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Business to Business (Why you might consider the 'Team' approach) "You can't help someone else get to the top of the mountain without getting there yourself!"....anonymous
'Value Added' (a coined phrase or business must have?) Value added? You have no doubt heard this term bantered about in conversations lately, but is this a new term of the 2000's or has it been around awhile? We all know networking is nothing new, but how does this compare to what is meant by 'value added'? If you are like me, you have heard this term come up more often lately, perhaps in discussions revolving around concepts of legal liability, teamwork, strategic alliance, networking, complementing service structures, to name but a few. There isn't enough good advice out there to be had! The truth is, at least I have been told, that the average age of the financial advisor is getting up in the 'pre-retirement' age level. Someone suggested the average age now of the financial advisor is 53! Somehow, this is not surprising! Take a look around...we are either in this age group or the far end of the scale - 22 years old, fresh out of college or university, and looking to start in this important field of service. What's interesting at this age level, is what we have seen as advisors that may prompt us to evaluate our own level of service, and at this age, we may be evaluating our own success in this business. If we are honest with ourselves, and if we have been in the business a while, we know what our strengths are, and we know our weaknesses. We may not be willing to admit these (yet) out loud, but we realize it is increasingly hard to 'be all things to all people'. We can look at this as an obstacle and a negative we'd sooner forget, or we could look at it as an opportunity to take some of the loneliness out of this business by looking to form strategic alliances, partnerships, or networking ideas with other related services. Let's put professionalism back into our profession!
(please see this article!
What would the advantage be to admitting you are strong at only a few aspects of the many responsibilities you have to your client? Would you be viewed as inferior, a failure? Chances are if you think this way, it is your perception of yourself - certainly not your clients perception of you. As an example, let's look at the legal profession. A good lawyer specializes in his or her area of study - an expert in the field. His or her clients need a high level of expertise and advice. When the lawyer is referred to a client by a colleague, it is because the referring lawyer (or other professional) knows the client will be looked after in the best possible way, with comprehensive service and advice. Just as importantly, the referring professional is in essence showing the client that he cares about their relationship, and doesn't want to risk not providing the 'source' where the accuracy and integrity of advice is top notch. Would his client deserve any less? Do your clients deserve less? Likely, you have referred your clients to other businesses successfully? But, have you referred your clients to colleagues in the business you may have at least previously viewed as the 'competition'? When we admit we 'specialize' in only certain area(s) of our profession, and we have a network of other professionals that we work with, are we saying we are not professionals! No, quite the contrary. If it is indeed true that there is not enough agents and advisors in the business, that we tend to specialize in what we know, and that there are multitudes of people out there needing our service, why do we think of other professional advisors as competition? Competition should only be an issue if we are competing to provide a service every client already has. The famous 'Cola wars' between Coca Cola and Pepsi is a market share battle for existing cola drinkers. Our clients have likely not been exposed to the products we have to offer, and we are making sure nobody else gets to show them, right? If for example, disability insurance was 'cola', there wouldn't be too many cola drinkers out there. Would this be a problem, or an incredible opportunity to serve an untapped market? Are we then protecting our clients from services they need? Are we also missing out on a vast amount of revenue from these services? How do you view this untapped market? But, if we on the other hand only dabble in areas outside of our strengths, it will be obvious to ourselves, and our clients. Do we look for the sale if we can get it (client driven), but do not pursue the sale when it gets too difficult to close? If so, what are we then saying of how we perceive our clients - as vehicles to make money, or as individuals to serve? Isn't it true that we do not appear professional in the areas outside of our expertise? Does this 'put us out of the market', as the phrase suggests? Just because we are out of the market, are our clients out of the need for this market? Our natural tendency is to 'avoid' working the areas of the business we are not good at, or comfortable with. What other profession could get away with this inferior treatment of the client? I have found that by specializing in disability insurance and benefits, I have been able to work with other professionals that are feeling obligated to their clients, but do not feel comfortable discussing these areas. You may be an investment pro, or a tax shelter expert, etc., great at what you do, and that's why you are successful! Tragically, it sometimes takes an actual disability, and the financial impact on a client, to 'shake up' the complacency of the advisor to take action, and seek help. Don't let this be you! Let's take the loneliness out of the business. Instead, let's become the pros we should be, and as a result, we can get excited about this business again. Just making money is not what attracted you to the business (or at least it shouldn't have been), and if you are honest with yourself, it isn't enough to satisfy you now - neither professionally, ethically, nor morally. As a prospecting bonus, you will likely see more clients come back to you, in area of referrals you would have otherwise never seen (from the DI and Benefit cases), because the nature of work I do opens doors to more clients for you. For example, how many prospects for your services are there when a group benefit plan is put in place? We are also looking to form geographical alliances or the lawyer referral service
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