Technologies That Help
Most resumes will typically list technology skills, but it's how support people apply them that really counts for practice expansion. The most successful understand how to use the computer as a communications tool to respond to clients' current and future needs. College graduates with any technology credits can bring current expertise that may advance the practice far beyond what the senior planner has experienced.
Senior planners can help teach Internet research skills by exposing new staff members to various stages of the financial planning process and working with them to pull information that is used frequently, such as Morningstar ratings or to research articles for specific presentations. If done on a daily basis, their body of knowledge will grow steadily and all the nuances of the profession will become less overwhelming over time. (Or, senior planners may end up learning more Internet research skills from college graduates who have obtained these competencies.)
A practice can run more efficiently if the support person knows how to use either a simple database or customer relationship management program. These tools can not only track client projects for timing and content, but also keep important demographics, such as birthdays for dropping clients a card. Those who understand the needs-based approach also will know how to pull multiple attributes for targeting purposes. For example, by tracking client ages and family growth, computer-savvy staff can determine whom to invite to a college-planning seminar versus a long-term care seminar.
Although this selection and training process may take more time than merely advertising for a clerical person to push paper, the potential for gaining greater value is there by taking the long view. In the end, those with higher education and more experience will need to be paid more than "warm bodies." But practitioners can be creative in terms of offering flexible hours, internships or job-sharing with another planner so that the employee with higher potential can get a foot in the door.
Kathryn A. Gigler, CFP, also manages the financial services sales program at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minn. She can be reached at [email protected].