The Power of Process

As CEO and President of Freedom Wealth Alliance. I have had the privilege of attending the Annual Barron’s conference on a regular basis. This event is, in my opinion a gathering of the greatest minds in our industry. A virtual who’s who of the wealth management industry. What I find most rewarding is the free and open exchange of ideas from these industry icons. I frequently return with a best of breed list of ideas that consumes my entire year until I return to the conference again.  After almost three decades of being a financial advisor just like you. The most valuable advice I can offer, is based on the “Power of Process”.

A well designed and executed process over time will be more valuable than a product, attitude or opinion. Process drives client satisfaction, referrals, and ultimately your success as an advisor. The powerful combination of a structured process and exceptional service separates the most successful advisors form the mediocre.

Since we are in the service industry, it makes sense to first look at what your clients need, want, and expect.

Need: Clients need a defined service model that ensures their needs are understood, and action points are taken throughout the changes in their life. Sadly, financial advisors often rely too heavily on asset management to justify their fee income. This results in an advisory service gap. Regulators are demanding these service gaps be filled or fees should be reduced accordingly.

Want: Clients want you to know about their life’s goals and objectives. They rarely just hire you for asset management, they can get that anywhere. Clients don’t just want you to tell them when they can retire, but how it will look and how will it feel. They want a vested, integrated partner to embrace their dreams and worries with them throughout their entire journey.

Expect: Clients expect you to advise on issues such as tax and estate planning, retirement income, risk management and a host of other issues. Everyone has minimum expectations for service. If you don’t deliver, your clients will find another advisor that can. If you over deliver, your clients and your business will achieve levels you have only dreamed of. Truth or Dare? Be honest in answering this one. Are you confident your service model bulletproofs you from a top tier advisor?? I dare you to deliver an advisor best practice service model to your clients. Let us show you how!