PRODUCT WITH A SIDE OF ADVICE

The other day, I was listening to a podcast featuring a female advisor talking about the power of planning.  She had written a book and was very enthusiastic about the life-changing benefits of financial planning.

As you can imagine, the conversation was right up my alley!

She told a story about a woman who had come in after her divorce, very stressed about the future.  She shared that after two meetings, she showed the woman her financial plan that revealed she indeed would be OK and the woman broke down in tears.  Heart warming.

She proceeded to say that, unfortunately, the woman's assets were in her 401k, so she couldn't work with her.  But she went away very happy.

WHAT!?

Wait, you are telling me that this woman who is a published "expert" on the power of financial planning, doesn't offer stand-alone planning?  She does free financial plans as part of her marketing process and sends prospects packing if there aren't assets to roll over!?

I turned off the podcast in disgust.

The market, our potential clients, are begging for help!  And we, as an industry, are clinging to our salesman roots for dear life.

If someone cannot become a client without "buying investments" from you, you are a salesman.  You are not a true advisor.  Financial planning should not just be a marketing tool, it should be a core deliverable.

Clinging to the past is harmful to our potential clients and to our reputation as an industry.  We lament to being trusted about as much as used-car salesman, but then we continue to act like them. 

Bait and switch.  Come in for "planning" and let me sell you some investments…or insurance, because we are truly comprehensive here!

I am not anti-product.  I actually believe that the client is well-served by having a trusted advisor offer both advice and product, but in that order. 

Advice and, when appropriate, product.  Not product with a little side of advice.

The definition of Advice-based Financial Planning is a comprehensive financial planning relationship that is not contingent upon the sale of any product and supports full implementation of the plan.

We have to reprogram out thinking.  We have to build business models that allow us to get compensated fairly for advice, so that we can work with everyone, not just those who have portable assets for us to manage.

If we truly believe the power of financial planning in the lives of our clients, then it is incumbent upon us to make it accessible to people in a wide variety of circumstances.

Are you offering Advice-based Financial Planning or product with a side of advice?

With Purpose,

-Lucila

I know that there are many fantastic financial advisors who are stuck in the past due to momentum or lack of training.  I also know that many do amazing work, despite their broken business model.   But it doesn't have to be that way. 

There is a simple, easy-to-follow process to becoming an Advice-based Financial Advisor.  I built three programs to walk advisors through the process.

Step 1 is to DESIGN an Advice-based Financial Planning service model and you can learn to do that with the Delivering on the Promise Online Course.

Step 2 is to ATTRACT clients the right clients in a way that is aligned with your values.  I created The Discovery EXPERIENCE Online Course to give you everything you need to do that.

Step 3 is to fully IMPLEMENT everything you have built.  I created the IMPLEMENTATION Monthly Mastermind Group Coaching program to give you new ideas and monthly live support.

If you are one of those advisors who KNOW that there has to be a better way, but struggle with HOW to pivot from where you are to an Advice-based Financial Planning service model, I have you covered! 

You can learn more about my online courses HERE.