The role of VP of Brand/Service is a very important one. This person is responsible for brand consistency through:

Your Brand is proactive client contact (12-4-2), rapid response to client’s issues and multi-generational planning.

“It is very difficult to have consistent proactive client contact without ongoing segmentation.”

Plan an annual review of your book of clients, min/max and ideal day. Every year increase your minimum and aim to reproduce those top 10 – 20% of clients. This keeps your business from plateauing.

Rapid response is important to clients. If they have a problem and call your office during business hours between monthly meetings you will return their call in 1 hour and resolve their issue in 24 hours or get back to them as to when it will be resolved. Clients will be thrilled by your attention to detail.

FAs turn over their calendar to their relationship manager or administrative assistant. This makes that person the ideal candidate for the role of VP of Brand/Service. After the FA makes the initial contact with a client explaining the 12-4-2 calls the AA will contact the client to set up their time. The client will be given a number of choices for a set monthly time (the second Tuesday of the month at 10 AM, for example).

Compliance is a natural addition as the organizational duties provide a natural high compliance posture. Regular client contact, rapid response to problems, networking opportunities in writing and executive summaries of agreed upon action (follow up meeting emails) all eliminate compliance issues. Keeping track of all the correspondence and putting it into a CRM system or permanent client record will give you added insurance in case of a compliance issue.

Standard: Proactive client service (12-4-2), segmenting as needed, rapid response and follow up to client contact for compliance.

Strategy: Create your ideal day and schedule clients for monthly meetings accordingly. Return client phone calls within 1 hour during regular business hours and resolve their issues in a timely manner. Annually review your min/max and segment as needed.

Goals: Every client is scheduled for a static monthly appointment, inquiries are answered immediately, compliance regulations are met.

Follow Up: Number of client appointments is measured using the Gameboard at the weekly team meeting.

There are a lot of advantages of having your team members take responsibility for different areas of your business. If you are a sole practitioner you and your administrative staff will be responsible for the VP roles.

This week we will review the role of the VP of Implementation. What are the qualities of a good implementor?

Here is an interesting example of a team that has done this well. One of the teams I coached specializes in retired 55 – 70 year old couples from Proctor and Gamble looking for income along with growth. The VP of Implementation was able to create an investment matrix that applied to that niche. The clients were ensured of a consistent outcome and the team avoided inconsistencies in performance that might have impacted their overall returns.

This VP is responsible to make sure all parts of the plan are implemented consistently for every client. This typically includes mortgages, insurance, tax planning, long term care and other products besides investments. I have found investment people who aren’t planners have a tendency to ‘cherry pick’  the low hanging fruit (investments) and not implement everything the client needs. By creating an investment matrix checklist all aspects of the client’s financial life will be covered.

The Supernova 12-4-2 process makes it easy for advisors to batch process various topics when talking to clients. By using our 24-month calendar (located in the Advanced Learning Library) you can set up bi-monthly topics for client meetings. For example, if you introduce the topic of mortgages one month, you will inevitably find a client who has a need to have their mortgage renewed. That would be the same for long term care, insurance planning and all risk management (insurance products and policies). Over a period of time, all of these topics are implemented for a client according to the matrix set up by the VP of Implementation.

To make the analogy to a surgeon, the VP of Implementation is the person doing the surgery by deciding on what investments should be made. He/she looks at a wide range of hedge funds, private equity or money managers and ensure they have the right ones. If a wholesaler wants an appointment with the team the VP would be the one to meet with them and decide if they were offering something special.

The VP of Implementation gets together with the other VPs of Implementation from different teams in their office to discuss investment strategies and share ideas. Another Supernova good idea is to create an in-house Mastermind group for each one of the Vice Presidents.

The VP sets standards, strategies and goals for the team and then follows up on the set guidelines. Here is an example:

Standard: 1. To have a consistent asset allocation model and investment matrix for all clients with no deviations from that matrix unless approved by the VP of Implementation.
2. To implement everything determined critical by the financial planner.
Strategy: Create a list of items from the financial plan that needed to be implemented and check them off as completed and review periodically.
Goal: To have a consistent allocation model and investment matrix that is fully implemented.
Follow Up: Monitor performance and implementation. Make adjustments to the asset allocation model and investment matrix as needed.

There are a lot of advantages of having your team members take responsibility for different areas of your business. If you are a sole practitioner you and your administrative staff will be responsible for the VP roles.

The Supernova Leadership Five Star Model equips a team to be more efficient and grow at an accelerated rate through accountability of their actions. The Supernova process assigns certain responsibilities to team members by making them “Vice Presidents” of an area and then holds them responsible for specific actions related to that area. Separation of duties increases the expertise of either of the VP’s. Specialization increases productivity, focus and creativity.

