"The Trusted Advisor". Process? Mindset?

With so much talk, data, conversation and method, post FOFA on becoming a "trusted advisor" PCE wanted to in this post unpack one of the components of being a "trusted advisor".

Now to start...some perspective. The concept of the "trusted advisor" has been around for a long time. From Bacarach to Beddoes...from books published in 2000 by Robert M. Galford, 2005 by Charles H. Green, and 1997 by David H. Maister. In fact so widely discussed has this concept been that anyone fooled into believing that this is a new concept is incredibly naive.

But recent study has packaged up this concept into something more accessible. For a start one does not necessarily have to pay thousands for the process or take significant time out of the business to learn the process. But in saying that there are vast advantages in doing that. The concept has become accessible indeed but correspondingly more difficult to enact.

Without the process implementation just simply does not occur.

Further the key ingredient in becoming a "trusted advisor" is emotional intelligence.

Simple huh?

What is required at this point to help an adviser become a "trusted advisor" is the development of their EI.

What must occur is 4 fourfold:

1) Ones way of thinking needs to be refined so that a consciousness develops that challenges familiar notions of ourselves and others, challenging the truth of assumptions.

2) That then in turn allows us to assess the opportunities and the constraints that characterise our lives and the lives of others. It makes us look for a better way. And reveals what we and others can accomplish to reach our goals more effectively.

3) Doing this enables us as the "trusted advisor" to shape not only our lives and that of our clients but that of society. This is about being aware enough to give back.

4) And finally once self aware, we can easily recognise human differences and we can lead the way in confronting the challenges of living in a very diverse and changing world.

Critically thinking about ours and others strengths and weaknesses and being able to articulate that effectively to ourselves and others is the core of EI.

A process that you can implement is then in fact a great idea.

So when next the concept of a "trusted advisor" is rasied, look for the process.

Or keep reading PCE!

Presenting insurance solutions to cost conscious clients ......

Now don't try this unless you have actually fully explained the ramifications of structuring insurance cover this way and have a very deep understanding of your clients total financial situation. Once you have done this however then the ability to structure insurance cover through superannuation provides in the current climate an opportunity for people to get the insurance cover they need without the deep concern about cashflow and the ability to make ends meet.

Whilst families and small businesses are doing it tough in an environment of rising cost of living pressure what PCE has been observing is : clients reducing levels of cover, clients ceasing covers and less referrals coming into financial planning / insurance offices and a lower strike rate that advisers are having when positioning total insurance solutions.

This has led to a boom in the direct insurance market which is a concern as it has devalued the advice the all important advice that is needed to properly structure and forward underwrite insurance policies rather than be left with the uncertainty of cover breadth when they are assessed at claim time.

So one of the advisers PCE works with has a presentation piece which we thought was quite effective especially in the cost conscious space of family advice.

No we can argue later about the fact that most households spend a greater percentage of gross income on alcohol, tobacco, foxtel than they do on personal insurances and having a discussion about their priorities is paramount .....but for now try this.

So you have worked out your recommendation: and say for example it is

Life cover $2 million
TPD cover $2 million
Income Protection $7500 per month
Trauma $500,000

Now for a 45 year old, male white collar the premiums look something like this :

Life cover $2 million $120 per month
TPD cover $2 million $110 per month
Income Protection $7500 per month $200 per month
Trauma $500,000 $190 per month

And the client sees that this insurance package is costing $640 per month.

Expecting resistance? They could get a new car for this.

So this is how the adviser PCE knows pitches it:

Life cover $2 million - premium paid via super
TPD cover $2 million - premium paid via super
Income Protection $7500 per month - premium paid via super
Trauma $500,000 $190 per month - premium via your bank account = less that $50 per week, less than $10 per day.

Ok.....so psychologically all the client has to come up with is about $8 a day, two cups of coffee.

Now should you have income protection via super? Should you have all the cover via super? It depends and of course you'd be discussing that with the client and your 40 page Statement of Advice (have you seen the post FOFA SOAs....that's a topic of a forth coming blog entry!!)........but if its the difference between providing for a family or having them without adequate insurance....well that's a question you can answer for yourselves.

Who owns an idea?

Now, we are not going to get all legal eagle on you here. But when it comes to best practice in terms of how to engage clients for example - the sole purpose of this blog - who can lay claim to any of the ideas that come to the fore?

We at PCE have heard all sorts of claims as ideas on client engagement are rolled out. "That's our work" "Our presentation" "Our process".

