It seems his tax person, a Certified Public Accountant, was a bit sloppy and failed to keep him informed about the status of his tax return.  When his wife had to call to ensure that an extension was filed on-time, he figured that was a sign from "on high" to find a Best-in-Class tax expert, as a replacement, who was highly skilled, proactive and worthy of trust.  Forget  "highly skilled" for a moment, have you noticed that outstanding service is in short supply these days?  When was the last time you raved about the proactive and exceptional service of any business you frequent?

My friend tells the story of how he placed a ton of calls to accounting firms referred to him and relates how most of the people calling back were "over-enthusiastic sales people" or people lacking expertise. 

"And you know what?" my friend continues, "the majority never returned my call."

"In boom times, you can’t even get the over-enthusiastic, non-expert sales people to call you back! In the bust times the sales people finally start calling you back."

Cynical?  Yes!

True? Unfortunately it sounds like he’s accurately describing the financial services industry.  Not all financial advisors, but far too many.

However, it doesn’t have to be that way; you get to decide, as a financial advisor, whether you want to be "the real deal," or "just another advisor."  You get to decide the level and quality of your service standards, too. Clients are very simple regarding what they want.  They believe the warm fuzzy ads on TV showing financial advisors and simply want that highly skilled, conflict-free advisor shown; the one who, on TV, seems worthy of trust.  An advisor who is deeply knowledgeable about their situation and gives them sound advice and guidance.  What’s the reality?  Well, most of these folks come in to interview a financial advisor & what do they encounter?  Do they get sound advice that’s worthy of trust?  Unfortunately, far too often, they meet "over-enthusiastic sales people" or, rather than experts, they find advisors who talk technically way over their heads in a way that’s contrived. 

As an advisor you can become Best-in-Class simply by aligning yourself with people who are already experts in tax, money management, estate planning and insurance. Consider for a moment that there are many people out there who have had enough of "sales people" and, like my friend, don’t even believe that advice like this, through a Best-in-Class team of experts, exists.   My friend would have difficulty believing me, no matter how hard I tried to assure him, that I work with hundreds of advisors all over the world who fit that description (or are very rapidly moving in that direction). 

When you stop to realize how few advisors even return call promptly, consider that there has never been this many unhappy people seeking a fully comprehensive trusted advisor.  You couldn’t possibly serve every Potential Ideal Client who is seeking someone just like you right now.  These are the good ‘ol days and consider that "it’s not the economy."