(k)
$373,000 Doctor and spouse plus 2 employees for 2015-2017
Defined Benefit only
$176,000 Doctor and spouse -as of 2016 funding
Cash Balance + 401(k)
$142,000 Doctor and 1 employee – 2017
For the Clients Who Are Physicians: These plans have the potential for high current year tax savings and tax-deferred growth, of particular interest for high income independent physicians or owners of small medical practices looking to diversify their investments outside of the practice.
For the Financial Advisor: Contributions to these plans often exceed $100,000 and may be attractive to high income clients. Once the advisor earns their trust by providing tax-advantaged retirement plans, he or she may also have the opportunity to address clients’ other financial needs.
In addition, by working with CPAs to bring tax savings to their clients, advisors can cultivate a rich referral source .
For the CPA: Defined Benefit and Cash Balance plans offer innovative solutions that may help alleviate the tax pain for clients. By working closely with an advisor who knows for whom and how to make these plans work, the CPAs may also earn increased referrals for their business.
“The accountants look to me as an authority (on defined benefit plans) — I look to you guys.”
As the conversation gets going with a prospect, I ask about their tax situation. If they tell me they pay a lot of taxes, I try to understand their business structure and if suitable I then tell them about defined benefit or cash balance plans. For a one person company, a defined benefit plan may be an option. If there are employees, we talk about Cash Balance plans. Then I run a proposal through Dedicated Defined Benefit Services. I present it to the client and the CPA. Together we ask the CPAs their opinion and how much they can save on taxes. Once the accountant says you can save $50,000-$60,000, this can be the opener in getting the business with the client.
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