Becoming a TOP ADVISOR at Your Financial Institution

Transcription

1 Becoming a TOP ADVISOR at Your Financial Institution Confidence Drive Competitiveness Strong Work Ethic Charisma

2 Introduction While there are many paths to success, examining the traits and day-to-day activities of top advisors can give you a considerable advantage when structuring your team and implementing best practices. This paper will look into the habits, processes, tools and resources that can help you build on your successes no matter where you are in your career and help you on your path to becoming a top advisor in your bank or credit union. Traits of Top Advisors Vince Lombardi famously said that leaders are not born, but made by hard effort. While I tend to agree with that statement, successful advisors undoubtedly share many of the following characteristics as an inherent part of their DNA. A lucky few may possess all of these traits, while others shore up any deficiencies while capitalizing on their strengths. These traits can often be the best predictor for career success, so they re critical to consider when developing a team or presenting a proposal when another top advisor also has a seat at the table. Confidence A top advisor knows their craft inside and out, and can present solutions to their clients as a professional in the field. Drive Top advisors are excited to get to the office in the morning and turn great ideas into successful ideas. Competitiveness Top advisors compete with themselves. They set lofty goals and will do what it takes to achieve them. They look at goals as opportunities. A strong work ethic The average top advisor works hours per week. Optimal time management skills are a necessity. Charisma Top advisors are optimistic and have a compelling charm that motivates loyalty with every person they meet. Understanding where you and your team rank in terms of these traits gives you a unique perspective to adjust your routine, delegate with intent and position your team for optimal success. Boost Your Confidence Confidence comes from being informed and well-prepared. Pentameter, our online business planning platform, guides you in assessing and navigating business decisions with a CEO mentality. It offers hundreds of resources to help you drive growth, develop talent and enhance your service offering. Find Opportunities Faster Our Portfolio Access system provides holistic performance reporting that gives you a big picture view of your client holdings, and can help segment your client base, while our proprietary advisor workstation, SmartWorks, offers revenue trending reports that provide a personal benchmark for sales by month over the last five years. To fuel the competitive side and keep you aligned with colleagues, SmartWorks also offers a sales leaderboard for advisors to track revenue against other advisors within Cetera Financial Institutions. 1

3 It s All About the Relationship Reaching the top requires developing a variety of new habits just doing more of the same simply won t work. There are several ways top advisors in the bank and credit union environment are differentiating themselves from their peers. Top advisors realize that their #1 client is each member of their financial institution branch. Therefore, they are 100% involved with the entire team: tellers, personal bankers, managers, mortgage officers, small-business banking officers, and so on. Advisors will earn more referrals when everyone inside the branch considers them a team player but, those referrals also need to be reciprocated. So often sales people expect to receive referrals while failing to give them. The very best will seek out and capitalize on opportunities to refer business back to the branches, which not only builds this crucial relationship, but creates a goal-focused environment with more opportunities to share in success. Being a team player also means celebrating greatness together. It s important to publicly recognize the positive efforts of branch team members. For example, when receiving a referral, send a thank-you to the entire team (make sure to include the employee s manager). Highlighting successful referrals will define good referrals without needing to address unqualified or poor referrals. Being completely involved with the branch team also requires ongoing communication. Huddle up. Join routine gatherings when permissible with the branch staff. Target a minimum of meeting on a weekly basis, even if it s just for minutes. This can often be best accomplished before the branch opens. Capitalize on the meetings by taking the opportunity to: Celebrate successes. Share sales ideas (whether it s a product partner offering breakfast or the top advisor sharing his/her experience). Educate staff on new products and market trends. Hold open discussions so staff may learn more about your business and value proposition. The more educated the staff is about your business, the easier it is for them to identify referrals. 2

4 Set. Maintain. Update. Repeat. Successful advisors are goal focused. They not only set their plan, but also are consistent in reviewing and updating it to challenge themselves to be more efficient and effective. Build a Process, Communicate, and Follow Through Commit to developing a repeatable sales process for business activities to make it possible to perform at an elite level. Build a workflow, communicate the plan with teammates, and follow through with implementation. Prospect Within Your Current Book RightBRIDGE is an easy-to-use suggestion engine that delves into your available client data, using client intelligence and demographics to display your top five Opportunities of the Day. It then provides an explanation behind each suggestion, giving you the information you need to frame your conversation so you are ready to pick up a phone and make the call. Here s a real-world example of what a successful outbound calling and prospecting approach entails: Strive for a minimum of 20 prospect calls per day, which equates to prospect calls in a week (averaging 2.5 phone calls per hour each workday). Create a daily targeted phone call list. Being consistent with calling will provide the best results. Host call nights to contact those you cannot reach during the day. Ninety minutes of focused calling (i.e., from 5:00 pm 6:30 pm or 5:30 pm 7:00 pm) one time per week will offer tremendous opportunities to gather appointments. Use a prepared script when calling. The objective of the phone call is to get an appointment, not to sell over the phone. An appointment-setting phone call should be 2 3 minutes in length (not any longer). Call jointly with personal bankers and branch managers. Setting aside call blocks throughout the week of at least minutes not only helps teach branch staff how to set appointments, but helps build their confidence on the phone. Establish a follow-up system. By following a daily routine, opportunities will not be lost due to lack of follow-up. You can use an electronic follow-up system, or create a paper system that uses folders based on client availability: 24 hour folder: call clients every 24 hours until they are reached. Attempt to call at different times of the day and only leave a voic twice. 30 day folder: if a client cannot come in due to various circumstances (planning a wedding, moving a child to college, etc.), ask them if you can follow up with them in 30 days. Appointment setting is all about timing. 3

