/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 2 comments
In recent posts, we have outlined why financial advisors must master critical habits for prospecting, calling, and selling, without which success can be elusive. However, while you may identify as a financial advisor, you are, first and foremost, a businessperson. You can have all the best habits for prospecting, calling, and selling, but you need to have the vital working habits of a successful businessperson or entrepreneur to help you in the long run.
If your business lacks direction or you can’t manage your time effectively, you are essentially practicing your craft on borrowed time. Without self-discipline and a results-oriented mindset, you’ll be less likely to progress to the next level. These are just some of the working habits that, when mastered, make it possible to exercise the revenue-generating practices of prospecting, calling, and selling to the greatest extent possible with much better outcomes.
To succeed as a financial advisor, you must create a sustainable business that supports your efforts to grow your clientele. These are the crucial working habits any businessperson must master to be successful.
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Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace: Enhancing Collaboration Among Financial Advisory Teams
/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments
As we’ve posted before, Emotional Intelligence (EI), the ability to understand and manage one’s emotions while being sensitive to the emotions of others, is a critical factor in a financial advisor’s success. Advisors with strong EI are more adept at navigating sensitive conversations, helping clients overcome anxieties, and recognizing underlying fears or hopes that are explicitly communicated.
With sharper emotional acuity, they are able to build stronger and more enduring trust-based relationships.
For those same reasons, emotional intelligence in the workplace is also a critical factor for success. Studies show that teams with high EI outperform those with low EI by up to 20%. While financial advisors focus on building emotional intelligence for client relationships, their role in fostering effective team collaboration is just as vital.
Strong EI within advisory teams leads to improved communication, trust, and resilience—key elements for navigating high-stakes decisions and complex financial strategies. This post explores how financial advisory teams can harness emotional intelligence to enhance collaboration, improve team dynamics, and drive business success.
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Essential Tips for Financial Advisors to Avoid Burnout
/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
It can happen to the best of us if we don’t see it coming. Few professions result in a higher burnout rate than the financial advisory business. The convergence of high-stress client interactions, economic uncertainty, performance pressures, regulatory demands, and the sheer emotional toll of the work puts financial advisors at a higher risk of chronic exhaustion and detachment that can derail their careers and personal well-being.
For advisors, managing stress is essential for maintaining a healthy balance, which is crucial for sustainable success. Here are seven actionable strategies to help you prevent burnout while staying passionate about your work:
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Why You Need to Encourage Your Clients to Ask Questions
/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
As a financial advisor, you occupy a position of trust, guiding clients through complex financial landscapes. While knowledge and experience are crucial assets, an advisor’s success hinges on another critical factor: fostering a culture of open communication where clients feel empowered to ask questions. This often-overlooked attribute can unlock a multitude of benefits, leading to more effective financial planning, stronger client relationships, and, ultimately, a brighter financial future for the client.
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How to Help Clients Through Their Financial Anxiety
/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments
Who among us has never had worries about money? You can expect that many of your clients have experienced money worries from time to time. We know that clients can become stressed during periods of increasing market volatility or economic distress. And we’ve shared how financial advisors can help clients deal with that stress and confront fears to prevent their emotions from controlling their decisions.
But what about financial anxiety? Not only is that different from stress, but it can be much more debilitating to the psyche, causing mental paralysis in the face of important financial decisions. While stress is typically caused by external factors, such as a crashing market or rising unemployment, anxiety tends to rise internally over fears or unhealthy attitudes about the world around us.
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Essential Working Habits to Ensure Your Success as a Financial Advisor
/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 2 comments
In recent posts, we have outlined why financial advisors must master critical habits for prospecting, calling, and selling, without which success can be elusive. However, while you may identify as a financial advisor, you are, first and foremost, a businessperson. You can have all the best habits for prospecting, calling, and selling, but you need to have the vital working habits of a successful businessperson or entrepreneur to help you in the long run.
If your business lacks direction or you can’t manage your time effectively, you are essentially practicing your craft on borrowed time. Without self-discipline and a results-oriented mindset, you’ll be less likely to progress to the next level. These are just some of the working habits that, when mastered, make it possible to exercise the revenue-generating practices of prospecting, calling, and selling to the greatest extent possible with much better outcomes.
To succeed as a financial advisor, you must create a sustainable business that supports your efforts to grow your clientele. These are the crucial working habits any businessperson must master to be successful.
Read more
Be Organized – Make Prospecting a Priority
/ by Don Connelly / Prospecting / 2 comments
I can conjure up many advantages to being organized. Less stress is way up there on my list. So is the luxury of having fewer decisions to make. But the number one reason is more time to sit face-to-face with clients and prospective clients.
My friend Jack is fond of saying that your success depends upon how many families you will touch going forward. Advisors who fare poorly generally do so because they don’t see enough people. It’s hard to have appointments when paperwork keeps getting in the way.
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A Sense of Resilience Will Overcome a Sense of Uncertainty
/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
Making a decision is essentially making a prediction. We know going in that some decisions will be bad ones. That is why uncertainty always creeps in. How we deal with that uncertainty is a function of our resilience.
Resilience determines how we get strong and healthy after something bad happens.
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Stress Management Will Help You Get Your Stress Level under Control
/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
Stress is a two-edged sword and it’s important you find the proper balance. Stress occurs when things happen that disrupt our routine. Too little stress and we’re under-motivated. Too much stress and we could be heading for an early grave.
The stress of building a business, hitting goals and asking for commitments never goes away.
You’re not going to escape it. You must learn to manage it. Your career depends on it.
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