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Bill Bachrach: Predictable Business Results in All Economic Cycles | |
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 Can you run your business so it's not subject to events
outside of your control? Ie: the market, the economy, the global financial
crisis, the latest corporate or political scandal, and world events like the war
in Afghanistan, etc? This includes dubious decisions by the leaders or your own
company or our industry. Can you create a business that delivers predictable, minimum, annual recurring revenue in any economic cycle or under any circumstances our industry leaders might create? The answer is "yes." The better question is "how?" By providing a client experience and service that is valuable regardless of what happens in the market, the economy, or the world. How about this value proposition for a superior client experience: "Work with us and you will get your entire financial house in order and keep it that way forever. Do what we tell you to do regarding those things over which you have control and you will achieve your goals and fulfill your values, regardless of what happens in the market, the economy, or the world." Do not make promises you can't keep that are dependent on things you can't control. Ie: stating or implying that you, or your professional money managers, will beat the market. Past performance is no guarantee of future results, right? What does it mean to get your financial house in order and keep it that way forever? Would that ever go out of style? Is there ever a market or economic condition where having your financial house completely in order doesn't matter? Do you think many people, regardless of their wealth, have their entire financial house in order? No matter how bad the economic crisis, how much better would it have been if your entire financial house had been in order before it happened? How important is it right now to get your entire financial house in order? In a good, bad, or sideways economy, it's vital to get and keep your financial house in order. If you have your financial house in order it reduces the impact of bad markets, down economies, and global financial crises. Run a business that delivers this client experience and service and you are not only well-positioned to weather the storm, but you will capitalize on the opportunities the storm provides. The last 15 months have been a boom client acquisition time for some advisors. Why not you? What about the future of the financial services business? It looks VERY bright to me. One reason is because the fundamentals of financial health never go out of style. Can you envision a time when money will not matter to people? Can you envision a time when many of those people will not prefer to have professional advice rather than do it themselves? Will the fundamentals of financial health ever change? Will there ever be a time when there are people who don't need to implement these fundamentals? The days of over-priced and complicated financial products may be gone, hopefully forever, but the need for good advice is still important and valuable. What's the first step to having a business that delivers predictable, minimum, annual recurring revenue in any market cycle? Making a decision that this is how you are going to run your business and live your life. The training and resources are available. The choice is up to you. Keep moving forward,  Bill Bachrach, CSP, CPAE (Speaker Hall of Fame) Chairman & CEO; Bachrach & Associates, Inc. Author: Values-Based Financial Planning & High Trust Leadership ________________________________________ Contact Anne Bachrach at the Financial Services Speakers Network at anne@fsspeakers.net to schedule Bill Bachrach to speak at your next meeting or conference. |
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Anne Bachrach: Are You Committed to Your Success? | |
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There are two rules when it comes to your success, and a sure-fire way to catapult your success, but they only work when you are 100% committed! Rule #1: 100% Commitment to Achieving your Goals There may be many opportunities for excuses and exceptions, but under no circumstance do you waver from what you truly desire. Ever. What do you do if your life doesn't support your goal achievement? In all honesty, there's no easy way around it - some changes will have to be made. Sometimes those changes are easy, and other times they're not, especially when there are others to consider. This is no more true when you have a spouse/significant other and/or children. After all, every action you take has the potential to affect them. You may have to do some soul searching and find out if you can make changes that will allow you to commit to your goals, while doing the least amount of discomfort to those that will be directly affected. If you choose to commit to achieving your goals, do not settle for anything less. Rule #2: 100% Commitment