5 Maximize Face Time in Your Community Seminars and client events can be an excellent source for relationship building and revenue generation. Events can establish you as a resource within the community in the eyes of the institution s staff, clients, prospects and centers of influence (COIs). Successfully hosting a seminar or client event requires approaching it as a true business development opportunity. Leveraging the expertise of an event planner can be greatly beneficial. Much like they do with traditional business development, top advisors will strategically set goals, define an agenda, align a team and be selective with the venue, guest list, timing and approach to create conditions for optimal success. This requires involvement of key leadership in the branch and careful thought behind the topic, partners involved, and marketing collateral shared, so that every aspect of the gathering is catered and fitting for invited guests. When hosting an event, each branch member should have exposure to the guest list; plan steps for the initial outreach; welcome guests and make appropriate introductions during the event; and have a strategic follow-up plan. This is often best established during pre- and post-event planning meetings. Know When to Call for Additional Help Some clients needs are simply too complex to solve on your own, so we offer multiple teams to help you deal with unique or specialized issues. Our exclusive Advanced Planning Group offers in-house expertise for even the most sophisticated financial issues and strategies. This dedicated team of highly credentialed legal and financial professionals offers a consultative approach to assist with your most complex client needs. Our field and internal wealth management consultants, along with our advanced sales consultants and Sales Solutions team, offer a breadth of services designed to position you as your clients source for trusted, unbiased wealth management advice. 4

6 Systematize Business as Much as Possible Including Appointments Just as with so many other aspects of business, getting the most out of your face time with clients starts with a plan: Prep before each appointment by educating yourself about the client. Learning about the client and his/her life stage helps with preparation. Take a holistic approach with the client by asking them what their financial goals are. Be knowledgeable on the solutions presented. Top advisors are prepared for any questions on them. Ask the client if they currently have life insurance or old policies that they are paying for. Often, advisors can save the client money or increase their insurance coverage (or both!). Send a thank-you note and business card to every client who had an appointment (even if no business was generated). Empower Clients As important as quarterly and annual meetings are, you should ensure your clients are able to status-check their portfolio at any time. With Portfolio Access, clients can get an overview of their full portfolio and see if it is meeting its target rate of return. When a prospect becomes a client, it s recommended to schedule a 30-day follow-up appointment to uncover additional client needs. This is scheduled while the client is still in the office and positioned as an appointment to review their first statement and ensure everything was set up correctly. One day before the 30-day follow-up appointment, a call should be placed to the client to confirm the appointment, the reason for the meeting, and verify any items being requested of the client, such as other investment or insurance statements. 5

7 Some of the Best Opportunities for Face Time Are Unplanned Maximizing time in the community requires an understanding that in-person introductions are crucial. You must stay engaged and visible because out of sight means out of mind. When clients are visiting, make personal introductions. Take the opportunity to visit with those in the branch lobby and introduce your clients to the branch staff. Build relationships with centers of influence, including top CPAs, attorneys and key people within the community. These COIs understand your passion to help people and are willing to share referrals. You should also remain active in the community in which you work, be it through the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, or other organization. You don t have to be involved in everything, yet you should have a minimum of one or two charitable or civic organizations that inspire you and allow you to generously contribute your good fortune and resources. Your active involvement will not only be inherently rewarding, it can showcase your experience and the visibility within the community allows for more prospecting opportunities and referrals. 6

8 Profiling Clients and Structuring Your Book of Business When someone gives you $100,000, dedicate the time and energy to their plan and their relationship. While the minimum investible asset threshold will vary at different banks or credit unions, if someone has $100,000, they likely have money elsewhere or are intelligent, responsible investors who will typically do what it takes to grow their portfolio. Because of that, we ll categorize anyone with $100,000 or more in assets as an A client. Here are some of the recommended activities for serving that audience and your overall structure for your book of business: Meet quarterly with your A clients. Quarterly meetings should be held in your office. Keep in mind that B clients have the potential to become A clients, so anyone on the verge of reaching that level should be met with quarterly as well. Offer full financial plans to your A clients. Advisors who build financial plans for their clients and prospects are not only delivering a service many clients are looking for, but are also bringing in more assets than advisors who don t create any plans. Cultivate referrals from A and B clients. People tend to do business with people they like, trust, and who share similar interests. Finally, with all clients, know how to manage your time. Be strategic whether you re in front of clients or on the phone. Having more locations does not necessarily equal more business windshield time slows growth and revenue. Simplify the Optimal Client Experience Once you ve segmented your book, develop and manage personalized touchpoints or full-blown campaigns for current and prospective clients with Connect2Clients (C2C). C2C targets multiple digital channels, allowing you to custom-brand and automate newsletters, market commentary, birthday cards, and pre-approved marketing outreach on an a la carte or set-and-forget basis. Through MoneyGuide Suite s financial planning tools, you can build modular or comprehensive needs analysis and plans for prospects and existing clients, covering topics such as risk management, goal planning for retirement, college funding, major purchases, asset allocation and estate needs. 7

