"Observe, perform, teach" for financial advisors

Advisors can use a medical doctor intern training method to grow their businesses. During their internships at teaching hospitals, doctors follow a simple method which financial advisors can copy and benefit from: "observe, perform and teach."  They first "observe" another doctor perform a certain task on a patient.  The second time that task comes up, the intern "performs" it themselves.  And the third time it comes up, that same intern teaches another intern how to do it.

Profit from sharing business-development techniques with your advisory clients. Much of what financial advisors learn about how to become more successful business people, can be of great benefit to many of their clients.  So, after the advisor successfully has "performed" a particular business-building task, they can benefit themselves and their clients by "teaching" their clients these same tasks.  Such teaching will greatly enhance the advisor's ability to grow their business through referrals and a larger share of their clients' investments.

Example of this beneficial approach.  Lets say you attended one of FAN's (Financial Advisor Network's) free webinars on how to grow your advisory business through social media (link for recording of this webinar: FAN Social Media Webinar )  This would be the "observe" part for a new doctor.

After some practice, you now are using social media to put your networking efforts into hyper-drive.  This would be equivalent to the "perform" part for an intern doctor.

Now we want to capitalize on the "teach" portion of this approach.  Think of all of your clients who could benefit from understanding and using social media like you now are using it.  There are many types of clients who could benefit from this knowledge: business owners; salespeople; professionals; unemployed; new career and other people.  Steal and adapt much of the information I included in this FAN webinar (OK, I'll let you use my social media program) to create your own presentation.  Present this lesson to small batches of your clients, say once a month, at your office.  But ask them if they have any friends, co-workers or family members who could benefit from attending such a seminar.  I bet you have at least three guests for each of your clients who attend - just think how much new business that could generate.

Many other "best practices" seminars for you to "teach."  Think of all of the business-building activities you have "observed" and and now are "performing" - now "teach" them to your clients and their guests.  Anything come to mind, yet?  How about a seminar on obtaining referrals, or one on obtaining free PR?  Have a one-month run for your first webinar - do this once a week, with different times for each.  If there is demand for it, extend the seminar beyond the one-month run.

Focus on helping your clients and their guests.  Each of your seminars only needs a quick one-minute review of your financial services for the guests.  The seminar itself will sell these guests on you.  Offer each attendee a free one-on-one consultation, to help them with their social media effort, with the above example, and, for the guests, to give them a second opinion (just like with doctors - like how I'm extending the doctor analogy?) regarding their financial plan.  This is why you want to do these seminars in small batches, so you can give each attendee the attention they deserve, and have the one-on-one sessions with each of them within a week or two (momentum is everything, with the follow up.)

Obtain referrals from your referrals.  When you talk with each guest who attended your seminar, ask them if they found value in it.  After they say yes, ask them if the have any friends, co-workers or family members who could benefit from this seminar.  Don't be surprised if you obtain another 3 to 5 referrals from each original guest.  Now, "rinse and repeat" with these guests of guests during your post-seminar talk with each of them, asking who they know who could benefit from this seminar.  This seminar can play longer than Wicked on Broadway!

Please use and spread the good word about FAN to your fellow advisors.  If you aren't already a member of the Financial Advisor Network (FAN) on LinkedIn, please click on the Groups tab of your LinkedIn home page, to request membership into FAN.  If you aren't already signed up to receive our blogs, like this one, please sign up for it right now.  And, don't hesitate to email me at m.sakraida@att.net if I can be of any assistance.

Michael Sakraida
Founder of FAN
m.sakraida@att.net