/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 2 comments
For years, the financial industry has lagged in its adaption of digital tools to market to, communicate with, and manage the relationships of clients. While Financial Advisors have gradually, sometimes begrudgingly, come to embrace new technologies, the covid19 pandemic this year has accelerated their digital transformation.
For growth-focused advisors, the crisis has been a catalyst for creating more digitally-oriented business development strategies. For example, according to Fidelity, the use of video conferencing for client interactions has doubled since the pandemic hit. In a survey by Ernst & Young, 55% of advisors say they plan to use virtual meetings more in the future.
As with most trends shaping the financial services industry, clients are leading the change. With 64% of high-net-worth clients and 75% of mass-affluent clients counting on their advisor relationship to be digital, it’s not just millennial clients who prefer a virtual relationship. For the most part, advisors are adjusting well to the change, finding it more productive and more effective at building their business. It also opens up more opportunities to find and work with clients who live in other parts of the country.
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3 Issues Financial Advisors Should Address to Overcome the Trust Deficit in Clients
/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments
Financial Advisors face a huge trust deficit. That’s significant because who holds a more important position of trust than an advisor who can impact when people retire, how they live in retirement, and what’s their financial security late in life when they need it the most? For advisors whose livelihood depends on attracting new clients and retaining them, that’s a major obstacle to overcome every day.
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5 Signs a Prospective Client Will Avoid Digital Engagement
/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 2 comments
For years, the financial industry has lagged in its adaption of digital tools to market to, communicate with, and manage the relationships of clients. While Financial Advisors have gradually, sometimes begrudgingly, come to embrace new technologies, the covid19 pandemic this year has accelerated their digital transformation.
For growth-focused advisors, the crisis has been a catalyst for creating more digitally-oriented business development strategies. For example, according to Fidelity, the use of video conferencing for client interactions has doubled since the pandemic hit. In a survey by Ernst & Young, 55% of advisors say they plan to use virtual meetings more in the future.
As with most trends shaping the financial services industry, clients are leading the change. With 64% of high-net-worth clients and 75% of mass-affluent clients counting on their advisor relationship to be digital, it’s not just millennial clients who prefer a virtual relationship. For the most part, advisors are adjusting well to the change, finding it more productive and more effective at building their business. It also opens up more opportunities to find and work with clients who live in other parts of the country.
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You Need both Hard and Soft Skills to Succeed as a Financial Advisor
/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
You can’t offer financial advice until you have the necessary training and education under your belt. Learning the technical side is fundamental to your career, so that you can recommend appropriate products as well as adhere to the increasingly strict industry regulations.
But hard skills alone won’t secure you success. Even if you’re highly competent with technical information and product knowledge, unless you also possess the right soft skills, you won’t get your message across. Without excellent communication and interpersonal skills, you won’t get past the first post. That’s because prospects won’t understand what you’re saying or see why they should do business with you.
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How to Become a Better Listener
/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments
As Calvin Coolidge once said “No one ever listened themselves out of a job” so why do so many advisors find it difficult to stop talking and listen to their clients?
In order to become a great advisor, you need to be a good listener. It’s the only way you’ll get to understand your clients’ and prospects‘ goals. It’s the only way you’ll be able to overcome their objections. Plus, the more people are given the opportunity to talk the more they will feel that you’re interested in them. And they will like you for it. Listening will help you start a client relationship and keep your existing relationships on a firm footing.
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The 7 Essential Traits of Successful Financial Advisors
/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices, What's New / 0 comments
On our February 24, 2015 webinar, our special guest was Dave Hubbard, President and owner of Exemplar Financial Network. Over the past thirty years, Dave has built a thriving firm of more than one hundred Advisors. But Dave is far more than a successful Advisor and business owner. He is also an acclaimed coach who has helped hundreds of Financial Advisors fulfill their potential.
The title of this particular webinar was ‘The Seven Essential Traits of Successful Advisors.’ Dave enumerated and elaborated upon the most common shared qualities among the successful Advisors he knows.
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5 Personality Traits that Make a Great Leader
/ by Kirti Anand Sharma / Connelly Corner / 0 comments
Some believe Leadership is about Power, Prestige and Status. Some feel it’s a rare innate talent to control others and just delegate. Some think of leadership as an act and not a position.
Existence of multiple theories and examples on “Leadership” are often confusing and easily lead to mixed messages or misconceptions. Amidst this confusion, the fact that remains unchanged is that: Strong leadership is critical for Success in any Business.
What makes a great leader? Let’s explore the 5 key traits that will help you be the kind of Leader your clients and prospects look for in their Financial Planners and the sales team look for in their managers .
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Effective Communication Is an Acquired Skill
/ by Don Connelly / Marketing Yourself / 0 comments
Effective communication occurs when the listener understands everything you just said. You made the complex simple. That’s not an easy thing to do.
It takes a long time and a lot of practice to become simple.
The effort is worth it. There is nothing more important to a Financial Advisor than being understood. After all, if everyone understood everything you said, you would be one of the highest paid and most influential people in the world.
Fortunately, effective communication is an acquired skill, not an innate skill.
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Two Questions to Add to Your Repertoire
/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments
Effective communication is all about asking the right questions. I want to suggest two questions to ask your clients, two questions you might not be currently asking. It’s very important that you know what you are doing right, so that you can do more of it. Explain to your clients, new and old, that you are not on an ego trip but…
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