Service
Whatever your brand and target market, nothing is more critical than client service. "Be available," urges Brian Parker, managing director at EP Wealth Advisors in Torrance, Calif. Advisors, he adds, need to be likable and build relationships. "I get to know my clients on a deeper level." Most, he says, "stay engaged through market cycles because we have a friendship and they know I care about them as people."

Parker tries to treat every client as if he or she were the only one. On this point there seems to be little disagreement. "It isn't what you know; it's how you make your clients feel that makes the biggest impact on their lives, and ultimately on your business," says Rhine. "You don't need to be the smartest 'financial guy' to be the best advisor. But you do need to be able to establish, develop, deepen and strengthen a relationship that goes light years beyond what you're taught in business school."

To be sure, practical knowledge is essential-but caring often comes first. "People don't care what you know until they know that you care," says Gregory Lowder, a registered representative at Jacksonville, Fla.-based JHS Capital Advisors. "Clients don't leave advisors for poor investment advice; they leave for lack of contact and service. A good advisor needs to listen carefully to what a client has to say; you should talk less and listen more."

Listening to your clients isn't always as easy as that may sound. "Listen not just to the words," cautions Sohn. It's partly a matter of watching body language, partly being sensitive to context. For example, he says, if a client expresses a desire to be more conservative in his or her investments, you might come back with a proposal for a low-risk portfolio-and miss the reason why the risk tolerance has suddenly dropped, why he or she has become more concerned about generating income. "You have to think about whether you're getting the message right," Sohn says.

One way to avoid this pitfall is to ask clients meaningful, empathetic questions. "Are your questions designed to learn about their holdings so you can sell a financial product, or are they designed to help you understand your clients from their perspective?" Rhine says.

Sometimes, advisors say, this takes a subtle touch. "Find out what your clients' goals and concerns are-and make sure every decision you make puts the clients' interests before all others," says David Hubbard, president of Exemplar Financial Network in Crystal Lake, Ill.

Support Systems
To maintain this level of client service, you need to employ adequate staff and technology. "It's critical to start hiring as quickly as you're able to when starting out," says Cooper, because it allows you to spend more time with clients. "After all, the advisor's time in front of clients is worth maybe $100 to $300 an hour. You can pay somebody $15 or $20 an hour to handle the paperwork, scheduling and follow-up."

The staff you hire should be invested in your vision for the business. "Start with your sales assistant," says Lowder. "He/she has more direct contact with your clients on a day-to-day basis and reflects directly upon you. It's not only important that you believe in what you're doing, but your sales assistant has to believe in you and buy into what you do for your clients as well."

The idea, of course, is to make everything run smoothly-whether you delegate jobs to staff, outsource to a support provider or install the latest high tech gear. "I like to say that Frank Sinatra never moved a piano," says Brackett. "He came in and sang and then left. That's the way I like to operate. Others do the background work so I can do what I do best."

Technology can help ensure efficiency, timeliness and order. It can make it so every client's file is immediately available and updatable even when you're on the road. "Just like at a doctor's office, where the doctor records the information right away and the staff follows up right away with laboratory tests or whatever has to be done," says Hubbard. "Financial advisors should be like that. Things don't get forgotten. Follow-ups are prompt. That way, clients know they are in good hands, and it makes life easier for the advisor as well."