Introspection Is The Key

Sep 23, 2019

It's All In Your Head

Introspection The Key To Your Survival

This is why introspection and value development are the keys to your survival in a robo-world.

It’s not leads… it’s not marketing metrics…  it’s not a sales funnel… it’s not copying what other successful advisers have done…

The key to your survival already exists… the big question is…

Do you have the ability to discover and define it?

In a robo-world where change is exponential you do not have the luxury of time to eventually discover your authentic relevant value, you must discover your value immediately and proactively define and design that value for digital consumption so it can be made available 24 hours a day.

One luxury you do have made available to you, is the opportunity for introspection 24/7 offered exclusively here…
it’s the express lane for advisor survival in the digital age of financial services.

Take a look at the infinite progression of advisor introspection made available exclusively for you.

You must be proactive in the development of your own relevance to survive in a robo-world.

Nobody else is going to do it for you.

It’s nobody’s business but yours.

Be proactive and take advantage of the opportunity in front of you right now.

You Have The Answers

We Have The Right Questions

Advisor By Design

Sep 20, 2019

TOP TRAITS OF RELEVANT ADVISORS

 

They know they can’t be everything for everyone.

They use the word “no” as a strategy.

They are known for the quality of their questions.

They are never complacent.

Their reputation precedes them… digitally.

They have a defined process for their businesses.

They have work / life balance.

They are active philanthropists.

They work only with ideal clients.

They control exactly how their value is perceived.

They realize… their unique value is precisely what makes them relevant.

 

What is your unique, authentic, relevant value?

 

 

DESIGN YOUR VALUE

Take Control

Advisor Conversations that Matter

Sep 18, 2019

Topics

3 reasons to nail down your topics for meaningful engagement.

1 Content leads to your unique value. 
2 Questions lead to your value to filter. 
3 Conversations are competent and add to your confidence.

Your virtual value must be aligned with the human experience.

Topics are derived from your purpose, principles, values, beliefs, opinions, experiences, expertise, promised behavior, behavior you expect from clients, your philosophy, and your processes…

Those disciplines of your alpha must be defined (by you) before you can create categories for content topics for engagement and questions that lead to your value.

Topics Tie It Together

The medium is the message. Your digital experience must flow seamlessly with your daily behavior if you want to survive in a robo world.

This is how to do exactly that… quickly.

If you are thinking about outsourcing your content to a third party, think differently.
You don’t need leads for a sales funnel.

You need to filter in prospects and keep clients with personalized topics.

Cookie cutter content will get you washed away.

No more silos.

Your value must become tangible for clients and prospects to see and hear.

Nobody wants to be placed in your sales funnel. Transparency lets prospective clients know exactly what you are up to.

Think Differently.

Own the words. Design your topics. Get and keep ideal clients. In perpetuity.

Conversations that matter don’t happen “off-the-cuff.”

Most advisors have never been afforded the opportunity to discover and define their authentic relevant value… they were hired to sell products. To remain relevant and become irreplaceable advisors are going to have to think differently about their job description. You are going to have to think differently about sales… you are going to have to think differently about service… you are going to have to think differently about your unique value.

  • You can’t have a conversation about the solutions you provide without the courage of your conviction.

  • The courage of your conviction comes from well defined value…

The conversations of most advisors, up until recently, have been centered around either products or the trustworthiness of their firm. But now, the greatest opportunity in the history of financial services awaits you…

Owning The Words That Define Your Value

By owning your value you are creating opportunities to have conversations that matter 24/7

In order to engage in conversations that matter you must have a formalized process in place in which the client experience is never left to question. Your business must become designed to exude your value and leverage all of your resources to consistently improve your client experience while simultaneously engaging in (and improving) the conversations that matter. Essentially, the client experience and the conversations that matter dovetail to enhance the overall  development of your business. Owning your Advisor Alpha creates this opportunity.

Once you define your value… you own your Advisor Alpha

Owning your Advisor Alpha and making it tangible nullifies the element of desperation inherent in a business where you can’t exude your value.

Lacking the courage of your conviction to have conversations of your value is the number one killer of all advisor client relationships… If you can’t put into words why your clients should be paying you, you will neglect them… and neglecting your clients is still the reigning champ of client defection.

They need to feel it… and you need to know how it makes them feel… Tangible Alpha.

If you don’t own the words that define your value you will be destined to attempt to become a version of “all things to all people.” This version of you fails eventually… and this version of you fails more rapidly in a robo-world.

Not owning your value will be the number one reason behind your failure… hourly, daily, monthly failures will ensue… and eventually, not owning your value will be the end of your advisory business.

