You're listening to “Financial Advisor Marketing”—the best show on the planet for financial advisors who want to get more clients, without all the stress. You're about to get the real scoop on everything from lead generation to closing the deal.
James is the founder of TheAdvisorCoach.com, where you can find an entire suite of products designed to help financial advisors grow their businesses more rapidly than ever before. Now, here is your host, James Pollard.
James: Hey, financial advisors. Last week we talked about how to sell one-time financial plans. This week we're going to talk about how to sell ongoing financial planning or recurring financial advice. This is basically where you have a relationship with someone over the course of years or decades. People who manage investments for a living have been doing this forever, but I think good financial advisors provide so much more than investment management, and I want to talk about that in this episode. [00:58.0]
But, first, this episode is scheduled to come out on Monday, January 27. That means there are only a few days left to lock in your spot for the February Inner Circle Newsletter, which ships on February 1. If you're not an Inner Circle member yet, I am not sure what you're doing with your life. You can check that out over at TheAdvisorCoach.com/coaching.
Now, one of the fundamentals of successful selling is a rock-solid belief in the thing you're selling, or the product or service, whatever it is. If you're a salesperson trying to sell Ford F-150s and you drive a Chevrolet, then you're going to struggle more than someone who drives a Ford every day, all else being equal. You have to believe in your product, and I bring that up because I've discovered there are two main types of belief that can happen or exist in a sales environment, and the superstars, the ones who outsell everyone, have both of those beliefs or belief categories. I'm not really sure how to describe it. I'm going to try my best. [02:01.7]
Here they are: Belief No. 1 is the belief that your product or service is a good thing for other people. You must believe that what you're selling is valuable to people in your target market. You must truly believe that you're improving their lives in some way, because if you believe that you're improving their lives, then you will push through a lot of the barriers and persist when other people have given up. Plus, people can just tell. People can tell if you're B.S.-ing them if you stand on business when it comes to whatever the thing is that you're offering
Belief No. 2 is arguably more important than Belief No. 1, though, because Belief No. 2 is the belief that comes only when you have benefited from what you sell. It doesn't have to be the exact thing either. It doesn't have to be the exact same type of product or service, but it has to be similar. You have to at least have some empathy with your client, your customer, whoever it is. [02:59.7]
I like to use fitness as an example. Let's say you're trying to sell someone on getting in shape. It doesn't have to be “Oh, you have to use dumbbells. You have to use barbells. You have to do this exercise program.” Let's say that you really like CrossFit. That's your thing. You will be a more effective salesperson for anything fitness-related, even if it's not CrossFit, because you have a belief in fitness. You know it works and your prospects, your customers, everyone, they can sense this belief. They know that you are really about that life when it comes to getting in shape and they will be more likely to trust you.
Let's flip that on its head. Let's say that you see something fitness-related and you absolutely refuse to entertain it whatsoever. That would hurt you. That would be a form of self-sabotage, because you would be trying to sell someone something fitness-related, knowing deep down in your heart that you refused a similar concept. That's psychological misalignment. [03:56.5]
I've seen this all the time with financial advisors, especially with things like the Inner Circle, because there are so many financial advisors out there who want prospective clients to pay them for ongoing advice, when they can't bring themselves to pay for ongoing advice in their own lives, in their businesses. That's a hurdle holding them back and many of them can't see it.
It doesn't apply only to products and services either. They want people to respond to them promptly. Yet they don't respond promptly to others. They don't want people to ghost them. Yet they ghost others. I'm telling you right now, if you want to improve your business practically overnight, then you must become the type of client you wish to see in your business. It will help you more than 99% of all the marketing tips, tricks and tactics out there.
If you want people to pay you, gladly pay you for your services, then you should be the type of person who gladly pays for services. If you want people to gladly pay you for ongoing advice, then you need to gladly pay for ongoing advice. You need to be in psychological alignment. You can believe me. You can not believe me. I don't care. I'm just telling you what I've seen, both in my own life and with the financial advisors that I've helped. [05:07.3]
We are going to dig pretty deep into Belief No. 1 in this podcast episode, because even if you already believe ongoing financial advice is valuable, you can likely become a more effective marketer and salesperson by increasing that belief. I'm going to sell you on the reasons why ongoing financial advice is valuable, but only you can deal with Belief No. 2.
If you're someone who wants people to pay you for ongoing advice and you're not paying for ongoing advice in your life, then you have some serious work to do. That is psychological misalignment and only you can fix that. I cannot reach into your pocket, pull out your credit card and pay for ongoing advice. I just cannot do it for you. You have to fix Belief No. 2 if it's not fixed already.
