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Do you offer your best clients and best prospects comprehensive advice? Working with successful financial advisors and teams every day I see a common mistake that financial advisors don't see. They offer comprehensive advice yet they don't get a copy of at least three years tax returns. They don't get a corporate tax return. They don't get a copy of the will or power of attorney. They don't have the data on all the life, health, group pensions, and government benefits. They don't have a sample plan or case study of what they do for the best clients and they don't have a clearly detailed process in writing to give to ideal clients and prospects. Now if you were an ideal prospect and the financial advisor said to you we do comprehensive advice and all they have is your investment statements what does that tell you?
What does comprehensive advice look like?
Financial advisors can fool a prospect or two into convincing them to become a client and talking about comprehensive advice but not delivering it. But wealthy high net worth clients take a longer time to acquire and onboard simply because they're vetting your process and how you deliver on your process in your communications, and how you're going to deliver on your communications even before they become a client. It is called the prospect's journey. They all want to go through it and have a different experience than their last financial advisor who promised comprehensive advice and did not do a comprehensive plan and just manage their money. High net worth clients can see the difference between an asset gatherer and someone that delivers comprehensive advice. They know comprehensive advice covers all seven areas and you cannot fool them. They know you need to look at tax, estate, investments, risk, insurance, debts, and cash flow and put all these elements together to help them reach their goals and aspirations.
Clarity around their future
The number one thing people want is clarity around their future on paper. Can you help people get clarity around their future with a comprehensive plan and all of the data in all seven areas without having their values and goals in writing? How many financial advisors get clarity around clients' values and goals in writing before they even consider offering comprehensive planning and advice? I think if financial advisors spent more time building out their process, rather than focusing on the outcome, they will deliver more value get more clients and move up the market and grow their practice. Practice management is about three things process process process. Do you have a clearly detailed process in writing but you can share with your best clients about how you arrive at comprehensive advice? What does comprehensive advice look like? Do you have samples or case studies to share with people? Most advisors are good at getting clients but struggle with next-level clients. If you are working with clients with 1 to $2 million of investable assets how do you acquire the two to $4 million and the $5 million-plus clients? You may have one or two of those clients but you're trying to put your retail process and standardized communication to clients and families that generate five times more than your best clients now.
Does your process need to change?
To move up-market, how are you going to deliver more value? How are you going to deliver comprehensive advice in writing? How are you going to enhance your communications? Start by putting in writing what comprehensive advice is, and the services that you will offer. Have a process to collect and organize all of the data. Have a process to help people get clarity around all of their values and goals on paper. Have a team of people you can coordinate comprehensive advice with such as tax, legal, estate, real estate, insurance, and other financial issues. You may also need other professionals that can help you with non-financial issues such as family legacy planning, philanthropy, cross-border planning, art and collectibles, and concierge healthcare. Do you have a strong enough network to deliver comprehensive advice in all seven areas?
The big mistake with high net-worth clients
What does a high-net-worth client perceive comprehensive advice actually is? Have you ever asked them? Start by understanding what clients expect comprehensive advice and services to be and what is actually delivered. “All they do is manage my money”. In their mind, there is a perception and a reality and how you communicate comprehensive advice services and delivery and how you communicate it is often lost in the prospect's journey. Now you know why they're not engaged because they perceive you as an asset gathering. And yet you do deliver comprehensive advice and services But your communication process doesn't. Start with your communications, and see what I see when a financial advisor calls me and wants to find out about my work. The first thing I do is send out a comprehensive practice management checklist. What messages are you sending out to deliver comprehensive advice? Do you have a strong process to deliver comprehensive advice in all 7 areas?