Collura: “Areas such as due diligence, expectation management, and consistency practices must be explored, defined, and followed up on. These three areas are where a lot of choke points are exposed and created throughout any relationship building process. The majority of clients come to the table with a lot of curiosity and excitement that is equally matched with hesitation and doubt. The onus falls on us to guide the relationship through confidence that stems from knowing everything there is to know about the solutions we are bringing to the table. This falls directly in line with establishing the right expectations depending on the client and what their goals are for the short term, long term, and in perpetuity. This ties in with being consistent in every facet of our delivery. Whether it be in our communication with the client, meeting established goals and expectations, or getting ahead of potential market adversities; consistency and no surprises are king.”
Hortz: What response have you received from clients and their other financial professionals?
Collura: “We have found that clients and other professionals really appreciate an approach that is thorough and aligned between all vested parties – between professionals who have a common interest in providing the best service and solutions. We love being able to make other trusted professionals in our clients’ lives shine. It truly is one of my favorite things to do. A great example of this is found in how we work with accountants. Recently, we kicked off a partnership with a large accounting firm in our local market. This relationship was over two years in the making because it takes time for us to complete our own due diligence and establish realistic expectations. Reputation and consistency in performance are exceedingly important in who we choose to work with.
In this particular relationship, we have a structure that allows us to have monthly meetings with the accounting firm to review their clients who could benefit from a proactive tax reduction plan. We sit together with their senior accountants, review fact patterns and come up with solutions that each accountant is able to present to their clients. If the client is amenable to the solutions, we get the opportunity to meet the client. If the client is not, the accountant continues in their relationship and gets credibility for recommending solutions that can bring additional value to the client.
Like this example there are many others that weave in estate planning attorneys, bankers and other accounting firms. Working in the backdrop and allowing other professionals to present the solutions has proven to be very successful on multiple levels. It simply is a question of understanding their perspective, the clients’ perspective, and our articulation and management of how we position the solutions and synergy.”
Hortz: Any final thoughts for financial advisors reading this interview on how your approach has helped grow business and competitiveness for you and your allied professionals in your community?
Jennings: I found that simply having conversations and recognizing the needs of like-minded accountants, estate planning attorneys, and bankers provides much more value than trying to “pitch” an idea to folks we have never connected with before. There are many more hurdles involved within the “cold” relationship building process. Our process was made to be efficient, effective, and put the clients’ needs and timeline first. It truly is amazing how many folks simply do not know what they do not know. Through allied relationships that serve as the infrastructure to our family office approach, we are able to do our job exceedingly well while growing our sphere of influence for ourselves and all our allied partners with High Net Worth families who have a genuine need for financial assistance.
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