September 29, 2021

Are you in the business of advice as a financial advisor?

What is your experience with an accountant or lawyer? Is it about advice and counsel or is it about buying a product or service? Think about the last meeting you had with your accountant. Was your accountant going through an agenda to try to convince you to do something on their agenda, or were they listening to your story, your situation, and giving you advice on what you should do? Or did they give you options and let you choose? They gave you advice, which is what you hired them to do. The process is completely different than what most financial advisors do when they meet a client. Only the elite financial advisors and financial advisors focused on planning and advice deliver a process that is all-around planning, goals, and advice.

What needs to change in your process?

Think of the annual revenue you generate with your best clients. Your job is to deliver more and more value every year for that ever-increasing fee you charge. What value add did you deliver in the last three years for a higher fee? Yes higher fees,  as most portfolios are up in value due to strong performance.  Revenue is up and value delivered to clients is flat. Why do you think that most of the clients that you acquired over the last three years left their current financial advisor? Is it communication? Is it performance or is it that a new advisor articulated more value than you have delivered in the last ten years? This is what I call a fee audit. It is not about fees, it is about lack of value, and advice, including written advice.

Advice in writing

I ask advisors to share with me their implementation or advice schedule for their best clients, hiding the names and confidentiality of course. Most of the advisors I work with share with me what the advice in writing looks like. Average Financial Advisors struggle to share with me their advice in writing. They ask me how they should do it? How do you deliver advice in writing, from a client's perspective, an accountant or lawyer's perspective, and from your firm's compliance perspective? The less you provide the less trust you are building with ideal clients. They trust you to give them advice. They are wondering why they cannot acquire more ideal clients.

Sample plans and advice

Every advisor and firm I work with, I ask for a few sample plans. I am not looking to pick the plan apart, sell them some other software, I simply look at their process. What is your process, and as a result what is the output of your process? Is it emotionally engaging or logical? Most financial plans are dull and don’t have great graphics and design. But what if it did? What if your plan had great emotional appeal and was exciting to look at? What if you were so excited to share your written advice, in a meaningful way that people were inspired by it, making it a positive experience, emotionally and logically?  What is the outcome for me as a client? A very positive repeatable process that engages people.

How can I do it better?

How can you engage more planning and more advice from ideal clients? You have their trust, get a deeper understanding of their goals and values that drives them forward. Redo the goals conversations and their values discussions with your best clients and update their goals or priorities on paper for them. You are paid for advice, and they are looking for more advice to help them accomplish more. However, the problem for most financial advisors, is they do not have a process to consistently and repeatably go back to existing clients and deliver more advice unless the client brings it up. The conversation goes something like this” I just sold my (boat, business, other real estate etc)  and now I need to figure out what to do with the money”. The client has money in motion and calls their advisor. The elite advisors already have had the discussion and once the item is sold, they call the advisor to activate the plan. This is the difference between an advisor who delivers advice and an advisor who doesn’t. That is why clients have money elsewhere.

Practice management is about process, process, process

Do you have a proven scripted process for ideal clients? Do you have a proven scripted progress update process for ideal clients? Do you have a sample comprehensive financial and investment plan covering all 7 areas of your financial life? Share this sample with everyone you know. Then ask people to share their plan with you, which usually doesn’t exist. Your plan is better than no plan, no advice in writing.

How about your goals for your practice in 2021? Our Practice management checklist or fee audit checklist 

While each financial advisor's practice may have a different approach, advisors need to understand where their practice needs help, and will they get the right help for the right part of their practice. What areas does your practice need help with? Get a copy of our updated 21-page “Comprehensive Practice Management Strategies checklist” by going to our website

 https://www.advisorpracticemanagement.com/about-us or clicking here 

https://practicemanagement.getresponsepages.com/

Fee audit checklist for ideal prospects, click here https://feeaudit.getresponsepages.com/

Become a “Future-ready Advisor” get our 21-page technology checklist here https://technologychecklist.getresponsepages.com/

Let’s talk

Contact us to help get clarity around your goals on paper, and having the goals conversation by contacting grant at grant@ghicks.com or click on the link to set up a no-obligation 20-minute discussion https://my.timetrade.com/book/JMTNJ regardless if we work together, let’s have a chat and listen to your biggest practice management concerns to help you get clarity around your future business.

Grant Hicks, CIM, is President of Advisor Practice Management and co-author of “Guerrilla Marketing For Financial Advisors” 1st and 2nd edition. www.advisorpracticemanagement.com for speaking, workshops or coaching, contact Grant at grant@ghicks.com Grants combined financial advisor clients manage over 4 billion AUM, and earn over $40 million dollars combined! 

Enthusiastically yours,

Grant Hicks, CIM, President
Advisor Practice Management
www.advisorpracticemanagement.com

Suite 1625-246 Stewart Green, SW
Calgary, Alberta  T3H 3C8
Cell 403 970 8895
Email grant@ghicks.com   

PS Where do you want to be in 3 years?

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