Blog

Savvy Financial Advisors Use the Internet Cloud to Track Progress

Mark Little — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:05:00 +0000

Your business would grind to a halt without good communication. People have always had the need to communicate. It might have been by marks on a tree, smoke signals, carrier pigeons, Pony Express, telegraph, or megaphone. Whatever the latest technology is, we use it to share our thoughts.

Today we have sticky notes, phone messages, and emails. But they can all get lost and are difficult to manage. So while they may be part of your process of tracking the progress of your team, they’re not the answer to effective communication.

What do you envision to be the best way of keeping track of your comprehensive financial business? Are you envisioning a spreadsheet with columns listing all of your clients, their meeting dates, a checklist for every service you deliver that’s tied to the name of who’s assigned to accomplish it so nothing gets missed?

Ok, let’s say you have that incredible spreadsheet. Who is responsible for updating it…your administrative manager? That’s good. So, how do you as financial advisor keep tabs of the updates? Do you have your administrative manager print out a new spreadsheet every morning? Or do you require it twice a day? Maybe, you have it emailed to you.

What do you do with the massive amount of spreadsheets and how do you keep them all organized? Is the answer having a folder for every client on your desk or in your computer? Can you imagine the tedium of clicking through all of that information every single day?

With technology, there are countless ways to create a system for keeping track of the communication between all those that work for your organization. It behooves you as the trusted financial advisor to utilize the best system. Have you considered the idea of using the internet cloud? Working on the internet cloud for storage and retrieval of information is the ultimate way to keep communication organized.

But where in the enormous cloud do you upload your information? Wouldn’t it be great to find a secure place online to post schedules for every meeting for every client, with up-to-date information of the services that have already been performed? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if your administrative manager could access that schedule and record who is responsible for which job by what date? And more than that, as each job is finished your administrative manager could check it off, so that at a couple of clicks you can see exactly what’s been done and what needs to be done?

Does it sound too good to be true? Actually, it’s the reality of The Trusted Advisor Toolkit™. Why not register now at no charge for our basic level of membership and check it out?

How to Communicate with New Members of Your Financial Team

Mark Little — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:05:00 +0000

New relationships are tricky. It’s only to be expected that there will be bumps along the way. So, the question arises; how can financial advisors iron out the rough spots with subject matter experts who have just joined the team?

If you expect and anticipate a few rough spots in the beginning, your best response is to schedule regular and frequent discussions over the first few weeks and months with the new team member to assess "how the relationship is unfolding." Both of you must enter into the conversation fully focused on serving the clients’ needs, agreeing on the level of service actually promised to clients and how to deliver it.

Financial advisors and team members must focus on the positive. Think about how both of you benefit from this relationship, thereby creating incentives for each other to honor it. As the financial advisor, your incentive is that you want your new team member’s expertise to work in behalf of your clients. The incentive for the new team member is being offered the opportunity to provide services to your ideal client community. That adds up to a great deal of business.

A nice place to begin the conversation is to describe what is working well. By focusing only upon what is meeting or exceeding expectations, you establish a common ground to build your future relationship upon. Now is not the time to launch into concerns, complaints or any disappointment you may be feeling.

However, you will want to candidly discuss any unexpected situations encountered and work out ways to improve the process as your relationship evolves. Don’t be in a hurry to terminate the relationship. Build on that common ground by clearly articulating in detail what comprehensive financial services mean for your financial organization and then asking your new team member if he or she totally agrees with everything said.

There must be agreement on fundamental points. If not, as the financial advisor, you need to ensure that this relationship really is a good fit. Why not check out this complimentary case study and see how you can follow the footsteps of one financial advisor who implemented full-on comprehensive financial services, thereby creating a highly success financial organization.

