FINANCIAL ADVISOR RECRUITING
How Forge Lane Partners Booked 38 Meetings at a 29% Connect Rate With AI Calling
38 meetings booked at a 29% live connect rate
Meetings booked
Live connect rate
Outbound channel used
CLIENT REVIEW
Hear it straight from the client
Rob Engle
Principal at FORGE LANE PARTNERS
THE CHALLENGE
Where they were stuck
Forge Lane Partners helps established financial advisors plan a move to a new platform. Principal Rob Engle runs the firm on his own, and his growth depends on reaching advisors at firms going through acquisitions. Those advisors are heavily recruited and guarded by gatekeepers, and Rob had no sales team to call them.
Financial advisors are heavily recruited and screen calls from unknown numbers
A one-person firm with no sales team to make hundreds of calls a day
Executive assistants and call screeners stand between the caller and the advisor
THE SYSTEM WE BUILT
How we solved their problems
Navigating Gatekeepers & Call Screeners
The AI called from local numbers, introduced itself as a coordinator and worked smoothly through executive assistants and call screeners instead of hanging up on them. Once connected with the advisor, it opened with a timely question about their firm’s transition and offered a brief, confidential conversation.
29% Connect Rate & In-Call Email Follow-Up
Across 1,940 calls to 1,120 advisors at firms going through M&A, the AI held 562 live conversations, a 29% connect rate. When an advisor asked to see information first, the AI confirmed their email address and sent a follow-up email during the call.
38 Meetings Booked on the Calendar
Roughly 7% of live conversations with financial advisors converted into a booked appointment, putting 38 meetings straight onto the calendar with full call recordings and summaries so Rob could spend his time closing instead of dialing.
Forge Lane Partners helps established financial advisors decide whether, when and where to move their practice. Principal Rob Engle has spent more than 30 years recruiting advisors and structuring transitions, and he runs the firm on his own. His best prospects are advisors at firms going through mergers and acquisitions, when they are most open to an independent second opinion.
Those advisors are notoriously hard to reach by phone. They are heavily recruited, screen unknown numbers and sit behind executive assistants and wealth-management call screeners. Rob had no sales team, and every hour he spent dialing was an hour not spent advising prospects who were ready to talk.
Rob launched Outbound System’s AI calling platform to run the outbound prospecting for him. Calling from local area codes, the AI introduced itself as a coordinator, navigated assistants and call screeners, opened with a timely question about the advisor’s firm and offered a short, no-pressure conversation. When an advisor was interested, the AI confirmed their best cell number and email and booked them straight onto the calendar during the call. Advisors who were between client meetings received an instant follow-up email triggered right from the call.
Targeting advisors at firms going through recent acquisitions, the AI placed 1,940 calls to 1,120 financial advisors, reached 562 of them live for a 29% connect rate, and booked 38 meetings (nearly 7% of live conversations) without Rob dialing a single number.
“Sounded really good, though. That was crisp, good voice, good cadence. That was a good call,” Rob said after listening to one of the AI’s calls. Early on, he had already told the team: “I think we’re on to something here.”
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this case study, answered.
Can AI calling reach financial advisors behind gatekeepers?
Yes. Forge Lane Partners used AI calling to place 1,940 calls to 1,120 financial advisors, navigate call screeners and assistants, hit a 29% live connect rate (562 conversations) and book 38 meetings straight onto the calendar.
What conversion rates did Forge Lane see on financial advisor outbound?
Targeting advisors at firms going through mergers and acquisitions, the AI connected live on 29% of dials (562 conversations from 1,940 calls) and converted nearly 7% of live conversations into 38 booked meetings.
Does AI calling work for a one-person advisory or recruiting firm?
Yes. Rob Engle runs Forge Lane Partners on his own. The AI makes every call, sends in-call follow-up emails and books meetings onto his calendar, so his time goes entirely to conversations with advisors who asked to talk.
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HAND N HAND CONSULTING
HEALTHCARE CONSULTING
13
Meetings booked
5
Doctors signed
Strategy
Hand N Hand Consulting helps Arizona agencies that serve people with developmental disabilities get licensed, stay compliant and grow. Those agencies are required to have Arizona-licensed physicians on their supervisory councils, a paid and virtual role, and co-owner Jonas Bell set out to find three to five doctors to fill it. Physicians are some of the hardest people to reach by phone. They are busy, heavily solicited and already chased by recruiters, and Hand N Hand had no sales team to call them. Outbound System’s AI calling platform was trained on what doctors care about: a paid seat, a small time commitment and a role agencies must fill. It called 890 Arizona-licensed physicians in their own time zone, screened out anyone without an Arizona license and booked interested doctors straight onto Jonas’s calendar. The first meeting was booked two days after kickoff. Across 1,610 calls, the AI held 225 live conversations (a 14% connect rate) and booked 13 meetings. 75% of the meetings Jonas reported on showed up, and five doctors signed, the top of the goal he set at kickoff.
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"I have about five doctors now going through the onboarding process. So it’s been very effective. The physicians really like the offer."
Jonas Bell
Co-Founder at HAND N HAND CONSULTING
PRESIDENTIAL BANK
REAL ESTATE LENDING
31
Meetings booked
75%
Meeting show rate
Strategy
Brad Siebert is a loan officer at Presidential Bank with 24 years in the mortgage business, responsible for generating his own business and referrals. His pipeline depends on building relationships with real estate agents across the country who bring him buyers, but working that channel by phone competed directly with the time he needed for loan origination, and on his own he could realistically make only about 50 calls in the time the system makes 250. Brad was initially hesitant about AI, calling it “fake, for lack of a better term,” until research showing AI outperforming human callers and a demo of the natural-sounding voices won him over. Outbound System’s AI was trained on his approach to agents and set to dial 250 real estate agents a day nationwide, handling objections and booking interested agents directly onto his calendar, often the same day. The AI never gets discouraged by a rejection, it just moves to the next call. The system booked 31 meetings at about a 75% show rate, without taking a minute away from originating loans.
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"Every day is like coming downstairs to the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. There’s a new appointment on my calendar and I didn’t have to stop originating loans to get it. There’s no way I could make 250 calls a day and still do my job. And the agents have no pushback. I’m not even sure they know it’s AI."
Brad Siebert
Loan Officer at PRESIDENTIAL BANK
