Latest Posts
New Book: Live Life with No Regrets; How the Choices We Make Impact Our Lives
My wife’s new book, Live Life with No Regrets; How the Choices We Make Impact Our Lives, has been receiving rave reviews by Advisors. I thought you would want to know about it and check it out for yourself. Go to http://www.accountabilitycoach.com/coaching-store/book-store/
Here are a few comments already received about her new book.
“Where was this book 30 years ago so that I might not have so many regrets? The choices we make do impact our lives in many ways. Making smart choices and not dumb choices you will regret later will save a lot of precious time we don’t want to waste. You’ll want to choose to read and implement the ideas in this book to help you.”
–Rod Carson, CLU, ChFC, CFP®
Spectrum Wealth Advisors, Inc.
is an independent firm
“I really love your book! One of the highest of all human values is to be able to live your life with no regret. This fabulous book is filled with wisdom and advice for guiding you to make the most out of your life!”
–Thomas Moore
Entrepreneur and Values-Based Financial Planner
“What I like best is that the book is brief, to the point, and very actionable. It reflects Anne’s direct style which I find refreshing. This book is definitely a must read for anyone who wants to accelerate their results.”
–William S. Hart, CFP, MBA
Retirement Strategies, Inc.
“If you want to live a life with no regrets, this is the book for you! Simple and sensible concepts that can be quickly implemented. Grab a copy of this book for yourself and any other business people you care about.”
–Brian Fricke, CFP
author of Worry Free Retirement
Named Top Financial Planning Firm
– Orlando Business Journal
“Living without regrets shows us how to achieve the results we want. Living life without regrets helps us look at the big picture to make sure we’re leading the life we want to lead. The exercises are valuable and the concepts are powerful. Anyone who reads this book will get a lot of value.”
–Ariel Acuña
LTG Capital LLC
“Love the book! While much is written on finding purpose, goal-setting, etc., very little attention seems to be focused on how you actually accomplish what’s important. Anne brings her real-world experience as The Accountability Coach™ to provide illuminating examples and great tools to help people make the choices that will improve their lives on a variety of important fronts. Thank you for writing this book.”
–Donn Sharer, CFP, ChFC, CLU, CLTC
Sharer & Associates LLC
Go to http://www.accountabilitycoach.com/coaching-store/book-store/
Drop Me Anywhere!
What is Drop Me Anywhere?
Drop Me Anywhere is an attitude. It’s a way of being. It’s a skill. It’s confidence. It’s not arrogance or cockiness. It’s relaxed. It’s comfortable. People are attracted to people who are drop-me-anywhere good.
A person who can be dropped anywhere is a person who knows, that with very little money in their pocket, they can be ‘dropped’ in a town where they don’t know anyone and they will figure out how to add value to the people in that community in a way that makes them money. And it won’t take long.
Would you like to be drop-me-anywhere good? How would being drop-me-anywhere good impact your life, personally and professionally? What does it take to be drop-me-anywhere good?
First, you need a product or service that helps people. It should be something that a fair number of people in any community, in any economy would be able to afford and find valuable.
Once you have such a product or service you will need the ability to strike up a conversation with just about anyone you meet in just about any situation. These are called people skills.
A key people skill is the ability to ask questions during a relaxed a conversation at a social or business function to determine if your product or service would be valuable for the person you are speaking with. You will make a friend, develop a prospect, or both.
If true value exists, your ability to make the connection between the value of your product or service and something the person you are speaking with cares about will be vital.
Once you have helped the person with whom you are speaking discover that you can add value to their life, you will need to be effective at making an offer or proposing a next step. You’ll be more successful if your next-step initial offer does not cost anything. An initial consultation or quality experience of some kind works great as the logical next step to exploring if and how you might help this person.
During the step where you create a good experience for your potential customer or client, you will have to have the ability to monetize the relationship. All this means is that there comes a natural point in the relationship where it’s appropriate for them to begin paying you for the value you deliver. You will want to be very good at explaining how much it costs, what they get, and how the value to them easily exceeds the cost.
Last, but not least, you must deliver what you promise on time. By delivering the value you promise in a timely manner you are establishing the good reputation that will make you a long-term and welcome member of your new community. It’s also your ticket to getting referrals and being warmly introduced to your customers’ or clients’ friends, families, and colleagues. A person with drop-me-anywhere abilities does not leave referrals and these introductions to chance. They are effective at asking for referrals and facilitating a warm introduction.