You must first own your value before you can engage in conversations that matter.

Owning the words that define your value enable you to create a business in which your conversations fuel the client experience and the client experience fuels the conversations that matter. Owning your Advisor Alpha and making it tangible will drive the success of your business in the future… by design. 

Ponder This…

How can you escape the trap of client defection due to advisor neglect? How can you empower all trusted partners to have conversations with the courage of their conviction? How will you remain relevant and become irreplaceable? 

 

 

Topics Must Be Defined

My Topics

Drop the Value Prop

Sep 13, 2019

Your Words Matter

You have to own the words to own your Alpha… otherwise you’re just speaking with nonsensical catchphrases and corporate jargon.

(Props to AVAYA for this snarky promotional piece)

 

Catchphrases Don't Work

 

 

 

 

Own The Words

Culture Creation

Sep 12, 2019

Culture Creation


Advisor autonomy will empower advisors to create stakeholder value that leads to enterprise value and shareholder value.

Recruiters of advisors must come to the realization that in the digital age of transparency, it is autonomy that will set advisors free and not independence. Advisor autonomy can be offered to any advisor regardless of his or her firm’s affiliation. The battle for recruiting top advisors will start with a different tone in the not too distant future because the era of collaborative services has arrived and transparency will dictate that investors will not trust advisors (or their firms) who are not offering stakeholder value ahead of shareholder value.

Transparency will empower the investor to see exactly how his or her best interest is being discounted for the good of the c-suites and shareholder value and they will not become a party to being the means to that end.  Those days are over.

Just as the investor is becoming empowered by technology and transparency, so too will the advisor. Autonomy will afford the advisor in the future to sit on the same side of the table as his or her clients by owning the perception of his or her authentic value which is wrought from a client-centered purpose. Shared purpose is the only way investors will trust advisors or their firms in this modern era of financial service. This is a great thing. It’s the best time in the history of financial services to become a trusted steward of wealth and every financial advisor has an opportunity to thrive in the digital age.

To create a sustainable culture of integrity that ensures growth from this point forward, recruiters are going to have to offer autonomy to advisors to empower them by allowing the to own the perception of their value. Otherwise the pending crunch that is spearheading commoditization of services and reducing margins (including NIM) will destroy the firm and the industry.

The industry will not be able to serve investors through robos and opaque sales tactics… ever.

I’m not going to let that happen and neither will you. And… neither will the firms… once they realize that autonomy is the key to the culture creation that spurs inorganic growth while harmoniously stimulating and ensuring organic growth for advisors. Own the words… own your alpha… create your own autonomy to remain relevant and become irreplaceable.

Advisor Culture

Build On Purpose

Advisor Cookie-Cutter Content

Sep 9, 2019

Own The Words

Why your cookie-cutter social media posts are killing your brand and your business

The Advisor in the future must demand more independence when it comes to sharing the behavior they can promise, the experiences they have encountered and their opinions about their profession.

To remain relevant and become irreplaceable the Advisor in the future can’t continue to rely on the cookie-cutter content that (literally) every other Advisor is publishing. Your content can’t be straight off the shelf.

If you continue to post the company message masked as your Advisor Alpha, the standard by which your value is measured will be controlled by the firm (the industry) and not you… this is a fatal mistake.

You can’t afford to become known for the company catchphrase.

Your very existence depends on your ability to differentiate yourself from your competition (in-house too). You must be able to remind your clients of your authentic relevant value while at the same time exuding your Alpha for ideal prospects to discover. This is a 24/7 endeavor.

You can’t continue to rely on industry standards to deliver your Alpha for this simple reason… your clients and prospects will never be able to differentiate you from your competition (Price becomes an issue in the absence of value).

In A Robo-World

In the digital age of transparency and in the era of the 24 hour client experience it is critical that your value is distinguishable as being special. This is your livelihood… if you get complacent with your reputation by trusting the industry to define your value then you will be replaced by the industry.

If they need you more than you need them you are irreplaceable. If you need them more than they need you you are replaceable.

You can make your Advisor Alpha tangible regardless of where your desk sits

If you can’t publish your beliefs about the industry, document your experience and make statements about the behavior you can promise then you will be replaced.

You must become known for the quality of your curiosity... This is about more than asking clients great questions… this includes asking your firm questions about compliance and the parameters of your business as it pertains to your brand. Don’t leave your reputation in the hands of others to define… Own the words, own your Alpha, own your brand and own your destiny.

 

Content That Matters

Own Your Destiny