Layers of Simplicity
One of the most valuable services an advisor can deliver is to make it easy for a client to view them as a trusted advisor.
The other day an advisor, who is in the process of implementing their New Client Advocate Process, commented that they were finding the 3rd appointment was running about 2 hours and was exhausting. I agreed and felt exhausted just hearing about it. If the advisor found the experience exhausting, how do you think the client felt?
Above all else an advisor is responsible for two things. First, build a trusting partnership with clients. Second, prepare each client for Critical Events and monitor that process. All other activities and actions serve these two outcomes. A client should be comfortable and trust their advisor instead of being in awe of their incredible knowledge and intelligence. After all, trust and implementation will get results before knowledge and intellectual prowess.
So the question is then: How can an advisor implement strategies to prepare their clients for Critical Events and at the same time not bore them to tears? The answer: Layers of Simplicity.
As I heard of the two hour planning marathon I immediately thought of the true intent of the Policy Statement. The Policy Statement is an outstanding vehicle to deliver layers of simplicity. It is an outline of what you have done for them in the past, what you are currently working on and what you could be doing for them in the future. No more manifestos that are edifications to an advisor’s intelligence and savvy. The Policy Statement has proven itself worthy in the most complex of situations to deliver for client and advisor. The ability to provide a client with a comprehensive plan of segmented implementation that is dynamic is a value added that makes it easy for a client to make their advisor truly indispensable.
Our original clients using a Policy Statement were financial advisors. We have now seen this have dramatic results with architects, contractors of all kinds, accountants and lawyers.