One of the classics has been around "Intergenerational Advice". There are several presentations out in the market place, tools and processes that have been "developed" in the last few years.

In all seriousness anyone laying claim to coming up with this : that it is their idea - is in PCEs opinion - kidding themselves.

25 years ago PCE learnt about Intergenerational Advice. 40 years ago the original lifies created IG advice.

What anyone does with IG advice now is simply to re-tell and package up the techniques.

The hottest ticket around at the moment is ....emotional intelligence.

Now if you are going to believe this is a new concept in the advice space once again you are kidding yourself.

None of it is new and no-one, no-one owns these concepts.

What is current is how these stories are being told and to whom and how well they are being told and what is the motive.

PCE has over 100 posts all free and all come with an offer of discussing them with you no strings attached.

Yes PCE are packaging up a process and yes it will be in a form you can purchase and then use in your business.

The intent is better outcomes for you, your family and your clients. But make no mistake we are using our experience, our education and our observations to tell and package stories up for you to use.

And these stories are the stories of some of the greats of our industry and most importantly most of the stories are our clients stories and in the end that's what it is all about: the client.

Is your team culture blocking or boosting your progress?

According to Jim Clemmer "Research consistently shows that 70% of efforts to improve customer service, quality, safety, productivity, innovation, employee engagement, restructure, or introduce new technologies fail. Leadership and organization culture are THE critical X factors. "Soft" leadership and culture boosts or BLOCKS strategy, structure, and change initiatives."

So where do you fit in that spectrum? Is the "how we do things here" culture in your business healthy? How do you know?

You can't measure your culture by the results that are achieved.

High performing teams don't necessarily have a culture that produces a happy workplace.

Experience of PCE members has been in boiler room cultures, sales at all costs and unsustainable work practices and environments : work hard play hard the doctrine that may deliver numerical success but at what cost?

Auditing your team culture can be confronting. Resistance to behavioural change or even simply questioning behaviour can be difficult to start but if the focus for longevity and sustaining peak performance and simultaneously delivering quality consistent WOW customers experiences, financial rewards and success and a happy, engaged, motivated workplace : then a culture audit and culture change is a necessity.

The steps involved:

1) analyse how the team communicates : is it effective, is everyone on the same page, included,

2) what expectations are set for team members : written and unspoken : what behaviours are valued and rewarded

3) what political structures have evolved in the team : where is the power base

4) what practices and processes are the most successful in the team for delivering results : if you documented that process would you be proud of it

5) are the behaviours exhibited in the team ones you want to replicate, model, change

6) do team members have balance in all areas of their lives : are they living their lives or paying a price

7) is team think dominated by a few players : do we have a process that delivers parallel thinking after considering all the issues at hand

This can be a confronting and rewarding process. It requires team members to be led by high EQ leaders.

Developing EQ is possible but requires committment and a desire to assess and progress.

Is your financial services business PERFECT?

A really exciting day for PCE as we launch P.E.R.F.E.C.T, the 7 step process for transforming your business.

The PERFECT method is a way to positively transform your business and be truly a client centred successful business that delivers life changing advice to your clients, and changes your life and that of your staff for the better.

If you have been following our tweets you'll realise we can't count as we tweeted it as 5 steps.....doh!

So what is PERFECT?

P is all about planning. This involves defining what is is you are going to deliver, how you will do it and to whom. It is about structured activity right down to diary management.

E (the first one) is about execution. This is the delivery of the how. Your pitch now honed needs to be delivered so the focus here is on tools you are going to use to market and to communicate.

R is for responding. This is your communication piece. It involves social media, email and telephone and what language you will use. It is also about your service proposition.

F is for follow up. This is very much a technology piece and about the way and when you will follow up and service your clients. Industrialising your process is key.

E (the second one) is about empathy and the exhibition of empathy. How you develop your emotional intelligence is one thing but how you connect with clients is another. The tools and processes you use are critical. You will not, repeat will not succeed if you do not get this right.

C is for consulting. This is about feedback and implementing that feedback in a demonstrable way. How and when you ask for feedback will determine success.

And T is for teaching. This is your education piece. It is for you, your staff and clients. How you shape your education piece is key : it needs to be tailored to your target market and needs to be accessible, enactable, have process, have coaching and support and most of all be compelling.

So where to from here?

We at PCE are on the cusp of bringing you a complete PERFECT package for you to enact once you engage with PCE.