As the name suggests the VP of Planning is responsible for making sure every client has a plan. He is like a forensics scientist understanding what the client really wants, not just what he says he wants.

If every advisor on a team does their own planning the VP of Planning will monitor the progress so that there is 100% compliance with planning. In the case of a couple the plan has to be a composite of both party’s goals, dreams and risk tolerance because the two parties may have diametrically opposed ideas on risk tolerance, or what they are working towards.

Present your suggestions and be sure to address special circumstances like a special needs child or other health disabilities the client or his/her family might have. Some people are willing to take a lesser return in order to guarantee their income in retirement.

Generally women are more risk adverse than men. Determine if the client is looking to risk some assets by investing in high risk areas for entertainment. If they want to be entertained by their investments you have to give it to them or they may go somewhere else. Really work to understand the psychology behind their personality.

Ask them how they feel about money? Risk? Would they consider themselves a gambler? Fill out a risk profile with them and listen to their thinking process as they choose the answers. Discover who is the decision maker in the case of a couple. Who handles taxes, bill paying, major purchases?

The VP of Planning sets standards, goals and follow up guidelines for the team. Here is an example:

Standard: We offer high quality planning and we offer every client insurance products, mortgage financing, asset, liability and risk management
Strategy: Our planning is very comprehensive therefore we charge for it. Do we offer the same plan based on risk tolerance or different plans for different circumstances?
Goals: Every client has a plan and the plan is reviewed annually. We manage our client’s risk in terms of taxes, legal and litigation. Every client has a risk analysis, tax analysis and market risk analysis.
Follow Up: We use a Gameboard to follow up on planning at our weekly team meeting.

There is a lot of advantages of having your team members take responsibility for different areas of your business. If you are a sole practitioner you and your administrative staff will be responsible for the VP roles.

It is critical to your growth to communicate your values and expectations to your team members, whether you are a team of two or twenty. 

I was coaching an advisor a few months ago and he asked me to intervene between him and his administrative assistant. He was too afraid to talk to her himself and he wanted me to ‘set her straight’ on what he expected of her. We discussed it and he realized he didn’t want to talk to her because he hadn’t set clear goals for her in the first place. When you don’t communicate your values and expectations to your team  how can you expect them to know what you want and what you stand for? 

Here are eight steps you can take right now to ensure their commitment and loyalty to you:

  1. Establish fairness, transparency and live your values.
  2. Schedule monthly in-person meetings with each member of your team instead of an annual review (include an agenda and executive summary for each meeting).
  3. Have a folder for each of your team members.
  4. Enforce your mission statement and values by living what you believe.
  5. Respect your team member’s time and don’t interrupt them unless it is an emergency.
  6. Recognize their accomplishments through weekly team meetings using a Supernova Gameboard.
  7. Be a servant leader by putting your team first. 
  8. Reward your team with a group outing – take them to a first class restaurant, resort or spa.
  9. Invest in your team through regularly scheduled educational opportunities

Your associates will react to you the way you treat them!

Take advantage of the resources in the Advanced Learning Library to help you create a meaningful pipeline. Use the forum to ask your questions. Work with a Supernova coach to get even more help.

 

One of the tragedies of the financial services business is that we continue to duplicate our mistakes. Here are three mistakes made on the street that you can change right now.

  1. We know that the old-fashioned method of cold calling that worked in the 70s, 80s, and 90s is dead. And yet, many firms rely on that antiquated practice to grow their business.
  2. We now know that opening every account that comes in the door is neither profitable nor a helpful way to grow our business or benefit our clients. And yet many firms still rely on the number, rather than the quality, of accounts opened to recognize performance.
  3. We know that not all investments are suitable for every investor. Yet, at times, we offer an investment as if it were suitable for everyone and are disappointed when not all participate in each offering. A planning-based investment process indicates that not every investment is for everyone.

Supernova challenges each investment advisor and each team to continue to innovate.

Supernova calls for daily, weekly, quarterly meetings for everyone to discuss what is working, what is not working and what new approaches are being tried with success.

In Supernova we use a Gameboard  not to measure results but to measure effort. It is in itself an innovation. It is an example of thinking inside the box. It allows every team and financial advisor to list what is most important to the practice and allows for individual creativity and innovation. (See more about the Gameboard in the Leadership course.)

Financial advisors  know what they are good at. But sometimes “the good is often the enemy of our best,” Stephen Shapiro, Best Practices Are Stupid. 