How Financial Advisors Should Decide Which Clients They Should Let Go

Mark Little — Thu, 10 May 2012 00:05:00 +0000

Do you feel like you’re juggling a lot of hot potatoes? Now that you’re in the process of resolving who your ideal clients are, do you feel an urgency to get rid of the non-ideal clients quickly so that you don’t get burned? Well, hold on for just a minute…

It’s important to note that not all non-ideal clients are the same. They fall into different categories. By considering that reality, you’ll be able to make a good decision as to what, if anything, you should do with your non-ideal clients once they’re identified.

What may be some of these different categories under which your non-ideal clients can be classified? Here are some ideas to get you started on creating your own list:

I enjoy this client.
I DO NOT enjoy this client.
Client has compensated us significantly through commissions or other methods within the last 12 months.
Client will be forced to pay a penalty for withdrawal (or CDSC) in order to enter our ideal client community.
Client probably has significant assets of which I am unaware.
Client currently pays our minimum annual recurring revenue but is unaware of that fact (trail commissions, renewals, etc.).
Client will meet the ideal client profile within the next 48 months.
Client will unlikely EVER meet our ideal client profile.
Client and I are like family (the idea of disengaging seems unfair to them).
Client doesn’t have sufficient assets to qualify for our minimum annual recurring revenue as a percentage of their assets, but does have the income capacity to pay it.
Client is “fun but hopeless”.
I don’t recall this client, I can’t picture a face.

Do you see how grouping non-ideal clients into categories like these gives you a clearer picture of what to do with these non-ideal clients? Considering that they fall into these different categories, are you now open to the idea that some would be easier to disengage from than others? Wouldn’t a client you dislike or one you don’t recall be easier to disengage from than a client that you love working with?

When you disengage from these clients, you must consider replacing that revenue. The good news is you don’t have to do it all at once. In fact, that could be hazardous to your financial health. When you obtain a new ideal client, look through the list and find non-ideal clients who have a comparable fee and disengage from them. See, you won’t lose any revenue, but you have freed up more time and energy to engage more new clients.

Looking for ideas about finding ideal clients? Check out the complimentary report, The Raw Truth About Referrals and learn how to, first, make yourself absolutely referable.

The Financial Advisor’s Dilemma – Recurring Revenue versus “One Time” Revenue

Mark Little — Tue, 08 May 2012 00:05:00 +0000

As the new financial advisor contestant stands on the stage, the MC shouts, “Do you want door #1 that offers you ONE, up front fee of $5,000 right now?” “Or do you want door #2 where you’ll find a loyal client who’ll work with you for years to come and will pay recurring revenue for your services?”

The crowd goes crazy. Some are shouting, “Take door #1. It’s money in hand.” Others are shouting, “Take door #2. Take door #2” In the noisy confusion, the financial advisor contestant must decide on an option that will change his life forever.

Which door would you choose? Successful financial advisors know that annual recurring revenue is the only answer to build a comprehensive financial practice that supports ideal clients.

But how can you calculate how much annual recurring revenue you can expect from your clients? To come up with the right answer, you need to gather information about every client family you serve and create a spreadsheet so you can see, at a glance, who yields recurring revenue and who doesn’t. Here are things you’ll want to add to your spreadsheet:

List one client family per line. (Don’t list family members on separate lines, but group them together in one.)
Aggregate the accounts and financial products the client secured through you.
Include only revenue you expect to continue in every year.
Exclude all “one-time” revenue or commissions expected.
Sort the list by the recurring revenue with the client expected to yield the largest amount of recurring revenue at the top. Your client expected to yield the least amount of recurring revenue will be at the bottom. (It could easily be $0).
Feel free to create extra columns for yourself if you like (EX: amount of assets under your care, “one-time” revenue or commissions expected).

You now have a clear outline of your ideal clients who will yield annual recurring revenue in the range that you desire. This spreadsheet also reveals who your non-ideal clients are. This is crucial information for financial advisors who want to provide comprehensive financial services to their clients in a way that leaves them feeling totally secure that their financial house in order.

If you take the short-range view and intentionally collect non-ideal clients, you’re going to be frustrated, overworked, and ready to quit. Still not sure how this can be the best model for your financial business? Then check out a special report, How to Put the Most Money in Your Pocket in the Shortest Amount of Time. It’s the right door to pick.

