Create A Service Model That Boosts Your Productivity

One of the most common responses we hear from financial planners when asked, “why do you do what you do?” is “I do it because I love it.” Many planners long for their days to be filled with diving into the details of client's situation and uncovering helpful ways to improve their lives. However, it is never that simple. There will always be administrative work, organizational demands, and the tricky balancing acts it takes to get clients in the door and then into your office for meetings.

This is why it can never be as simple as just booking clients and taking meetings. Every successful and well-functioning practice (big or small!) needs to have a tightly organized process for how to manage the flow of clients. Setting expectations upfront with both prospects and existing clients will save time and frustration for you, your team, and your clients. You will find it easier to project your meeting commitments into the future and your clients will better understand how you will help them and when each part of your process will happen.

When we speak to advisors about how they explain their practice to new clients, few have a visual explaining how they work, and often respond with something that verbally looks like this:

Often, this is simply the way an advisor visualizes their practice. In reality, there may be more nuanced depending on the source of the client lead. Many times clients are coming from online aggregation sources and need to be vetted for needs, fit, and values. Additionally, there is the follow-up required to maintain the client relationship and continue the process of addressing deeper financial planning needs. Rarely can a single plan presentation address and solve all of a client's needs. When we visualize those details, a more robust service model begins to take shape.