If I was a prospect of yours, what would be the journey towards eventually working with you? How do you get different levels of engagement and stay in touch? There is no correct answer in this article, so if you are looking for a simple solution, stop reading now. We all have prospects that we have met and would like to do business with. Each ideal prospect that we acquire, has a unique journey towards becoming an ideal client. I want to focus on making this the best journey for the client, not the easiest way for you to automate this process with software. Let’s face it, you can delegate everything as a financial advisor except prospecting. This is the hardest part of the job and pays the most, so prospecting is a critical skill i...

“In the struggle for survival, the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment". ~ Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin would love financial advisors today. In October 1838 Charles Darwin thought of a way in which one species could change into another. He noticed that individual members of a species vary. Furthermore, all animals are competing with each other to survive. If the environment changed in some way, say if a new, faster predator appeared then any herbivores that could run slightly faster than other members of its species would be more likely to survive and reproduce. Any herbivores that ran slightly slower than most would be more likely to be eaten. Slowly ...

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 launched in 2016.

1. Guerrilla Marketing for Financial Advisors 2nd edition Innovating financial professionals through practice management”. Grant Hicks and Jay Conrad Levinson Morgan James Publishing 2016“As part of the “Guerrilla Marketing” series which has sold over 21 million copies worldwide, financial advisors will find the book packed full of ideas to acquire ideal clients and create an ideal client experience. Utilizing “Guerrilla Marketing” strategies combined with key practice management research, the book guides the reader to tackle critical issues such as capacity, client acquisition, and double-digit growth. It is your process manual for practice management.

http://amzn.to/2td04TQ

2. The 5 choices The path to extraordinary productivity, by Kory Kogon, Adam Merrill and Leena Rinne, published by Simon and Shuster 2015 : This book is backed by science and Franklin Covey's years of experience and research in this field. The 5 Choices will help a financial advisor or wealth manager increase their productivity and develop an inner sense of fulfillment and peace. The five choices are simple but require a radical shift in mindset and will lead to increased personal and professional success. It is your time management manual.

http://amzn.to/2tNfPON

3. The Ensemble Practice, A Team-Based Approach to Building a Superior Wealth Management Firm, 2012 by Philip Palaveev Bloomberg Press 2012 . Why do ten percent of wealth management firms grow faster than the rest of the industry, often despite the turbulence of the markets? The answer, according to industry consultant and researcher, P. Palaveev, is that the most successful firms are those which, create and promote a team-based service model that serves as the foundation of their enterprise. It is your team building manual.

http://amzn.to/2tNfnzS

4. Succession Planning for Financial Advisors, + Website: Building an Enduring Business by David Grau Sr. Wiley Finance, June 2014 With all the succession discussions, why not just get it done. This book is a step by step guide and will challenge you and everything you think you know about succession planning. It is your succession manual.

http://amzn.to/2tbF8fm

5. Technology Tools for Today's High-Margin Practice: How Client-Centered Financial Advisors Can Cut Paperwork, Overhead, and Wasted Hours, by David J. Drucker and Joel P. Bruckenstein, Bloomberg Press 2013 With robo-advising on everybody’s radar screen, this will help financial advisors focus on what they can control, their processes. In a newly revised edition of the "bible" of practice management and technology for financial professionals, two leading financial planners, with some help from their friends, deliver the knowledge advisors have been begging for. It is your technology manual.

http://amzn.to/2sejMKb

6. Exploring Advice: What You Need to Know About Good Financial Advice, a Quality Financial Plan and the Role of a Fiduciary Createspace Publishing – September 29, 2016 by Kevin Knull CFP®

Based on research, qualitative insight from hundreds of conversations with industry advisors, regulators, attorneys, academics and consultants, and data from over 1 million plans, Knull outlines the elements of a quality financial plan, how a quality financial plan is an effective and prudent way to comply with the DOL regulations and how it can help financial advisors differentiate their firms in a challenging environment. It is your advice manual.

http://amzn.to/2u9os5y

7. The Enduring Advisory Firm: How to Serve Your Clients More Effectively and Operate More Efficiently (Bloomberg Financial) 1st Edition by Mark C. Tibergien (Author), Kimberly G. Dellarocca (Author) Wiley; 1 edition (November 30, 2016) Combining a facts-based approach with case studies and examples from the field, The Enduring Advisory Firm will ignite your imagination by demonstrating practical strategies for attracting clients and streamlining operations. It is your operations manual.

http://amzn.to/2rU6lQk

Enjoy your summer reading and building your elite financial advisory practice! Pick up your copy or online version at your favorite online retailer. For a FREE preview of my latest book go to www.advisorpracticemanagement.com

Quality financial and investment plan

One final comment. In my workshops with financial advisors, I always ask a veteran advisor, “in twenty plus years, how many quality financial and investment plans in writing have you seen from your competitors?” The answer is usually less than 5 quality plans in 20 years. My mission is simple, “Coaching financial advisors to create 1 million quality financial and investment plans for their ideal clients”. Ask your clients and prospects this question " What does a quality financial and investment plan mean to you? Let me know if I can help you grow your practice.