The Top 10 Questions Clients Want to Ask Before Hiring a Financial Advisor

Mark Little — Thu, 03 May 2012 00:05:00 +0000

All financial advisors are interested in acquiring new clients as well as keeping the clients that they already have. Often, it’s helpful from time to time to step back and think like a client to ensure you’re providing the services that they really value.

A number of years ago the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. posted a very helpful article, “How to Choose a Planner.” It contains ten questions that a client should ask a prospective financial advisor before they hire one. Wouldn’t it be good for every financial advisor to have a ready answer prepared, since these are the things on a client’s mind?

Even if you’re a relatively new financial advisor just beginning to build an outsourced team of best-in-class subject matter experts, or you’re in the process of ramping up your practice, you can still give good answers these questions.

The Top 10 Questions Financial Advisors Should Be Able to Answer

1. What experience do you have?

2. What are your qualifications?

3. What services do you offer?

4. What is your approach to financial planning?

5. Will you be the only person working with me?

6. How will I pay for your services?

7. How much do you typically charge?

8. Have you ever been publicly disciplined for any unlawful or unethical actions in your professional career?

9. Could anyone besides me benefit from your recommendations?

10. Can I have it in writing?

How would you answer these questions? Do some of them have you stumped? Get some practical suggestions when you download the mp3 recording, 5 Ideas for Re-engineering Your Practice. Then be sure to get a copy of Ramping it Up, How to Be Worthy of Higher Compensation. It has 56 pages of advice for financial advisors committed to implementing fully comprehensive financial services.

Is Your Financial Team Playing Nicely in the Sandbox with Other Professionals?

Mark Little — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:05:00 +0000

If you’ve ever taken your children to a playground, you can tell right away if there’s a problem. You either hear happy chatter of kids playing together, or you see children clinging to moms, dissolved into tears. All it takes is one bully to wreck the whole atmosphere of a lovely day.

As a financial advisor, one of your jobs is to make sure that everyone on your team has the social skills for working well with others. This includes any professional who has an existing business relationship with your client.

For example, it’s not uncommon for a client to have their own tax person doing their returns. If that’s the case with your client, how can your Tax Subject Matter Expert fulfill his or her role in looking out for the best interests of that client, while allowing their tax person to do his job?

When working with other professionals, your Tax Expert really has two jobs:

Assess whether their tax expert is the best person for the job. Perhaps their tax person did a great job for them 20 years ago, but since your clients have built a $10 million company, they have outgrown their tax person.

Your Tax Expert must assess whether your client’s tax person is a team player.

These two things will help your Tax Expert assess the current relationship between client and their tax person. Only then can a recommendation be made whether the relationship should stay the same or needs to change.

Your Tax Expert isn’t trying to bully his way in and shove out your client’s tax person. That’s not the motivation at all. Your Tax Expert is trying to provide oversight so that the client’s tax person is in the loop and ahead of any issues. Your Tax Expert’s position is to serve. He needs to make that clear because the client’s tax person may be concerned that they’re about to lose the business. They need to know “we’re here to help you service this client better.”

The first conversation reaching out to this tax person can go something like this: “I’m Joe Smith. I’m the tax person on Mark Little’s team. Mark Little has been hired by our joint client Ted and Lynn Smith. I know Ted has told you about us. I just want to introduce myself and let you know about the 20 checkpoints that we’ve committed as a firm to doing for this client.”

As you go through the list, you may find they don’t currently cover something. You could then say, “Since you haven’t been providing an annual tax projection, is that something you’re able and willing to do it, or do you want us to do it? How do you want to handle it?”

If they don’t get some of the checkpoints done, it’s your Tax Expert’s job to make sure it gets done. That’s how financial advisors make sure the team provides comprehensive financial services.

You can learn more about shifting your practice to a fully comprehensive one by checking out this complimentary case study. You’re going to be pleasantly surprised at how easily it can be done.

