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Client Communications
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Clearly Explaining What You Do For A Living Is Critical For Establishing Credibility |
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Saturday, May 04, 2013 19:11
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What do you do for a living? Many Advisors fumble over their answer to this question. But having a clear, client-oriented, benefits-laced statement of what you do and who you do it for is the critical first step in developing new client relationships.
This Website Is For Financial Professionals Only
In the client’s mind, all Financial Advisors start out looking alike, and that’s not a compliment. Whether your call it your elevator speech or mission statement, it’s best to avoid settling for labels such as, “I’m a Financial Advisor.”
If you don’t, potential client may be thinking, “Yeah, right…So is the guy down the street who called me five years ago, took $500,000 of my money, and hasn’t been heard from since. In fact, he won’t even take my call! And he called himself a Financial Advisor. You mean you’re a Financial Advisor like that?” Focus on the benefits of what you do, not on a label or title.
Furthermore, no one wants another great hot stock tip, mutual fund or insurance policy. They don’t even want another great financial plan. What they want are the benefits. They want to find ways to protect what they’ve built, to retire early, to pay off debt, become financially independent or support a favorite charity…or any of the other multitude of benefits you provide.
Next, describe who you do it for. What are primary groups of clients you work with? Who are your target markets? Go beyond mere income and occupation to the level of common values. Income and occupation are actually disqualifiers. You may want to do business with someone because she’s a doctor worth $5 million, but she does not necessarily want to do business with you because she’s a doctor worth $5 million.
We all know that people do business with people whom they like and trust, and I would suggest that likeability and trust is based primarily upon perceived common values. Why do you naturally get along with doctors? What do you have in common? These are the keys you’re looking for.
If you don’t know, ask. You should have a good enough relationship with your clients to inquire, “What do you enjoy most about us doing business together?” Try to steer away from personal compliments, towards the more professional aspects of your relationship, drilling down to common values. You’ve got to give potential clients something to hang their hat on.
With a little creativity you can come up with a clear, client-oriented, benefits-laced statement of what you do and who you do it for that naturally compels a potential client to follow up with, “That sounds interesting. How do you do that?” Below are some ideas to get you started:
I create zero tax estate plans for doctors who don’t want
Uncle Sam to be their largest heir.
I show business owners and professionals how to retire
years earlier than they ever thought possible.
I create exit strategies for business owners
through innovative succession planning.
I show business owners how to pull money out of their business…tax-free.
I help small business owners attract and retain
superior talent in a competitive labor market.
I help seniors and retirees create a monthly income for life.
I help women create a safe environment for handling their finances.
I help gay and lesbian couples navigate their way
through the unique financial challenges they face.
I show socially conscious investors how to use and preserve their wealth
to make a difference in the world.
You can customize your statement to fit the primary benefit you provide, your particular style and personality, and the market(s) you serve. Most of all, make it authentic.
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Make Your Slides, Videos And Webinars More Effective: How To Set Up PowerPoint Slides For 16:9 Display Instead Of 4:3 |
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Friday, May 03, 2013 17:36
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Tags: client communications | videos When you create slides in PowerPoint, it's smart right from the start to build them with a 16:9 aspect ratio because monitors and video players these days are all 16:9.
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Over the past decade, we've all moved from a 4:3 screen orientation on computers, TVs, and movies and to a 16:9 perspective--all of us except the geniuses at Microsoft that choose default settings for PowerPoint. When you create a PowerPoint, it will by default create slides with a 4:3 aspect ratio.
Using the 4:3 aspect ratio creates those ubiquitous blank spaces on both sides of your slides when you present a PowerPoint in "slide show view" or "presenter view."
If you create screen shots, webinars, videos of your slides, you can usually stretch the image but that will often distort the text or graphics.
To avoid that distortion and use more of the screen, this video below shows you how to create a PowerPoint using the 16:9 orientation.
If you create presentations using 16:9 they will take up more of the screen when they're viewed. It makes your presentations use all of the real estate instead of leaving these big blank spaces. It makes presentations more effective.
By the way, if you want your slides to take up the entire screen, set the aspect ratio to 16:10 and that will eliminate the blank spaces on the top and bottom of slides.
