Build On Purpose (2/3)
Trying to Break Down the Fundamentals of Value Design Can Be an Overly Complicated Endeavor…
In this three part blog post I am attempting to simplify what I have known to be fundamentally true about advisor value design for the past three decades… It can be tricky sometimes to simplify the complex.
This is part two of three. We pick up where we left off in part one…
After you are able to define your client-centered purpose and publish your values and principles, as well as document your beliefs and opinions about your unique value… (seems complicated but we make it easy). You are ready to share your experiences your expertise and promise your behavior.
These are the activities required to connect the dots between the collaborative behavior required by your trusted clients and the behavior you can promise as a trusted advisor. Remember, this is about three main things.. Earning trust, controlling the perception of your value, and setting collaborative rules to remain relevant.
The progression of your value development must be acknowledged as part and parcel with your value design… in other words, how you design your value becomes a part of your value design.
The simplification of the Infinite Alpha Progression allows you to make incremental additions to your overall success by continuing your exponential engagement with clients and prospects.
Each one of the elements shown on the slides included is a fundamental discipline that requires your attention daily to meet the demands of exuding your value exponentially every day. When combined in a variety of ways, the disciplines of your value are the building blocks of your relevance. They work together in conjunction to empower you. The progression gives you the luxury of saved time while you attend to the daily actions required by you to survive, while giving you the opportunity 24/7 to build your business on purpose.
Build On Purpose (1/3)
Three Simple Reasons Why Building On Purpose Is Critical
- It Empowers you to earn trust quickly in a digital world.
- It allows you to highlight the value you control the most. (Perception)
- It sets the standard for behavior in collaborative relationships.
What does it mean to “Build on Purpose?”
When your client-centered purpose has been defined by you, it empowers you to earn trust quickly in a digital world. This tangible demonstration of your shared interests with your ideal audience is the cornerstone of your unique foundation of trust. The words you choose to define your purpose must carry the weight of the seriousness of your calling… in other words, your purpose can’t be a catchphrase.
When you are able to align your purpose with your principles and values, you are beginning to demonstrate your integrity in a tangible format.
This is my purpose… these are the principles that have helped me form my unique purpose… these are the values that I hold dear… they are connections that must be published by you to demonstrate connecting points with the behavior that will be promised by you and your clients.
Your beliefs and opinions must be demonstrable as well. After all, they are why you get paid in the first place. If you aren’t forming beliefs and opinions about this industry and the value you provide to your clients, you aren’t really in the business of financial advice.
These are my beliefs… I state them as being fundamentally true because that’s how strong my conviction is around the decisions I make daily. My opinions are published in the form of genuine concerns that I have for my clients.
Your purpose principles and beliefs must be in complete alignment and you must be able to prove that alignment tangibly to survive in a robo world.
The New Model
The new era of financial services is upon us and the modern advisor must be able to see past legacy training concepts to visualize his or her preferred world.
The new model designed by Tangible Alpha empowers advisors to update their relevance by defining exactly why their ideal clients should do business with them. We also make available the industry’s first and only 24/7 value design platform which offers 100% confidential modules to bring out the best in each advisor in a way that is unique to him or her.
Transparency is not the enemy… it is the one thing in the digital era that can be leveraged with the most ease to help ensure your relevance. Learn more about the new way of thinking (to survive in a robo-world) here.
The Greatest Opportunity for Advisors
The Greatest Opportunity for Advisors
The Advisor in the future understands that the position of “Financial Advisor” is completely replaceable by the industry. Institutions have proven this to be true year-over-year by paying a price for all assets acquired. For every asset that comes in the door there is a percentage paid… This is a net interest margin industry and the net interest margin is partially controlled by dropping the laggard advisor or restructuring of payout packages and compensation grids. That is the way the game has always been played. It’s all about net interest margin. If the institution can increase NIM by replacing you with a robot they absolutely will not hesitate to do so. Your position in this industry is not a job in which your employer wants to help you by giving you a salary for a job well done so you can live comfortably and provide for your family. The industry is concerned first with shareholder value (or enterprise value) and getting higher valuations as well as increasing net interest margin. It’s just business. Capitalism in it’s purest form. When you come to terms with this concept you are afforded the clarity necessary to see your business from a perspective that crystallizes your unique opportunity in the financial services industry.
This industry offers the greatest opportunity in the history of the world for the serious steward of wealth because you can create your own business from any vantage point by which you see fit. As long as you can gather assets you can play in the game. You can gather assets in an unlimited amount of ways… ways which are innumerable… uncountable… the opportunity is only limited by your creativity. Which is why it is so critical to look at your business from a fresh perspective from time to time. Think about this statement for a moment… transparency is not solely for the good of the client. We will come back to this statement.
To be offered the opportunity to create your own business after you pick up your licenses is one of the rarest opportunities in this world. It’s beyond special. You are in an elite category of individuals that have ever been charged with the stewardship of the well being of your fellow man. Big shoes to fill… great responsibility… Let’s look at your business from a fresh perspective again… Think about this… If you are not willing to invest in your business what does that say about the quality of your commitment? We will come back to this.
You owe it to your clients to remain relevant but you owe it to your clients and yourself to become irreplaceable. If you are not able to focus on how you will remain relevant and become irreplaceable in this industry you will become lost… you will become commoditized… and you will be squeezed out. Capitalism in it’s purest form. So often advisors are focused on the daily mechanics of doing business that they become lost… unable to focus on the activities that create demand for their services advisors can easily get caught in a deadly trap which creates stagnation due to a myopic perspective they have about their business. Think about this question… Are you willing to let your clients be led astray by a self-serving advisor who simply sells products in a vacuum?
The opportunity to see and feel your authentic relevant value and create a sustainable business model designed around the well being of your clients is available. You can become the master of your destiny if you are willing to take a step back from your business and see it from another dimension. If you agree that being a serious steward of wealth is the greatest opportunity… in the greatest business in the world… in the greatest time to be a financial advisor that has ever existed… then you can and should become irreplaceable. If you are willing to see transparency in the digital age as resource and not a liability… then you can and should become irreplaceable. If you are inclined to invest in your business and you agree that you must invest your time before you invest your money… then you can and will become irreplaceable by becoming a serious steward of wealth. You will be enabling yourself to give the care and the commitment your clients rightfully deserve. To become a serious steward of wealth, by design, you must own the words that define your authentic relevant value. Take a minute to become irreplaceable for the good of your clients and for the sustainability of your business by taking full advantage of the complementary Tangible Alpha minute modules and notebook available here.
Keep it Tangible,
Grant Barger