All right, let's go through some of the reasons why recurring financial advice is valuable so we can work on Belief No. 1. The biggest reason, at least, in my opinion, is that there is more value exchanged. In other words, the person paying you is giving you more money and you are improving that person's life more than you otherwise would with one time planning. [06:10.8]
In a capitalistic society, money changes hands out of self-interest. Someone gives you money because that person wants to make his or her life better. You receive money because you think the money will make your life better, more than the resources spent delivering the product or service. I can't believe I have to say this so much. I say it all the time in my emails, in these podcast episodes, because you would think financial advisors would understand this basic economic concept, but many of them don't.
Charging money and more money than you're charging right now is not evil. It's not immoral. I actually believe it's the opposite. If you charge something, it is usually because you're able to improve the other person's life even more, and if you charge more, you can do it even more. Why wouldn't you want more value to be exchanged? If you can find a way to exchange more value with people, then you are able to make the world a better place. [07:01.8]
I don't know about you, but I believe it's our obligation to leave the world a better place than we found it, and I think that providing goods and services to the marketplace is a sure fire way to do that, because people are voluntarily paying for them. People take their money, they look out into the ocean that is the marketplace and they say, “Oh, yeah, I want that thing. That would make my life better. Here, here's some money so you can make my life better. Woohoo, my life is better and your life is better.” You're just making the world a better place.
Also, I want you to conduct a thought experiment with me. Let's say that someone comes to you and asks, “How much can you help me for $50?” Really think about that. Take this question seriously. What would your response be? Forget about being nice to the person and doing work for free because you feel a sense of obligation or genuinely want to help. Don't worry about that right now. Consider it as a serious request. Someone wants to give you $50 in exchange for whatever financial advice or value, or financial-planning value, you can provide. What would constitute $50 worth of value? [08:01.0]
Now, let's go to the other end of the spectrum. Imagine someone came to you and asked, “How much can you help me for $1 million?” Again, I want you to take this seriously. I want you to think about this. Do you think you could help the $1-million client more than the $50 client? Again, take your emotions out of this. Just think in terms of straight-up value you could provide, meaning, the things you would be able to do, the levers you'd be able to pull. Could you do more for the $1-million client than the $50 one? Of course, right?
The same thing is true with ongoing financial advice. A recurring revenue model is superior if for no other reason than because it allows you to provide more value. More value exchange takes place. Lots of financial advisors get in their heads because they start worrying about what constitutes value and if they're charging too much, and all of these other things. But guess what? That's not for you to decide. It's for your clients to decide. It is for the marketplace to decide. [09:02.0]
I'll give you an example. I rarely order steak at restaurants anymore. I used to get steak all the time. I love steak, but the truth is, I can cook better steak at home for less money. Therefore the value proposition has skewed for me. The last few times I had steak at a restaurant, I felt silly, because it tasted worse and it was more expensive than what I could make at home, even factoring in my time. Does that mean the restaurant is wrong or immoral for having steak on the menu because I don't think it's valuable? No, that would be silly. Some people value the steak and those are the people who buy the steak. It is what it is. That's it. It's really that simple.
Another reason why the recurring revenue model is valuable and worth selling—again, I'm trying to sell you on this so you increase your belief. You should believe this to your core—is because you can spend more time with your clients. I have seen this firsthand with financial advisors in my Inner Circle, because I've seen how their businesses have grown and evolved over years. [10:02.3]
I know what they were doing months ago and years ago, and I can consider that information when telling them what to do. That literally cannot exist with a one-time transaction. That is special. I have seen them when I started in 2018 and 2019. I still have people who are with me and are still with me since 2018. That's remarkable. I can help them so much more than some course or program, or one-time transaction.
I want you to think about any professional who gives advice for a living. Let's use an attorney as an example. Imagine you are fighting a legal battle and you're comparing two attorneys. One attorney has a maximum limit of one hour available to talk to you about the situation, what happened, the possible defenses, everything. You get one hour. The other attorney has a maximum of 40 hours available to talk to you. Which attorney would you likely choose? [10:57.0]
Probably the one that can spend more time with you, especially with all else being equal. But even if that attorney charged more per hour, you would still likely choose that attorney, because you're interested in the outcome, and we're going to talk about that near the end of this episode. Let's think about doctors. Would you prefer a diagnosis from a doctor who spent five minutes checking you out or an hour checking you out? That seems so obvious, right? And it seems so obvious in other industries, but financial advisors don't consider it.
