READY TO TRANSITION TO ADVICE-BASED FINANCIAL PLANNING?

The financial planning landscape is evolving and your role as a financial advisor is shifting from being a transactional salesperson to a trusted advisor providing holistic guidance.

This presents a big opportunity for you to deepen your relationships with your clients even further and provide personalized, comprehensive strategies.

Can you imagine a practice where you only work with your favorite clients and everyone pays you very well?

Or, how about a business where all of your obligations are met by recurring revenue? 

Welcome to The Intentional Advisor blog. If this is your first time here, I’m Lucila and I help financial advisors build profitable, purpose-driven businesses that deliver Advice-Based Financial Planning. If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you know that I am a strong advocate for this type of practice.

Before we get into transitioning your practice to an advice-based firm, let’s first discuss what Advice-Based Financial Planning is and a few of the benefits of transitioning your practice to an advice-based firm for both you and your clients. 

WHAT IS ADVICE-BASED FINANCIAL PLANNING?

Advice-Based Financial Planning is a comprehensive financial planning relationship that is not contingent upon the sale of any product and supports the full implementation of the plan.

To clarify even further, it is not fee-only. It is Advice first and implementation as needed.  This includes managing assets and offering insurance products to help the clients fully implement their plan.

WHAT ARE A FEW OF THE BENEFITS?

A Holistic and Client-Centric Approach

Your firm will go beyond product sales and will be able to focus solely on understanding your client’s goals, values, and unique circumstances. You’ll be able to develop tailored strategies that align with your client’s objectives while being in a better position to prioritize their best interests.

Offer Objective and Unbiased Advice

As you will be advice-based and not product-based, you can provide objective and unbiased advice to your clients. Imagine building a practice where there’s no conflict of interest or pressure in having to only sell products!


Design Comprehensive Financial Plans

Imagine being able to create and help your clients implement a comprehensive financial plan taking all aspects of your client’s financial life into account and creating a roadmap for them to achieve their goals.
 

Build Long-Term Relationships
 
Having an advice-based financial planning firm allows you to focus on building long-term relationships with your clients. You will become their trust advisor (and not a salesperson) who guides them through the various life stages and financial challenges. 

Empower Your Clients

You’ll be in a place where you can take the time to educate your clients about financial concepts, investment strategies, and the implications of their decisions. You’ll empower them to make informed choices, to actively participate in the planning process, and to take control of their financial future.

This is especially crucial for your female clients who may feel intimidated.

Added bonus is they’ll have peace of mind and less stress knowing they can rely on your unbiased expertise and guidance.

THE CHALLENGE

Now that we’ve reviewed a few of the benefits of making the transition to Advice-Based Financial Planning, I want you to know that I know what it’s like to have a pile of chaos that you have to tame to do this. I’ve been there, too!  It can feel daunting, especially if your practice is fairly new.

At one time, I had over 500 “client families” of varying viability. They were used to getting everything for free and getting sold by their advisor. They had never paid for advice and didn’t even know there was a difference. 

I took on the challenge of transitioning that mess to a book of about 100 client families who were committed to Advice-Based Financial Planning. Mind you, the term Advice-Based Financial Planning didn’t exist at the time.

On top of that, the loyalty of those families was tested when I went independent as I had a non-compete.  I had to leave the firm I was with, establish my own and pray that those clients would come knocking on my door.

And you know what? They did!  Over 80 families showed up, uninvited by me, and became the foundation for what is today LOTUS Financial Partners.

So, let me ask you again. Can you imagine a practice where you only work with your favorite clients and everyone pays you very well?

Or, how about a business where all of your obligations are met by recurring revenue? 

For years now my practice has looked a lot like the vision I shared with you at the beginning. Today, I work with only the clients with whom I can do my best work.

• I work with about 100 families who value the work we do together.  
• The recurring revenue from that practice pays every penny of overhead including my and my husband’s base salaries.  
• I have a team who handles everything so well that I routinely leave for days and sometimes weeks at a time and when I come back, nothing is left undone. 

And my practice is so efficient that I am able to run it and TIA in just over a 40-hour week.

I don’t say that to brag, but to show you that it is absolutely 100% possible!

And I want that for you, too.

You can take the mess of a practice that you have now and turn it into a true machine…a purpose-driven machine that delivers high-quality advice-based financial planning to people who value your work and compensate you well for what you do! 

HOW DO YOU CONVERT YOUR BOOK OF BUSINESS?

When I check in with intentional advisors after working with them, the #1 challenge they face is how to convert their book of business from the amalgamation of chaos they have now, to a true advice-based practice.  

It is fantastic to build out client service models and start offering Advice-Based Financial Planning, but if you are like many of my clients, you have a book already. You have a mess to clean up before you can really reap the rewards of a practice built on purpose.

If that’s you, there is a simple roadmap to building an advice-based practice, regardless of what you have today. If you’re new in the biz, read along anyway!  It will likely help you as you grow or especially if you acquire a practice.  

So, how do you systematically transition your practice into a client service machine?  

1. DEFINE 

The first step is to define your A, B, C, and D clients and what is their minimum threshold for being an A, B, C, or D.

2. SEGMENT

How many A, B, C, and D clients do you have and who are they?

3. CONVERT

Once you’ve defined your A, B, C, and D clients and segmented them into how many and who they are, schedule a review to outline your new Advice-Based Financial Planning service model and invite clients to consider upgrading.


 

DO'S AND DON'TS

These are the basics you can integrate to continue to build your practice with purpose and on purpose! 

If you’re ready to dig in and start converting your practice to an advice-based firm, I’d like to invite you, with a one-month trial gift, to join us in the IMPLEMENTATION Monthly Mastermind, where we dig deeper into this and more.

As part of the free trial, you will receive instant access to dozens of training sessions.  To explore this topic further check out TACKLE THE TRANSITION from January 2020. And, while you’re there, feel free to browse for other topics that might be valuable to you before ever paying a penny.

For the right advisors, those aligned with The Intentional Advisor's mission and values, I hope this free trial is the beginning of a long relationship as we work together to change the industry, one client at a time!

I hope this serves you and your clients!

- Lucila