Are You Disclosing Conflicts of Interest? Trusted Financial Advisors Do!

Mark Little — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:05:00 +0000

How is your client going to feel when they “accidentally” discover that the product they’ve purchased is giving the expert on your team a huge commission? Won’t they feel suspicious and used? Especially if they learn there was an even better product at a lower price available from another agent, but they weren’t given that choice because your expert wanted the commission! Your credibility as a trusted financial advisor has just gone out the window!

On the other hand, how will they feel if you give them proof that this product is exactly what they need to fulfill their dreams? They’re not going to be upset in the least. What makes the difference? The difference is your full-disclosure to them and your ability to demonstrate that you’ve researched all their options.

Your client will feel exceptionally well-cared for and view you as the best financial advisor, if you take the following steps to ensure that they are truly getting the best deals possible:

First, make sure all of your team members agree that they can’t put their own interests ahead of your clients. When giving recommendations, you disclose to your client whether or not there’s a conflict of interest. If you’re paying a flat fee for services to your subject matter expert and there’s no conflict of interest, you’ll want to disclose that fact to your client. If your expert gets a commission from a product that’s being recommended, you want to disclose all the details.

Not only do you tell your clients about the commission, but also for every product you’re going to want to flush out who’s getting paid internal expenses and commissions and how much they are making in exact dollar figures.

Next, shop around for the best deal. Say, for example, there’s a recommendation from your insurance expert. Before your expert can give that recommendation, he or she must talk first with your client’s existing insurance person to get his or her quote. Not only is this a matter of being thorough, often that agent really can give your client the best price and product. Then, your insurance expert will shop it out to five or more insurance agents looking for the best product at the best price.

Finally, after thoroughly investigating the possibilities, a report will be made disclosing all the internal expenses to the client if he chooses to go forward with the purchase. The exact dollar amount for each person benefiting from the purchase must be disclosed. If the client’s current agent quotes a substantially similar price as the rest, it would be good to advise the client to give him the business. Then you’ll want to disclose how much money that agent is going to make from this purchase.

Following these steps will make your clients feel completely secure in your care. They’ll eagerly recommend your services to everyone they know. It’s worth the time and effort to implement a fully disclosed comprehensive financial practice. Why not check out this complimentary case study and see how one financial advisor did it in a short amount of time. You’ll find it’s not too difficult for you, too.

The Key to Exceptional Meetings with Your Clients Is…

Mark Little — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:05:00 +0000

Preparation…preparation…preparation! Since your clients are paying you good money for your services as a financial advisor, you don’t want to be “winging it” when you meet with them. This is where value shows up in your client’s life.

If you’re using The Trusted Advisor Toolkit™, than your clients only have these three touch periods with you during the 3 meeting annual cycle. That’s why a dry-run meeting is so important. In fact it’s essential.

So, what’s involved in a dry-run meeting?

I’ll share with you what I consider to be the basics of what we call The Dry-Run Prep Meeting™. It needs to be scheduled a week to 10 days before the actual client meeting. Information from each team member should be compiled (we recommend using the Greatest Probability Strategy™). Basically, you need to have all of the progress reports, analyses, recommendations, and reviews available. Your Administrative Manager should give him or herself a cushion of time to make sure all the information is collected.

When everything is prepared ahead of time this entire dry-run usually takes about 20 minutes. If your team isn’t prepared, you can expect the meeting to last one hour or even more. This is a waste of everyone’s valuable time so you need to make sure the work is done before you meet.

Ideally your Administrative Manager facilitates The Dry-Run Prep Meeting™. Each team member who has created or updated any meeting-prep materials are encouraged to present and explain the document to the financial advisor. The importance of each item should be described and any action items for your client must be identified. Your team should point out anything interesting or alarming noted while the item was being created or updated. They need to make their case of why they came to their conclusions. This gives the financial advisor an opportunity to decide what materials needs to be corrected, what items should be presented to the client at the meeting, and what should remain in the prep file.

