Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here.
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Dear Bev,
I noticed you answered a question about branding in an earlier column. We struggle with this too. We have a great story, but my team doesn’t see it as I do. I have sat in on meetings with them while they talk to prospects and clients and they say things I would never say. Everyone has their own style but it is important that we say the same things. Is there a way to accomplish this through training? Can I teach them what I say and expect them to say it too?
Jon D, California
Dear Jon,
Thank you for raising brand communication again – I could write columns every week on this topic. Few advisors understand this and even fewer leverage their identity to their advantage.
I’m impressed you are focused on it and even offering to train your own advisors on telling your story. Sometimes, though, hearing it from the leader of the firm allows staff to dismiss it – “He can tell the story well, he owns the firm!” So, instead of suggesting that you to do this, let me give you a few other ideas:
- One of the reasons brand identity doesn’t get repeated the way you’d like is that it isn’t integrated into all of your materials. Choose the three “platform points” (statements that articulate your value proposition) that best represents your firm. Pick ones that are clear, understandable and can be supported with examples and stories. Then, review your website, marketing materials and collateral to see whether those points are represented in every communication. Consistency is key.
- Hold a meeting and ask your advisors to present the story. Have each advisor tell it in his or her own words. See if you can all agree on the fundamental platform points. Determine whether those points correlate to yours.
- Discuss who you want your firm to be in the market. What do you want your core principles to be? What do you want clients to say about you? What words do you want your team to use? Make sure these themes are incorporated in the way you tell your story.
- Review your prospect presentation. If you don’t have a pitch-book to tell your story, create one. The best way to see if your story flows and is consistent is to force it into a pitch-book. Don’t repeat and don’t complicate. Look at the final story from the eyes of the prospect.
- Have someone outside your firm objectively review your materials once you are finished. Ask them to identify the top platform points for your practice. This will tell you whether you have been successful or not!
Dear Bev,
I hired an employee to be a business developer. She had great core skills, but 19 months into it, I have a pipeline of opportunity without much to show for it. We had agreed on a hefty base salary with a commission. I’m starting to question the amount of money I am paying for what I am getting. How can I get her to be more aggressive and close some of the deals she is working?
Name withheld
Dear Financial Advisor,
Your query brings up a multitude of questions! Why did you agree to a hefty base salary if the main goal was production? Why have you waited 19 months to question when the deals will close? What did you see in this person that led you to believe she would be a business developer?
When you have someone who is expected to produce, their livelihood should be tied to the closing of business. You cannot afford to carry a hefty base salary for a non-producer. You didn’t say if this person is playing any other roles within your firm, but if her main focus is getting out and landing business you may have inadvertently created an opportunity for someone to coast along and get paid well without having to produce.
To light a fire, I would first change the compensation structure.
Next, do a deep dive into reviewing the pipeline with her. Try to establish what’s real and what’s not. I believe in shorter, more qualified pipelines instead of lots and lots of unqualified names that will likely never become clients. If a prospect has sat on this list for several months with no movement, put them on an email list to get information and take them off the pipeline.
Have her create plans of action for each qualified prospect. What has she done, what are the obstacles to closure and what does she need to do next? If she can’t create a plan, she isn’t working the prospects well.
Lastly, set milestones. You are 19 months into this. Establish specific hurdles. For example, she needs to close 3-4 prospects from the existing pipeline within the next month, 5-10 within the next quarter, etc. Then, sit down with her on a regular basis. Has anything closed? If not, why not? What does she need to do differently?
You don’t need to get mad, but you need to be more aggressive. This is a costly situation for your firm and you want to get moving and correct it as soon as possible.
Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry in 1995; in 2008 she co-founded Advisors Trusted Advisor to offer dedicated practice management resources to advisors, planners and wealth managers. She is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate students Leadership & Social Responsibility. Beverly is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).
She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.
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