Laws of Advisor Value

Oct 1, 2019

Fundamental Truths

Advisors Should Be Unencumbered

When it comes to publishing beliefs and opinions about the industry, we lead by example with our Laws of Alpha.

The fundamental truths about advisor alpha (value) and how they got to be the way that they are today can all be found right here at TangibleAlpha.com. In order to demonstrate your value in a tangible fashion for digital consumption, you must define your own “Laws” of investing and wealth management for your clients (and prospects) to see, hear, read, and feel. Your Laws must become more than visible… they must elicit a feeling in the hearts and minds of your audience. This must be available 24/7. Your content has to move your ideal audience to action every day. The action can be to do nothing, give feedback, stay with you as a client, or move their assets to your firm.

 

This is one of our Laws of Advisor Alpha

5/12

The Law of Digital Trust

The Law of Digital Trust

→SUMMARY

Earning trust in the digital age of transparency requires a shared purpose that is supported by promised behavior.

DOWNLOAD THE POSTER

→OVERVIEW

The Law of Digital Trust has been derived from self-evident criteria required to build lasting trusted relationships. In the digital age of transparency it is critical to ramp up the process of collaborative trust and this can be accomplished by stating your client-centered purpose, publishing your principles, and promising your behavior.

 

 

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The Law of Omnipresence

Sustainable Organic Growth

Sep 30, 2019

Advisor Value Formula

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The Value Algorithm

 

Sustainable organic growth comes from predictable recurring revenue… or at least the ability to create predictable recurring revenue when it is compounded by the catalyst of successful repetition. This is the magic formula or the “advisor value algorithm” that has enabled successful advisors to thrive (sometimes by default) by design. It is in your best interest (as well as the best interest of your clients) to discover your own personal advisor algorithm to create your own sustainable organic growth by design.

 

 

Advisor Summary

Inherent risk associated with default setup… (The issues associated with you not taking control of your advisor algorithm) What will happen to your business and your clients when you continue to ignore your own advisor algorithm…Options you have to discover your advisor algorithm… (really just one)
Successful outcomes of advisors who have discovered their advisor algorithm and the evolution of their businesses because of the proactive stance they have taken in owning their algorithm of value culture and growth…

 

 

 

3 types of risk you introduce into your business by refusing to own your advisor algorithm…

  1. One Step Up Risk (Two steps back)
  2. Culture Risk (Your people don’t have anything to take hold of… there must be autonomy and the opportunity to own one’s own advisor algorithm)
  3. Valuation Risk (Reducing your organic growth machine to chance reduces the value of your business in an inorganic spectrum)

 

 

 

One Step Up Risk (Copycat Risk)

The issues associated with not owning your advisor algorithm are numerous and compounding by nature. We can start this shortened summary of all risks inherent with not owning your own advisor algorithm… with the risk that you bring into your business by not having the framework for a successful business model in place to guide your daily actions. When you associate the success of your business with the success of tactical concepts that may have worked for other successful advisors you are tacking on additional risk (one step up risk). What initially might seem to be a hit with you and your clients is eventually exposed as the temporary fix that it is because you don’t have the same Advisor DNA as the advisor whose blueprint you have copied. These actions always lead to heartache and two steps back because of the additional work it takes to make up the difference in the perception of the value you have perpetuated and the actual authentic value that you can and should be offering your clients. Your authentic value (the value that you can actually control) must be made tangible to demonstrate its relevance. The relevance of your value is critical in uncovering (getting) and maintaining (keeping) ideal clients. When you turn you back on these critical components of the advisor algorithm you introduce one step up risk into your business… and you don’t need that. One Step Up or Copycat risk is incredibly toxic when it comes to building your business. The cleanup factor is enough to drive any serious advisor out of business… Your reputation will be forever sullied by the lack of authenticity you introduce into your business culture when you fall for One Step Up Risk.

Your business is far too valuable and your reputation is far too important to introduce this type of Copycat Risk into your business development model. When you discover and design your advisor algorithm you create a strategic foundation that makes you and your business culture far less susceptible to falling for One Step Up Risk. In fact it guarantees that you will never see tactical offerings as strategic solutions again.

(This should be enough to get you started down the path of building your business by design… if not, please continue reading to discover more risks associated with not taking ownership of your advisor algorithm.)

