June 20, 2016 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 2 comments
The ability to master soft skills is key to your future success as a Financial Advisor. In fact, it’s easily as important as how much technical knowledge you have. However, advisors often struggle to develop the key soft skills required to build relationships with prospects and clients – and consequently their business suffers.
Perfecting your soft skills should be your number one priority. This post will help remind you to get back to the basics by focusing on five soft skills that could make or break your business.
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Happy 4th of July
July 4, 2016 / by Don Connelly / What's New / 0 comments
Nations throughout the world celebrate important holidays in ways important to its citizens. America has eleven federal holidays and each is special. The Fourth of July might be the most special of all. We call it Independence Day or simply the Fourth. Read on.
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Common Mistakes New Advisors Make – Ones that Could Ruin Your Business
June 27, 2016 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
There are many pitfalls to face when you’re first starting out as an advisor and mistakes are easy to make. Look out for these potential mishaps because they could halt your business in its tracks before it even gets off the ground.
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Financial Advisors Who Lack These Soft Skills Often Fail
June 20, 2016 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 2 comments
The ability to master soft skills is key to your future success as a Financial Advisor. In fact, it’s easily as important as how much technical knowledge you have. However, advisors often struggle to develop the key soft skills required to build relationships with prospects and clients – and consequently their business suffers.
Perfecting your soft skills should be your number one priority. This post will help remind you to get back to the basics by focusing on five soft skills that could make or break your business.
Read more
How Do I Get People to Call Me Back?
June 13, 2016 / by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments
I heard this great question from Jesse in Grand Rapids. Jesse said he was having difficulty getting people to return his calls, after supposedly thinking about his proposal. He meets with prospects and makes his presentation. They say “Let me think it over, I’ll give you a call” and they never do. After some time has passed, he calls them and leaves messages but they never return his calls. Why is that?
Listen to Don’s answer to this question or read the transcript.
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Why Being a Good Advisor Is No Longer Enough to Succeed
June 6, 2016 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
Few industries have become as commoditized as the financial services industry. It’s become more and more common to see a personal touch replaced by ‘cookie-cutter’ automated solutions.
On the bright side it’s clear that technology cannot replace the service of a really great financial advisor. Clients still crave advice that’s customized. They need the services of an advisor who can look at the ‘big picture’ and understand the complexities of their lives in terms of their aspirations, family and careers.
If you want to succeed you need to be more than ‘good enough’. You need to prove you are prepared to go that extra mile and provide a service that’s above and beyond your clients’ expectations.
How do you get to become an Elite rather than a “good” Advisor?
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Formula for Success in Prospecting for Financial Advisors – Revealed
May 23, 2016 / by Don Connelly / Prospecting / 0 comments
To succeed as a financial advisor, you must have plenty of prospective clients in the pipeline. Ideally your appointment book should be full to bursting. This means you need to prospect as many people as possible. However, reaching out indiscriminately is unlikely to get you many appointments or win you profitable new clients. To ensure your prospecting activity pays off you need to refine your approach and target prospects who meet your criteria and are therefore more likely to convert. Your formula for success in prospecting lies between calling everyone and being too discerning.
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To Excel as a Financial Advisor, You must Motivate Yourself and Stay Motivated
May 16, 2016 / by Don Connelly / Marketing Yourself / 0 comments
When you are at your most vulnerable, you cannot let it show. You must remain strong for the simple reason that the more uncertain the times, the more certainty clients will demand from you. Your equity is your relationships with your clients. It is imperative that you always do what is right, in order to preserve those relationships. If you get down, motivate yourself right back up.
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Is Cold Calling Still an Effective Prospecting Method for Financial Advisors?
May 9, 2016 / by Don Connelly / Prospecting / 3 comments
Technology and the ‘no-call’ rules have changed habits when it comes to cold calling. It’s no longer seen as the ‘go-to’ method for prospecting, with social media, the internet and networking often seen as better ways to reach out to new clients. But there are good reasons why cold calling – when done correctly – is a quality tool and why it should be a necessary and permanent part of your business.
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What If Clients’ Sentimental Equity Holding Doesn’t Match Their Risk Tolerance?
April 18, 2016 / by Don Connelly / Investing Wisdom, Managing the Relationship / 0 comments
Today I’d like to share with you an email I received a while ago from Mike at Edward Jones. ¨What is the best way for an FA to approach a client about an equity holding that has sentimental value to the client but does not fit their risk tolerance? I have a 75-year old widow with over 50% of her net worth in Disney stock. I also have a widow who inherited her husband’s IRA at another firm. She had no idea what was in it, it was with an advisor she doesn’t know. Turns out it is 60% in aggressive investments, but she still wants to keep it there. Help.¨Listen to Don’s answer or read the transcript.
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