You are sitting on a dock in a comfy Adirondack chair on a hot day, with a glass of lemonade filled to the brim with ice cubes. You decide to pick up a good book. You can’t get into a new mystery novel for some reason so you turn to your business books. You are a student of the industry, a lifelong learner, and you have a library of good books. Before you sit down into that comfy chair on a hot day, consider picking up one of these books. I chose them based on practice management topics for financial advisors and wealth managers focusing on productivity and capacity. I start with my newest book on practice management. If you would like a free preview of my book click here https://freebookpreview.getresponsepages.com/

1. Guerrilla Ma...

Yes, you heard me, I don’t believe in financial planning. I don’t like the term, I think it confuses consumers and is misunderstood. I don’t believe in a financial plan either. Most people who do financial planning would agree, “ I only believe in comprehensive, quality financial planning. Now that means something.

ComprehensiveWhat is comprehensive financial planning? Wealthy people want a comprehensive strategy, a quality solution and a holistic approach to their wealth and their legacy. Most people look at financial planning negatively, meaning the plan will solve their problems and give them solutions to their problems. This is old school thinking and language. Financial advisors for years approach it as a solu...

Financial advisors all struggle to acquire more ideal clients. This is the hardest part of being a financial professional, is to get better clients. O when I ask advisors for these two pieces of data from their best clients, most advisors either don’t have this information or never use the information. After all, advisors who are great at getting data rarely get this information. Financial advisors who are great at networking almost always get this data. What are the two pieces of data I am referring to? It is your ideal client's events and their network of professionals.

Favorable introductions are easier than referralsDon’t get me wrong, referrals are better than favorable introductions, but what is the difference. I truly b...

I had the honor of speaking at a global financial conference called MDRT ( The Million Dollar Round Table https://www.mdrt.org/ ) with over 11,000 financial advisors from around the world attending their annual meeting and another 10,000 advisors attending their global meeting. I met advisors from all over the world. Learning from successful people from all corners of the planet was an incredible experience. Each person I spoke with had unique stories within their practice. Just listening to them, I could write another book. Learning where they were from, how they became successful in their country and what they did to get there was exhilarating. I tried to ask several people I met what was their big aha moment at the conference. Their ...

When was the last time a client or prospect walked into your office and asked for an estate plan? The reason why people don’t ask for one is that they need a deeper clarity around their specific goals for their estate. Instead, ask this question. “Did you know about our beneficiary audit service? “The typical answer is no, what is that about. “Would it be valuable to do a beneficiary audit, to summarize on one page all your beneficiaries and the benefits they will receive, and make sure all beneficiaries are correct and coordinated with your will? If we could summarize this information on one page, would that be valuable to you?

I get it. I was a financial advisor for over 20 years, so I get the problem with ideal client acquisition. It is not that you can’t acquire ideal clients, you are already successful. It’s not lack of confidence or knowledge, you have that. You have all the tools to acquire more ideal clients, but you choose not to because of one thing. Your compass.

What is holding you back?Time pressures occur on a daily basis for advisors who are not organized and lack discipline in time management. I get it. You are constantly feeling behind in all of your client service tasks, emails, and daily meeting notes. The last thing you want to do right now is bring on a new ideal client. The first thing that goes through your mind to pick up the p...

By: Bill Bachrach www.billbachrach.com

There are critical conversations necessary to engage people in ways that predictably turn leads into prospects, prospects into clients, clients into people who take action on your advice, happily pay you for planning and advice, and refer you to their friends, family, and colleagues.

These conversations are easy to understand but hard to master. Many FAs have a basic level of ability with these conversations, but this article is about elevating from basic ability to virtuoso skillfulness. Consider what could happen to the quality of your client service and the value of your business when you can artfully engage anyone, any time, and anywhere.

Critical Conversation #1: Mastery of the first conversation.

E...

Do investors understand the total cost of investing and advice? The problem with ideal prospects is that they tell you" they are good" meaning they are happy with their advisor. But you know they are not getting the level of service they deserve. You know they are not getting comprehensive planning, and they are definitely not getting all of the services that a comprehensive planning and wealth management firm provides. But here is the problem. You know it and they don't.

Offer a fee audit on a prospects portfolio and financial plans

How can you let them know what they are not getting, but think they are paying for. Do a fee audit, to show them what they are paying, and more importantly, getting and not getting. Honestly, how do you feel w...

Most financial advisors do not have an ideal client profile. If you are looking for more ideal clients, then define who you are looking for. First, it’s your internal belief system on who you are looking for. For example, what you say and believe have to match” We do our best work with ____ (the type of client) who has a net worth between 2 to 6 million” . Who do you do your best work with?

Build case studiesBuild case studies to help people identify the people who need to work with you, that are not getting comprehensive planning and advice. Your ideal client profile will help you find those people and help people understand your ideal client profile. Reading your case study will help your prospects understand potential...

How do you go from where you are now, to where you want to be? How can financial advisors generating $500k of income get to one million plus revenue? I will give you a hint. It’s not about time management. It is also not about products or services. It’s about your path to success, are you on it?

What is your path to success?
For financial advisors struggling to grow, they are on the path to frustration and as one advisor told me, chaotic. How can you go from $500k in revenue to over 1 million? What are the keys to your path to success? Let’s examine your current path?

Ideal clients definedDo you have a clear definition of what an ideal client is? How much revenue do you want to generate for every ideal client, family or ho...