Archive for February, 2010
LaValley: Providing valuable retirement advice
Friday, February 26th, 2010
Posted in Advisor.ca, My Practice | No Comments »
Do You Know What Professional Selling Is All About?
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
This article is a guest contribution by Bill Brooks*, www.BrooksGroup.com.
In this article we’re focusing on how sales managers can help salespeople harness the power of questions to make the sale. It’s really what professional selling is all about.
As an organization that trains thousands of salespeople every year, we’ve observed that salespeople talk their way out of more sales than they listen their way into. We often refer to this as “jawbone” selling. Those who subscribe to this practice probably lose many sales that they could make – simply by talking less and listening more.
Tags: Bill Brooks, Discover, Guest Contribution, Heart, Interaction, Jawbone, Organization, Problem Solvers, Professional Selling, Professionalism, Questioning Skills, Sales Managers, Salespeople, Salesperson, Successful Selling, Trains
Posted in My Practice | No Comments »
Must read articles to send clients
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Given today’s uncertain markets, many investors are looking to their advisors for guidance and direction, as well as useful insights.One way to help provide those insights is by forwarding articles from credible publications that shed light on markets, in the process helping educate clients, providing support for your advice and reinforcing your own professionalism.
Below are nine articles from eight different sources. Among them, these articles address concerns about another depression, highlight some of the positives underneath the bad news and make the case for being in the market.
Tags: Address Concerns, Bad News, Barrons Online, Consumer Spending, Cx, Depression, Economy Recession, Financial Institutions, Forbes, Fortitude, Great Depression, Guidance, Insights, Investors, Joe Nocera, Mismanagement, Morgan Stanley, Morganstanley, New York Times, Optimism, Professionalism, Roach, U S Stock Market, York Times Magazine
Posted in Dan Richards | No Comments »
Become a Celebrity in Your Target Market
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
This is a guest post by Bill Bachrach, Bachrach & Associates.
You may never see your name in lights or dazzle the crowd at Carnegie Hall. Yet there’s no doubt that a trusted advisor can achieve celebrity status among the people who matter most—your target market.
This kind of “stardom” means prospects recognize your name as soon as they hear or read it, you are looked upon as an expert, and your business is 100% referral-based. The benefits of this kind of usiness are obvious: extraordinary credibility that leads to countless introductions and natural, easy prospecting conversations—plus the bonus of knowing you are truly outstanding in your field.
Tags: Bill Bachrach, Carnegie Hall, Celebrity Status, Conversations, Credibility, Egos, Enhancement, Financial Choices, Financial Success, Introductions, Mail Campaign, No Doubt, Professional Association, Prospects, Publishing A Book, Referrals, Sophisticated Magazines, Stardom, Target Market, Write A Book
Posted in Bill Bachrach | No Comments »
Today’s Most Important Client Conversation
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Canadians today have lots of financial concerns – some are worried about the prospects for the economy and their jobs, others about whether they can rely on their company pension to be there for them.For those Canadians who aren’t in pension plans, the number one concern often relates to their retirement – and what effect have recent markets had on their retirement plans.
Where this is a client’s pressing issue, it’s essential that advisors address this directly. Unless you do that, clients will not fully listen to your recommendations – and will also be more open to talking to another advisor who offers to take them through the process of revisiting where they stand. Concerns about revisiting where clients stand
Tags: Answer Questions, Canadians, Company Pension, Conversations, Core Questions, Economy, Exercise, Financial Concerns, Investment Advice, Investment Strategies, Investors, Jobs, Pension Plans, Prospects, Retirement Planning, S Market, Software Packages
Posted in Dan Richards | No Comments »
Bringing discipline to client portfolios
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
In light of the events of the last nine months, investors and advisors alike are reexamining the process used to build portfolios.
A May 25 in the Globe and Mail highlighted two tools to overcome investors’ (and some advisors’) emotional reactions to market movements, creating the impulse to buy and sell at exactly the wrong times. The article quoted the words of Walt Kelly’s 1950’s cartoon character Pogo: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Tags: Advertisement, Buy And Sell, Buy Sell, Cartoon Character, Client Portfolios, Emotional Reactions, Globe And Mail, Globe Investor, Globe Mail, Impulse, Institutional Investors, Investing, Investment Ideas, Investor Investment, Lt, Mail Tools, Nine Months, Podium, Pogo, Portfolio, Strict Discipline, Target, Two Tools, Walt Kelly, Warren Buffett
Posted in Dan Richards | No Comments »
Four steps to effective written communication
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Recently, a successful advisor asked me for my comments on a brochure designed to capitalize on growing interest in charitable giving. This marketing piece’s good and bad points offer some useful insights about how to communicate with clients effectively in general.
There were a number of things to like about the brochure which was 8 ½ by 11 inches in dimension, printed in full colour and ran 8 pages.
1. The overall look and feel of the brochure was very high end and reinforced this advisor’s high quality positioning.
2. There was consistent visual imagery across the brochure and it was very well designed.
Tags: Bottom Line, Brochure, Case Studies, Compendium, Core Message, Developing Marketing, Effective Communication, Effective Written Communication, Emotional Punch, Face To Face, Flip Side, Four Steps, High Quality, Insights, Marketing, Marketing Material, More Than Words, Photo, Photos, Prospects, Target, Telephone Conversations, Typeface, Visual Imagery
Posted in Dan Richards | 1 Comment »
How a Small Change Made A Big Difference
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
When advisors think about ways to drive their business forward, they often look for dramatic initiatives that hit the ball out of the park.
