In this episode in the Blue Square Video series, Duncan discusses Zen and how appreciating what you have while you aspiring to what you want, helps you form the yin-yang balance.

I asked a substantial professional advisor in California with 21 years of experience how his clients described him.

“Man I hate that question,” he said.

“You’ve only had 21 years to answer it, so I can see how I caught you off guard,” I said.

“I know what you’re saying. Are you asking me for my elevator speech or pitch book or my mission statement?”

“Stop right there,” I said. “Look, everything you say and everything you communicate to a client is either a ‘me-too’ or a ‘so-what’.”

A ‘me-too’ speaks directly to a client and amplifies how you are described, which attracts that person and engages them. In their inside voice they say to themselves “I want that.” Or, it’s a so-what. A so-what they dismiss. It’s the same as everybody else. It’s just noise. You sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher.

I want you to think about this. It’s not a mission statement. It’s not a pitch book. That’s what salespeople use. Consultants use a value proposition, a verbal extension of their branding strategy that’s integrated and converged.

After my rant, the advisor told me, “I’m a professional advisor and I help people reach their financial goals.”

I said that is completely accurate, but you just described about 10,000 professional advisors.

You can’t bore someone into buying something. It sounds like everybody else, and it’s too easy to dismiss. Plus, what does it even mean? It’s abstract, without specifics people can grasp.

What does it mean when you say “I help people?” You need to think about that answer as it applies to you and your business.

Continued Success!

Contributed by Duncan MacPherson

In Minnesota for Stephen Kruchten at Bremer Bank on behalf of Ross Neuman, Rich Jacquemart, Christopher King and Dan Levin, CIMA®, CPWA® at First Trust outlining how to achieve a breakthrough in 90 days!

It’s one thing to want referrals. It’s another thing to deserve them. Ask yourself if the service you provide is enough to consider yourself referable. A commitment to consistent best practices is the foundation of advocacy which leads to fully maximized relationships instead of just a client base.

Many of the most successful professional advisors I know have increased their persuasive impact by radically altering their sales process with prospective clients. These advisors (many of whom used to be salespeople) have evolved into professional consultants; they now strive to attract new clients rather than chase them. Instead of using the old-school sales process to close business, they use a fit process to fast-track new clients to advocacy.

Does your branding make clients aspire to be a part of your process? Is it something they'll naturally use to make an introduction to a friend or family member? Does your communication style reinforce that, or undercut it? What you say is important, but so is how you say it.

When it comes to practice management, a lot of attention must be placed on the client experience. Using an agenda, having a fit process, onboarding a client systematically and deploying a service matrix are just a few of the essentials that I help advisors put into action to project professionalism and strengthen their client relationships.

In Century City with Mark Seume, Jeffrey Krogh and Craig Pierce with First Trust presenting on scalable growth and enterprise value to an elite group of fee for service professionals.

In Atlanta along with Dan Magnetta, CIMA®, Steve Ritter, Craig Koproski, Jace James and Michael Darr at First Trust presenting to a great group of fee for service professionals.

Put a process in place that puts every piece of your client’s financial puzzle together that goes beyond just achieving financial independence, but also maintaining it and building their family legacy.