Back to Index COACHING CORNER Our financial advisor and his team have a 110-point check list of action items that need to be completed in order for our financial house to be in order. Getting these 110 things done give us the best chance of achieving our goals by our target dates, regardless of the economic cycles we will go through during our journey. 3 of these 110 items are related to our investments. He charges about the same as "wealth managers" who only do a few things for their Clients. While the market may be down, and therefore our investments are too, we are not questioning the value of our relationship with our financial advisor. On the contrary, our advisor is proactively engaged in counseling us on action items that are within our control so we can make progress towards our goals. If we were to be distracted by external events he would tactfully remind us that having a plan and sticking to the plan is not only the best strategy, it's all that we can control. It would not occur to Anne and me that our advisor is not earning his money, no matter how bad the economic news. What about you? What value do you provide beyond investment advice so your Clients don't judge you on investment performance alone, good or bad? What lessons have you learned about focusing more on "gathering assets" and selling a few insurance policies rather than providing true, full-service financial planning? What does it mean to be a full-service financial planner? Are you spending a disproportionate amount of time managing your Clients' emotions in the middle of the "storm" because you failed to prepare them for times like these in advance? What are you doing now so things can be different next time? What are the 2 or 3 biggest lessons you are learning that will help your business practices and make your Client relationships stronger during the next challenging economic cycle? Imagine what your life would be like right now if you could invest the majority of your time implementing your Ideal Client Acquisition Strategy instead of hand-holding your unprepared Clients. This is a fabulous time for Client acquisition! Here are a few action items for you to consider: Don't be your own financial advisor. Hire the best financial planner in your community, pay their full fee, and do what they tell you to do. Do this soon. Guard at least 10 hours a week for new Ideal Client acquisition time. This is such a great opportunity to attract Ideal Clients to Values-Based Financial Planning™ and away from advisors who practice inferior methods. Tell your Clients the truth. Nobody can predict the future. Stay true to the fundamental principles for achieving goals. They are the same during all economic cycles. Successful people focus on what they can control, while unsuccessful get distracted by what they can't control. Successful people have a plan and stick to the plan. The next President is not the key to a person achieving their goals. We achieve our goals based on the quality of our choices over time. Yours on the journey, Bill Bachrach Founder & Chairman What Your Clients Really Want... Our guest speaker at the September Academy 2, Scott McKain, is the author of the best-seller, What Customers Really Want. Click here for more info How does Values-Based Financial Planning™ deliver on the 6 things Scott says your Clients really want? Compelling Experience. The entire Values-Based Financial Planning™ relationship is a "compelling experience." Beginning with the first meeting and the Financial Road Map® Interview they discover that you are a person who is more interested in them as people than as just another account number with assets. The Values Conversation™, especially, conveys the quality of your questions, how well you listen with empathy, and that you are a person capable of a high-trust Client relationship. Personal Focus. Everything about their interaction with you is personally focused. The personal financial plan you create is based on their personal Financial Road Map® so they have the highest probability of achieving their personal goals and fulfilling their personal values. The way you hold them accountable to implement your advice is personally inspiring. Reciprocal Loyalty. Building an Ideal Client Community with a finite number of Clients who you fully serve, versus the old-school approach of endless prospecting and marketing to acquire as many Clients as possible, is one of the ways you demonstrate your reciprocal loyalty to your Clients. Differentiation. In a world where most advisors only deal with investments and a few other basic financial and insurance issues, having a true, comprehensive financial plan and an advisor who actually makes sure it's implemented IS different. So is having a Deliverables Team of subject-matter experts who help you create and implement this high level of planning. From the Client's perspective, having confidence that their goals will be achieved, even in uncertain economic times, is very different than what most Clients are experiencing today. Coordination. Everything is simplified, consolidated, and coordinated through one Trusted Advisor who orchestrates the Deliverables Team to make sure every Client gets everything done on the action list. This puts the Clients in the position to have total confidence they will achieve their goals and fulfill their values regardless of what happens in the market, the economy, or the world. Innovation. Advisors who implement Values-Based Financial Planning™ and build a Deliverables Team go far beyond what most Clients receive. Beyond the typical money manager and insurance Deliverables Team members, advisors innovate with subject-matter-experts who make virtually every financial choice simple and efficient. Some advisors go even further with Referrals to professionals who can enhance their Client's quality of life. Such as concierge doctors, personal trainers, and adventure travel consultants. One of my favorite quotes in Scott's book is, "They don't want you to make it right, they want you to get it right." This is another important aspect of Values-Based Financial Planning™. Get it right in the first place, so you don't have to make it right later. The Financial Road Map® is getting it right. The comprehensive written plan is getting it right. Orchestrating a professional Deliverables Team for the benefit of your Clients is getting it right. Conducting an effective Implementation Meeting is getting it right. Holding the Clients accountable in the Progress Meetings is getting it right. Having Clients focus on what they can control is getting it right. Being the "Knights Templar" for their Financial Road Map® to make sure the goals are achieved is getting it right. Protecting the Financial Road Map® from the greatest threat, the Clients themselves, is getting it right. Being client-centered is getting it right. Having a finite number of Ideal Clients in the Ideal Client Community is getting it right. Acquiring new Clients by Referral only is getting it right. Remember, they don't want you to have to make it right. They want you to get it right. Bill Bachrach Back to Index

The Trusted Financial Advisor (tm) ISSN 1543-432X A monthly publication dedicated to helping transform the financial services industry from salespeople to Trusted Advisors. Bachrach and Associates, Inc. baivbfp.com info@bachrachvbs.com 8380 Miramar Mall Suite 200 San Diego, CA 92121 800-347-3707 Printing Tip: For best results print this newsletter in landscape mode. (c) 2008 Bachrach & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. The following are registered and trademarked and intellectual property of Bachrach & Associates, Inc.: Financial Road Map®, Success Road Map®, Values-Based Selling®, Values-Based Selling® Academy, Values-Based Selling® Academy 2, Trusted Advisor Coach®, Values-Based Financial Planning™, Being Done™, Values-Based Financial Professional™, The Values Conversation™, High-Trust Leadership™ and The Quality of Life Enhancer™. All rights reserved.