As a person with drop-me-anywhere skills, you will get hired often enough to make enough money to cover your basic expenses, soon, thereafter, you will be making enough money to live a very comfortable life, and soon after that you will be making enough money to achieve all of your goals and fulfill your values.
Question: What’s a great drop-me-anywhere business that requires no capital to get started, helps people, and pays well?
Answer: Financial Services.
Make a commitment to be drop-me-anywhere good. You’re already in the perfect business.
Will 2011 Be Your Best Year Ever?
Here we are in the beginning of a new year. Can you believe it? Chances are that you are simultaneously working to have a great first quarter; still contemplating your 2011 planning; and figuring out how to make time for family, friends, and fun as you prepare for a great 2011.
Are you thinking yet about 2011 being your best year ever? If you are, here’s an idea that can help you make it so. Last December I conducted a webinar about how to make the coming year your best ever. Go to http://www.baivbfp.com/video/webinar_bestyear/index.php and watch the webinar replay now: Best Year Ever Webinar.
Now’s the time to create your game plan and set yourself up to make 2011 your best year ever!
Mastery is the Key to Success
What does a Financial Advisor need to master in order to build a successful business? Six things.
Client Service Mastery
Helping your clients get their entire financial house in perfect order and keeping it that way forever. This starts with the implementation meeting, which is the first meeting after youve been hired, and cycles through three meetings per year to help your clients keep their financial house in perfect order.
Client Acquisition Mastery
Mastering four elements:
1. Asking for referrals.
2. Making follow-up calls in a way that is engaging and leads to a reasonable percentage of referrals agreeing to a more in-depth phone appointment about how you can help them.
3. Facilitating this phone appointment in an effective way so a reasonable percentage agree to a face-to-face initial client interview at your office.
4. Conducting brilliant client interviews so a reasonable percentage hire you.
Leadership Mastery
Building and leading a team of Best-in-Class™, Subject-Matter™ Experts, technical and administrative, who help you help your clients get their entire financial house in perfect order and keep it that way forever.
Communication and People Skills Mastery
Asking the right questions, being an empathic listener, and when it is your turn to talk, giving your advice with conviction in a way that’s all about them so that your clients take action and implement.
Mindset Mastery
Thinking like a business owner instead of like a practitioner. Focusing on what you can control and not being distracted by events out of your control like the market, or the economy, or world problems and conflicts.
Time, Priority, and Calendar Mastery
You running your business instead of it running you. Know your priorities, put them on your calendar as appointments with yourself and others, and develop the habit of honoring your calendar.
Embark on the master’s journey and you will acquire all the Ideal Clients you need to generate all the business revenue to cover your expenses, pay your taxes, and have all the net income you want for a great present lifestyle, and all the money you need to fund your future goals and financial independence.
Too Many Clients, Working Too Many Hours, for Too Little Money (Part 3 of 3)
For too little money. Is there a “right” amount of money? Yes. That number is based on your and your family’s personal financial plan. What has to happen for YOUR financial house to be in perfect order? How much money is required to pay for the present lifestyle you truly want? How much do you need to save and invest to achieve all of your goals? How much insurance do you need to mitigate all of the risks to your family’s financial health and security, present and future? How much cash reserves? How much debt to be reduced or eliminated? How much to pay your taxes, in full and on time? How much to get the relevant legal documents in place?
Do you know your number(s)? Once you know your personal numbers you can then establish accurate business numbers. How much business revenue do you need to generate in order to cover your business expenses, pay your taxes, in full and on time, so there is enough left to pay for your present lifestyle and fund your family’s financial plan? There is a number. And that number is the right number for your business and your life. Until you know these numbers every money goal you set for yourself is just a guess. Or, just as bad, a random number established by something silly like how much production you need to qualify for the President’s Club conference.
There is a number. Knowing it is crucial to you building your business with the right number of clients, working the right number of hours, for the right amount of money… for you.
How do you shift? What has to happen for you to break free of the typical advisor syndrome of too many clients, working too many hours, for too little money to having a business with the right number of clients, working the right number of hours, for the right amount of money… for you? Here are 5 things to consider.