to Never Ending Improvement The second key to your success, is committing to never ending improvement. You may be better than you were yesterday, but in no way are you better today than you will be tomorrow. Taking a humble approach to learning is one of the best ways to set yourself up for success. Use every action and reaction as an opportunity to learn how to do things better next time. In addition, surround yourself with as many positive role models as you can. Watch, listen and learn from successful Advisors that have gone before you; what you learn can result in huge shifts in your perception and life. When you are facing obstacles or challenges, do not allow self-doubt, fear or frustration to sway your commitment. In fact, during these times, it is more important than ever to remind yourself why your goals are important to you. Reconnect with the emotions that are the driving force behind your goals and you'll remember why you are taking the steps in the first place to make changes. Remember, your commitment to your success not only benefits you, but those around you, and the world as well. You must embrace commitment to your goals along with never ending improvement if you wish to reach true success. “Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.” ~ Peter F. Drucker Anne M. Bachrach. All rights reserved. Anne M. Bachrach is the author of the book, Excuses Don't Count; Results Rule!. She has 23 years of experience training and coaching. Anne helps financial professionals keep and get more clients while maintaining balance in their life. Through her proven systems, she inspires Advisors to stay focused and take action on the highest payoff activities that lead to their ultimate professional and personal success. Take advantage of the many complimentary resources on her website (www.AccountabilityCoach.com) and subscribe to her blog (!Anne's Blog!). ________________________________________________________________________ |
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Mark Little: How Clients View Trusted Advisors Versus Expert's Recommendations | |
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 You hear the term Trusted Advisor utilized a lot by
Financial Advisors, but have you given thought to what the title means and what
distinguishes a Trusted Advisor from a Financial Advisor, a Financial Planner, a
"Wealth Manager," or a Subject Matter Expert? I'm going to define Trusted
Advisor from the clients' perspective and will assign attributes to the terms
which I believe are implied or should be attached to the title. Contemplate the word "trusted" for a moment. Trust is an interesting phenomenon. It is both given and earned. Trust is a gift that is given between one individual onto another, and it grows over time. It is very personal, therefore, trust applied in this context does not apply to entities such as firms. To say "I trust my banking institution", an impersonal entity, speaks to a different concept compared with "I trust Susan Jones." The trust that one places in another human being elevates the word to a whole different level; trust in another person can, and in our context does, imply much more. To have a Trusted Advisor implies a level of confidence, which Bill Bachrach refers to as a "high trust" relationship. The relationship assumes competence and encourages openness, dependability, closeness and an extraordinarily deep understanding of the situation. We place that level of trust in an individual who we are convinced will always put our interests ahead of their own. A person we can rely upon to "watch our back" and always represent us well; even, and especially, when we're not around. Trust is fragile, and the very nature of it implies that any presence, or perception of conflict, or even a wavering of our empathy, can break the bond of trust in an instant. Trust is given freely and can be taken away without conscious thought if an individual does anything perceived as unworthy of trust. The form of the word "trusted" also implies that trust has been in place in the past, and possibly, by many who have placed trust in this individual. Let's consider the word "advisor" in the title as compared to the words "manager" or "expert." While the term "manager" does imply authority, it also implies a relationship with something other than the client. A money manager manages money, not client situations. The term "Wealth Manager" is used by Life Insurance Agents, Stock Brokers, Bank Trust Officers and nearly any other position within the financial services industry. The title has no clear meaning or specific definition within our industry, but in examining the words the implication is, again, a person who deals with a client's "wealth" rather than the client. The term "expert", on the other hand, implies someone highly skilled within a narrow field of specialization. In our context we think of Subject Matter Experts in the areas of money management, financial planning, estate planning, tax and