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Questions for Greg:
Greg, How can I shorten the financial planning process and complete a plan in less than six months without causing additional anxieties for my clients and create more revenue?
Steve S
Dallas, TX
Greg: Organization and execution are key. So often, advisors do not run their practice in a systemized method. After all, you are a business model. However, all too often, a business is run reactive, instead of proactive. By placing step by step systems in place as reminders for you in terms of execution of the financial planning process and at the same time, providing the client step by step processes that the client will participate in, you are able to eliminate confusion on both sides of the desk. We live in an "On Time Delivery" world and the financial advisor can no longer hide behind the concept that the plan takes a tremendous amount of time to prepare it. Also, the advisor should provide a thorough plan and not some short version that is a marketing substitute the advisor or his/her firm calls a plan. Today's client should have the plan back to them in no later than two weeks if the advisor is organized. Keep in mind, that any advisor is welcome to figure out the steps needed to make financial planning a profitable revenue stream for the practice and at the same time, a tremendous experience for the client. At fiSMART, we have programs already designed to give the advisor the step by step procedures to make this happen. Thanks for asking this question.
Do your systems and processes work for a solo practice advisor or is it just for a multi-advisor organization?
JT
Knoxville, TN
Greg: This is a great question that many advisors are trying to answer. There are key successful business model formulas that an advisor needs to put in place to make this transition. So often the
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advisor focuses so much on the transition phase that they do not see what other services they could add that would make this much easier. One of those services is financial planning. By bringing this new service to your practice ,you can add tremendous value to your clients and create an educational experience for both the clients and you. So often, the advisor will discover needs and assets that he/ she didn't know the client even had. Let me ask you a question? Are you ethical, have integrity, and truly care about your clients? If you answered yes, then why are you allowing your client to do business with anyone else? It didn't take me long to see that the clients financial future was piece mealed among other professionals who didn't have all the information the client needed in order to make a great decision? Needless to say, this process alone generated more revenue for my practice as the client consolidated all their assets with me...insurance, long term care, mortgage, and transactional business that was moved into fee-based accounts that were managed far better than the previous situation. This created a win/ win situation that was in the best interest of the client. Most advisors want to move their current asset base from transactional to fee-based overnight without discussing the client's whole financial picture with them. The new assets and revenue streams along with evaluation of the current assets that need to be moved into fee based accounts enable an advisor to upgrade their practice without taking a reduction in revenue. Once again, the advisor of today is not a sole production process. Each advisor is a business model that needs to run like a business regardless of the financial institution the advisor works with daily.
How did you avoid a drop in revenue when you converted your business to fee-based?
B. Jackson
Baltimore, MD
All our systems and processes at fiSMART work for all types of practices whether it is a solo practice or a multi-advisor practice. After all, most advisors in this industry started off solo. However, at some point, an advisor has to determine how he/she needs to grow their business, not just in revenue ,but also, in services to the client and quality of life for both the client and the advisor. So often, this is where an advisor doesn't discuss and analyze their future in terms of the stress, anxiety, frustration, that can occur with the decisions being made. That is why we like to share our mistakes as well as our successes so that the advisor can relate to the possibilities or repercussions that can occur from that decision. It also allows us to show the advisor how to work through those decisions much more quickly and with far more confidence. In essence, regardless of what type or stage the advisor is at, we can bring great advice and value to the table.
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