There's also a tremendous peace of mind associated with having the same advisor year in and year out. You don't have to do a one-time financial plan and move on, and two or three years later, find a different financial advisor. You will still have the same person if you're someone who pays for ongoing financial advice. Those are all reasons why you should believe in it. I'm trying to build your belief. [11:49.0]
Listen up, financial advisors. This is something special I'm doing exclusively for people who listen to this podcast. If you subscribe to the Inner Circle Newsletter over at TheAdvisorCoach.com/coaching, I will send you a collection of seven copyright-free emails, personally written by me, that you can use right away to begin getting more clients.
I call these my “objection-busting” emails, because they are designed to overcome the biggest objections financial advisors face. All you have to do is send me an email letting me know you’ve subscribed and I will reply with a link where you can download them for free.
I originally offered these in the May 2024 Inner Circle Newsletter issue, and it was one of the most popular bonuses I've ever given away. Today, these seven objection-busting, copyright-free emails are only available to listeners of this podcast, because I'm not mentioning them anywhere else. Go to TheAdvisorCoach.com/coaching to subscribe today. Now, back to the show.
Next, in order to sell it, you need to build your offer around ongoing value. What does that look like? There are a few key features that work really well when doing this. If you're the type of person who likes to take notes, then these are the things I want you to write down. [13:06.5]
The first big feature is regular financial check-ins. You probably take them for granted, which means you don't talk about them in your marketing as much as you should. The message you want to communicate here is that financial plans are not static. Having regular reviews and check-ins ensures the plan adapts to short-term needs and long-term goals.
Another big feature is proactive advice. The one-time financial plans—I love one time financial plans. I love it when financial advisors offer them, but they are reactive. You're looking at everything that happens and you're creating a plan to go forward. But ongoing financial advice, ongoing financial planning, is proactive. When life happens, like divorce, death or the birth of a child, you're there to help. Or when markets change or when tax laws change, it doesn't matter, you are there. [13:57.4]
And another thing, when there are big changes, you probably don't want to wait to hire a financial advisor or go through the entire qualification process and fill out all the forms and have the initial meetings. It probably makes a lot more sense to already have someone in your corner. Life is so much better when you have someone there.
Plus, with ongoing financial advice, you have access to someone year-round. If you're a business owner, you probably already know how valuable this sort of relationship can be with your accountant or your tax planner. I pay my accountant a lot of money each year. I actually pay him quarterly on a retainer basis. The reason I do that is because I want access.
I talk to my Inner Circle members all the time about paying for access and how important that is for business growth. I'm not directly paying for his knowledge or expertise, or any of that stuff when I pay every single quarter, and I've been paying for years. I am merely paying for access and I'm glad to do it.
The way you sell this is by emphasizing how you are available whenever your clients need you for major decisions. You couple that with open communication channels, like phone calls or emails or client portal, whatever floats your boat, but that is a massive value-add, especially to people who are higher-net-worth. [15:10.2]
Speaking of that, another thing you could do is emphasize the team approach. That's where you have a team of estate planners, CPAs. You have other professionals that your clients might need. This does become a lot more important if you serve high-net-worth clients. Generally speaking, there's an upward trend in demand for this sort of offering up to a certain point, because once they pass that point, they'll just go to a family office.
Once people get to go from $5 million-ish to $50 million, I mean, when you're talking about $50 million and $100 million clients, I mean, they're just going to have a family office. That's what it is. I mean, you're not really going to change that. But if you are just a regular financial advisor and you have a network, you have a team, then people who are worth a couple million dollars to 10, low 10s, will be happy with that approach. Maybe not all of them, but it is more common than not. [16:05.8]
Now, what are some ways to communicate your value? It starts with shifting how you think about and communicate financial planning. Do you position it as a thing you do? Because things are usually bought once, and even worse, are consumable. Instead, position financial planning as an ongoing relationship, as a partnership. Relationships are not finite. Partnerships don't expire, or at least, not many of them. This is subtle, but it's critical. You're not selling a thing, a one-time thing. You're selling ongoing guidance, accountability and peace of mind.
Two of my favorite ways to make that clear are to focus on outcomes, not outputs, and connect it to their long-term goals. What do I mean by focusing on outcomes, not output? Outputs are tasks, like creating a financial plan, running projections or adjusting asset allocations. It's a task. If you do something, then you get something, and that something is the output. [17:14.7]
An outcome is the result of your work over time. That could be reduced stress. It could be smarter decisions. It could be wealth preservation. It could be goal achievement. It is an outcome. Clients don't pay for tasks or outputs. They pay for what those tasks deliver over the long haul. That is the outcome.
