The Scariest Place to Be

What would make a client fire their Financial Advisor on the spot and hire you? If you’re a high-end Financial Advisor, this question should consume you.

If you’ve been hired to coordinate all the financial affairs for affluent families, this means you established a relationship of trust at some point. At a point, this family had enough confidence to hire you, in a world where they could afford anyone. Affluent people have choices, yet they chose to work with you for a reason.

So then what would inspire a multimillionaire family to break that relationship and hire someone else they feel will do a more effective job? It’s a pretty straight-forward reason, and it happens every day in my industry.

What it takes for a family to fire their current Financial Advisor on the spot and hire you is their perception that you better understand their key objectives, and you have a better method of achieving those objectives. But the key is, this new advisor can’t be just a little different and better. The new Financial Advisor has to be radically different and better than their current Financial Advisor.

If a potential client becomes convinced that another Financial Advisor can better articulate their priorities, goals, and concerns, the ice has been melted away enough for this client to pay attention to the new advisor’s message.

At that point, if the new Financial Advisor can persuasively describe how their process is vastly superior to anyone else, then game, set, match. Once a potential client feels the new Financial Advisor better grasps their most important issues, then demonstrates they’re The Only Game in Town when it comes to achieving the client’s outcomes, it’s over.

My entire career I’ve tried to explain to disappointed Financial Advisors why their client fired them on-the-spot and hired me instead. I want the industry to understand how being radically different and better should be their primary goal in the business.

Over the years I’ve heard that growing 10X is easier than doubling annual revenue. That’s certainly been my experience. The hard part is the front-end work required to become superior to other firms competing for your clients. That part takes as much as 3-years to complete, but after those pieces of the puzzle are in place, Client Acquisition is substantially easier.

Having a skilled process for better understanding a potential client’s issues and concerns, effectively breaks the ice. But being able to demonstrate that no other local firm is able or willing to deliver at the high level you can, seals the deal.

The difference between the two Financial Advisors is the desire to be radically different, then taking the action required to become The Only Game in Town. Most Financial Advisors aren’t willing to invest the effort required, but that right there is your competitive advantage. Your willingness to make the front-end effort to build and lead your team, will then allow you to acquire Ideal Clients faster.