Passion should be more than a feeling for advisors

The "passion push" to advisors - As a financial advisor, you keep hearing how you need to have passion in order to win over prospects.  That you need to talk about how you help your clients with "infectious enthusiasm."  In other words, your prospects will pick up on your enthusiasm and want you to be their financial advisor.  But, what do we say?  How does this "passion" impact the level and type of service we provide?  It isn't just "passion for passion's sake," is it?

Think of passion as an adjective - OK, for the grammarians out there, think of "passionate," which is an adjective, as a way to grow your advisory business.  In other words, take a passionate approach to becoming a more knowledgeable and helpful advisor.  This passionate approach encompasses all aspects of your advisory business, as briefly reviewed, below.

Passionate client service - Think about how you can give it your all to have a level of client service which is second-to-none.  Being passionate means that you read everything you can get your hands on, related to delivering an exceptional experience to your prospects and clients.  This includes online searches and books.  Being passionate about this means that you break down every single touch point with your prospects and clients - viewing it from their perspective - and determine how both you and your staff can make it a "wow" experience that your clients and prospects will talk about with anyone who'll listen to them.


Passionate operational approach - Think about how you can put all your effort behind having an advisory business which operates with a high degree of efficiency and effectiveness.  By the way, getting there will make it easier for you and your staff to deliver passionate client service and be passionate about the other key business elements.  Being passionate about this means that you will break down every function of your business and explore how you can make it more efficient and effective.  You will talk with fellow advisors - you can email me at m.sakraida@att.net for ideas - read everything you can get your hands on and even talk with vendors who provide various services. Sub-categories here include: your contact and document management systems; your proposal and investment solutions systems; your social media systems; your client communication and account review systems; and your marketing and sales approach.  I didn't touch upon content here, because this section is focused on the technology and processes you employ.

Passionate investment approach - Think about how you can stay on top of the latest information and solutions related to investment programs for your clients.  At this point in this blog, you should know that being passionate about your investment approach means that you will have an all-out effort to know which investment solutions are the best for your clients.  This will entail online searches, reading articles and talking with staff, fellow advisors and vendors.  Many believe that advisor need to adjust their investment approach and solutions over time because of three important reasons: 1. Changes in the marketplace - what works well in one kind of market, doesn't mean it will work well in another type; 2. Changes with the available investment vehicles and strategies - we all know that there are new or more prevalent vehicles and strategies today than there were even five years ago; and  3. Changes with the clients' needs and perceptions - I would dare say that most of your clients have a different view of the markets and their tolerance for risk today, than they did in early 2008.  And I dare say that most of them will have different views three years from now.

Passionate speaking and presentation skills - Most of the above are "hard skills", that is skills which can be learned.  Speaking and presentation skills are "soft skills", which require practice practice and practice, like with shooting a basket.  At FAN, we have members who join Toastmasters, to help them organize and present information effectively.  Others practice on their spouses or fellow advisors.  If one takes a passionate approach here, they will come up with many more ways they can improve this important soft skill.

About FAN - The Financial Advisor Network (FAN) on LinkedIn is a great forum for sharing ideas with your fellow advisors.  If you are an advisor and aren't already a member, be sure to look us up in the Groups tab of your LinkedIn home page, and request to join.  Also, feel free to contact me at m.sakraida@att.net if you'd like to set up a conversation, where we can talk about FAN or ways in which you can grow your advisory business.

Be sure to register for future blogs and pass this blog on to your fellow advisors, to help them!