At the front end, before any investing or planning is done, the client uncovers insights about themselves and develops priorities that take a much broader view of what success really means. Those insights and decisions drive the rest of the planning and investing. As a proof point, our internal data shows 40 percent of the top goals driving our clients’ plans are about life, like, “spending time with people I care about.” You may scoff, but this goal has a lot to do with money, too. It influences decisions on housing, retirement, education funding, etc. What trade-offs will people make to have more time to connect with others? In measuring plan performance, the client rates every goal that creates rich and meaningful conversations that aren’t likely to occur with another advisor. The process starts and ends with a difference that makes it real.
Where We Go From Here
After making the smartphone a reality, Apple has been enhancing the user experience with each release and reinvention. Let’s face it, in a mobile, app-driven world, our industry is out of touch. Taking a lesson from the iPhone 6 campaigns, we need to go beyond basic features to how it feels to interact. How dynamic, personalized and intuitive can we make the client experience when they access us online or through traditional methods?
It is time to change “everything.”
Gail Graham is chief marketing officer at United Capital, an innovative and fast-growing financial life management firm with a unique approach to the market. Having earned awards in retail investor and advisor marketing, Graham is driving United Capital’s brand development, marketing and lead generation across all channels. Follow her on Twitter: @GailGrahamUC