1. Reread this article and identify the action items. Will this be just another article you read or a call to action that makes a difference?
2. Look into the future by asking yourself this question, “If I continue to do for the next 4 years what I have done for the last 4 years, where will I be?” Do you like the answer? If not, now is the time to change course.
3. If you are a veteran, get sick and tired of being sick and tired. You’ve heard about how some overweight people look in the mirror one day and just decide their unhealthy lifestyle is no longer acceptable and change from that point forward or how cigarette smokers have an epiphany and quit cold turkey. You can do the same. At some point you are going to be absolutely sick and tired of being sick and tired of having too many clients, working too many hours, and earning too little money. Why not today? That’s why it’s called a “turning point.” There is literally a moment where things shift. It can be any moment you choose. It could be right now. It’s your choice.
4. If you are new in the business, don’t be mesmerized by the production of top-producers. You might want their revenue, but would you want their life? If you do what they did you’ll get what they’ve gotten… all of it. Instead of asking successful producers what they did to be successful ask, “If you knew then what you know now, what would have done to be even more successful sooner?” “What would you have done in order to have a better business and a better quality of life?” “It’s possible that what you did to be successful over the last 10 or 20 years will not make me successful in the next 10 – 20 years, so what would you do if you were in my shoes going forward?”
5. Accept the universal truths about being successful in business and in life. Truths like the Rule of 168, for example. The truth is the truth. Denying truth, looking for silver bullets to success, or hoping for a shortcut just wastes the valuable time you need to be investing to create a business with the right number of clients, working the right number of hours, for the right amount of money… for you.
Remember, how you experience this business is your choice. Your success will not be determined by the market, the economy, or all of the world events outside of your control. Choose to have the right number of clients, working enough to have a successful business leaving enough time for a great quality of life, and to earn all the money you need for your present and future lifestyle.
Being a Financial Advisor is a great profession!
Too Many Clients, Working Too Many Hours, for Too Little Money (Part 2 of 3)
Working too many hours. This challenge is driven by two admirable character traits. One is truly caring about helping people and, therefore, trying to serve them even though the amount of time that will take per client multiplied by the number of clients you have make it unworkable. Remember the Rule of 168. There are only 168 hours in the week. How you choose to invest those hours determines your success in business and your happiness in life. No matter how much you care, there is a limit to how many people you can help. Trying to serve too many people can wreck other areas your life and create an unsustainable business.
The other admirable character trait is integrity: “By God, I promised to take care of these people and I’m going to do whatever it takes to do that!” This is a noble goal, but futile given the unchangeable truth of the Rule of 168. Please don’t be upset with me for delivering this message about the Rule of 168. It wasn’t my idea. God did not consult with me when he or she decided how long it would take the Earth to achieve a full rotation or how long it takes the Earth to revolve around the sun. It is what it is. Your job is to make your business and your life work within the boundaries of the Rule of 168.
If you are working too many hours it’s likely because you are choosing to do things with your time that are not as necessary or as important as you might think and because you are working with too many of the wrong the clients. Notice I didn’t say “bad” people. I said the wrong people to make your business life effective so you can work a reasonable number of hours to generate the money you need to make your life work.
What does it mean to make your life work? That’s really up to you. For most humans their life “working” includes some common elements: financial health, physical health, relationship health, mental health, and spiritual health. Exactly what you do and how you do it in each of these areas can vary greatly. It is a great life and this is a great profession for achieving success in all five areas.
Too Many Clients, Working Too Many Hours, for Too Little Money (Part 1 of 3)
The title of this blog post describes how most established Financial Advisors exist in their financial services business: too many clients, working too many hours, for too little money. It’s a shame because this is such a great business. There are very few professions where you can earn all the money you want to pay for a truly great present lifestyle plus all you need to fund all of your future goals, including your own financial independence, while doing something valuable for other people. This really is an amazing business! Sadly, most Financial Advisors choose not to actualize the true potential that is inherent in our great business.
This does not have to be your reality, however. You have a choice. Choose to be one of the Financial Advisors who transcends the norm to experience something better.
In this blog post we will examine why most advisors end up with too many clients, working too many hours, for too little money. And we will identify some things you can do to create a business with the right number of clients, working the right number of hours, for the right amount of money… for you.
