Does EQ really matter? And what IS EQ? Is it simply about having good “people skills”? Or is it more than that? And is it worth working on and perfecting these skills? Our firm recently concluded our first Forum, collaborating with 16 advisors from various firms across the industry to help them further develop and…

The Intangibles A few weeks ago the leader of a successful RIA we work with called me about our last blog, What Makes a GREAT Advisor.  He said he completely agreed with the claim we made that if the skills, disciplines and practices addressed in that blog are mastered, you’re sure to have a highly…

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,…

How will you differentiate and drive growth in the modern era of wealth management? I will start out here by stating the obvious – the wealth management industry is changing, and changing at break-neck speed. But what is not so obvious is that the majority of advisors we see out there continue to prospect, serve…

The Challenge Social Security benefits are key to most Americans’ quality of life during retirement. Yet, an alarming number of clients approaching retirement do not have a basic understanding of Social Security benefits. Twelve fundamental questions were posed to 1,5001 pre-retirees to gauge their Social Security knowledge. Take the same true/false survey quiz below to…

Prospect and Client Engagement Effectiveness “Planning is not a thing; it is the way we approach advising our clients.” “Planning is any meaningful conversation that helps a client connect their priorities to their likely outcomes.” “The first step to engage prospects and clients is to introduce it as a way for them to become more involved in the process.”…

Overcoming the Adoption Challenge Advisor adoption remains the single most significant challenge facing firms who are focused on the integration of planning into their offering model. Two previous blogs – The Adoption Challenge in Financial Planning and Changing the Planning Paradigm – The Key to Overcoming the Advisor (and Client) Adoption Challenge – discussed some key strategies…

The Strategic Imperative of Planning “In the midst of market turmoil, without a doubt, those clients with whom we have engaged in a goals-based planning approach are doing better in every way compared to those with whom we have not. There is absolutely no comparison.” This comment was made by a senior executive (and career Portfolio Manager) during a…

While every firm touts planning to be central to their value and differentiation, the reality is that most clients are not getting this in their relationship. This is not opinion; the facts confirm this. One leading financial planning software platform publicly touts that they have over 60,000 advisors using their planning software and that advisors…

Like the clients we serve who are proactively and aggressively reaching out to their clients during this unprecedented time of disruption, we are doing the very same with our clients and others throughout the industry seeking to help them in any way we can come out of this stronger than ever. Over the last few…