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The Emotional Side of Letting Go of Clients

From a very young age, many children are taught that they should not waste, that they should use and keep everything. This Depression-era mentality really instills a sense of guilt. Clutter continues to build up because we keep, keep, keep everything! It’s like having recordings playing constantly in your head, saying “YOU MUST NOT BE…

Got Goals for 2021?

It’s that time of year when we push forward with high hopes for greater things. Many financial advisors will take time to reflect on last year’s goals and strategize for 2021. Many other financial advisors will want to review their goals but they can’t find them because they really haven’t paid much attention to them…

Is Referral Marketing Expensive?

Is Referral Marketing Expensive? Marketing efforts add up. There are many, many marketing tactics and strategies that financial firms use to drive prospects to their front door. Think about all that you’ve seen or used yourself. Billboards, print ads, business cards, flyers, brochures, dinners, client events, social media, websites, client appreciation gifts, networking events, radio…

Does Fear Keep You from Asking for Referrals?

Does Fear Keep You from Asking for Referrals? Halloween is just around the corner. You can almost feel it in the air – this mystical holiday tends to test our courage with scary houses, haunted hayrides and dark corn mazes that stretch over acres and acres of corn fields. But that isn’t the only fear…

Perfection Hurts

Being a perfectionist. “Demand it of yourself and you’ll always be unsatisfied. Demand it of others and you’ll always be disappointed.” Many times, the reason a perfectionist is disorganized is that she believes that she can’t get her office to look 100% perfect, so why try? But wouldn’t it be better to have an 80% organized office than…

How Do You Want To Be Referred?

How Do You Want To Be Referred? We tend to ask this question a lot only to find out that many advisors don’t have an answer to it. Some say, “Well what do you mean? I just want to be referred.” Others say, “It doesn’t matter to me.” Really? If you had the choice to…

Top Ten Tips to Organize Your Office

Stop for a second and look around your office. What if your best client decided to pop in on you right this very second? Would your office represent you well? Would your office reflect the kind of service you provide to that client? Or, are you looking at piles of paper that need filing, pairs…

Your Story

Your Story, Your Smart Financial Decision Do you know why you became a financial advisor? I mean the really deep reason behind why it’s important to you to help people manage their money, make smart financial decisions, and create a secure future. Can you remember the moment you made the choice to pursue this profession?…

The Power of Choice: Control your Practice

Do you want to be more in control of your life, health, time, and referral process? Do you need to take better control your practice? If so, you need to be more in control of the choices you’re making. Every day, you’re faced with choices. You go to the grocery store and enter the snack…

High Net Worth Clients Simply Don’t Refer

High net worth clients simply don’t refer. Or so we hear. Most financial advisors believe that some clients are bad at referring. We’ve heard advisors say the main reason for this is that high net worth people don’t like talking about money. Plenty of advisors believe that and hang their hat on that excuse as…

Freedom: Four Must-Haves for a Lifestyle Practice

A lifestyle practice is all the buzz right now. Many financial advisors chose to get into the business because they like the freedom associated with running their own practice. They like helping people secure a worry-free retirement while still being able to attend their own kid’s soccer game on Thursday evening. They like being able…

Are you paying attention to the rhythm of your financial practice?

According to marketing consultant Dan Allison, president of Feedback Marketing Group, advisors lose out on 80 percent of potential referrals because their clients can’t properly articulate the services their advisors offer. Recent studies from Absolute Engagement showed that 82% of high net worth clients don’t refer because they claim to not know anyone who they…

Poor Time Management?

The two biggest time wasters for most financial planners are: They don’t plan their day They are disorganized physically, mentally, emotionally, and with their time The two things that can be done to put a stop to these time wasters: Plan your day Be more organized Sound oversimplified? Maybe, but without fixing these issues, your…

Energize Your Clients to Refer You

Seven seconds. Did you know that within seven seconds of meeting you people have already made up their minds about you? That’s astounding but true. Our world seems to be getting even more opinionated so we wouldn’t be surprised if that number is actually less than seven. In fact, sometimes people form an opinion about…

Heat Up Your Referral Opportunities!

Most financial advisors work to develop relationships with other professionals (COIs-centers of influence) to generate more referral opportunities. Ironically, one of the most frequent complaints we hear from advisors is that their relationships with other professionals (i.e. CPAs, Estate Attorneys, Bankers, Insurance, etc.) tend to be one-sided. They give referrals to other people while seeing…

Reduce Clutter and Achieve Financial Simplicity

For most people, money and finances are more difficult to talk about than sex. Let the record reflect that I am neither a financial planner nor a sex therapist, but I am what you might call frugal (not to be confused with cheap). How do you view money? Do you see it as something to…

Perfectionism Kills Confidence and Productivity

An excerpt from our book, A Woman’s Way: Empowering Female Financial Advisors to Authentically Lead and Flourish in a Man’s World Perfectionism is a blessing and a curse. We feel so good about ourselves because we can do it all (we think better than anyone else). However, we become our own worst enemy by insisting…

Is Working Long Hours Worth It?

We often hear our clients say that they work 50, 60, 70, 80 (and sometimes even more) hours per week. Is this healthy and productive? The answer is most likely no. The time that you use to work overtime has to come from somewhere. Many times, we sacrifice family time; but often times, we give…

Freedom Rings: Four Essentials to a Lifestyle Practice

Many financial advisors chose to get into the profession because they like the lifestyle freedom associated with running their own practice. They like helping people secure a worry-free retirement while still being able to attend their own kid’s soccer game on Thursday evening. They like being able to support their family with ample revenue and…

Stretching Exercises for Your Financial Practice

Webster says this about the word “stretch”: “Stretch: To draw out to the full or fuller length, breadth, or extent”. A few years ago, I had an index finger on my left hand that seemed to go numb quite often. It was beginning to get ridiculous and it was also beginning to travel up my arm.…

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