The Dry-Run Prep Meeting™ is really an abbreviated version of the upcoming client meeting, and therefore should follow the agenda and presentation sequence for the actual meeting plan. Sometimes you need to go beyond a dry run and do a full-scale dress rehearsal. Complicated situations, such as selling a highly profitable business, call for the same detail as if you’re doing the real meeting.

The Trusted Advisor Toolkit™ has online meeting plans that make this really easy. Your Administrative Manager can easily load all the information in less than an hour. There’s even a countdown checklist for 60 days out, then 30 days out, then 21, and finally 7-10 days out to make sure all the deliverables are being fulfilled on time by the person assigned. Why not register now at no charge for our basic level of membership to see if it’s a good fit for you?

The Benchmark of Great Financial Advisors

Mark Little — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:05:00 +0000

Anyone wanting to visit one of the great landscapes of North America – Yellowstone, Yosemite, or the Grand Canyon – needs to consult a map to find out its exact location, formulate a timetable for arrival, and plan an itinerary of places to stop along the way. Sure you want to leave room for spontaneity, but without these basic structures you won’t get where you want on time.

To reach your target destination of having a values-based financial planning office that fully supports comprehensive financial services for every ideal client, financial advisors need similar structures. You’re embarking on an exciting journey that will take you great places and you’ll meet wonderful people along the way. However, during the actual journey, there may be times you become discouraged, feeling like you’re never going to arrive.

To stay motivated, it’s good to reassess how far you’ve already come. So here are ten questions that will benchmark your current reality. (Why not write your answers down in detail so you can use this as a point of comparison for the months to come.)

1. What promises are you making to potential ideal clients?

2. On a scale from -10 to +10, with “0” being neutral, what’s your level of quality and consistency in fulfilling these promises?

What are the current client deliverables you offer in the five areas of financial planning, money management, tax, insurance, and estate planning?

How many times per year do you meet with every ideal client?

Are your progress meetings designed to cycle through all the important planning issues for every ideal client annually?

Do you have a check-list driven planning process so nothing is overlooked?

Do you believe you’ve helped all of your ideal clients create the greatest probability of accomplishing their financial goals?

Are your services proactive so your clients don’t miss planning opportunities?

Do you have a highly qualified deliverables team supporting all the services you provide? Please list them along with their duties.

Do your ideal clients feel they’re making smart choices about their money and their “financial house” is in order because you’re their financial advisor?

How far are you from reaching your goals? Is it taking you longer than you want it to? Are you tired of traveling alone? The Trusted Advisor Toolkit™ is designed to give you the tools and support to reach your target destination. You can register now at no charge for our basic level of membership.

Commonsense Wisdom for Financial Advisors Who Want Grow Their Business

Mark Little — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:05:00 +0000

Have you ever noticed that many words of wisdom are framed around chickens? “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” “Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.”

Perhaps it’s because farmers have a no-nonsense, practical approach to doing business. They can’t afford to make costly mistakes and neither can you! This commonsense wisdom holds true for financial advisors – especially if you’re serious about growing your business.

If a chicken farmer wants to earn a living off of egg production, yet he stocked his chicken houses with meat chickens, he will never achieve his goal. Sure, he’ll get a few eggs, but not enough to keep him solvent, because he’s going for the wrong pedigree.

What type of clients do you have stocked in your client portfolio? Are you settling for any client who comes along, or are you selectively choosing to serve your ideal client. Your choice will make the difference between a business that overwhelms you and one that takes care of you and your clients.

There’s another expression: “Birds of a feather flock together.” That means people group together with other people who are like them. So, the best place to find your ideal client is to get a referral from an ideal client. That referral depends a great deal on what kind of financial advisor you are.

Are you the kind of advisor your clients rave about?

Clients will only refer you if you are predictable and consistently perform your job. We’re not talking about investment performance here, but the way you do business, the way your staff treats your clients, the systems and processes you use to deliver results for your clients, the quality of your team. When these things are inconsistent, your clients will never refer because they have no idea what quality of experience their friends, family or colleagues will have.