Recently the Supernova team attended a National Speakers Association conference in Tampa, Florida. The opening speaker was Stephen Shapiro. We were not only blown away by his presentation, but also blessed, encouraged and challenged to rethink much of what we are doing each day. A lot of his information translates perfectly to Supernova. Here is what I mean.

In the financial services business, we have often heard it said that survival of the fittest is the rule of our profession. The strong succeed; the weak will eventually disappear. Stephen Shapiro disagrees. He said, “It is not the survival of the fittest, but the survival of the adaptable that matters.”

We agree. That’s a truth that we try to communicate every day at Supernova. The world has changed. Financial services have changed. Customer expectations have changed. Markets have changed. Customer service has been radically redefined. Consider this from Stephen Shapiro, “When the pace of change outside your organization is greater than the pace of change within, you will… have a tough time keeping your business afloat. And, as you know, the pace of change outside your organization is faster than ever.”

The way to survive is to continue to innovate your practice. To take deliberate action. Know what will improve your business. Understand the marketplace and harness the energies of your organization by focusing on what’s most important.

A Supernova Advisor knows you cannot be all things to all people and that segmentation to 100 or fewer households is required. That is a drastic change for some. It no longer matters how many accounts you have, but do you have the right accounts.

A Supernova Advisor knows that clients demand a new standard of service. “12-4-2”

is a standard that is seldom met by anyone other than a Supernova Advisor. Your Concierge practice will differentiate you from everyone else. Not only will you out-service your competition, but you will also create a referral source like never before.

Supernova Advisors know the only way to give that higher standard of service is to organize their Concierge practice.  They make it simple and easy to manage by implementing the Supernova scheduling tool and folder system.  When excellence is the minimum, everyone benefits.

 

In order to survive and thrive, a successful financial advisor must be continually adapting to the markets and the customers that are being served. Supernova is not just an idea—it is a proven approach to adapting and innovating to achieve the highest levels of success.

“Although people believe that Darwin suggested that it is the survival of the fittest, his perspective on ‘natural selection’ was that it is not physical shape but rather the ability to adapt that is critical.”

The smartest advisors may not survive. The company with the most money can quickly fall from grace. But “the organization and the individuals that adapt and evolve to address the ever-changing market conditions around us will thrive in the long run.”

 

All quotes are from Stephen N. Shapiro’s book, Best Practices Are Stupid, a Penguin book.

Junior advisor can have a difficult time getting current clients and prospects to see them as an equal on the team. Youth and lack of experience can undermine their abilities. Here are some ideas you can incorporate into winning the confidence of clients and prospects.

  1. When you work for a big firm you can take advantage of all the resources on the team such as lending experts, financial planning experts and 401K experts. This should be communicated as a part of the value proposition of the team and as part of the service model you articulate to the client.
  2. You have to be held in the highest esteem as a partner on that team. Even though you may be junior in seniority on the team everyone needs to perceive you as a real partner. Your team brochure should figure you equally with the other team members listing your skill set and capabilities.
  3. When a client is handed off to you take a leadership role. A personal introduction is best.  Make sure you have created a folder for yourself and the client and have reviewed the information so you can talk in depth about their situation.
  4. If they ask about the senior partners respond, “Yes, we work as a team but we break some of the functionality out. They thought it best that I take some of the lead on some of the relationships given the expertise that I bring to the table. We are going to be providing a new service model where each of us only works with a maximum of 100 relationships. we do that so we can give you 12 contacts per year, 4 quarterly reviews with 2 of those being in-person,  a financial plan and a response to problems with a 24 hour resolution. That is what we want to provide you. There may be agenda items that you have an interest in, a need or concern and I have taken the liberty of reviewing your financial plan and have identified some of the things that we still need to take care of. “
  5. At every meeting try to draw the client out by asking thought provoking questions. For example, “Mr. Jones, I see here you are going to retire in 5 years. What are the three most important things you want to accomplish between now and then?” This will help build your bank of trust with the client and establish a rapport.
  6. Always follow up with a letter when you start interfacing with the client. This executive summary will show your professionalism.
  7. Send a reminder notice of your upcoming meeting with the agenda attached. Communicating with the client before the meeting and after the meeting as well as having a folder shows your professionalism

Our coaching staff is here to help you with implementing the Supernova Standard into your practice and work with your teams to develop a business plan to grow your practice.

 

Gap analysis is used to help teams grow. What makes the team effective? What were the specializations the team might adopt? Learn how your team can do a self analysis of the areas that are important and then apply those findings to make your team more productive.

The Gap analysis is a tool that is used to measure the difference between your goals and your actual performance in order to identify the areas that need attention.  

The Supernova coaching process will guide you through developing your team’s unique specialization.   During this audio presentation, listen to Rob Knapp discuss how this works. 

test