Examples: Black Diamond, eMoney Advisor, MoneyGuidePro, NaviPlan, RightCapital
2. Coaching And Training
Financial advisors must be armed with the knowledge to grow their skills, but not everyone has time to stay on top of new techniques and strategies. Training and coaching resources help advisors stay on top of the industry’s latest trends. This training can take many different forms, according to the needs of both the individual and the firm. Some new recruits might need to learn about client relations, getting extra help on techniques for appropriate communication and conflict resolution to ease their transition from theoretical education to professional reality. Seasoned veterans might need help adjusting to the tools of the digital age, bringing their technical capabilities in line with their deep knowledge and experience.
A critical addition to individual training is small group meetings with other advisors. These allow advisors new and old to share ideas, give advice, motivate each other and keep each other accountable. Group meetings can operate as business development, coaching, training and morale building all at the same time. Encouraging collaboration to keep colleagues accountable and on track can have tremendous overall value for both individuals and teams.
Advisors can also work with a coach on a one-to-one basis in order to help identify the obstacles that are preventing the advisor in the achievement of the successes they seek. A coach can help review the advisor’s business processes and implement changes based on the advisor’s goals, whether they are to find new business faster, develop better referrals, build repeatable processes, or scale their business model. Together, the coach will help you determine the key, core priorities you need to accomplish to get where you want to be and determine an effective process and timeline to get you there.
3. Client Relationship Management (Crm)
Financial advisors should be able to spend their time analyzing markets and creating advantages for their clients. It is understandable that many have not had the time to learn the variety of technologies that help manage relationships with their clients. CRM software has arisen to combat the manual management of prospective and current client needs and relationships. CRM is a critical tool that streamlines basic tasks for financial advisors, which may include everything from organizing client meetings to fielding interviews with potential clients. Less time can be spent writing emails or poring over calendars, and more time can be focused on providing expert advice.
Examples: Hubspot, Insightly, Salesforce, Zoho
4. Marketing Automation
In the same vein, social media and email marketing automation tools minimize the time advisors need to spend promoting themselves and maximize their ability to be the most successful and effective advisors that they can be. Getting the word out about your practice can be incredibly time-consuming, and it is an activity with an entirely different skill set from the one that clients rely on. Tools that manage these tasks can therefore have an enormous impact on an advisor’s ability to focus on his or her business and grow an advantage over their competition. Look into social media management applications, marketing managers and networking services to broaden the reach of your practice without wasting valuable time.