Last week, I had a conversation with a twenty year veteran who’s a perennial qualifier for his firm’s Chairman’s Club. He described a change he made to his routine ten years ago that’s had a big impact on his business.
Every morning, his assistant prints out a “Conversation Diary” which has four columns.
The left hand column lists all the clients and prospects he’s meeting with or are on his schedule to call that day.
Tags: Accountant, Capital Gains, Compendium, Diary, Gap, Information Gap, Initiatives, Left Hand Column, Phone Call, Phone Conversation, Prints, Prospects, Score, Strides, Target, Veteran
Posted in My Practice | No Comments »
Proof That Active Managers Can Outperform
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
In the investment industry, few debates are waged more intensely than that between “active” and passive” investing. As investors read media coverage about the futility of trying to pick stocks and the advantages of investing via ETFs instead, more and more are questioning the fees they’re paying for investment advice.
That’s why an award winning research paper by two Yale academics, looking at active managers in a different light is so important. This research, which is the focus of my column in today’s Globe and Mail, identifies a new measure called “active share” – and demonstrates that managers with high active share can in fact beat their index over time.
Tags: Active Share, Award Winning Research, Book Argues That, Burton Malkiel, Chairman John, Cost Index, Different Light, Efficient Market Theory, Exchange Traded Funds, Globe And Mail, Investment Advice, Investment Industry, John Bogle, Launch, Low Cost Index Funds, Princeton Professor, Professor Burton, Random Walk Down Wall Street, Target, Vanguard Funds
Posted in My Practice | No Comments »
Final Words: Building community
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Posted in Advisor.ca, My Practice | No Comments »
Bulloch: The impact of retirement
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
Posted in Advisor.ca, My Practice | No Comments »
Holmes-Winton: Garth, you don’t impress me much
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
Posted in Advisor.ca, My Practice | No Comments »
Covering expatriate employees
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Posted in Advisor.ca, My Practice | No Comments »
Focusing on Big Problems
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
A recent post contained a warning from a top producer about the risks of being seen by clients as dismissive of their losses – I got lots of positive comments on this article.
Last week, I talked to a thirty year veteran of the business who’s consistently ranked among his firm’s top ten producers.
I asked him about the single most important thing he’d learned over the course of his career – he answered with four words.
Those words: “ Focus on big problems.”
He went on to say:
Tags: 10 Million, Ambition, Asia, Europe, Grandchildren, Grandkids, Hol, Hot Buttons, Losses, Market Volatility, Million Dollars, Money Investments, Money Market, Possibilities, Priority, Producers, Prospects, Single Most Important Thing, Top Producer, Veteran
Posted in Dan Richards | No Comments »
Estate planning for the incapacitated
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Posted in Advisor.ca, My Practice | No Comments »
Regulator provides complaint handling guidance
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Tags: Complaint Handling, Guidance
Posted in Advisor.ca, My Practice | No Comments »
Compliance resolutions for 2010
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Tags: Compliance, Resolutions
Posted in Advisor.ca, My Practice | No Comments »
Take January to revisit portfolio
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Posted in Advisor.ca, My Practice | No Comments »
Translating charitable giving into client goodwill
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
In my January article on what makes advisors likeable, I talked about the impact on many clients of seeing their advisor as someone giving back to the community.
Many advisors are extremely generous with their time and money but don’t communicate this to clients. There’s obviously nothing wrong with that – in fact, the 12th century Jewish scholar Maimonides identified eight forms of charity, in which anonymous giving is among the most honourable.
In other cases, advisors would be quite happy to let clients know about what they’re doing to give back – but are challenged on how to do this in an appropriate and professional fashion, without this being seen as self serving, attention seeking or insincere.
Tags: Africa, Anonymous, Charitable Activity, Charities, Charity, Food Bank, Genuine Commitment, Goodwill, Haiti, Honourable, Hospice, Jewish Scholar, Personal Choice, Professional Fashion, School Lunch Program, Signature, Time And Money, Translating, Youth Soccer
Posted in My Practice | No Comments »
Seizing control of your day
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Ask a group of successful financial advisors about their most critical and scarcest resource and what will you hear?
Without exception, the answer will be the time and energy they can bring to bear against their business.
As a result, it’s essential that you actively manage your daily agenda – making conscious decisions about how to spend your time rather than reacting to events.
Here’s a simple exercise to to actively manage your day.
Take a look at last week’s calendar, then ask yourself three key questions:
First, what were the best, most productive uses of your time, the ones that drove results?
Tags: Agenda, Conscious Decisions, Control, Control Group, Equal One, Financial Advisors, High Impact, Impact Activities, Impact Activity, Low Impact, Marginal Value, Meaningful Conversations, Prospective Clients, Prospects, Simple Exercise, Spending Time, Time Wasters, Timely Fashion
Posted in Dan Richards | No Comments »
Updated Twice Daily - Click to Listen