Too many clients. Paradoxically, most Financial Advisors admit to being less than effective at consistently implementing prospecting, marketing, and client acquisition systems, yet they end up with too many clients, especially too many of the wrong clients. How does that happen?
- Continuing a pattern from early in their career of accepting as clients almost anyone who will do business with them.
- Inheriting “books of business” from advisors who leave the industry.
- Buying “books of business” from advisors who leave the business (or are smart enough to sell their non-Ideal Clients to another advisor).
- Successfully executing mass marketing prospecting systems (direct mail, seminars, radio shows, advertising, etc.).
Can you really have too many clients? Of course. Here are just 4 key indicators that you have too many clients, any one of which is enough to prove the point. You can probably think of others.
- At whatever point you have even one client who you would not recognize if you passed them on the street. (Exacerbated if you have clients you have never met face-to-face.)
- At whatever point you have even one client for whom you don’t have time to make sure all of the following action items are done for them, some completed by you and others coordinated through the appropriate subject-matter expert:
- comprehensive, written financial plan
- program to build and maintain adequate emergency cash reserves
- program to manage, reduce, and / or eliminate debt
- asset allocation, including assets not held with your custodian
- comprehensive insurance program covering every risk that could challenge their financial health and security
- legal documents that support excellent financial health (wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney, living wills, health directives, business succession plan, etc.)
- taxes filed on time, accurately, and paid in full
- When you have even one client who you can’t meet with the several times per year necessary to keep them on track to make smart choices about their money so they achieve their goals and keep their financial house in order.
- When you have even one client who does not pay you enough to cover their fair share of your business economic needs. (Especially if what they pay does not even cover your costs to have them as a client or justify your time investment.)
Most Financial Advisors I’ve met would love to have deeper, more meaningful relationships with their clients, deliver truly comprehensive financial services so every client has their financial house in perfect order, meet with their clients frequently enough to hold them accountable to keep their financial house in perfect order, and be paid enough by every client so they have all the business revenue they need to make their business and their life work. What’s the problem? Not enough time? It probably feels that way, but enough time is not really the problem. You have all the time there is. Everyone who survived the week had 168 hours. The real issue is choosing to allocate your time so you acquire the right clients and serve them fully. I call this the Rule of 168.
Commissions: Conflict of Interest?
Although I advocate a recurring revenue business model for financial advisors, I’ve never believed that earning commissions are inherently unethical. Yet some fee-only advisors and industry leaders argue that commissions create a conflict of interest and anyone who accepts them is suspect. I think this is a self-righteous posture at best and a self-promoting lie at worst.
It’s ridiculous to suggest that the type of compensation received is the only thing that separates the honest, do-what’s-right-for-the-client advisor from the mercenary, gimme-what’s-mine financial products salesperson. Let’s face facts: both mentalities co-exist with both kinds of compensation. Commissions do not breed criminals; neither do fees ensure integrity.
Recently, I had the pleasure of giving a presentation at a big-name industry conference that tends to attract a lot of fee-only advisors. The top producers and keynote speakers had dinner together, with one keynote speaker at each table of top producers. I like going to these dinners because I get to be attuned to my audience before I address them. I listened to the discussion at my table, without saying anything, through the salad and soup.
The conversation centered on this issue of fees versus commissions, and some fee-only advisors felt pretty strongly that commissions are unethical and that planners taking them are dishonest. I let all this sink in, then I looked around at them and made my first comment of the evening: “I wonder why some of you are so uncomfortable with your own integrity that you think how you get paid would threaten it.”
They looked at me, slightly stunned, and asked, “What do you mean?”
I answered, “Well, it’s interesting that you seem to think that if you got paid any commissions, rather than fees only, you would somehow do the wrong thing. Are you telling me you charge a fee because if you didn’t, you would give in to the temptation to screw the client?”
That got things cooking at my table.
At first, these financial planners were a bit defensive, reiterating their belief that commissions have a built-in conflict of interest. I asked, “So if fee-only compensation became illegal, and the only way you could get compensated was by commission or some combination of fees and commissions, are you telling me you think your ethics would evaporate? That suddenly you wouldn’t do the right thing for the client any more? Are you saying that the boundaries of compensation are all that keep you ethical?”