insurance planning. All narrow fields of specialization, each requiring many thousands of hours of experience to be considered an expert. I have heard the term "expert" described as an individual who has read, and internalized, everything that has ever been written on a narrow topic. Regardless of your definition, an expert is a generator of skilled content while an advisor is one who has the ability to interpret and make the experts' content understood. While an expert is skilled at generating an appropriate recommendation, it is the advisor who is skilled at ensuring that the expert advice is followed and implemented. An advisor is not a manager of money or anything other than the client's relationship with their other Financial Managers and Subject Matter Experts. A Trusted Advisor is the leader of the team of experts and managers. They filter the masterful content generated, by honing it all into precise, specific and concise recommendations which serve to move a client closer to those things they have shared that they want to achieve. Your role as a Trusted Advisor is not to be a content expert in any narrow field, even if you are qualified, but rather to be the orchestrator of a team of experts. This frees you up to internalize the recommendations being created, with empathy, for the client and interpret those recommendations which are most suitable. As a Trusted Advisor, your client will often hear a recommendation from a highly skilled expert on your Deliverables Team, with vast experience, only to turn to you and ask "Do you think I should do this?" Your role as Trusted Advisor gives the greatest gift any human can give to another, the gift of time. By having you in that trusted position, it saves every one of your clients the time it would take to assess the suitability of recommendations. They simply need the "nod" from you and they know a recommendation is sound. To earn the position all you need to be is a highly competent leader and worthy of trust. As a Trusted Advisor, you are the orchestrator of your clients' team of financial experts in all areas. You will serve as the Knights Templar of their Financial Road Map® once the ink dries upon that document and the client entrusts you with helping them actualize it. Remember, that the road map has no voice of its own. It is your job to be the defender of every client's road map and give a voice to those things which will move them closer to actualizing it (even if it means confronting the client's own behavior at times). Enter this New Year knowing that Trusted Advisors add overwhelming tangible value to their client's lives. The value an Ideal Client places in always having their financial house in perfect order means that they are continually making smart choices with their money. This allows for unexpected financial messes to always be avoided, and a realization that a perpetually greater probability of achieving their goals has been achieved through your leadership and your counsel which has proven, over time, to be worthy of trust. If you resolve anything this year, resolve to become an even more effective Trusted Advisor in 2010. ___________________________________________________________ __________ Follow the story of how one Financial Advisor successfully moved from being an Investment Content Expert to a Trusted Advisor delivering fully comprehensive financial services through a team of experts. You may sign up for "The Kate Wilson Case-Study" at no charge at http://trustedadvisortoolkit.com/. Mark McKenna Little is a speaker, author and Trusted Advisor who works with advisors committed to implementing comprehensive financial services. . |
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Tom Voccola: The Third Key to Building and Growing a Sustainable Business | |
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 This article continues to examine The Five Keys to
Building a Growing and Sustainable Financial Services Business. This
installment explores the Third Key: Installing a 90 day project cycle. The Five Keys: 1. Know exactly what you want. 2. Develop and inspire a conscious team that appreciates what you want. 3. Install a 90 day project cycle to keep everyone focused and growing. 4. Encourage the dynamics of intention, creativity, innovation, and integrity. 5. Let go of wanting to know exactly how you will get there in advance. Install a 90 day project cycle to keep everyone focused and growing. There is a rhythm to life and there should be a rhythm to your business. A beginning, middle and end to every endeavor, not a constant death march that never ends. Running your company using a 90 day process will help you successfully address company issues, employee training, personal growth etc. by making continuous improvement part of the culture. Since awareness is the beginning of everything meaningful in life, ask yourself the following questions and rate them on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being "not at all" and 10 being "fully".
