Proud Card Carrying Member Of Advocis Since 2005 Blog

March 25, 2013 by Simon · Leave a Comment

Filed under: Testimonials
Tagged: Advocis, Financial Advisor Coach

The Secret To Being A Successful Financial Advisor

March 20, 2013 by Simon · Leave a Comment

The secret to being a successful financial advisor isn’t about what you do and how you do it; it is about why you do what you do

Why you do what you do comes from inspiration.

Inspiration is based on values like communication, listening and wisdom. These are the core of all positive beliefs and feelings. Inspiration is sustainable because it is driven from within.

Motivation is based on unmet needs like recognition, safety and worthiness. These are the core of all negative beliefs and emotions. Motivation is not sustainable because it is driven from the outside trying to medicate the unmet need with people, places and things.

What are the practice management issues that many advisors are facing? No business plan, no goals, in overwhelm and not asking for referrals just to name a few.

Business Plan and Goals – The unmet need of safety generates the negative beliefs of “I don’t have enough time” and “I don’t have enough money” which fuel the negative emotions of anxiety and fear … hence, the advisor is addicted to survival. It is impossible to build a strong set of values, vision, business plan and goals with this happening. A learned advisor said; “most financial advisors are addicted to selling and they will not take the time to build a vision, business plan and goals”.

In Overwhelm – The unmet need of control generates the negative beliefs of “I am out of control” and “no one can do it as good as me” which contributes to the negative emotion of fear. The Law Of Attraction is absolute and with the unmet need of control fueling the negative beliefs and negative emotions, the financial advisor unwittingly will not delegate and if they do, no one will ever be able to do the job as good as them. The unmet needs become their jailor.

Asking For Referrals – Ninety percent of advisors agree that asking for referrals is the number one way to build their business and only fifteen percent actually ask for referrals on a consistent basis. The challenge is the unmet need of approval which generates negative beliefs like “what if they say no” which fuel negative emotions like uncertainty and worry.

“Values are like turtles, they only come out when it is safe”. Unmet needs will dominate ones values, vision, business plan, goals and ability to grow until the unmet need is met from within.”

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

A Tough Love Time Management Message

March 11, 2013 by Simon · Leave a Comment

We discussed blocking out free time, buffer time and focus time for the year and I wonder why you do not want to do this. In a way it’s like the client that doesn’t want to do a financial plan and this could be because subconsciously they could be afraid that there isn’t going to be enough and by not doing the financial plan it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy; you attract what you avoid.

Although you may have balance in your life, I wonder if your time management schedule looks like that of a seasoned 35-year veteran. The 35-year veteran enjoys the extra time with family and holidays and outside activity because they made the investment in marketing in the early days of the business.

By you blocking out your free days, buffer days and focus days it will make you more conscious of where your time is going and you may very well be comfortable with the free day, buffer day and focus day schedule that you had in 2011 and 2012 carried through into 2013, or not.

To this end please find the following time management documents that should be viewed in this order. As a demonstration by example please note my 2013 Leading Advisor Free Days, Buffer Days and Focus Days Example;

Time Management Article
Time Management – 13 Steps to Time Management Article
Getting Out Of Overwhelm Article
Manage Your Time Article

Budget Time Flow Instructions
2011 Leading Advisor Free Days, Buffer Days and Focus Days Example
2013 Leading Advisor Free Days, Buffer Days and Focus Days Example
2013 Wall Calendar Free Days, Buffer Days and Focus Days Template
Schedule Monday – Sunday Example

This is a tough love conversation. You know the expression, what you resists persists. With a kind heart, all I’m asking you to do is schedule out your free days, buffer days and focus days and schedule in some marketing time. What gets scheduled gets acted upon.

Filed under: Vision & Planning
Tagged: Financial Advisor Coach, time management for financial advisors

6 Mistakes To Avoid Before Creating A Succession Plan or Business Plan

January 28, 2013 by Simon · Leave a Comment

Filed under: Vision & Planning
Tagged: business plan, Financial Advisor Coach

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?