personalized service Archives - Don Connelly & Associates

How Financial Advisors Can Use AI to Free Up Time for More Client-Facing Activities

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Despite the shortfalls of artificial intelligence (AI) in the financial advisory business in that it cannot replace advisors as relationship builders, there are several ways advisors can embrace AI to achieve higher efficiency and have more time for the human element of the business.

We know that AI is rapidly transforming industries, and the financial services sector is no exception. Financial advisors are often overwhelmed by managing multiple tasks at once, especially when much of their time is consumed by administrative and back-office duties. And, with the increasing complexity of financial markets and compliance requirements, advisors must spend more time on data entry, paperwork, and compliance at the expense of more client-facing activities.

How to Attract Emerging Affluent Gen Z and Young Millennials in their 20s

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Financial advisors with any ambitions of growing their practices in the next couple of decades can’t ignore the emergence of Gen Z as an economic force. Though the estimated $143 billion in assets held by Gen Z is dwarfed by the trillions held by millennials, Gen Z workers are expected to outearn millennials as soon as 2030. They will be more educated and more ambitious than their generational predecessors, and they will be starving for financial advice.

The challenge for financial advisors is that while even today, the members of Gen Z are looking for financial advice, most prefer to find it through social media, the internet, and their parents or friends, according to the FINRA Investor Education Foundation.

The good news for advisors is that the same study found that 71% of Gen Z investors are receptive to working with financial professionals, counting them among the most trustworthy sources of financial information, second only to their parents.

The critical issue for any financial advisor hoping to attract young clients is whether they are perceived as someone who can be trusted to serve them in the manner they expect.

For Clients Expecting 5-Star Service, Exceptional Communications Is Not Enough—Proactive Communication Is the New Standard

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For Clients Expecting 5-Star Service, Proactive Communication Is the New Standard

Top financial advisors understand that superior client communications are paramount to building a successful practice. That is supported by a widely published survey by Financial Advisor Magazine, revealing that 72% of clients cite poor client communications as the number one reason they leave their financial advisor.

If 72% of clients expect exceptional client communications as a condition for staying with an advisor, it’s no longer a differentiator—it’s merely table stakes for advisors who hope to compete for their business. So how can financial advisors who do focus on elevating the client communications game stand out to clients with higher expectations of what five-star service should look like?

How to Provide the Level of Service Clients Will Talk About

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How to Provide the Level of Service Your Clients Will Talk About

By now, financial advisors with any ambition of success know that the only way to stand out in a vast sea of sameness is by providing an extraordinary customer experience—one that can turn your clients into stark raving fans. To do anything less relegates you to the ranks of every other advisor who prides themselves on providing “excellent service” to their clients. “Excellence” is now a minimum expectation of clients who have been raising the bar for advisors for the last decade.

So, what is an extraordinary client experience, and how can advisors consistently deliver it? The challenge for advisors is there is no standardization for delivering superior client service. One client is different from the next in how they view the level of service provided. The level of communication and engagement that suits one type of client may fall short for another type.

Want Your Clients to Take Their Financial Plan Seriously? Keep It Front and Center in Your Relationship

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Help Clients See the Value of Their Financial Plan

It wasn’t so long ago that clients perceived financial plans as an extension of the prospecting process to entice them to open an account and hand over their money. Many financial advisors feigned the role as a financial planner to create the perception of objectivity with the recommendations they would make. Clients received a faux leather-bound financial plan that just took up shelf space, never to be revisited by them or their advisor.

Fast forward to today, and we see an increasing number of financial advisors who are committed to a more holistic approach to working with clients, making the financial plan a critical cornerstone of their relationships. That, of course, is in response to what more and more clients are looking for in their advisor relationships—a plan that addresses the entirety of their financial life to guide them in life-critical decisions.

Why is it then that the value of a well-conceived financial plan seems to wane among clients who, further into the advisory relationship, begin to question their advisor’s advice or express disenchantment because their investments are underperforming their neighbor’s or colleagues’ portfolio? What do advisors need to do to get their clients to refocus on what’s really important?

Overcome the Fee Discussion by Focusing on the Things that Matter to Your Clients

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Among the many trends affecting the way financial advisors must operate these days, fee compression has been the most impactful. The discussion of fees charged by advisors has moved to the forefront due to the low costs and transparency of digital advice platforms and the highly competitive arena in which they find themselves. As a result, clients are more willing to confront their advisors on the subject of fees and the value they receive in exchange for them, catching many advisors off guard.

5 Red Flags That Will Cause Your Prospects to Dismiss You

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You never see it coming, and you may never know the reason why. A prospective client you have carefully cultivated agrees to a meeting to learn more about how you can help them. It seems to go well. Their heads were nodding up and down, and they laughed at your joke. At the end of the 30-minute meeting, you suggest the next step with an offer to follow up with them. Turning toward the door, they reply, “We’ll let you know.”

You know that’s the end of it. So, you replay it in your head, asking, “What were the red flags that soured their perception of me?”

Whether the outcome of a prospect meeting is good or bad, you should always replay it in your mind. With a positive outcome, you need to know what worked and why. For a negative outcome, it’s vital to understand what didn’t work and why. Identifying the negatives is often more difficult because it’s hard to be self-critical. But that’s where the path to self-improvement begins. To help in your diagnosis, we list the five of the most common red flags that could cause your prospects to dismiss you.

How to Clearly Demonstrate Value so Your Clients Don’t Question Your Fees

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As a financial advisor, you know you bring value to your advisory relationships, which, in your mind, justifies the fees you charge. Your challenge is that, from your clients’ perspective, value is difficult to define. It doesn’t make it any easier when you consider that a client’s assessment of value is subjective, which can vary from client to client. A study by Vanguard attempted to quantify an advisor’s value in terms of how the right advice—primarily keeping clients from abandoning their strategy—can potentially increase a client’s returns by as much as 3% annually. The problem is that difference in performance isn’t apparent in your clients’ statements.

So, how do you demonstrate value in a way that makes your clients not feel the need to question why they’re paying the fees you charge—that they are getting their money’s worth? It may be as easy as simply giving your clients what they want.

Six Ways Financial Advisors Can Establish Trust in Today’s Virtual World

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You can have all the technical and market skill in the world. But if people don’t trust you, you’re not going to open new accounts.

It’s just a fact of life in sales: If people don’t trust you, their defensive mechanisms are going to be up during the entire sales process. If you’re lucky, they’ll tell you. At least that way, you get to face the trust issue head on. That might give you a fighting chance.

But more often than not, you’ll be met with polite silence, and the dreaded “we’ll give you a call if we decide to do anything.”

If you hear that, chances are you whiffed on the trust issue.

After all, if you had their trust, they’d be looking for ways to talk themselves into doing business with you!

6 Tech Essentials for Financial Advisors

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Unquestionably, the advisory industry has been experiencing a significant transformation. Through advances in technology and the democratization of investing, financial advice is quickly becoming commoditized, much to the detriment of Financial Advisors who continue to languish in traditional business models. Today, adopting the right technology is becoming table stakes for advisors who want to maintain the trust of their clients and stand out in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

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