Many clients have been disappointed by banks, brokers, mutual funds, insurance agents, mortgage brokers and many others in the financial services world who were supposed to “have their back.” If what you’re offering is substantially similar to thousands of other financial advisors, why should a client refer you to his or her friends? And why should those friends go out of their way to switch financial advisors?

You can show yourself to be the rare breed of financial advisor who delivers real and consistent comprehensive financial services. (It’s easy when you use The Trusted Advisor Toolkit™ system of 10 clearly defined Client Deliverables backed up by its 143 Checkpoint System.) Then your ideal clients are more than willing to give referrals that get results.

Would you like some more no-nonsense, practical advice on referrals? Check out the complimentary report, The Raw Truth About Referrals. It shows financial advisors how to ask for referrals in a way that’s totally comfortable for you and your clients.

How Financial Advisors Can Conquer Burn-Out and Enjoy Life

Mark Little — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:05:00 +0000

“All work and no play make Jack a very dull boy.” Haven’t we all heard that before? Maybe you’ve even used it in speaking with your clients. But what’s good for the client is also good for the financial advisor!

Financial advisors need to take time off to enjoy life. Let’s face it, that’s what you’re helping all of your clients to do. You’re trying to help them make wise use of their money so they can do the things that are really important to them. You can’t be a good advocate of that if you’re not taking time for yourself in the same way.

Are you afraid your financial organization will fall apart if you’re not there at the helm? Do you feel like you need to be putting out fires, and keeping everyone on track every day or things just won’t get done? If that’s the case, there are 4 areas to explore:

You need to create a documented process for each situation
You need to review or fix a documented process
You need to firmly impress on your team the need for EVERYBODY to follow the documented process.
You need to seek out a skilled Accountability Coach.

Sometimes when financial advisors are feeling overwhelmed and burned-out, they don’t understand how they got that way, and more importantly how to fix the situation. Key to solving the problem is setting priorities that allow you to accomplish your work while including personal balance.

I know how it is. I’ve been there. What really helped me is the Accountability Coaching I received from my skilled coach, Anne Bachrach. She requires me to do a really helpful exercise regularly.

You can do this exercise right now. First, rate your level of satisfaction, on a scale from 1 to 10, in eight areas of your life – money, career, friends and family, fun, spiritual growth, physical environment, romance and fitness. Now, establish specific goals in each of these areas. Set a time limit that you’ll accomplish them in the upcoming quarter. Here’s where you need an accountability coach to monitor that you fulfill your commitment to yourself.

When a financial advisor rants about being over worked, overwhelmed, out of balance, out of focus or burned-out, it’s time to make a commitment and establish your most important priorities. Then you can build the right practice for you – one that serves you as well as your clients. A great place to start is getting a copy of the free report, “How to Put the Most Money in Your Pocket in the Shortest Amount of Time”. I’d like to hear about your greatest challenges and how you overcome them.

Financial Advisors –Why Short-Term Thinking Sucks the Life Out of Your Business

Mark Little — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:05:00 +0000

When a man is in a swift river, close to drowning, he’ll reach out and grab anything that will keep him afloat. Even a slimy, moss-covered tree limb with rough bark gouging his skin looks good to him. Normally, he wouldn’t touch such a thing, but in this desperate situation he knows his life depends on it, and in his desperation he clings to it.

What about you? As a financial advisor, are you desperately trying to stay afloat, therefore clinging to clients that are far from ideal? Of course, they aren’t necessarily repugnant. You might even be hanging on to them because you have sentimental feelings since they’ve been with you from the first and they feel like family. And you reason that they do bring in a minimal amount of revenue.

Since that’s revenue in hand, you may be thinking that that’s better than nothing. However, that’s extremely short-term thinking. How can it be better when it’s the reason you’re not able to reach your goals? You would be like the man clinging stubbornly to the limb who, when the coast guard arrives, refuses to let go of the limb so that they can assist him into the boat.

