Don Connelly, Soft Skills Trainer for Financial Professionals

Don A. Connelly is a speaker, motivator and educator for financial advisors. During a career of more than 40 years on Wall Street, he worked for nearly 19 years as company spokesperson, senior vice president and senior marketing officer for Putnam Investments, in addition to holding positions as a stock broker, financial planner, branch manager, wholesaler and national sales manager. As founder and CEO of Don Connelly 24/7, he provides timely and provocative sales ideas to thousands of financial professionals, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

How to Choose Your Specialty as a Financial Advisor

/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments

The financial services market is becoming more complex and more complex every day. Everybody needs a focus. And those with focused practices are better able to serve their clients. None of us can be all things to all people so it’s important to specialize in the kind of advice you give.

But do you know how to choose your specialty as a Financial Advisor?

There are two key considerations – both equally important: Your market, and your passions.

The Importance of Why when Soliciting Referrals

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When you ask clients for referrals, and hopefully clients are going to solicit referrals for you, you really have to get them to focus on why they do business with you. I think it’s important to tell people what you do and how you do it, but why they’re doing business with you is the most important part of any referral.

Listen to this audio episode or read the transcript to learn the importance of why when it comes to growing your business as a Financial Advisor.

How to Create a Value Proposition

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There are thousands of pizza vendors in the United States. But only one of them is known for, “Fresh, hot pizza in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed.”

There are thousands of clothing retailers in the United States. But if I say the words, “You’re going to like the way you look. I guarantee it,” I guarantee you’ll know exactly whom I’m referring to. You can probably see his face.

If you don’t already know what your value proposition is, you probably don’t have one.

Your value proposition establishes two things: The value that you bring to the relationship and why you’re the one they should engage to bring it.

A great value proposition has six characteristics:

It defines who you work with;
It focuses the client experience – not your qualifications.
It addresses specific problems you can solve for the client.
It’s unique to you in your market. None of your competitors can quite say the same thing.
It connects with the client on an emotional level.
It helps you justify your fees so you’re competing on something other than price.

Here’s how to create your value proposition so it has these six characteristics.

Why You Need to Differentiate Yourself

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It used to be, in the not so distant past, that using words like “client-focused”, “trusted”, “comprehensive”, and “knowledgeable” was enough for financial advisors to separate themselves from the pack. But today these are just the table stakes clients expect their advisors to bring to the table. After all, how many clients do you know who don’t expect their advisor to be knowledgeable, trusted, and client-focused?

In fact, in a highly muddled and fiercely competitive advisory landscape, there is very little to differentiate most advisors from each other, which causes them to disappear among the multitude of “average” advisors. Needless to say, clients today aren’t looking for average when it comes to financial advice.

A case in point is the massive amount of attention the eighty million baby boomers are receiving from the financial services industry – and rightly so because trillions of dollars of assets are at stake.

The 4 Pillars of Great Client Service

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

Great client service should be a given. But according to a recent study from Cerulli Associates, less than a third of advisors strongly agreed that their practices go above and beyond to serve their clients, or that their clients offer repeatable and consistent client experiences.

At the same time, 72% of advisory firm principals say client service is a key differentiator.

Folks, if 72% say great service is a differentiator, it’s no longer a differentiator. It’s now the industry standard.

That said, some firms are clearly doing a better job than others. And those are the firms that are attracting bigger clients, with more assets to manage.

Let’s have a look at what they do differently and what are some key components to delivering great client service.

Can Trust Be Established Early?

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

I got a really interesting question from a subscriber named Jeffrey, who said he is a new advisor and he’s having a problem gaining trust with people during the initial visit. He asked if establishing trust up front is possible and if it is, how he can do that. Furthermore, he asked if it is possible to open an account without the establishment of trust.

Listen to this audio episode or read the transcript below to learn Don’s 4 suggestions on establishing trust early on in the relationship.

How to Turn New Clients into Loyal Clients

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

You have just opened a new account and you are excited to start working with this new client. Of course, you are more than qualified to provide them with the services they need, but how are you going to ensure that your relationship with them will flourish over time?

Here are few good ways to create a loyal bond between you and your client.

5 Steps to Attracting and Retaining More Clients

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Lack of success in this industry can be a result of many failings – from a lack of business acumen to ineffective soft skills. In this post we’ll look at some key areas many advisors might consider focusing on in order to attract and retain more clients.

What Is Buyer’s Remorse and How to Overcome It in 3 Easy Steps

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

Buyer’s remorse is defined as ‘a feeling of regret experienced after making a purchase – typically one regarded as unnecessary or extravagant’ (Oxford Dictionary).

Most of us have experienced this type of feeling at some point – maybe after buying a pair of expensive shoes that with hindsight we considered an unworthwhile purchase.

But buyer’s remorse doesn’t just apply to shopping – it’s possible your clients might feel similarly disenchanted about their decision to hire you.

Make sure your clients don’t experience post-hiring disappointment by doing the following three things.

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Articles by: Don Connelly