First Key Client Interview

I am still trying to get through all my assignments before my first coaching call with Steve. In the mean time, I had a lunch scheduled with one of my favorite clients Bob and Janet. Much like going to school without doing all your homework, I figured I would give Assignment 11: Ask Your Key Clients For Advice and Support a try.

I crammed as best I could and we met for lunch at Fuddruckers. At first we exchanged pleasantries and answered a few quick questions about their accounts. Then I told them that I was evaluating my business and I had hired a marketing coach to help me. I am interviewing my top clients to find out what they want out of a financial advisor and how I can find more clients that are like them.

I did not bring them a gift since this was done at the last minute, but I did buy them lunch so I guess that counts for something. The first few questions are on their future vision and unfulfilled dreams. I asked them, “What do you want more of in your life?” and “What dreams did you have as a child that you wish you had acted on?”

Bob and Janet want more free time so they can spend more time with their grandkids and travel to Breckenridge and their mobile home in Rocky Point, Mexico. They can feel the clock ticking down on their life and they want to enjoy as much as they can while they are still healthy enough to do it. One unfulfilled dream was that Janet has always wanted to learn how to play the piano.

Then I asked them “What are your biggest financial concerns?”. Their biggest concern is that the cost of health insurance is continuing to escalate. They had initially assumed that $35k in income plus their pension and social security would be enough to live on. Now they are realizing that their income will have to grow over time to keep up with any of the increases. They are also worried that if any of their children get in financial trouble that they will need to have money to bail them out.

The next topic was why they decided to work with me when we started the relationship. There were 3 reasons: 1. Dupont had their 401k with Merrill Lynch so it seemed natural to roll it over to a Merrill Lynch account. 2. They have known me and my parents since I was a kid. 3. Their other advisor never called them.

It’s important to them that their financial advisor is available, honest, and has the ability to customize advice to their specific situation. If their friends asked about me they would say that I am creative, honest, and safe.

I gave them one of the questionnaires on Client Appreciation activities. Their top activities were Annual Cruise, Client Appreciation lunch or dinner, Economist or tax accountant update, Financial and investment workshop, taking out friends to lunch on your birthday, Theater events, small dinner parties, and workshops to create a positive vision of the future.

I was not prepared to ask for specific referrals, so I described my ideal client to them and let them know how I would treat them during the initial profiling process. In other words, I planted the seed to ask them for specifics later.

There was one small niche that was exposed in that Janet has a group of women who meet for lunch once a month. It started as a birthday group with most of the ladies from Arrowhead Country Club. It has gotten smaller over the years, however I think I could get Janet to invite them out on her birthday and maybe I could say something about my business.

In conclusion, I like the strategy of the interview. Next time I will be more organized and I will know the material better. Plus I will have finished some of my marketing material that I can ask for feedback on.

Business Analysis

Every coaching program for financial advisors starts with a business analysis. They are all based on the premise of the 80/20 rule. 80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients. In fact my firm has been preaching this theory for years and has even gone as far as not paying it's financial advisors for any business transacted in households that have less than $100,000. The idea is that your time is better spent on your top 20% of your clients than "wasting it" on the other 80%.

The one drawback of this theory is that you need to bring in new assets to continue to grow your business. If you just concentrate on your top 20%, they are still only going to do 80% of the business. Therefore you need to squeeze more business from your top 20% or bring in more clients if you want to grow.

My goal is to grow my assets under management back to $100,000,000. I would like my new clients to average over $1,000,000. Therefore I need to bring in at least 30 new clients in the next two years.

Here are some numbers from my business analysis:

Top Ten clients generate $137,000 in commissions in 2009.
The top ten generate 43% of my income for the year.
I have 146 total households under management.
In theory, if I clone my top ten clients then I could increase my production by 43% next year.

Introductory Post

I am a Financial Advisor in a large wirehouse firm in Arizona. I have been with the same firm for 14 years. At one time my partnership with my Father was managing just over $100 million in client money and we were producing over $1,000,000 in gross commissions.

Over the last few years, a lot of my father's clients have passed away. Along with the huge correction in the market, our business has been in a steady decline. This year we will finish with approximately 320,000 in gross commissions and $67 million in assets under management.

My father is retiring at the end of the year after 35 years at the same firm. Now that I am alone in the practice and call my own shots, I am planning a rebound. Like the title of this blog, I plan to rise to prominence again.

Currently I am searching for a coach to help me with my marketing plan. I have interviewed three of them over the phone and I think I am going to go with Steve Moeller from American Business Visions. He wrote a book around 10 years ago called Effortless Marketing that discusses his method of niche marketing. I really enjoyed the book and have tried to implement some of his strategies into my practice. Recently he has developed a strategy to work with Trust and Estate Planning Attorneys as collaborative partners. I have seen a little of the material and I think it may work.

I am going to keep a running journal of my efforts over the next year so I can keep myself on plan and also so my coach can keep up with me in between phone calls.