Yes, it’s scary in that moment to let go. The transition to a fully ideal client community isn’t without strong emotions. But it starts with where you focus. Will you focus on the limb holding you up in the river? Or will you focus on being warm, dry, and back with your family, ready to use your strength to help others?

Where do you see your business and your life a year from now? Five years from now? Where do you live? What wonderful things have you experienced? Whose lives have you helped to improve? How happy is your family? How is your health?

Think in the long-term not only of the vision you have for your life and business, but also of your revenue. Don’t be clinging to the short-term revenue. Focus on recurring revenue. That way you don’t have to go through the entire long and exhausting sales cycle to get it.

You may have a ready story about the super-short, super profitable sale you just made or new client that just fell into your lap. But you need to divide that income by all of the time, effort and expense you invested in all of the sales and marketing activities that DIDN’T pay off. Getting a new client takes a lot of time and serving that client properly takes even more time. If the revenue doesn’t recur, you’re being sucked down that river.

Every non-ideal client a financial advisor takes on slows you down and sucks your time with compliance issues, emails, phone calls and meetings. They also suck staff time, creating frustration and delays for your ideal clients.

If you’re a financial advisor who wants to get out of the river, and get on with building the business and life you envision, get access now to your complimentary copy of “How to Put the Most Money in Your Pocket in the Shortest Amount of Time”. It’s the rescue you’ve been waiting for.

Financial Advisors – Are You Cheating Your Clients?

Mark Little — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:05:00 +0000

No one likes to be called a cheat. And let me say right up front, I’m not accusing anyone of being a cheat. Within our profession, I’m very confident that financial advisors are conscientious, hardworking and honest.

However, there may be times when a financial advisor might inadvertently be cheating clients. How so? Isn’t it true that you promised to provide comprehensive financial services to your clients? For many of them, you’re doing just that. (If you’re using The Trusted Advisor Toolkit™ you have the advantage of utilizing a system that allows you to successfully cover all 143 checkpoints.)

But what about those non-ideal clients that you’re hanging on to because you just can’t bring yourself to having a conversation that politely disengages from them? Are you really meeting with them and reviewing their affairs regularly? Or are they getting ignored? If you’re not giving your non-ideal clients the services and attention they need, doesn’t that amount to cheating them?

And what effect is there on your business from attempting to offer all non-ideal clients fully comprehensive financial services? Are you running the risk of straining your resources to the detriment of your ideal client community? Even if you pulled it off, your quality of life would suffer. Then whom are you cheating?

The reality is that these clients, perhaps even some long-time clients that helped launch your firm, are now preventing you from adequately serving those clients who meet your Ideal Client Profile. It’s time for you to decide, like all comprehensive financial advisors, what’s in the best interest of your growing ideal client community.

You’d actually be doing your non-ideal clients greater justice by finding another competent financial advisor who is at an earlier stage in his or her career and can spend the time and attention these clients deserve.

In reality, disengaging from non-ideal clients – while sometimes uncomfortable – is often less uncomfortable than anticipated. No matter how long the relationship has lasted, once a financial advisor candidly shares the decision to politely disengage, and explains how this is in the non-ideal client’s best interests, clients react the way people almost always react; they move on with very little fanfare and seldom look back.

If you want to learn what makes clients ultra happy and how to make your business more profitable, get access now to your complimentary copy of “How to Put the Most Money in Your Pocket in the Shortest Amount of Time”. It will lead you to the best decision you’ve ever made.

Financial Advisors - Create Order in Even the Most Chaotic Office

Mark Little — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:05:00 +0000

When you walked into your office this morning, did you find your administrative manager answering the phone with, “Yeah? Whaddya want?” Did your frustration rise as you walked to your office to discover your desk piled with notes with questions from team members asking how to do something that you’ve already explained 20 times?