I looked around the table. “Susan, if you suddenly were paid by commission, not as you are now, would you still do the right thing for the client?”
“Of course I would.”
“John?”
“Of course.”
So it became apparent to them that the issue isn’t compensation, but whether you have the ability to put the client first no matter what.
Is there a question of integrity at all, then? Only if you’re twisting the competition’s legal, legitimate compensation into something sinister just to make yourself look good. You shouldn’t use your method of payment as a marketing tactic, or preach that everyone else lacks integrity because they operate with a different model.
Although it’s not an ethical issue, it is true that the fee-based business model is usually superior to commission and fee-only, because advisors in such a business have a finite number of clients who generate a predictable minimum annual recurring revenue (PMARR). These advisors can earn fees for planning, advice and managing assets, as well as commissions on products. My point: fee-based businesses are not superior because they prevent advisors from impropriety. It’s because they help advisors limit the client list to a reasonable number, so everyone gets better service. The higher the amounts of predictable recurring revenue, the fewer clients the advisor needs—he or she can work toward what I call Being Done™, which means that the marketing machine stops when the advisor has established relationships with enough people to provide sufficient PMARR to meet the advisors business goals. Once an advisor is ‘done,’ clients get even more personal attention because the advisor has no more prospecting to do, and the advisor has more time for continuing education and growth, which benefits the clients again when the advisor applies increased knowledge to managing their money. Fees are not necessarily the moral high road, yet they might support a better business model, one that ensures clients get the best from their advisors. It’s also likely that the fee-based model is easier for clients to understand.
The challenge with the commission-based business model is that it doesn’t work long-term because you have to continue adding client after client until serving them all becomes difficult or impossible. Earning commissions may be a less-than-optimal business model for financial advisors, but it does not intrinsically lack integrity.
To me, ethics and integrity are about client-first service, not compensation. If someone lacks ethics or integrity, changing the way that person gets compensated isn’t going to fix them.
The most important aspect of being an advisor is taking care of the client. There are a lot of advisors out there, in all business models, who are doing this. And there are advisors out there, in all business models, who should not be in the business at all. Your job is simply to be in the former category: Put the client first, and your ethics will never be called into question, regardless of how you choose to be paid.
Don’t be a salesperson. Be a Trusted Advisor.
Are We Just Like Kids?
What’s wrong with our education system? Why are so many kids under-performing their potential? And, how is this relevant for you as a Financial Professional who would like to be more successful?
Principal Steve Perry, renown for his success in helping parents help their kids succeed in school and in life, says that parents who have the most success with their kids:
-Are consistent
-Have a structure in place
-Monitor the structure
-Follow through
According to Perry, one of the biggest mistakes parents make is giving their kids too many choices. Another mistake parents make is spending too much time being friends with their kids. They are too nice. Perry says, “Parents are not holding their kids feet to the fire to do what’s necessary for them to be successful.” According to Perry, kids actually value consistency, structure, and parents who follow-through with monitoring and accountability. They know they need it and no matter how much they may rebel in the moment, they recognize this as a sign they have parents who care and love them.
Without consistency, structure, monitoring, and follow-through kids become adults without the habits required to create predictable, recurring, and lasting success.
What does this have to do with being a successful Financial Professional? Everything.
You might be thinking, “But I’m not a kid!” -not any more. Yet, you probably have the same challenges: scattered, fragmented, distracted, too many choices, and under-performing your potential. You get to the end of the day and compare what you actually did to what you know would have produced the best results for your clients and your business; and, you can only shake your head hoping tomorrow will be better.
Wouldn’t the same things that Principal Perry says are important for kids be valuable for you and your professional success: consistency, structure, monitoring, follow-through; and someone to hold you accountable?
As an adult it’s up to you to recognize your own need and choose to opt into a community where you can get this structure and support. Your mom and dad are no longer in a position to make you do it. Everyone is more successful when they have structure and someone to “hold their feet to the fire.” It’s not a kid thing or an adult thing. It’s a human thing.
The most successful people recognize this and take action.
At Bachrach & Associates, we have a proven process, the structure, the monitoring, the follow-through, and accountability to help you tap your true potential, acquire more Ideal Clients, create your Ideal Business, and live your Ideal Life. We have helped thousands of your colleagues and can do the same for you.
