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Are you a lone wolf or collaborator?
If you’ve been in the industry a long time, you are likely familiar with the “lone wolf” image of financial advisors and an environment where “eat what you kill” is the mantra of the day.
To this day, many financial advisors see themselves as “sole proprietors” who build their businesses from scratch and earn an income based on the revenue they generate from clients. This approach was hard enough when advisors were paid on commission, and while fees on assets helped smooth out the revenue model, there’s still a lot of pressure to focus almost exclusively on HNW clients.
But there’s change afoot and the role of the financial advisor is evolving. Today’s HNW clients want a more comprehensive financial plan as well as advisors who know them and their families very personally. Delivering on both needs is a balancing act that challenges many, especially those hanging on to old adage.
But as it turns out, many financial advisors are equal to the task and willing to take on the challenge because they see the wisdom and necessity. Slowly but surely many are moving to a team approach to serve their high net worth clients. That could be with a broader financial advice team including associates, portfolio technicians, and business development specialists. Oftentimes, it also includes experts in serving their more complicated needs of HNW clients – think financial planners, estate lawyers, accounting experts, portfolio managers, etc.
In this scenario, the lead financial advisor becomes the conductor of the orchestra – the one who sits side-by-side with the client and orchestrates the use of tools and services to meet each client’s long-term needs when more complicated measures are needed to achieve those goals.
This advisor is no longer a lone wolf and the skill sets that served him/her well are no longer appropriate. This new advisor is someone who is a collaborator – someone who is especially well-suited to building long-term relationships – in short someone who can manage people and processes to get things done rather than rely solely on their own drive and determination.
Advisors today can no longer simply be technician they must be strategic leaders, advice-givers who can create a vision that others can get behind. They must be able to influence behaviors, find and retain great talent, inspire people to be more than they are, understand what motivates people and move them towards bigger opportunities than they thought possible.
Now that’s a leader clients and service providers will want to follow.
With a nod to the Covid-19 pandemic – this approach may seem more difficult than ever but as we have said before, this is a perfect time to reimagine yourself and your practice. A perfect time to reach out to others. There has never been a better time to work collaboratively to everyone’s benefit.
For more information on working with women who invest, visit our website www.strategymarketing.ca, sign up to our mailing list and order our book INVEST(in)HER – The Smart Financial Advisor’s Guide to Winning Female Clients in 6 Easy Steps
Related: A New Financial Advisor Is Emerging From This Pandemic