Maybe your office isn’t that chaotic…

But many financial advisors wonder how they can get their office to run smoothly without having to micro-manage their team. If you’re having trouble getting others to understand or conform to your requirements, remember the key. Document every single process in your organization!

Maybe you’re thinking, “Mark, you don’t mean financial advisors need to document even the small things like how to answer the phone, send an email or create a coversheet for a fax?” Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. That’s the only way you’ll get consistent results. It doesn’t have to be complicated and you don’t have to get so bogged down in details that it becomes silly. However, you do need to record the essentials.

Take for example…how many steps would you record for your process of answering the phone? For my firm, it boils down to six steps. (You can click here to listen to a video about how to document this process or any other in 20 minutes or less.)

Think about how much time is saved when you standardize a process for filling out the subject line when team members email each other. If anyone has to refer back to a specific email, hours can be spent searching through thousands of unnamed or strangely named emails, or you can go straight to the one needed. By designating that the subject line is filled out according to Client Name and Topic, or Topic and Question, you’ll easily find entries like: Joe Smith Car Insurance Update, My Vacation June 3-12, Tax Question Dependants. Think about the time and frustration you’ll save!

When documenting your processes, the first you prepare should be the ones that affect the client experience. That way you’ll be providing consistent results for every single client, every single time. That’s a very valuable service that sets you apart from other financial advisors.

Financial advisors strive to document processes within 12 months of using the Trusted Advisor Toolkit™. However, there are two more steps you need in order to create order out of chaos. Read about them in a new free report, Three Master Steps to Total Office Control.

If you’re not already a member of The Trusted Advisor Toolkit™, you can register now at no charge. Then you’ll have access to a library full of complimentary information that makes a financial advisor’s life so much easier!

Financial Advisors –Master this New Language in One Day

Mark Little — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:05:00 +0000

If you’re a financial advisor who’s new to this website, you may encounter phrases and terms that are foreign to you. Until you understand them, the information isn’t going to be as useful to you. Once you master them, however, using The Trusted Advisor Toolkit™ will become so much simpler.

For example, did you know…?

The Five Critical Reports™ are five simple reports, one for each major area of finance. These reports enable financial advisors to update every Subject Matter Expert on your Deliverables Team about an ideal client's current circumstances.

What should financial advisors accomplish at The Deliverables Team Round-table™? This is the Dry-run Prep Meeting™ prior to The FRM Update™. It’s special because of the presence (often via an online meeting) of all Deliverables Team Members discussing the merits of a client's plan, methods of accelerating results, hidden risks to the plan and conducting peer-review of all.

How can The FRM Update™ help a financial advisor? It’s the third meeting out of three meetings in The Three Meeting Process™; aka The Annual Review. In addition to the routine progress meeting agenda items, the focus areas are the review of recommendations resulting from a full update of the clients financial plan projections as well as an update of the client's cash reserve target and debt reduction plan.

Yes, it can be rather dry and tedious memorizing terms and definitions. There’s an easier and faster way to learn. Make a game out of it! It stimulates your brain to learn quickly and since it’s fun, you’ll spend more time doing it. In no time at all you’ll be the financial advisor who has mastered the terms in The Trusted Advisor Toolkit™. We’ve already done that for you by creating an online game.

Here’s a link to the game (Flashcards: comprehensive financial services) and here’s how it works. In front of you is the first of 34 flashcards covering terms you’ll need to know. You can choose to view the term and its definition, the term first and then definition, or definition first and then the term. Study the card and then click the forward arrow on the right side of the card to move on to the next flashcard.

After you’ve gone through all 34 terms, you’ll begin to put terms and definitions together in your mind. When you’re ready, try playing the game and see how fast you can get. Maybe you’ll get so good you can beat my record at Scatter of 46.9 seconds. Have fun!

Yes, I know providing comprehensive financial services is serious business. We do take it very seriously here in The Trusted Advisor Toolkit™. That’s why we’ve done all the work for you so you can quickly implement this turnkey process. At the same time we try to make it easy and enjoyable along the way. You can register for a basic membership now at no charge.