Great, so here are four
questions that you can use to facilitate your first 90-day staff meeting. They
will, over time, enable your above scores to consistently be 10's. Entrepreneur, speaker, author and CEO
Guide, Tom Voccola is the CEO of CEO2, a Chief Executive Consulting Firm
specializing in the rapid transformation of corporate and organizational
cultures. Tom is the co-founder and past Chairman of the Los Angeles area CEO
Round Table for the American Electronics Association, and the author of The
Accidental CEO – A Leader’s Journey from Ego to Purpose. His life's work is
to inspire a new generation of leaders who transcend ego and its fear based
agenda. His work gives executives immediate and authentic access to new levels
of power, influence and freedom within their organizations. |
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Rick Barrera: Client TouchPoint Magic | |
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 TouchPoints are points of contact between your organization
and your clients. I divide these TouchPoints into three categories: Product
TouchPoints, Systems TouchPoints and Human TouchPoints. I do this because most
businesses put too much focus on one type of TouchPoint which causes the client
experience to be "unbalanced" and therefore inconsistent. We have all experienced a restaurant with great food but poor service or great service but poor food or even great food and service in a poor location with dirty or old infrastructure. Each of these restaurants is at risk of failure but each for differing reasons. By understanding the different types of TouchPoints and ensuring a consistently extraordinary experience across all three types of TouchPoints, each restaurant could dramatically improve their odds of success. The same is true for financial advisors. Many are gifted technicians with poor "bedside manner." Others are great at asset gathering but poor at paperwork and follow-up. Still others are great at both but their offices are not convenient or welcoming to clients. TouchPoints Defined Product TouchPoints include anything your clients’ touch, that they get to keep. Your letterhead, newsletters, books, financial plans, policies, wills, water, soft drinks, etc. are all examples of Product TouchPoints. Systems TouchPoints include anything that your client touches that they DON’T get to keep. Examples include your parking lot, building, office, furniture, phone system, restroom and website. Human TouchPoints include you and your office staff as well as your deliverables team of outside experts. They could also include any notary service personnel, courier staff or the valet, doorman or security personnel in your building. By examining all three types of TouchPoints in your business, you will be able to quickly identify where your client experience is strong or weak enabling you to create a more uniform and exceptional experience. Start by making a comprehensive list of all of your client TouchPoints. Then sort them into the Product, Systems and Human TouchPoint categories. If you are unsure about a category just put it in the one that seems logical to you. Be sure to include some of the more intangible TouchPoints like your reputation, the quality of your recommendations, the comprehensiveness of your offering across all five areas of financial services (financial planning, legal, tax, asset management, and risk management), ease of doing business with you, your responsiveness and speed of service, the quality of your deliverables team, client results in each of the five areas of financial services, etc. (These typically go into the Product TouchPoint category because, for example, your clients get to "keep" the results you deliver.) Next, look at the TouchPoints in each category and rank them in order of importance FROM YOUR CLIENTS’ POINT OF VIEW. Then, ask your clients' to rank them for you. To check your understanding of your clients and what they value most in their interactions with you, score your list against theirs. For example, if you ranked an item as number 1 and your client ranked it at number 5, your score would be a minus 4 for that item. If you ranked an item as number 7 and they ranked it as number 1, your score would be a minus 6 for that item. In other words, to get a perfect score, you must rank them exactly as your client ranks them. (You can do this exercise category by category or you can create one master list, rank each item and then ask your clients to do the same.) The important part of this exercise is not your score. It is the ensuing discussion with your clients' about why they ranked each item where and how they did. The score is merely a numeric model for the level of connection or disconnection between your mindset and your clients' thinking about where and how you deliver value. These differences are NOT trivial. They should guide your thinking about every decision you make in your firm and how those decisions might impact your clients' experience of your firm. The insights you'll get from this exercise will be invaluable as you begin to redesign your business to deliver even greater value to your clients. I recommend repeating this exercise each year as a way to fine tune your thinking and to deepen your understanding and connection with your clients. This is the real magic that comes from analyzing and understanding TouchPoints. _______________________________________________________________________ Rick Barrera is a nationally acclaimed marketing consultant and author, known throughout the Fortune 500 for his extraordinary speaking ability and his unique approach to brand building. His consulting focuses on helping companies design unique client experiences that drive high levels of referrals. Rick's research on the strategies used by breakthrough brands like Apple, American Girl, Starbucks, Chico's, Lexus, Tivo, and Google will change your thinking about marketing forever. His impressive client list includes Abbott Labs, AutoZone, Bayer, Caterpillar, IBM, Intel, Merrill Lynch and Verizon. His newest book, Overpromise and Overdeliver: How to Design and Deliver Extraordinary Customer Experiences is both a Wall Street Journal and Business Week best seller. |
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Sure, many Advisors say they are committed to their
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| The Trusted
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