If you would like more information about financial advisor workshops or coaching to build your value promise process, email us at grant@ghicks.com

We all know that meeting people is a critical part of becoming a successful financial advisor. However, the problem is that no one is teaching financial professionals about how to network better. In my workshops, I ask financial advisors if they have ever taken a networking course, seminar or workshop? Most of the advisors answer no. To me, it seems strange that successful financial advisors have not brushed up on their networking skills, yet are planning events all year, and seem frustrated by their results of going to and planning out events. The two are correlated. The financial advisors who have learned strategic networking strategies are clearly more comfortable at events and are more successful.

How do you find your ideal prospects?...

by Grant Hicks, CIM

What are your ideal prospects not getting from their financial advisor? They don't know what they are getting and not getting, do they? When I ask a group of advisors, what do you get for $20,000 per year, most of them wing the answer? If the advisors cannot tell me what clients get, how will the clients be able to understand what they are getting, and more importantly, not getting for what they pay? How do you feel when you are paying for something and NOT getting it?

Join me during my webinar as we will discuss two proven ways to engage ideal prospects, by asking key questions and offering your fee audit or beneficiary audit service.

Your compelling offers are to show ideal prospects what they are NOT getting from the...

How do I acquire more ideal clients starting today? What is the best process to find them? What is a simple way to implement immediately to grow my business? The number one challenge for financial advisors is finding more ideal clients. Monday morning when you go to your calendar and you don’t see a lot of potential new ideal clients coming in, what do you do? I would start by setting up appointments with some of your ideal clients, either for a progress update meeting or for a coffee. The goal here is to help people in other areas of their lives and become the quarterback and meet new centers of influence.

Build your network of professionals Build the "Hicks Network of Professionals" which is your network of people you work with. H...

Grant Hicks, CIM

You won't find this idea in a book, even though I wrote the second edition of " Guerrilla Marketing For Financial Advisors" Innovating Financial professionals through practice management. Morgan James Publishing New York. You won't find this idea at a seminar, course or workshop. You cannot get this from top advisors, executives or even the best branch manager in the industry.

Not even online or any website. In fact, you won't get this information from top financial advisor performers, but you will find the idea where you work. It will change the way you think. It will change your business strategies. It will make you take a close look at what you're doing right and what you need to improve on. The idea will help you grow,...

Written by Wealth Professional magazine

To see the full article click here https://www.wealthprofessional.ca/news/emerging-markets/the-key-to-scaling-your-advisory-business-241937.aspx

The successful advisors of the past will not be heading the field in the future, according to a leading practice management consultant.

Grant Hicks, president and national director of Calgary-based Practice Management, will address the theme of “Taking Your Business to the Next Level” at the Wealth Professional Leadership and Tech Summit on May 30 at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto.

Hicks will talk about how advisors can scale their business effectively while continuing to manage existing clients. He believes clarity around this process is vit...

By Bill Bachrach CSP www.billbachrach.com

I love the modern world. I love the computer, transportation, TiVo, and my iPhone.

Perhaps one of the reasons technology is so quickly embraced by us human beings is because we struggle to delay gratification. We spend more than we earn to live a lifestyle we can’t really afford, we get duped into believing we can get rich quick and without risk, we waste billions of dollars a year on fad diets that promise weight loss without effort, and we do the same with fitness equipment and programs that promise to make us fast and strong without breaking a sweat. Most of us joined the Financial Services industry, in part, for the unlimited income and total time freedom.

The “app” is the ulti...

With revenue being squeezed by compliance and technology, financial advisors are trying to find ways to increase their revenue and continue to give value-added service to their best clients. When revenue flatlines or starts to shrink, so does the spending on technology and processes. This is a short-term recipe for disaster and frustration, and leaves advisors with tough decisions for their future: sell out if they can, merge with another practice if possible, or invest into systems and processes that can build scale and service their high net worth clients.

New compliance processesHow many times have you had to update your processes with new regulatory changes in the past couple of years? With new regulations being written on a regular b...