Monthly Archives: January 2012

I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity… If knocked down, I will get back up, every time.

US Navy Seals motto

And that’s the point of adviser charging

Written by . Posted on January 25, 2012. Filed under Customers, Financial, Marketing, Personal Effectiveness, Pricing, Proposition, RDR. No comments.

I had a really interesting discussion last week during a presentation at a conference for one of our clients. We were discussing how to effectively and confidently position your service, your fees and your value to new clients. One delegate expressed some discomfort with the thought of charging a fee when, for example, a product transaction doesn’t take place. Whilst the specific example was a protection case (which as you know falls outside the remit of RDR and adviser charging), the adviser felt that the client, if invoiced for the fee, would feel that they hadn’t received any value if the protection case didn’t complete due to, for example, premium loadings.

The principle at stake for me is that you ought to be, should be, and must be paid for your advice guidance and expertise. The fact that the case doesn’t proceed, for whatever reason, does not make your advice any less valuable. To make my point, I told the story of my eldest daughter Natalie who, having severe discomfort from a knee injury, (which had already been operated on) felt she needed further surgery as things hadn’t improved and to allow her to start hillwalking again. She travelled from Aberdeen to London for a private consultation with a specialist orthopaedic surgeon. After the  consultation the surgeon explained that there was no operation that he could perform that would improve the situation. Quite simply she would have to live with it.

Now, did the surgeon waive his fee for the session because there was no surgery to be performed? You guessed it… absolutely not! So why should you? Imagine a world in which the only way doctors get paid is if they cut you open to perform unnecessary or pointless surgery. That’s the point of adviser charging… removing the temptation to implement unnecessary and pointless product transactions.

Every path has a few puddles

5 Key Success Traits

Written by . Posted on January 18, 2012. Filed under Leadership, Personal Effectiveness. No comments.

During the first week of Jan I had the pleasure of presenting at the annual conference for a large national IFA group and it was a privilege to be part of the same agenda as Steve Backley, the former Olympic and World Record holder for the javelin. My session was focused on the critical part confidence plays in an adviser’s ability to make the move to adviser charging. Steve’s provided some terrific insights into the key success traits shared by elite athletes and in many ways his comments tee’d up my session perfectly.

According to Steve, talent at the elite level is a given, a ticket to the party as he puts it. Every athlete who walks into the stadium is talented. So what sets the winners apart? Steve outlined the five key traits that he believes all the athletes who make it onto the podium share, namely…

  1. Passion – an absolute passion to be the best at what they do. A passion that causes them to put pursuing their goals ahead of everything else.
  2. Belief – a genuine inner belief and confidence in their own ability
  3. Clarity – absolute clarity about what success looks like for them. Steve brought his 3 Olympic medals with him and described his Bronze medal at his first olympics as far from a success. He was red hot favourite, world record holder and expected to do better. At the next olympics he tore his achilles tendon 14 weeks before the games and was a doubt to even make it. Amazingly, he took the silver medal, an amazing success in the circumstances.
  4. Surround yourself with talented people – when Steve started out he had a coach and a physio. By the time of his last Olympics he had a team of over a dozen people, each experts in their field, and each of whom had a defined role in how far Steve threw that javelin.
  5. A commitment to always deliver your own personal maximum – 100% of the time. To push through the pain. To overcome challenges.

I remember watching an interview some years ago with Daley Thompson, the gold medal winning decathlete. He was talking about his training regime and explained that he even did 3 training sessions on Christmas Day. “Why?” asked the interviewer. “Because I know that Jurgen Hingsen (his closest rival in the decathlon) only trains twice on Christmas Day”.

Steve Backley, also shared a couple of his coach’s mantras… “if you want to be remain best in the world, train like your the second best in the world” and “if not you, who?… if not now, when?”

Steve closed with his personal definition of pride, which certainly resonated with me as I get frustrated by people who always look for excuses or try to blame circumstances, their environment, or worse still, someone else for their shortcomings.

Personal

Responsibility

In

Delivering

Excellence

How can you apply the mindset and success traits of elite athletes to your business life, to help you make this year your best year ever?

A bend in the road is not the end of the road, unless you fail to make the turn

 

Planning v. Commitment or Action

Written by . Posted on January 11, 2012. Filed under Leadership, Personal Effectiveness. No comments.

By now I am sure that you will have your plans for 2012 in place and whilst I am a firm believer in the need to plan, these words of wisdom from Seth Godin put your plans into context. Is it really a new plan you need for the new year, or just a commitment to action that matters?

 

Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness it turns out, is a matter of conscious choice

Jim Collins, “Good to Great”

Eight critical questions for 2012

Written by . Posted on January 4, 2012. Filed under Customers, Marketing, Pricing, Proposition, RDR. No comments.

Welcome to my first blog post of 2012. In less than 12 months time, the RDR deadline will have been and gone, so I thought it might be a good idea to look at your state of RDR readiness through a series of critical questions that you will need to be able to answer in a convincing and confident manner by December (preferably earlier).

1. What do you do?

You need to be able to explain to prospective clients, in language they understand, what you actually do. The focus of your explanation should be on the impact rather than the actual content of what you do.

2. How do you do that? (How do you deliver on you promise to your clients?)

You need to be able to describe your high level process and the stages that a typical client will go through when they become a client. We believe that a key part of this process is to establish right up front whether there is a good fit between the client and what you offer. (Will they be a profitable and enjoyable client to work with and are you the right adviser for them?). As Paul Armson says, “just because you walk into my office doesn’t mean I have to let you into my life”.

3. What kind of clients do you serve best?

Being clear about your niche is critical. Working with anyone and everyone doesn’t work anymore. What’s more, it isn’t credible. Looking at your top end clients will help you to identify which type of people you are best able to help.

4. What keeps you in this business?

Where is your passion for what you do? Do you get out from under the duvet each morning with a spring in your step, looking forward to your day? If not, it will be apparent to clients. Enthusiasm and passion is infectious. If you aren’t energised by what you do, your ability to deliver an outstanding client experience will be compromised.

5. What do you charge?

The question that can destroy your credibility if you don’t answer it confidently. Being absolutely clear about what and where you charge for what you do is critical. Fudge it, hesitate, avert eye contact and you’ve lost. Believe in your value!

6. What do I get for my money?

You need to be able to explain the key deliverables of your service, both those that are tangible (e.g the financial plan and regular review meetings) and those that aren’t (the confidence and reassurance clients will get from knowing their plan is on track and they are on course to achieve their objectives). It is the intangibles that in many ways add most value as they help you to engage with clients on an emotional as well as an intellectual level.

7. Why should I choose you? (over another adviser)

What makes you different? All advisers are likely to look the same to a typical client. A check of a random sample of adviser websites demonstrates this clearly! You have to be able to articulate what makes you stand out, but remember, before you dive into a new client relationship, it’s important to make sure there’s a good two-way fit.

8. What’s happens next if I become a client?

Potential clients are likely to have many questions about your process and how long it will all take and what information they will need to disclose. This is where you need to be able to explain your process in more detail to help clients get a feel for what’s involved from their end. It’s also a great opportunity to set out your expectations of them and educate them about the need to be responsive when you ask for information and to fully engage with and commit to the process.

Having compelling and confident answers to these killer questions means you’re well on the way. Anything less… get some help.

Correct principles are like compasses: they are always pointing the way

Stephen Covey, “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”