I am new to Values-Based Financial Planning™ and under my organization I do not yet have a Deliverables Team. We are in the process of creating it but it may be months to a year down the road as an organization. How do I build a plan in the meantime that will create or show how my quoted fee or desired fee of $5000 per year is paid or able to be paid by the client?

Article ID: 406

Last updated: 20 Nov, 2019

I appreciate that you are already thinking about being a better Financial Advisor who delivers more value to your clients. Well done!

The short answer is that you do the best you can with what you have. Rome wasn't built in a day, as the saying goes. It takes one to two years to build a Deliverables Team of best-in-class Subject Matter Experts who can help you deliver on the full Values-Based Financial Planning™ Value Proposition.
Your main objective during the evaluation phase of working with us is to do as many Financial Road Maps® as possible so that some of your existing clients do more business with you and your prospective clients hire you more quickly and do more business with you than they did when you did not use the Financial Road Map®. This produces two results:
1. It generates the money you will need invest in the Committed Advisor Program (CAP). You should have a $30,000 - $50,000 Return On Investment by the time you attend your first Academy in San Diego.
2. You get enough experience working with us for us to know if we should invite you to join our Committed Advisor Community and for you to know if you should accept if we do.

There are some options under the Commitment to Hire Frequently Asked Questions on the 24/7 Content Coaching Site that may help you craft a Commitment to Hire Conversation™ that is more in alignment with what you currently offer to your clients.

In the meantime, just think about being as full-service as you possibly can and use all the tools and resources at your disposable so that your clients can rely on you for everything they need to achieve their financial goals. You don't have to know what all the experts know. You just need to know the experts.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Keep up the good work!

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Commitment to Hire Conversation™ -> Commitment to Hire Conversation™ Misc.

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Given that we currently do not charge any fees for preparing a plan (although maybe we should) How do you gain commitment from someone that has no assets to move to us until they retire a few years down the road?

I have several existing clients and prospects that have zero debt and range typically from $3-$10 million in liquid net worth. Many of them have believed in “Term and invest the rest” mentality and therefore don't like to discuss insurance needs and their term policies have expired. By this, I'm referring to clients who are past the accumulation phase and confident in their mind that they have been adequately insured and no longer need much insurance (I realize this may not be true), and have the notion typically to only buy term and put the rest of their money into savings. When we get to the Commitment to Hire Conversation™. Many of my existing clients have zero debt, more cash then they need to have sitting around (I realize this needs to be addressed), and don't feel they need much help with insurance. Therefore the step-by-step plan addressing these four areas only has one area where they typically want, or feel, they need help in creating a plan. I'm curious if it would it make sense to change the "What you get” discussion to something that could provide a little more value than the 4 bullets currently in the script? Can you please tell me perhaps a different word track then the Financial Road Map® script since two of the four areas are not of much interest to these types of clients?

I completed a Financial Road Map® with this gentleman and his wife. He loved the experience and was very excited to go ahead and have us create an action plan. We requested additional information needed to complete the plan. I then received this email (see below). How would you respond? Thanks. Morning, Michele and I had the opportunity to sit down with an investment adviser yesterday and discovered that Optimal Performance is not only an investment company but also a financial planning firm. Embarrassing for me, as we have worked with Diane for over five years and she has helped us manage a myriad of financial challenges over that time. To realize that I have not fully taken advantage of her years of experience her expertise was "uncomfortable" to say the least. That said, Michele and I have decided not to continue moving forward with Ideal Life and re-engage Diane since we are already paying for that service. Additional, I am sure you can appreciate that we do not want to put our relationship with Diane in jeopardy especially after she has been a cornerstone for us. I have reviewed our chequing account and as of Friday, our cheque has not been processed and we would ask that it does not happen. We are prepared to pay a small fee for the work to date (including the Value-Based book) and will issue another cheque to cover that amount. I can have that available when I come to pick up our binder. As you witnessed, we were ready to make the move to see the plan and realize this a disappointing news however this is the right thing for us and aligns with the values we hold true.

During our Commitment to Hire™ and Commitment to Implement Conversations™, the clients expresses their concern that, “we not go too fast.” They agreed to all the money, but, that does not mean all the money RIGHT NOW (Or even the day we are scheduled to begin implementation). We are talking here about the entirety of their life's work, their health and the rest of their lives, their savings, investments, home, their children and grandchildren's future - and they are justifiably cautious about making a global decision - Trust - but verify. It is only prudent and wise financial planning! Are top advisors taking All The Money on that first implementation day? How does THAT happen?

Should we prepare a list or outline of our Deliverables Team to show to people in the event they ask a question during the Commitment to Hire Conversation™, or just outline it verbally to them?

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