advisor2.0©: What Makes a GREAT Advisor?
In July we posted a blog titled “Re-Imagining the Wealth Management Experience: advisor2.0©.” In this blog we described the fact that the experience required to be competitive in today’s wealth management landscape has evolved, requiring more breadth, depth and skill of advisors. Interestingly, this was one of the most popular blogs we have ever posted, which we took as evidence that those in our industry agree. If you missed it and would like to read it, click HERE.
Given the popularity of this blog, we thought it would be of value to dig a little deeper on this topic to help you - whether as an individual advisor or a leader of a team or firm – identify the specific competencies of a GREAT advisor who is prepared to deliver this more robust wealth management “advisor2.0© experience.”
In our work with thousands of advisors across our client base, we have defined four specific advisor2.0© quadrants – IQ, EQ, PQ and DQ as shown in the graphic below. To provide more granularity here, you can click on each quadrant to review the specific competencies related to each category. Our intent is to provide you – either as an advisor or a leader – with a clear, objective framework to make an assessment of yourself or any advisor on your team.
A couple of important notes:
Self-assess where you stand via the key advisor2.0© Competencies.
THE ADVISOR2.0© COMPETENCIES
- Does the advisor have the requisite level of knowledge needed to engage prospects and clients at the appropriate depth in the following disciplines of wealth management?
- Investments
- Wealth Transfer & Estate Planning
- Retirement
- Protection Planning
- Business Owner Planning
- Corporate Executive Wealth Planning
- Lending & Debt Planning
- Can the advisor clearly articulate why someone should do business with them in a compelling, authentic way that differentiates them from other competitors?
- Does the advisor have an intentional approach to delivering immediate value during the first meeting with new prospects?
- Does the advisor have a clearly defined approach for developing a deep, intimate understanding about what is most important to each client/prospect and the priorities most vital for them to accomplish?
- Does the advisor have a clear benchmark of the specific financial information they gather with every client to ensure they have a complete understanding of their financial situation?
- Does the advisor engage prospects and clients in a meaningful and differentiated conversation relative to each of the core wealth management topics, and in so doing, create urgency to address any issues not effectively addressed in their current wealth management plan?
- Can the advisor leverage their financial planning software to deliver a collaborative goals-based planning experience that accomplishes the following?
- Effectively positions the value of the experience and maximizes prospect/client interest and engagement
- Compresses the “time-to-value” in the sales experience
- Can be scaled throughout their book of prospects and clients to ensure maximum productivity
- Offers a clear and compelling case for why a client should aggregate and consolidate assets with them
- Does the advisor have a defined quantifiable plan and key benchmarks (# of prospects, close ratio, average calls to close, average revenue per close) to achieve their production goals?
- Does the advisor have a defined and disciplined strategy for sourcing new prosects?
- Does the advisor engage referral sources effectively by clearly defining and differentiating their value to the referrals they provide?
- Does the advisor have a clearly defined Sales Process that documents the outcomes they are seeking to achieve in each step of the process?
- Does the advisor have a defined structure to Pre-Call Planning that best ensures maximimum impact and the delivery of true value in every prospect and client engagement?
- Does the advisor have an Onboarding Process that serves to reinforce a client’s buying decision and inspire greater loyalty?
- Does the advisor have a clearly defined approach to client meetings/relationship reviews that consistently leads to enhanced client loyalty and relationship expansion?
- Does the advisor have defined benchmarks they use to assess the overall wealth strategy for each client to ensure they are addressing the most important wealth issues?
Conclusion
At Greene Consulting, our commitment is to equip and support advisors in delivering the meaningful advice and insights their clients need to best position them to achieve what is important to them in their lives. We believe advisors play a critical role that can have a lifelong, even inter-generational, impact on the lives of the clients they work with. But, just like a doctor, lawyer, or any other professional, they must strive for excellence in how they perform their role.
This assessment framework is designed to provide a set of benchmarks that you can use to evaluate yourself/your advisors for the purpose of defining how to deliver the highest impact experience for the clients you serve. With this in mind, we have the advisor2.0© Forum to equip and support advisors in mastering the skills, knowledge, and proficiencies related to each of the advisor2.0© quadrants:
- A Unique Confidence-Weighted Knowledge Assessment
- Over 150 Wealth management Knowledge courses that can be configured into a curriculum or certification based on your knowledge development needs
- A Practice Management series designed to support advisors in developing a detailed and disciplined Practice Strategy that empowers them to grow their practice with intentionality and efficiency
- A Client Experience Series that supports advisors in developing proficiencies in the emotional side of the business and how they engage clients and prospects in a more meaningful and differentiated way
- A program ensuring more effective adoption and implementation of your digital platforms and financial planning software to deliver a scalable, efficient goals-based planning experience
This Forum is structured and deployed for groups of advisors within your firm (the “closed enrollment option”) designed around your specific needs firm needs and culture, or the “open enrollment option” that brings together advisors from firms throughout the industry to leverage the actionable ideas, resources and best practices and collaborate with each other to enhance their practice.
NEXT STEPS
If, after going through this assessment, you would like to get more details on how the advisor2.0© Forum can help you take your practice to the next level, schedule a 30-minute call to learn more by clicking, "Let's Start a Conversation" below.
