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Be a resource to your clients by focusing on their lives as well as their
finances.
When I first heard of financial planners becoming more holistic in their approach, it sounded kind of strange. After
all we are here to help people financially, not become life
coaches. But when you look at different ways to take a holistic
approach several ideas come to mind. One idea came from Barry
Lavalley of Lavalley Communications in British Columbia.
His
concepts are the next wave for financial advisors to embrace.
Life planning is the process of helping people focus on their true
values and motivations of their lives. It is in using these values,
motivations, goals and objectives to guide the planning process.
It is providing a framework for making choices and decisions in
life that have financial consequences or implications, according to
Steven Shagrin, Past president, international Society for
Retirement and Life Planning.
To discuss this concept in one chapter is impossible. However
here are a some ideas to get you thinking about becoming more
holistic in your approach.
Build your own yellow pages:
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Develop a list of potential contacts in other areas of peoples
lives.
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Use the list to create a referral directory of services for your
clients.
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Circulate the list with permission to your clients once per year
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Eventually you will see the list expand because of your conscious
effort to create your own yellow pages for clients- you will find that
once people find out about the list that they are not on, they will want
to get on the list.
Build your own holistic planning questions
Start recording information about clients lives and goals. This
can include spiritual, physical, social, recreational, family,
education or other pursuits in life. Use this information along with your yellow pages to help
people in other areas of their lives.
For example, lets say you had
a client who wished someday that they went on a cruise. You
define their finances as how much they may plan to put aside on
the cruise. Then ask them if they have a ravel agent. You can
then arrange a meeting with a travel agent you recommend to
plan out cruise destinations and book the trip.
The client takes a
wonderful cruise holiday and returns thanking you for making
things happen in their life. You get the satisfaction knowing that
you were the catalyst in that persons lives and helping achieve
more than just asset allocation.
Grant's Tip: Have you ever been asked by a client ' Who is a good doctor,
dentist, mechanic, travel agent ?' If your clients come to you for
recommendations, can you imagine the referral possibilities you
are creating. Imagine your auto dealer sending you someone who
just received a large windfall and bough a new car and
recommended the person to talk to you about their windfall.
Can you imagine sending a retiree to a personal trainer and that
person telling their friends about their financial advisor who
helped them find a personal trainer. Will their friends not ask
who their financial advisor is? The possibilities are endless when
you start to take a holistic approach to your business.
The new roles for financial advisors can take on new meaning for
all of your marketing. Your newsletters can focus on holistic
issues such as health or recreation. Your seminars and workshops
are on non financial topics. You get more involved in the clients
life and their family. Estate planning takes on a whole new
meaning. You help your clients attitude towards money and
investing by focusing on the benefits, not the results. Your
brochures and communications material take on a life of
their own and redefine your role as an advisor. Your satisfaction
goes up along with your client as you see the benefits through
your positive client feedback. Instead of phone calls asking you
for a market commentary, your client wants the name of a good
general contractor to build an addition on their home.
A second way to becoming a life planner is to hire your own
success coach. The growth of coaching is huge in North America,
and for professionals what a better way to take a holistic coach is
to hire a coach or take a coaching program or certification.
All top actresses and actors, athletes and top business people have
coaches. Consider hiring a coach to help you in certain areas of your
business such as marketing, business planning or overall success
coaching.
Financial advisors who want the fast track often overlook the
value of feedback. It’s like Steven Covey says' The law of the harvest,
you must plant in the spring and harvest in the fall.' Many top advisors
find themselves burning out amid all of their success. It is natural to
want more and more success, but at what price. A coach can help you manage
your growth while maintaining the lifestyle that you work so hard to
enjoy.
If you want to become a Guerrillla Marketing coach, check out
the program at
www.gmarketingcoach.com
Barry Lavalley’s work is revolutionary in helping advisors transition to
becoming life planners to their clients. For more information, check his
website out at:
www.lifefirstapproach.com .
Copyright 2003 By: Jay Conrad Levinson and Grant W. Hicks, C.I.M.,FCSI - Co-author of "Guerrilla
Marketing For Financial Advisors
", Trafford Publishing 2003.
You may use these articles in your
marketing, newsletters and web sites as long as you retain the copyright
information at the bottom, including the link to our web
site and inform us where it is being used as well as sending us a copy of
the publication.
Always check with
your compliance office and or branch manager before implementing any
marketing idea. The information does not constitute a recommendation for
the sale or purchase of any securities or insurance. |
