What are questions you can ask a subject matter expert to help you evaluate them, identify which ones you'll work with best, and who is truly an expert?

Article ID: 228
Last updated: 20 Nov, 2019

Mark Little thoroughly covers this at the Values Based Financial Planning Office™ program at the Academy 2, in Module 8 of Mastery Series™ 3, and on the Trusted Advisors Toolkit™

Basically you want to know 3 things:
- Their experience and expertise in their subject
- Who their Ideal Client is (and does it line up with your Ideal Client Profile)
- How effective their staff is at delivering their client service experience.

Just like any job interview process, ask direct questions about these things, verify it’s true by going through their process yourself and checking references.


Others in this category
b My independent practice is currently fee-based without Assets Under Management (AUM) or insurance commissions. My goal is to build my business to 50 Ideal Clients. I have been unable to identify any money managers who charge a flat fee to manage assets.
b How do I better describe my value? One potential client thought he was already living out many of his values and thus enjoying his ideal life. How do I describe that what I do provides incredible value even for the person who enjoys managing his own investments and has enough money and time to take plenty of vacations?
b After completing the Financial Road Map® Interview with friends to help me get more experience, they decided to get a financial plan done. I relayed the cost of completing the plan, but not the cost of an on-going relationship (as I was unsure that was the best time to have that discussion being fairly new to the process). I am meeting them Saturday morning to have a pre-planning meeting. What is the best practice for inviting them into my Ideal Client community at this point and discussing the annual fee (I am thinking $10K...this would be my first Ideal Client invite)?
b The emphasis in Values Based Financial Planning™ is obviously on how to make one's money work to the best advantage for the client. Some people might question this philosophy as being less than a balanced approach to other quality aspects of life's journey. How might we respond to such a question?
b How "realistic" should I be when thinking about my ideal life, my Predictable Minimum Annual Recurring Revenue and Ideal Client Profile? I'm wondering if I need to temper my goals now that I'm starting to work on some of the numbers. It seems if I lower my target income number I could get there faster. I've heard that if anyone ever tells you to "be realistic" they're asking you to compromise your ideals.
» More articles