Largely in the past the financial services industry followed a sales oriented, transaction based, unstructured approach. Clients would stop by and chat or call in whenever they had a question and their advisor would call them every time he had a new stock or mutual fund or bond to sell them. As advisors started to switch to a fee based system it became less necessary to call their clients for every product they wanted to sell them so some advisors stopped calling altogether. Of course this resulted in the clients calling them more resulting in a lot of phone tag. Supernova provides a happy medium with structured monthly appointments like the 12-4-2 model. And turning over the scheduling to the CSA’s, BOA’s or office managers will help you manage your practice more efficiently and avoid procrastination in making those calls.

In psychology procrastination refers to the act of replacing high-priority actions or tasks with low-priority actions and thus putting off important tasks to a later time. However procrastination may result in feelings of stress and guilt for not meeting responsibilities or commitments. How many times have you looked at a phone number of someone still sitting on your desk you have been meaning to call but never got around to it?

One way Supernova keeps you on track is through the use of the Inverted Pyramid. The Inverted Pyramid changes the flow of your office so your Office Manager/ CSA/BOA is running the day to day operations instead of the Advisor. The advisor turns into the surgeon that is gloved, gowned, and handed the tools he or she needs to do the operation – in your case – the client interview and planning process, by his team. The surgeon doesn’t schedule the operation, fill out the paper work or even give the patient the anesthesia, his/her team members are assigned those tasks. He walks in, performs his task brilliantly then hands over the other details to his team. That is what you do as a Supernova Advisor. Your team will prepare your client folder and mini me folder (the folder the client gets to keep) and have 5 of them placed in your rack on your desk every morning. They will have confirmed the appointments, sent out the agenda for the call and keep you on track.

You come in, make your calls, do your in-person meeting, put notes in the folders and turn them back in to be processed and go home at the end of the day knowing you accomplished what you set out to accomplish. One advisor that went through the Supernova Training Program remarked “I have found by turning over the calendar to my assistant I have more time to concentrate on what I do best, talking to the client. But I also was able to leverage my assistant so she could take care of all the administrative tasks when she called to confirm the appointments. This not only cemented her relationship with the client but also gave me more time to take care of the large picture in the relationship. And clients tell me they are so glad they don’t have to bother me with small things like ordering more checks.” That advisor, like many others, has discovered one of the time savers built into Supernova, the inverted pyramid.

The business of financial services has been described in a number of ways. But one thing that is consistent is this-this is a business of relationships. In order to build the most effective relationships with our clients and provide the very best in financial services, planning has never been more important. In one of my recent coaching sessions, an advisor gave me this idea, which he had received from another Supernova advisor. It is a wonderful, three-part open ended, opening question when beginning a new relationship with the client.

“Tell me about your experience with money, what did money mean to you growing up, what do you want your children to learn about money?”

I believe this is a marvelous question to get to know your clients better. This is especially a good question to ask when you are talking to a couple. Understanding any differences the couple has in their thinking may be important to you in the future.

Our advisors deliver one-of-a-kind service.  If you would like to learn more, join our member-only website or sign-up for one of our coaching programs.

People are always interested in improving their health. But there is so much misinformation out there it is hard to decipher what to do. One topic you can talk to your clients about during your 12/4/2 meetings is hiring a personal trainer – and then you can recommend the trainers your clients enthusiastically endorse.

You could even give your clients a gift of a free 1-month’s training with the trainer to get them started. Most trainers will give this to you free if you are sending them new clients. Your clients will perceive you as someone who really cares about their well-being. And can you imagine having several clients at the gym all talking about you and your great service to others who are there?

Studies show people who work out with a personal trainer are more likely to watch what they eat and exercise on a regular basis.  Working out with a personal trainer can help release stress, build muscle, control weight and lessen arthritis and osteoporosis. But most people need a nudge to get started. Do some research so you have your facts and then make this a topic to talk to with your clients. Imagine if we got the whole world working out – obesity would be a distant memory.

FYI: Make sure you are also working out for your health when you recommend this to clients or they will have a hard time believing your sincerity.

Utilizing the Supernova brand is a super way to make 2013 your best year ever.  If you need some help, join our member-only website or sign-up for one of our coaching programs.

A bad decision on Social Security collection benefits can cost you as much as $200,000 over you and your spouse’s lifetime.  There is a lot of misinformation and scare tactics being disseminated to clients.  Social Security will be there for those 60-plus so making a good decision based on facts can be one of the most important decisions of your life.  Your wealthiest clients can afford not to take Social Security payments at age 62.  So when should they take it?  It all depends.

