Monday marks the beginning of the end – of the last week of the year.  Financial advisors often complain that nobody wants to do business during the Holiday Season.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  A host of opportunities exist with our clients, including:

• Year-end Portfolio Reviews
• Gift Purchases of Investments and Insurance Products (Hint: Investments are on sale right now!)
• Tax Loss Selling – and Repositioning of Those Assets
• Qualified Plan Sales and Transfers

In addition, make some investments of your own during the next month.  Invest in your best relationships.  Spend time with those individuals and businesses clients that are your best clients and prospects.  Get to know them better.  Make certain you care about them, and just not their business.  In addition, take some time to invest in yourself; hone your sales skills.  Tighten up and refocus your marketing plan for the coming year.  Look for opportunities within your business for client development and improvement of your profitability.  Don’t forget to take time with yourself and your family – the most important investment you make.

Sometimes we earn our money – and sometimes we get paid.  During the next thirty days, earn it.  Consider these ideas to help make next year your best ever.

Good selling!

Yesterday I traveled to Sioux City, IA for a meeting at Security National Bank.  The heart of a bank is service, and SNB states that “Since being founded in 1884…the strength of the bank was in their courteous, service oriented employees.” It is one thing to say – and an entirely different proposition to practice.

I arrived to meet with the Bank’s Trust Officers for a three hour meeting. Parking was in short supply and it was raining, so I parked across the street from SNB.  When I was greeted by Kerry, the receptionist on the sixth floor, I asked her about the best place to park.  What happened next was incredible.  She told me she would take of the parking – by running out and plugging the meter for me!  I protested, as I was a little early for the meeting and would be happy to move the car, but she cheerfully and professionally insisted she would be happy take care of my car.

Many financial institutions have become commoditized, but not SNB.  Do you and your team go to this level to provide exceptional service?  Choose to provide exceptional service, and your business will flourish.

Good selling!

Technorati Tags: Sioux City, service oriented, Trust Officer

Yesterday millions of American investors panicked.  Unfortunately, so did many of their advisors.

Whenever the financial markets become volatile, investors have mood swings that exceed the magnitude of the movement in the market. (This goes for upward as well downward volatility.) Most of our clients grew up with depression-era parents.  These people grew up hearing things like “turn out the lights; don’t waste electricity,” and “money doesn’t grow on trees.”  They heard stories about people who “lost everything” although those people really didn’t have much to lose and what they lost was not lost in the market.

In addition, our clients watch the evening news and read the morning paper, and bad news sells.  Headlines included “Depressionary Tales”, “A Year of Losses” and “Stock Market Plunges.”  While it would be ostrich-like to ignore the current market environment, getting caught up in the hysteria of traders is never the right perspective for the astute financial advisor. The question becomes “Where should we direct our focus?”

When advisors conduct client reviews the vast majority of the time spent in the interview is focused on the investments and other financial products. Unfortunately, advisors dedicate very little time to review and adjustment of the client’s goals.  If the strategies utilized fit the client’s goals in the recent past, then what has really changed?  Instead of maintaining focus on the client’s goals, we allow the conversation to focus on prices that are set by traders!  If the client’s goals haven’t changed, then the strategies should not change either.  For example, if a client’s goal is income at a certain point in the future, and you have a solid asset allocation with good money managers, and you employ risk reduction strategies, the short term gyrations in financial markets exacerbated by junior reporters generating unrealistic scare headlines have no bearing on long term outcomes.

I recommend that the first third of a formal client review be dedicated to review of the client’s goals.  Don’t just talk about the numbers; paint the mental picture of what the long term outcome will look like to your client.  Keep them focused on what is really important to them about money, and then discuss the strategies you feel will get them there and why.  Be passionate, and do everything in your power to keep the client from buying high and selling low.  And ask for referrals, even in the face of a bull market.  Your clients know a lot of people just like themselves that want a financial advisor just like you who stays focused on client goals.

Good selling!

Technorati Tags: investors panicked