Finding someone with knowledge of the financial planning process and, if appropriate, the requisite securities and insurance licenses, will be well worth the time and effort. This can come from personal experience, professional associations such as the Financial Planning Association and colleges that offer financial services/planning programs. If potential job candidates have had prior internships or positions with financial services firms, they have been exposed to the needs-based approach-the concept of attracting and serving clients by determining their needs and following up with excellent service.
A college degree becomes more important if the firm's goal is to nurture support-staff members so they can become financial advisors. Those who hold finance and accounting degrees have a greater ability to read and analyze financial statements. Business and marketing coursework provide the knowledge for formulating a business plan and target market strategy. College sales courses can help with business development, including identifying client motivation, creating customer-focused solutions and using effective closing techniques. With this type of experience and education, it's possible to give job candidates a writing assignment to gauge their problem-solving and creative abilities.
Financial advisors can ask support-staff candidates to develop a plan targeting prospects. The candidates can start by interviewing a financial planner in the firm to learn networking techniques. The plan might require researching community resources for specific networking opportunities. Key steps include identifying referral sources, ways to establish relationships with them, forums for communicating with prospects and the types of advertising and marketing that would be most cost effective.
This activity also is an indicator of whether or not the person under consideration is able to distinguish between client interests and personal interests, which will speak volumes as to whether he or she will be able to act on the client's behalf.
No More "Dialing For Dollars"
An employee's ability to present the firm to prospective clients is important if the firm's goal includes client-base expansion. In the past, firms often looked for employees who could sell-those who had personal character traits such as friendliness, cunning and a highly polished presentation style. That approach often evokes negative connotations, such as low ethics and over-manipulation. During interviews with support candidates, it's important to discern if any misconceptions surface about not being "born to sell."
Due to the exploding information age, it is in the financial planner's best interests to hire staffers who will be savvier in understanding the customer and possess the right skills to create solutions to meet their needs.
This is why the common "dialing for dollars" practice among some financial planners is no longer effective in today's marketplace. This is when a new staff person is asked to solicit friends and relatives for business as a first sales responsibility. It's an uncomfortable feeling on both sides of the phone due to the personal nature of the profession.
What new support people need to learn is how to network effectively to make personal connections. That means going beyond chamber events and Rotary lunches to developing a professional communications approach. If the best referral sources for the practice come from estate attorneys, then support people need to know how to have a meaningful exchange when meeting lawyers in these situations and how to speak intelligently about the types of services offered by their firms' financial planners.
As a financial planner and teacher, I have found that role-playing is an important learning tool for networking and a needs-based approach with clients. For example, various scenarios can be set up to model how to draw people out and help new employees to practice introducing themselves and their firm. The idea is to assess verbal communication skills with the goal of encouraging consultative dialogue and building negotiation skills.