If they are in good health, the primary bread winner should wait until he or she is 66 years old and reaches their full retirement age and should then apply for benefits and suspend those benefits until he or she reaches age 70.  For this purpose, let’s use that he is the primary bread winner and she is a stay-at-home spouse.  He will then accumulate credits at 8% monthly plus the cost of living allowance each year until he reaches the full retirement age.  Once he has applied for benefits, the spouse can apply at her full retirement age – 66 – and collect half of the benefits.  At age 70, he will begin taking benefits at 132% of his full retirement age.  This is referred to as their primary income account, or PIA.  When should clients begin collecting Social Security?  Here is where it gets interesting.  If the husband passes away after the age of 70, the spouse will collect 100% of the husband’s PIA or primary income amount, until she passes away.  This is the real planning benefit since the spouse’s mortality tables have her living to age 91 if, in fact, she reaches the age of 65.  If she is wealthy and in good health, her chances of living past 100 are very high.  Remember, mortality tables are for all Americans.  If you have taken care of yourself, have good genes, wear seat belts, and have excellent regular check-ups and have access to good medical care, your longevity is much greater.  Once you live past age 65, your longevity is now 85 for a male and 91 for females.  That is the good news/bad news.  By following this deferred gratification model, you can further ensure that if you do live into your 100’s you will have the money.  This may be the best long-term care planning out there.  If one spouse has a high likelihood of outliving the other for a substantial amount of time, the couple’s best overall strategy may involve maximizing survivor benefits.

Check with Blackrock Advisory Consultants for a personalized analysis of your clients regarding Social Security benefits; they have some great material.

The 12-4-2 client contact system includes eight “Touch Base” phone calls during the year. One of the questions we are frequently asked by the advisors we coach is, “What do you talk about?”

Here is one valuable answer.

In every city there is at least one newspaper that will have a financial section, a section on health, community activities, charity work and other items of interest. Plus, there is a Wall Street Journal in your office, if not in your mailbox.

Every newspaper has items of interest and topics of discussion. The Wall Street Journal is especially relevant. For example, the front page of the last section of The Wall Street Journal of Monday, June 11, had a series of helpful statistics. It listed the highest priorities among affluent investors. Don’t you think that would be something you would want to know as you work your centers of influence and mastermind group? Don’t you think this would be an ideal topic to discuss?

What are the highest priorities of affluent investors?

There is a warning here. If you make preservation of an inheritance for children a priority for your client you are missing the mark according to these statistics. However, you may want to say to your client, “According to the Wall Street Journal, 41% of affluent investors said that preserving an inheritance for children was a priority. That means 59% didn’t think it was all that important. How important is that to you”?

There are great discussion topics to be found everywhere. Now save them in a Client Contact Resource file.

• Save articles that relates to your clients’ interests. Look for local news articles but especially in the personal sections of the Wall Street Journal.

A Client Contact Resource file can make all of your conversations not only easier but relevant to your clients and your practice.

Find out how many hours of sleep you and your loved ones really need!  Refresh yourself on the basics behind sleep!

http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleeping.htm

Understanding sleep: By Melinda Smith, Lawrence Robinson, and Robert Segal

It’s not just the number of hours in bed that is important—it’s the quality of those hours of sleep. If you’re giving yourself plenty of time for sleep, but you’re still having trouble waking up in the morning or staying alert all day, you may not be spending enough time in the different stages of sleep—especially deep sleep and REM sleep. By understanding how the sleep cycles work and the factors that can lead to those cycles being disrupted, you’ll be able to start getting both the quantity and the quality of sleep you need.

Your internal 24-hour sleep-wake cycle, otherwise known as biological clock or circadian rhythm, is regulated by processes in the brain that respond to how long you’ve been awake and the changes between light and dark. At night, your body responds to the loss of daylight by producing melatonin, a hormone that makes you sleepy. During the day, sunlight triggers the brain to inhibit melatonin production so you feel awake and alert.

This sleep-wake cycle can be disrupted by factors such as nightshift work, traveling across time zones, or irregular sleeping patterns, leaving you feeling groggy, disoriented, and sleepy at inconvenient times. The production of melatonin can also be thrown off when you’re deprived of sunlight during the day or exposed to too much artificial light at night, disrupting the sleep-wake cycle and preventing you from getting the sleep you need.

How many hours of sleep do you need?

Average Sleep Needs
Age Hours
Newborns (0-2 months) 12 – 18
Infants (3 months to 1 year) 14 – 15
Toddlers (1 to 3 years) 12 – 14
Preschoolers (3 to 5 years) 11 – 13
School-aged children (5 to 12 years) 10 – 11
Teens and preteens (12 to 18 years) 8.5 – 10
Adults (18+) 7.5 – 9


There is a big difference between the amount of sleep you can get by on and the amount you need to function optimally. Just because you’re able to operate on 7 hours of sleep doesn’t mean you wouldn’t feel a lot better and get more done if you spent an extra hour or two in bed. The best way to figure out if you’re meeting your sleep needs is to evaluate how you feel as you go about your day. If you’re logging enough hours, you’ll feel energetic and alert all day long, from the moment you wake up until your regular bedtime.

Think six hours of sleep is enough?

Think again. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco discovered that some people have a gene that enables them to do well on 6 hours of sleep a night. But the gene is very rare, appearing in less than 3% of the population. For the other 97% of us, six hours doesn’t come close to cutting it.

 

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