As a financial advisor, one of the barriers that you encounter is limited time in your day. You have a finite number of hours to get through everything on your to-do list — which can feel neverending during this rapid time of digitization and change.
Making time to pause, reflect, and anticipate change can feel like a daunting task. Should you be on TikTok? What are must-have technology platforms that you should be using? What tools should you phase out of your business?
With so many questions rolling around your mind, taking action can be tough. To adapt, it’s important to broaden your perspective to the macro-trends that are likely to impact your financial advisory practice. It’s about the forest, not the trees.
Here are 3 low-hanging steps you can take right now, to ensure that you’re steering your practice in the right direction.
1. Come up with a simple value proposition
Today’s retail investing landscape has become saturated with products for people to grow their wealth. With such a broad spectrum of options, it can be a challenge for investors to focus on exactly what’s working for them — and what isn’t.
That’s where your value proposition enters the equation. Get clear about what your firm is about, on a human level. One company that has built its business on CircleBlack, Glen Eagle Advisory, has written the following about its own firm’s ethos:
“Our mission is to build caring, meaningful and lasting relationships with each of our clients. By becoming your trusted partner, we are focused on delivering the highest level of advice and service so you can focus on what is important to you in living your life.”
The story of this value proposition should be about your people — your clients and your team.
2. De-jargon your “why”
As one article InvestmentNews points out, there’s a lot of jargon in the fields of fintech and finance.
“My personal favorite: the frictionless end-to-end fully integrated platform, which just about everyone claims to provide these days,” writes Ryan W. Neal.
In all of this complexity, your most valuable differentiator is your story. What is it, exactly, do you offer that you’re most proud about as an advisor?
“Or perhaps most importantly, why should clients keep paying financial advisors when more and more of the work behind the scenes is automated?” Neal asks.
Your answer to this question may not even be what’s different or unique from what’s already out there. For instance, your value as an advisor may be extremely simple in wanting to provide valuable service to your clients.
With an understanding of your north star, you have the ability to practice your firm’s positioning in different contexts. There are a few questions to help you get clear on your firm’s value:
- What motivates you to be a financial advisor?
- What are you most proud of in your career?
- How would your best friend describe you?
- What is the value of the work and service that you provide?
- What are some meaningful milestones that you’ve helped your clients accomplish?
The more human you can be about your work, the easier time you’ll have talking about it in a meaningful and natural way.
3. Outsmart media with better, more on-point communications
Over the last several years, there’s been a trend of people increasingly tuning out the news. It’s simply become challenging for a lot of people to follow, particularly with the sheer volume of information being brought to the attention of audiences. Everyone is receiving hyper-personalized information for their particular situation.
It can be challenging for financial advisors to find common ground with their clients. But here’s the thing: not every communication needs to be hyper-personalized. You can simply create and share good content as a recommendation.
Getting to know your clients and their interests is key. With an understanding of their personal needs on a human level, advisors can do a better job establishing and managing expectations.
Especially for Gen Z investors, it can be tough to fully understand what they might be thinking. That’s why a conversational experience is important.
For instance, Glen Eagle Advisors publishes a podcast, along with analyses of the market.
These resources can help set and manage expectations from the perspective of the advisor.
Final thoughts
Focus on the basics. It’s not all about being everything to everyone. Top-performing financial advisors will take a practical approach to leveling up, which stems from a place of improving self-confidence.
Sometimes, the most complex solutions have simple answers.
CircleBlack is here to help
CircleBlack is an all in one management platform for financial advisors. You can think of it as an operational dashboard to better connect financial advisors and their clients around a shared perspective. The outcome is better collaboration and communication for relationship-focused advisors.
We encourage you to get in touch to learn how our software can help you build, manage, and grow your wealth management practice.
Disclosures
This material has been prepared for educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide, and should not be relied upon for, investment, accounting, legal, or tax advice.