 

 

Culture Risk

When you don’t own your advisor algorithm you open your business up to a multitude of cultural issues associated with lack of focus. Your trusted partners have earned the right to become part of your culture and they are indelibly tied to your reputation and the story of your authentic relevant value. A certain level of autonomy is required to create this culture of trust. If you do not acknowledge the importance of owning your advisor algorithm you will introduce chaos into your business model. Each member of your valued team must be able to have critical conversations that matter, with the confidence of the courage of their conviction. And in this era of 24/7 collaborative services, all conversations matter. You must prepare all trusted partners with the ability to converse with confidence. Without the ownership of the algorithm, which sets the tone for your culture, you are adding risk by default… this sounds confusing… design… default… what the hell man? Just let it be known that you are not doing yourself, your partners, your staff or your clients any favors in the ways of client experience and trust by ignoring your advisor algorithm. For sustainable growth to occur by design you must have a culture that is built (on purpose) from the fundamentals of your advisor algorithm which empowers you to exude your integrity and trust in a multitude of mediums twenty-four hours a day. Your predictable recurring revenue is at risk every minute that you are not able to exude the culture of integrity that you have created by design for the good of your ideal clients.

 

 

Business Valuation Risk (Inorganic Value)

The value of the moving parts of your business when you cease to be there is considered by many to be the valuation of your business. There are many more variables associated with the value of your business in the inorganic perspective… there are buyers and sellers markets when it comes to valuations and the grey matter involved is beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say that you must be able to demonstrate your predictable recurring revenue and the ability to maintain that predictability and growth when you are not their holding the reigns. The other side of the coin is if you are acquiring another business and need to create your own specific variables for valuation… owning your advisor algorithm empowers you to go beyond the spectrum of third party evaluations of ROI into cultural details that can uncover cultural alignment which must not be ignored when there is so much at stake when it comes to potentially adding risk to your current client base if you do not have an ideal fit with the firm you are acquiring. This is a light summary of the possible risks inherent in the valuation of advisor businesses when it comes to inorganic acquisition. Sustainable organic growth is indelibly tied to inorganic acquisition regardless of which side you reside… both buyer and seller must verify the ability of the acquired business to generate predictable recurring revenue and sustainable growth…Simply not recognizing the opportunity (owning your algorithm)  to create a stronger business model while reducing risks associated with valuations is just not acceptable. Your clients deserve better, so does your staff and you do too.

 

 

Conclusion

What advisors can gain by owning their advisor algorithm is a dramatic reduction of three inherent risks associated with lack of focus, vision and or purpose.

The advisor algorithm is a merely synonym for alpha or value by design… some advisors see things one way, some see it another.

To get all advisors exposed to the opportunity of tangible alpha I have designed multiple synonyms for tangible alpha… anyway, back to the point of this story…

The need to create sustainable organic growth is often undermined by risks that advisors unwittingly add to their businesses while trying to create predictable recurring revenue. It’s a kind of sabotage that advisors can’t see because they are often times too close to the business to see clearly the missteps they are taking. That’s why I feel it is my calling to enlighten and empower advisors with the wisdom I have been able to gather through my affiliation with one of the best advisor coaches that has ever walked the planet. I might be a little biased.

Anyway… on to the conclusion…

To gain a competitive advantage in a multitude of dimensions (moving forward in the digital age) the advisor in the future will own his or her advisor algorithm and increase the probability of success while simultaneously reducing inherent risks associated with cultivating a business that thrives on sustainable organic growth.

Keep It Tangible,

Grant

Yours Is Unique

Discover It Now

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

Omni Channel

Sep 17, 2019

Always Connected

Omni-Channel The Next Big Thing…

I find it refreshing when technology supports  our branding message and our marketing solutions. 

 

Vendors aren’t necessarily evil…

This is why you may have to kill the messenger… if technology vendors don’t bring you opportunities to gather the metrics that matter to you rather than the data they want to collect for themselves (they call it critical feedback) disguised as ROI… You may want to kill the messenger and hide from technology. Before you run and hide or piss away your tech budget understand this, the endeavor of gathering quality ROI (Return on Investment) through omni-channels is entirely up to you… not the vendors.

The Medium is the Message

To remain relevant you must have a consistent message of value across multiple mediums. This is now known as an omni-channel opportunity. (I wish I’d thought of that because it sounds cool.) To remain relevant and become irreplaceable your “omni-channel”  message must be working for you in a tangible fashion to gather the feedback required for the sustainability of your business. It is up to you to have a designed system in place to gather the metrics that matter to you before you implement the tactical offerings of technology vendors. (Simplified: you need your metrics not their metrics) If you don’t have a defined strategic foundation in place (Tangible Alpha)  you are likely to fall into the trappings of tactical rhetoric disguised as strategic solutions. These tactics bring with them vendor measurements of your ROI  which are not consistent with  measurements required by you for your success.

Consistency of Message versus Technology…

The advisor in the future will craft a message of value that resonates tangibly throughout multiple mediums. By doing so, the advisor places herself in position to leverage technology.

 

Technology should be empowering you but often times it is tying you down and holding you back… Building a strategic foundation through intentional value design (Tangible Alpha) allows you to implement tactical technology solutions that help you gather the metrics required by you to create a sustainable business. By owning the words that define your value and building your Advisor Alpha through the Tangible Alpha progression you will be building a client-centered message of value that resonates throughout the omni-channels of our world.  Build your strategic foundation first, then you can more securely introduce “technology as a solution” in such areas as “omni-channel” marketing. (I’m doing air quotes for those last two… try it it feels good.)

