The firm
Presilium Private Wealth launched out of Merrill Lynch in April 2022 with roughly 220 families and about $250 million under management. Four years on, the firm is nine people serving around 400 families with approximately $820 million.
The original focus was the pharmaceutical space — executives in and around Philadelphia, where the firm is headquartered. Introductions and referrals expanded that over time, both geographically across the US and into other niches, including business owners.
A website that had done its job and stopped
Brook Hart is careful to say the old site served a real purpose at the start. Leaving a wirehouse, the firm needed everything it produced to look legitimate and feel authentic to the clients it hoped to bring along. The website did that.
What it could not do was change. "From there it was very static. It got outdated very quickly. It was very difficult to update," he says. That covered the obvious things — new team members, new services — but also the part that actually drives business: the copy, and the path a visitor takes from landing on the site to booking a meeting.
Fixing that meant going outside. "Certainly beyond our skill set, or outsourcing to a third party or a development firm for thousands upon thousands of dollars, for months at a time."
“It got outdated very quickly. It was very difficult to update.”
The build
The input was light. Presilium sent over a few websites they admired and described who they were as a company — the brand, the feel they wanted in every interaction, from a client meeting to a gift to the website itself.
"They came back to us, I don't know, a week or two later, and it was pretty well dialed in," Brook says. There was an early wireframe check, a few minor tweaks, and not much else. "I really don't even remember a ton of back and forth."
The comparison he keeps returning to is speed. Requests since launch — can we add this, tweak that — have landed inside 24 to 48 hours. He describes the upgrade over the old process as "comically easier."
“We told the team a few websites we really liked and who we were as a company. They came back a week or two later and it was pretty well dialed in.”
Zero to double digits
The firm went from "literally zero" website appointments to, in a single recent week, closing in on double digits. Brook was clear that it is early days — and equally clear about what the prospects say on the calls.
The pattern is consistent: someone knew they needed help, searched on ChatGPT or Google, found the firm's Google reviews and website, read enough to feel the firm spoke to their situation, and scheduled through the site.
Multiple prospects have named ChatGPT specifically, all within about two weeks. Brook had two such conversations in one week; a teammate was in another as the interview was recorded; his partner had roughly three more. "It's been numerous across the board."
“We went from literally zero to — just in the last week — closing in on probably double digits.”
Quality, not just volume
Brook measures lead quality on more than assets. AUM has been strong, but the more telling signal is that each prospect arrived with a catalyst — a liquidity event, a retirement, something that moved them to search in the first place.
"When they've gotten to our website, they've seen us speaking to that in our services," he says. The result is a fit on three axes at once: assets, timing, and — he adds — people the team has enjoyed talking to.
Social proof, front and centre
Two things mattered most in the brief. The first was copy that tells a visitor they have landed in the right place. The second was social proof: the firm's awards visible immediately, and client testimonials given real estate rather than buried.
The review count was 131 when the interview was recorded and 139 by the end of it. "You're just overwhelmed by the amount of testimonials," Brook says. "I can only imagine the impact that has on someone landing here for the first time and wondering, is this firm legit?"
The firm has since added a custom post-booking page in place of the generic scheduling confirmation — the firm's PDF and short videos answering the questions prospects have between booking and meeting. Brook described the brief as an email with an attachment and a couple of links. "The execution on our idea is arguably perfect."