What's crazy is I've been using PowerPoint slides for many years without ever changing the aspect ratio to 16:9. I never took the time to understand what was causing those big blank spaces on the sides of my slides. At last week's A4A webinar, Matt Pierce, who trains people how to use Camtasia Studio video editing software, mentioned changing the page set up and that's what made me realize how easy it would be to use the full screen to display my slides. That webinar is a key first step to turning an advisor or RIUA firm into a marketing powerhouse, incidentally.
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Merrill's Thiel Says Advisors Must Change The Conversation With Clients, But His Comments Come Four Years After The Financial Crisis |
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Thursday, April 25, 2013 19:13
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Tags: advisor industry people | asset management | behavioral finance | broker-dealers | client education | investment advisors | Merrill Lynch To overcome the dramatic decline in public trust in banks since the financial crisis, financial advisors need to change the dialogue they are having with clients, Merrill Lynch wealth management chief, John Thiel, reportedly told an audience at the SIFMA Private Client conference on Thursday. This Website Is For Financial Professionals Only
“We got drunk with the performance of the bull market, 12% a year every year in equities from 1982 to 2000,” Thiel told the audience, according to OnWallStreet. “But the world changed and our dialogue, our approach, didn’t. It needs to. We need to talk about what our clients goals, concerns and priorities are and map absolute performance to that objective.”
Independent advisors take heart: A top executive at Merrill is giving a speech at Wall Street's top conference for private wealth advisors talking about problems you've probably been addressing for many years.
Thiel is not just a day late and a dollar short, he's years late with this message and Merrill has lost billions of dollars for clients.
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Schwab Announces Deal With DST For Statements And Confirms; RIAs Could Get Added Branding And Personalization |
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Friday, March 22, 2013 14:29
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Tags: custodians | Schwab Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. today announced that it recently signed a multi-year contract with DST Output, LLC, to produce and deliver its trade confirmations and broker-dealer, bank and tax statements, as well as provide fulfillment, direct mail and warehouse distribution services. The announcement mentions some personalization and branding capabilities that could benefit RIAs clearing through Schwab. This Website Is For Financial Professionals Only
"DST Output demonstrated its ability to align capabilities and resources to meet Schwab's requirements, and highlighted opportunities for Schwab branches and independent registered investment advisors to personalize statement messaging and implement color options," says a press release from Schwab.
The bulk of Charles Schwab 's customer communications has already been converted to DST Output, according to the press release, and just a few applications remain to be transitioned in the coming months.
The work is being processed across four of DST Output's facilities in California, Missouri, Massachusetts and Connecticut for rapid distribution to customers and built-in disaster recovery to ensure business continuity.
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Educating Clients On Confusing Choices Like 529 Plans Can Become One Of Your Best Prospecting Tools |
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Friday, February 22, 2013 13:17
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Tags: client education | 529 plans | prospecting
How can investors pick the right 529 savings plan for their children’s education? Most simply don’t. The options are too many and too confusing.
Here’s where you can enter the picture to clarify things for them. This Website Is For Financial Professionals Only
You can start by looking at the criteria you used for picking the plans you are using for your own children.
The Wall Street Journal did a survey of financial advisors to find out just such criteria. The common denominator were that fees had to be low.
Five other criteria were:
1. Top notch customer service: The top two criteria here were a user-friendly website and knowledgeable reps.
2. Rewards programs: Most rewards programs consist of applying percentages of anywhere from 1% to 25% of purchases to your child’s 529 plan.
3. Tax breaks: Many states offer state income tax deductions for investing in a 529. Most often, the 529 has to be within that state. The tax advantages of investing in a state 529 plan may outweigh the low cost aspects of other plans.
4. Asset classes for investment: The plan should offer a wide selection of investment options including small- to mid-cap equity options two international equity options, and a few fixed-income options.
5. Age-based options: 529 plans don’t automatically rebalance and many investors set up the plans and then forget about them. Age-based investment plans that grow more conservative as the child gets closer to college age provide a more automated approach.
These are great opportunities for meeting with your clients and setting up educational events that double as networking events where clients can bring their friends.
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