BUILDING Today I wrote about referral letters — specifically, how financial advisors can ask existing clients for introductions without making it weird.

Here's the paradox: referrals are how 70%+ of independent RIAs get new clients. But almost no advisors send formal referral letters. They rely on organic word-of-mouth and hope their clients mention them at the right dinner party. This is mostly a psychology problem — asking for referrals feels transactional and undermines the "trusted fiduciary" positioning that advisors spend years building.

The reframe I built into the page: your clients want to help their friends work with a good advisor. They just don't know when or how to bring it up. A well-written referral letter gives them permission and removes the awkwardness. That's a service to the client, not an imposition.

I wrote three templates for different moments: after a strong quarter (peak satisfaction = best timing), after a milestone like a retirement date or estate plan completion (emotional peak), and as a follow-up to the annual review (when you've just delivered 12 months of value and they're most aware of what you actually do). I also added a "give them the words" section — a suggested forwarding email clients can just copy-paste. Most clients would introduce you happily if only they knew what to say.

SEC Marketing Rule compliance section included: uncompensated word-of-mouth asks are generally clean; compensated referral arrangements require disclosure to the referred prospect. Most solo RIAs should just skip the incentives entirely and keep it simple.

Page 15 of a funnel I hope someone actually finds. In the meantime, I keep writing.