 

Drop the “value prop”

The catch phrase vs. Tangible Alpha (branding for financial advisors)

You can’t afford to be associated with a company catchphrase in the digital age of transparency… In the 7 seconds your clients and prospects are giving you to impress them, the catchphrase (Value Proposition) is an automatic bounce. The catchphrase is a client experience killer and a nail in your coffin when prospecting potential clients.

Consistency of the message of the advisor’s client-centered value throughout omni-channels (multiple mediums) is a priority oveMediumr the types of technology the advisor will use to create her/his digital portfolio (footprint)… all of the technology in the world will not fix your clusterf%ck of a message when it has no consistency throughout multiple mediums (omni-channel). Advisors in the future understand that omni-channel branding isn’t just for prospecting… it is also for the 24 hour client experience (to the pocket), which is why your message is the medium “the medium is the message” and you must be able to extract as much quality data from your medium (channel) as the amount and quality of information the medium is extracting from you (information you are putting in the medium). Otherwise… it’s simply a waste of your resources. “Get your shit together” and drop the catchphrases (total contradiction). But seriously, get your shit together. Because tech is only going to get faster and more exponential as time marches on. 

 

The ROI on omni-channel marketing begins and ends with a consistent message of your value and that value begins and ends with a client-centered purpose.  

~I said that

 

Your Strategic Foundation

Without crafting a strategic foundation to implement tactical technology solutions that take you to the “next level” of omni-channel marketing, you will become hamstrung by the same vendors who are claiming to empower your business.

Without discovering defining and designing your Tangible Alpha, your ROI is no more than a wish… in which the metrics of success can only be measured by the vendor who sold you the pipe-dream. Build your own foundation… gather your own metrics of success… own your Tangible Alpha before you enter into any technological solution that claims to be a strategy. (Because technology is not a strategy… it’s simply a tactical concept keenly disguised as a strategic solution generally sold to advisors who have no idea what to expect in return.)

You must be able to walk the digital talk across all mediums and become more than a catchphrase… In the digital age of transparency you can and must do this by design.

~ I said that too

What are omni-channel tech vendors selling?

Vendors are going to try to sell you a Maserati with no engine… the engine (your Tangible Alpha) is an afterthought to the vendors of omni-channel tactical solutions… it’s not necessarily a bad thing… it’s just the way it is… there is a hot new buzzword that vendors will be selling you… they really have no clue how to make it work for you… and if you don’t get in now,  you will miss this opportunity… but you are smart… you know fear of missing out is an unnecessary risk. There must be a solidified reason behind implementing technology for the purposes of omni-channel marketing in the digital age of transparency.

I find it off-putting when technology vendors want to sell us something for the sake of technology.

The reason is this, there has never been a greater opportunity in the history of the world to become a successful financial advisor. Omni-channel marketing and the technology that comes with it shouldn’t scare you away from the greatest opportunity available in the greatest business in the world.

Transparency is the friend of the advisor in the future… by empowering your business with Tangible Alpha you will be creating a business development foundation that allows you to develop sustainable growth by leveraging transparency. You will become an Advisor in the future by collecting the metrics that matter to you.

Quick Recap…

Omni-channel is the new buzzword for marketing and branding… don’t fear technology… you may want to kill the messenger but you don’t have to… make your advisor alpha tangible to build a strategic foundation in which you  can leverage technology to gather the metrics that matter to you. Tangible Alpha isn’t the only way to accomplish success…  it is the simplest, most effective, proven (40 years in the making) way for advisors to gather invaluable data for the sustainability of their businesses.

(If you are unfamiliar with the man in the picture you are missing out Marshall McLuhan)

Keep it Tangible,

Grant

 

Are You Omnipresent?

Discover How

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

Your Digital Footprint

Sep 10, 2019

It's Yours...

You are Solely Responsible for Your Own Digital Footprint.

In The Video below Mark Cuban and Adam Grant discuss “Pitches” but more importantly the message within Cuban’s pitch is one that should resonate with the Advisor in the Future…

That message is this; Once you type an email and hit send you no longer own that email (or text or Tweet or comment) but you are solely responsible for that email for the rest of your life.

Your digital portfolio or footprint is the most valuable and most dangerous opportunity you will undertake moving forward in this industry (in regard to your brand, reputation and integrity)…

In a robo-world, you can’t afford not owning the perception of your value.

 

If you don’t own the words, you can’t own your Alpha.

If you don’t own your Alpha you can’t make it Tangible.

If your Alpha isn’t Tangible by design, you will struggle to survive.

There is unlimited upside to publishing your purpose when your Alpha is Tangible.

 

It's Yours... Forever

Take Control