Now it is your turn…to provide feedback! Each month I host the Expert Series Interview as a means to share resources and knowledge with you in building your business or your life. The interviews began in July of 2012 and have featured a variety of speakers and topics. We asked for your feedback earlier this year and we want to thank those who participated. We learned that we were on target for most of what …
Ninth Article in the Series: Efficiency and Productivity For this last message in the series on “Efficiency and Productivity,” I want to talk about time management. Why? Because the only mention of it came in the first article of this series, Making the Most of It. You might have thought we would be delving into topics on managing your calendar, time blocking, e-mail, etc. Yet throughout this series, there has not been a single message …
In addition to helping my clients recognize and seize their potential, I also work to do the same with my horse Usache as we train in the art of dressage. Since training horses is not my profession, I seek expert guidance from my trainer, Marie Morgan of Solstice Farms. In a recent lesson learning a movement on the ground we had never done before, I asked for Marie’s feedback. “Are we doing the right thing …
Eighth Article in the Series: Efficiency and Productivity “Can I give you some feedback?” This question strikes fear in the heart of most of us, yet it can provide us with invaluable insight if we are open to it. Last week’s topic dealt with Building a Client Experience by asking for feedback from our clients. In terms of feedback, it is a bit easier to swallow if we initiate and ask for the feedback. We …
Feedback is tough, especially when it’s the truth. Yet sometimes it is just what we need to take that next step. We must ask and be willing to listen to consider the input, the other person’s perspective and what it means to the service we are providing. Soliciting feedback is not a casual or off-the-cuff undertaking. Careful thought needs to go into the questions we ask in order to solicit the feedback we need – …
Seventh Article in the Series: Efficiency and Productivity Last week’s message focused on Serving It Up, that is, developing a process for ensuring your Ideal Client has a rich, personalized, meaningful experience with your firm. As every firm has a unique client base and service offering, the message laid out only general steps for a service plan. It is up to you to personalize that plan to meet your Ideal Clients needs and expectations. Do …
Last week I attended the FPA Houston Symposium and was delighted to listen to Michael Kitces, CFP® (he has many more initials I’ve omitted for brevity) speak on the future of the financial advice industry. Yes, technology will impact how we as an advisor serve our clients, removing barriers such as geography. What then becomes even more important is how we differentiate our service and the experience we deliver. Early this week, I listened to a futurist …
Sixth Article in the Series: Efficiency and Productivity In conjunction with culling your client list, you will also be developing and refining your plan for serving your Ideal Clients. This is a big step in the efficiency and productivity you seek to achieve. A service plan for your Ideal Clients begins with your initial meeting to discuss working together and generally includes the following steps: Pre-screening initial call to determine if meeting is appropriate Initial …
Clutter was the subject of Life In First Person a couple weeks ago. I shared this observation: “Others of us are oblivious to the amount of clutter we have.” Oblivious? Yes, we can all get used to that mess of a desk or the disorganized closet, yet deep down inside we know it exists. There is also a form of clutter that we have a harder time seeing — the kind of clutter we call …
Fifth Article in the Series: Efficiency and Productivity In our ongoing analysis of your client list, likely the most challenging conversation will be the one involving the Big Hitter Client. The Big Hitter Client is a great revenue producer. But at times, they can cost you more than the revenue produced. Here’s how: If the Big Hitter Client does not utilize most of the services you provide, and in fact, requires more and different services …
Last week I attended Bob Veres’ Insider’s Forum conference in Dallas, TX. The conference addressed three primary areas of focus for financial services firms: the CEO role and leadership; the CIO role and investments; and the COO role and operations. An overarching theme of the conference was the future of financial services firms and succession planning. We heard from those who have been succeeded as well as their successors and from consultants on what makes …
Fourth Article in the Series: Efficiency and Productivity Continuing on with the evaluation of your non-ideal clients, we come to the No-Fit Client. The No-Fit Client does not match up with any of your Ideal Client parameters. Perhaps you inherited the client or developed the relationship prior to establishing your Ideal Client profile. Use the following steps to evaluate this client: Is the client profitable for you? Are their service needs in line with the …
Clutter. We all have it. For some of us, we derive a feeling of importance from it. Others of us can’t imagine parting with any of it. Others of us are oblivious to the amount of clutter we have. Clutter is physical. Open that hall closet. Yes, it is the same feeling every time…overwhelm and I just can’t deal with it now. Yet once you clear the clutter from the closet, how great do you …
Third Article in the Series: Efficiency and Productivity Last week’s message introduced the concept of culling your client list and described three types of non-ideal clients. The Pseudo Ideal Client fits your Ideal Client profile on all parameters, except one. If your challenge is the second-guesser client, schedule a meeting to have a frank conversation about your relationship. Share that you feel that your work is not valued and you are concerned that you are …
You know what you want, yet it remains just out of reach. If only you could just stretch a bit farther, and there, almost…no. It remains just out of reach. Sometimes what hinders us is not our ability to stretch but our inability to release ourselves from the grasp of things that bind us. Sometimes physical, but most often mental, these ties that bind are simply ourselves keeping us from what we desire. Perhaps it …
Second Article in the Series: Efficiency and Productivity One of the most challenging conversations I have with financial advisors is that involving the client list. While the advisor/rainmaker would like to add to the client list, there are obligations to serve the clients the advisor already works with. This adds to the conundrum of too little time to market and identify new Ideal Clients. It is also likely contributing to workflow issues in your team …
“Labor Day is over. Time to start thinking about the holidays.” Yes, this a paraphrase of a marketing piece I recently received. On one hand, the company promoting this is correct. If you hope to accomplish something in your business by year-end, your plans better be in place fast. On the other hand, if you are living your life like this, it is time to stop…NOW! Stop now and be in the present with your …
First Article in the Series: Efficiency and Productivity Once you commit to serving an Ideal Client type or two, you can now turn your energies to increasing the efficiency and productivity of your work. In the many conversations that I have with financial advisors, efficiency and productivity is where they want to start. It seems an obvious place to begin. “If I just had more hours in the day, I could _______________” (fill in the …
Since mid-April we have been exploring and developing this concept of the Ideal Client. If you have followed along, you have a well-defined marketing plan for working with clients you enjoy, providing a service they value. You are finding that you have more time in your schedule; that your outreach efforts for new clients are “effortless” and you have more space and resources to do the other things you love in life. Oh, that hasn’t …
Sixth Article in the Series: Attracting Your Ideal Client The title of this week’s newsletter is a play on words. It is the end of this series on attracting your Ideal Client. Yet, it also represents a concept you need to embrace (I am full of word play today!) in working with your Ideal Client. The idea of embracing — wrapping up your Ideal Client — is what I am talking about here. No, I …