24 Soft Succession Planning Issues That Will Make The 7 Hard Succession Planning Issues 2 X Harder If Not Addressed

January 14, 2013 by Simon · 1 Comment

Soft Succession Issues

Practice Valuation – What makes the practice worth more or less?

Business Plan to include Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies and Actions
Computer systems
Time management plan
Information management system
Policies, procedures and practices
Employee job descriptions and rolls, entrance and exit interviews
Quarterly review process with employees
Associate advisors that specialize in life insurance and money
Support staff that specializes in the life insurance and money
Client engagement process that includes needs analysis and cross selling
Client relationship management system
Client segmentation complete with scheduled review meetings for A, B and C clients
Marketing plan
Website
Social media presence on LinkedIn
Monthly newsletter
Referral system
Seminar marketing system

Issues / Landmines

Why have a Succession Plan?
Exit strategy timeline
Selecting the successor
What are your values, behaviors, competencies, skills? Values are why you do what you do and behaviors are how you do what you do. An advisor will likely attract clients that have similar values and behaviors to their own so the successor will likely require the same values and behaviors in kind.
Conflict resolution plan
Keeping clients through the succession

Hard Succession Issues

Valuation
Financial plan
Tax implications
Contingency plan to ensure survival of the business in case of illness, accidents and that
Corporate structure and transfer methods
Business valuation
Inventory

Filed under: Customer Service, Practice Management, Sales & Marketing, Values Discovery Process, Vision & Planning
Tagged: financial advisor blog, Financial Advisor Coach

22 Business Planning Questions For 2013

January 7, 2013 by Simon · Leave a Comment

Welcome back to my blog. My wish for you at the beginning of this year is that you meet and exceed your goals for 2013.

Laura and I have been off since December 22nd and this is our first day back to work and we have a full coaching week ahead of us.

We have just returned from having 16 days off and I plan to write about The 3 Best Time Management Strategies That We Used In 2012 in next Monday’s blog on January 14th.

Until then, here are 22 Business Planning Questions For 2013 to help you to meet and exceed your goals for 2013.

22 Business Planning Questions For 2013

Where have you been successful in the past?
What were your greatest successes in 2012?
What were you most grateful for in 2012?
How can you expand upon the successes of 2012?
How did you evolved in 2012?
Who did you become in 2012?
Who are the people in your life that have made the biggest difference to you in 2012?
What were your mistakes in 2012?
What lessons have you learned from the mistakes you made in 2012?
What ideas from 2012 did you not act on?
Which of the ideas that you have will you go forward with in 2013?
What opportunities exist for you in 2013?
How can you capitalize on your opportunities in 2013?
What threats exist in 2013?
How can you minimize the threats or turn the threats into opportunities?
What currently works well in your business?
How can you improve upon what is not working well in your business?
What doesn’t work well in your business?
What important things do you want to accomplish or change about your business during 2013?
How do you solve the problems in your business?
What items on your list could be accomplished more easily with the help of other people?
What could you do that would bring more joy into your daily life and what do you need to do to get that started?

Filed under: Vision & Planning
Tagged: financial advisor blog, Financial Advisor Coach

Michael A. Healey Blog Everybody Wake Up Is Well Worth The Read

December 6, 2012 by Simon · Leave a Comment

Everybody Wake Up (if you’re living with your eyes closed)

It is a beautiful sunny day in Vancouver today, cold and crisp, as nice as one can hope for in November. This morning I got a bit of early start as I didn’t have to take my kids to school. As I made my way downtown, listening to some of my favourite music at the customary “these go to 11” volume in my car, I was looking forward to my day – a 9 am client meeting, a planning meeting with my committee for our local chapter of Advocis, some business planning, lunch with a colleague, and one more client meeting mid-afternoon. At the end of my work day, a chance to see my 5 year old son on the ice playing hockey. Feeling great. A perfect Friday.

As I drove north down Burrard Street past 4^th Avenue, I saw something that looked out of place. A car in the southbound lanes facing the wrong way, perhaps a fender bender. As I slowly approached the scene, a single red shoe lay in the middle of the northbound center lane, probably 50 to 60 feet from the turned-around BMW. Then a few people on cell phones. No emergency vehicles around; this must have just happened. As I came up beside the turned-around BMW, I noticed the passenger door was open and a woman was sitting in the passenger seat. For a split second, I was relieved. It didn’t appear as though anyone was injured. For a split second. And then I saw what lay in front on the car – remnants of what once had been a motorcycle, and a person lying motionless on the ground. Several bystanders had gathered, and the individual was being attended to by a few of them. Help was obviously on its way.