Stop Educating Clients
This idea that the purpose of financial advisors is to educate their clients is a fundamental error in our industry. As a financial professional, you need to focus on getting them results, not information.
Would most people you know rather pay for education or results?
We now have a house with a pool, and there’s a fellow we’ve hired to take care of the water and cleaning and other pool maintenance. If something is wrong, I just leave him a note about whatever I’ve noticed that needs to be fixed. Can you imagine if he were to knock on the sliding glass door to my office, which overlooks the pool, and say, “Hey, Bill! Come on out here and let me show you what I’m doing. I want to explain how I’m going to balance the chlorine in the water.”
Why would I want to know that? I just want my pool to be clean, safe, and comfortable for swimming whenever I or guests decide to get in it. I don’t want to think about chemistry, much less spend time getting “educated” by my pool guy on something that I couldn’t care less about.
This is not unlike those people who try to “add value” by explaining Modern Portfolio Theory or any number of other technical aspects of financial planning to clients or prospective clients. Can I really compare being a financial advisor to the pool guy? Yes, absolutely. You’re just more highly compensated because you do a more important job. But it’s the same in concept.
What value do you really provide?
Consider this. I cycle with a recently retired professor who’s made a name for himself as the author of college textbooks. He’s written more than 20 bestsellers on subjects such as personal financial planning, fundamentals of investing, corporate finance, and so on.
In fact, he gave me a few of his books not too long ago. They’re impressive tomes, complete with software and website support. The books are filled with theory, practice, case studies, study guides, plus comprehension and retention tests.
My point? If you were going to really educate someone about financial planning, you’d be using a textbook like this. This is where serious students go to learn. Serious students aren’t learning about finance from Money magazine and chats with their financial professionals. (Incidentally, the financial media aren’t in the business of educating, either; they’re in the business of marketing magazines.)
I’ve been in this business for my entire career, and I’ve never seen anybody who advocates educating clients actually test for retention. So let’s call it what it really is: It’s education used as a sales tool. Let’s call it “edu-sell.” If we were really going to educate people, we’d be using textbooks, testing, and the rest.
Just so we’re clear: The book my professor friend wrote on financial planning is 685 pages, printed in small type on ultra-thin paper. That book is heavy! How many of your clients do you think would like to haul this book around in a backpack, study it for hours on end, and take all the tests? (Now, that’s just personal financial planning. Next up: Let’s talk about investing! This book, with similar typestyle and kind of paper is 718 pages.)
The beauty of a relationship with a financial advisor is that without having to read all this, learn it, pass the tests, and then implement it, your clients can get the benefit of all this knowledge.
You may be reading this and thinking, “Well, how are they getting the benefit? Cuz I don’t know all that stuff, either.”
How do I know that? I’ve spent my life with financial advisors, and I’m well aware of how little we know. What do we know about investing? Definitely not as much as a professional money manger. They’re the ones who, when they were in college, actually liked the classes with these monster textbooks. They’re the reason you don’t have to know all of it, either.
However, I do suggest you buy these books. Go to www.swlearning.com, and acquire at least the ones on personal financial planning and investing. And here’s how you may want to use them: If you have a client who insists on being educated, you produce the book and say, “This is the best-selling college textbook on personal financial planning, and you can’t have my copy; however, I invite you to buy your own, read it, study it, and take the tests. About the time you’re ready to retire, you should have learned what you need to know to start implementing this stuff.”
You can do this seriously, or do it like I would, with a little levity: “Oh, and by the way, when you’re done with that one, here’s what you’ll need to know to handle your investing.” Produce the 718-page volume with a flourish.
Then pull out the CCHs for taxes and drop them on the desk. Boom! “You’ll need to keep up with this every year because it changes all the time. And this is what you’ll need to know about long-term care. Here’s the book on disability … homeowner’s … long-term care … Or you can harness through me all the experts who know what you need to do because they’ve already learned all this stuff.”
The point is that you’re in the business of helping people get results. If it’s education they want, then they should go to school. If it’s results they want, they can get that through you. That’s the purpose of a financial professional. That’s how you help your clients.
Don’t be a salesperson. Be a Trusted Advisor.
