Take Charge of Your Own Destiny if You Want to Be a Successful Advisor
If you want to succeed as a financial advisor you need to understand that you, and you alone, are in control of your career. Your future success relies on the choices you make, so take control without delay.
Take some time out to analyze your current practice and identify areas requiring improvement. Commit to change and to getting better at the basics. Change your mindset to reinforce the idea that you are doing things out of choice rather than necessity.
Take note of Maya Angelou’s words of wisdom: “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”
Change your prospecting approach
If your prospecting approach isn’t successful, consider how you can change it.
A sure-fire way to boost your chances of success is to create a simple, well-written statement describing your ideal client. Using just one page, describe all the characteristics and demographics of your perfect client, including where they live, their age, profession and their financial goals. Ask yourself how you can help them achieve these goals.
Once you’ve completed your ideal client profile, i.e. identified your target market, hand this sheet out to prospects who appear to fit the bill. This will grab their attention and interest, and up the odds of securing their business. Check to see if you need to submit your Ideal Client Profile to Compliance before handing it out.
Set your own goals
Set your own goals – don’t let others set them for you. Take charge of your destiny by reflecting on where you want to go and work out how you’re going to get there by working backwards. If you don’t, you run the risk of someday regretting that you never managed to fulfill your lifetime ambitions.
Don’t wait for life to happen – write your own script. Write down your goals, then break them down into daily targets you can hit. If you do this, you are already well on your way to creating a better future for yourself.
Learn what you can control
You can’t control the market; you can only control your clients’ expectations. It’s pointless worrying about things over which you have no control. Focus instead on what you can accomplish.
For example, you can control how many appointments you have each week, you can control the amount of time you set aside to prospect and you can control how hard you work. Work on your soft skills and learn how to become more charismatic, learn to listen to clients, become great at overcoming objections.
Have the right attitude
Having the right frame of mind includes saying the right words to yourself. For example, simply saying “I choose to” instead of “I have to” can make a big difference when it comes to taking control of your responsibilities. Our actions are dictated by the daily decisions we make. When you find yourself saying “I have to prospect today” switch to saying “I choose to prospect today”. Take charge of your destiny by using self-affirmation.
Become accountable
You need to become accountable otherwise you won’t have the self-discipline to change things for the better. Admit it when you get things wrong. Be forthright and take ownership of issues so you can learn from mistakes and put them right. When things get tough there’s no point sitting around brooding, you need to make changes so that you can get back on track.
Set goals, measure performance and adjust your approach. Find a mentor to help you identify areas where you can improve.
The career of a financial advisor can be incredibly rewarding, so long as you have the ability to take charge of your own destiny. If you can make the necessary changes in your attitude and approach, and understand you are not a victim of circumstances, you will undoubtedly encounter success.
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