In your marketing—goodness gracious, this is so important. This is another writer-downer—you want to focus on outcomes, not outputs. Marketers would call this benefits instead of features. Yes, features are important. Yes, you want to talk about features, but you also want to tie it into why it is important for the person to have such a feature, and that is the benefit. It is very similar to this. [17:55.6]
Connecting ongoing financial advice to their long-term goals, that should be obvious. You want to frame all the conversations you have in terms of ongoing support to protect what matters most to them. For example, you want to retire at 55, send your kids to college without loans and travel every year, take a cruise or something that requires consistent course correction, that requires a plan that evolves as life happens. You, the financial advisor, helps the client stay on track, no matter what life throws at them. That is your job.
Think of ongoing financial planning as driving a car to a destination. A one-time financial plan, as much as I love it, is like handing someone a map and saying, “Good luck. See you later.” Ongoing financial planning is like sitting in the passenger seat with your clients. You're there to adjust the route. You're there to look out for roadblocks and help them navigate detours, and turn on the seat warmers and all that cool stuff. Which option is more valuable? Which one gives more peace of mind? The right clients can immediately see the difference when you frame it this way. [19:01.8]
To end this episode, I want to run through some common objections people might have to ongoing financial planning, along with some responses I have. I'm going to read these off to you because I wrote them down before the show. I wanted to make sure I gave you some good stuff here, so I really thought about it and I wrote down what my response would be.
Let's say someone says, “I don't need that much help.” You could say, “That's fair. Ongoing financial planning doesn't have to mean constant meetings. For some clients, we meet quarterly to review progress. For others, it's just an annual check in. The key is, I'm available when you need me, whether it's for major life decisions, tax strategies or market changes. You may not need much help today, but I think you'll appreciate the access when life throws you a curve ball.” The positioning here isn't necessarily about meeting with someone again and again. It's more about being a safety net. [19:52.2]
Remember how I mentioned I pay my accountant basically a retainer fee? That's the safety net at work. There's a lot of value in being a safety net. People pay for that all the time. Heck, the entire insurance industry is built around selling this concept. If you have a disability policy and never use it, did it do its job? Of course, it did. It provided protection. If you make this shift, you'll be well on your way.
What if someone says, “Can I just get a one-time financial plan?” You could say, “Yes, you absolutely could, but one-time plans have a short shelf life. Life changes, new jobs, tax laws, market conditions, family situations, and your financial plan needs to adapt with those things. A static plan, a one-time plan, can quickly become outdated, and that can hurt your progress. Ongoing planning ensures you're always on track no matter what changes come your way.”
What if someone says, “I can handle this on my own?” You could say, “I get that. You've clearly done well managing things so far.” Or maybe they haven't. Maybe just say, “Look how that worked out for you.” But assuming they've done an okay job, you say, “You've clearly done well managing things so far, but financial planning is complex and even small decisions have major consequences over time. My job is to help you avoid costly mistakes, uncover opportunities you may not see, and save you time and stress by managing the details for you.” That is pretty good, if I say so myself. [21:17.4]
Or, I’ve got another one for this one, you could say, “Just like people hire a CPA to handle their taxes or a lawyer to drop their legal documents, working with me ensures your financial life is handled by a professional who is always looking out for your best interest.” I think that's pretty good, too.
Another common injection might be “I already have a financial plan from another advisor.” You could respond to that with “That's great. It's good to have a starting point. But has that plan been updated recently? Financial planning shouldn't be a one-and-done process. Stuff changes. Tax laws change. Markets shift. Your goals evolve. I'd love to look at your current plan and see if there are ways we can optimize and improve.” Or you could say this. You could say, “I'm not here to throw out what's working. I'm here to enhance it and to ensure you're getting the most out of your finances.” [22:03.2]
At the end of the day, ongoing financial planning isn't just a thing. I've said that many times. It is a relationship. It is a partnership. It is about providing your clients with clarity when life feels uncertain, guidance when they need to make big decisions, and peace of mind knowing they're on track no matter what happens
Financial planning is not one and done, it should not be, and without someone in the client's corner, man, they risk falling behind. They risk making mistakes. You know that. I know that. So, just keep that in mind throughout your marketing. That is where you come in. As an ongoing financial advisor, you're not just handing out a plan and saying, “See you.” You're offering continuous support and helping them and adding more value to their life. That is the capitalistic society, the value exchange that I started this podcast episode off with. That is the kind of value people are happy to pay for. [22:57.2]
I hope this helps you. If you liked this episode, please share it with another financial advisor who does ongoing financial planning. Sharing is the number one most important thing you can do to help this podcast, and I am so thankful for everyone who shares it. Thank you again, and I will catch you next week.
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