So much for a perfect Friday. My heart immediately sunk, and down went the volume on the car stereo. What was the motorcyclist thinking just minutes ago? Very likely something along the lines of my earlier thoughts – nice day, sun is shining, etc. I am quite certain that the individual wasn’t planning on being involved in an accident. And from the looks of it, a very, VERY bad one at that.

This brought my thoughts around to what it is that I really do. I sell life insurance. I sell long term disability insurance. I sell critical illness insurance. No one plans on the premature death, or the accident, or the illness. But these things happen. Often when we least expect them to.

So here is what I hope. I hope that the motorcyclist was not seriously injured (although it certainly didn’t seem that way). I hope that the motorcyclist doesn’t have family, especially children that depend on him or her. I hope that the motorcyclist had taken proper steps to ensure that he or she and his or her family would survive financially, if something like this were to ever happen. I hope that my hopes are correct. My experience, however, leads me to think otherwise.

PLEASE, stop saying “It won’t happen to me”. I hope it doesn’t. But it may. Are you prepared? Are your plans up to date?

Click here to contact Michael A. Healey, B.A., CFP, CLU, CHS

Filed under: Clear Your Roadblocks
Tagged: Clear Your Roadblocks, financial advisor blog

Are You Unconsciously Creating Pushback From Your Prospects And Clients?

November 22, 2012 by Simon · Leave a Comment

Unresolved unmet needs within an advisor creates push back from prospects and clients because they fuel the unmet needs within the prospect that they are trying to serve. This in turn segues into “thoughts are real forces” because the unconscious advisor:

Feels the lack of approval from the client because they cannot do enough for the prospect or client
Feels a loss of control of the client because the client will do the opposite that the advisor wants the prospect or the client to do
Feels unsafe because the advisor didn’t get the sale
Feels unworthy because the advisor leaves the unclosed sale thinking that there is something wrong with them and if only they would have done, this, this or that, maybe they could have closed the sale

Filed under: Clear Your Roadblocks
Tagged: Clear Your Roadblocks, financial advisor blog, Financial Advisor Coach

Does Your Phone Dream When You Shut It Off?

November 20, 2012 by Simon · Leave a Comment

November 21st marks one month until December 21st, the last working Friday before December 25th.

Plan to take the 16 days from December 22nd to January 6th off by blocking out your time for free time, prospect & client time and project time, list your projects and estimate the time to complete them and block them in your time management system.

This whole process will also create the time for you to use some of the project block time to turn off your phone and create your dreams for 2013 and beyond.

Filed under: Vision & Planning
Tagged: financial advisor blog

The Struggling Financial Advisor

November 6, 2012 by Simon · Leave a Comment

Filed under: Clear Your Roadblocks
Tagged: Clear Your Roadblocks, financial advisor blog

In 10 Weeks, What Will You Do With 16 Days Off?

October 17, 2012 by Simon · Leave a Comment

It’s Tuesday, October 16th and I am flying to Saskatoon to speak at Advocis North Saskatchewan on Wednesday and then I’ll fly to Regina to speak at Advocis South Saskatchewan on Thursday and I will fly home the same day.

It’s 10 weeks to the holidays and if you plan it right, Friday, December 21st will be your last day of work until Monday, January 7th, 2013.

I’m using this flight time to plan this and blog about it at the same time.

This has been an extraordinary year for Leading Advisor and I’ll leave my list to give thanks for, for a future blog.

Here’s my list of what I am committed to completing by Friday, December 21st:

ID Block Time to complete the following …. That is the key, block the time and the rest will take care of itself
Continue to provide our clients with extreme care
Continue to focus on our 2013 speaking marketing plan
Integrate our Budget Cash Flow, Sales Activity Calculator and CRM
Complete and Launch the new Values Discovery Process Product
Convert E-Newletter from AWeber to Infusionsoft
Write E-Newletters for October – December
Complete and Launch the new One Page Business Plan Product Video
Complete NAIFA Las Vegas Marketing
Complete Infusionsoft Training
Update the colors of our PowerPoints
Identify Unique Prospect Lists for Infusionsoft Campaigns
Replace or Update CRM
Upgrade my Information Management System
Purchase iPad Film Mount and learn to film with iPad
Finish learning Camtasia
Organize Office / Filming
Hire USA Accountant
Give written thanks for everything that Leading Advisor has accomplished in 2012
Acknowledge each Leading Advisor team member for a job well done
Review Job Descriptions and create 2013 Delegation Plan
Review our 2012 One Page Business Plan
Write our 2013 One Page Business Plan
Write our 2013 Social Media Plan