9 Such client segmentation is essential to creating the optimal client experience. As you segment your book and structure your outreach, understand that A and B clients should have the most touches. Additionally, segmenting your book gives you the opportunity to evaluate client revenue and look for opportunities to build a recurring revenue stream as you establish a more sustainable business model. A best practice is that at least 40% of your revenue should be recurring. The chart below shows an example of a welldiversified product mix. It is worth noting that, as indicated in the chart, you should target having at least 10% of revenue from life insurance. Not only is it a valuable protection for your clients and their families, it s also an opportunity for you to diversify offerings, deepen client relationships, and grow your bottom line. If you re a $500,000 advisor, 10% adds $50,000 to your revenue stream a true win-win for you and your clients. Revenue 15% 40% 20% Advisory 10% 15% Annuities Insurance Mutual Funds/UITs Fixed Income 8

10 Conclusion Getting Started Becoming a top advisor is not an overnight event. But it s also not out of reach of those willing to put in the time and effort and adopt the principles and techniques described within this paper. At the heart of the methodology is putting client service at the forefront, paying close attention to how you acquire, treat, structure and service your book of business. Creating a process and turning it into a habit around every client touchpoint can help systematize the identification and achievement of goals, as well as create the essential time management required to become a top advisor. Last, but certainly not least, it is hard to get to the top alone. Being a team player with the rest of the branch staff will help accelerate your business growth, rewarding you with referrals it would be harder to acquire on your own. The path to becoming a top advisor can be shortened and smoothly paved if you are working with the right partner. Cetera Financial Institutions understands the importance of identifying opportunities for advisors to attain a greater share of their clients investible assets. As the industry continues to evolve, effectively managing client relationships is even more essential. Providing the resources you need to deliver the meaningful advice clients are looking for in a clear, transparent way is the hallmark of our exclusive Advice-Centric Experience. It empowers you to be the trusted guide your clients are looking for, helping you increase the value of your business by increasing your value to your clients. Learn how partnering with Cetera Financial Institutions can help you become a top advisor. Contact us today ceterafinancialinstitutions. com/join solutions@ceterafi.com facebook.com/cetera- Financial-Institutions- linkedin.com/company/ 60686/ Our Advice-Centric Experience extends to the services we provide to you as well. Our relationship managers guide you through the resources and subject-matter experts available at Cetera Financial Institutions. They also hold peer-to-peer networking and business-building events to discuss holistic planning and sales strategies, regulatory trends and best practices. Just a few of the tools and resources they can assist you with are included in the sidebars of this paper, illustrating some of the many ways they can help you expand your business. 12 9

11 About the Author Britt Woods, national head of relationship management at Cetera Financial Institutions, is no stranger to quick decisionmaking, discipline and aligning others to achieve a common goal. In the financial industry, he s best known and nationally recognized for his achievements as both an individual and team top advisor. He achieved the honor of being the top financial advisor at his company and top 50 in the country while personally producing over $10 million in revenue over a six year period. From there he became a regional manager where he excelled and was ranked the #1 program manager in the country by Bank Investment Consultant magazine in He was able to grow his region from $3 million in revenue to over $10 million in revenue in just over 3 years. His focus on goal-oriented teamwork started prior to his 15-year tenure in financial services: he is also an accomplished Air Force veteran, earning three medals during his service to our country. Britt draws on his vast experience and a track record of team success to elevate individual advisors and implement strategies for high-growth wealth management programs. Britt resides in Franklin, Tenn. 10

12 Cetera Financial Institutions 400 First Street South, Suite 300 St. Cloud, MN ceterafinancialinstitutions.com About Cetera Financial Institutions Cetera Financial Institutions is a marketing name of Cetera Investment Services LLC, a self-clearing registered broker-dealer that delivers customized investment and insurance solutions to financial institutions nationwide. Cetera Investment Services helps institutions expand their financial offerings, which allows clients to pursue their financial goals through a holistic approach while delivering sound and strong financial solutions. Advisory services are offered through Cetera Investment Advisers LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser firm, where financial advisors receive a wide array of solutions and back-office support, so that they can focus on clients. Cetera Investment Services LLC and Cetera Investment Advisers LLC are members of Cetera Financial Group, which provides leading wealth management and advisory platforms and innovative technology to financial advisors and financial institutions nationwide. Cetera Investment Services is a member of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). For more information, see ceterafinancialinstitutions.com. Cetera Financial Institutions is a marketing name of Cetera Investment Services LLC, member FINRA/SIPC Cetera Financial Institutions /18