By Jonathan Bernstein, CIMA, Stringer Asset Management
Over the past two decades we have been very fortunate to have worked with some very successful advisory practices.
The diversity and entrepreneurial nature of the financial advisory business coupled with the generosity of many willing to share their experiences has given us a valuable glimpse into the some of the day to day business practices of some of the best and brightest.
The following five represent just a small subset of the business practices that every advisor knows they should do, however, many simply don’t execute on these principles. Therefore, we thought it would be timely to discuss five business practice principles for financial advisors that we believe get overlooked.
1) MEET WITH ALL YOUR CLIENTS MORE OFTEN
Stay constantly engaged in discovery. Life moves fast and your existing clients have ever-evolving needs that you likely will not know about without asking.
Every six months, consider sitting down with you clients to discuss changing jobs and income, concerns about family medical needs, along with college costs, health care and life insurance. These evolutions may change a client’s goals and ideas about their lifestyle in the future.
The best meetings you may have with your clients start with your sitting down with them and asking, “What’s going on in your life?”
2) SET AT LEAST ONE MEETING EACH DAY
It can be overwhelming trying to think about how to prospect for new business and fill your pipeline with people you actually want to do business with.
Some advisors take a targeted approach with niche marketing, advertising, hard mailings, and email marketing campaigns. These all have merits but can be overwhelming projects that take ample time and planning. At the end of the day it’s just like eating an elephant, you must approach it one bite at a time.
Try to not get overwhelmed but instead focus on what one successful financial advisor told me: “My job is simple. Every day, I try to set one appointment. It fills my calendar and ensures that I am engaged in relationship building every day.
Sometimes the meetings don’t get me anywhere, some have led to lifelong friendships and some I view as having made my career.” It’s much easier to figure out how to call around to get a meeting than it is to figure out how you are going grow your business 20%.
3) ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING