The most important part of your relationship with your clients is the same as the most important part of any coach/coachee relationship. It’s the ongoing accountability to make sure that your clients get everything done on your list of deliverables. And keep it done. Imagine a checklist of about 100 things that need to be done for a person to declare that they have their financial stuff completely together. It’s your job to make sure every one of your clients gets every one of those things done and keeps them done.
One of the most important things that you must have a clear set or package of deliverables. These are the things you do for you clients. This is why we talk about building a deliverables team at every Academy 1 & 2 and Mark Little teaches how to create your deliverables at his Values Based Financial Planning™ Office program on the Monday following the Academy 2.
The Financial Road Map® is the front-end part of the process and delivering the Values-Based Financial Planning™ deliverables is the back-end part of the process where you deliver on the promise you made during the Financial Road Map Interview™. This is where the rubber truly meets the road that indicates whether or not you are a Values-Based Financial Planning™. Being a Trusted Advisor has a lot more to do with what you do AFTER you get hired.
Take a moment and reflect on what you say during Commitment to Hire Conversation™:
"You’re going to get a step by step plan of action telling you exactly how much cash reserves to have and how to get it there.” How are you going to help them do that and make sure it gets done?
“We’re going to help you manage or eliminate your debt in a way that’s right for you.” Okay. How are you going to do that and make sure it gets done?
"We’re going to look at every type of insurance that exists and decide whether or not you should have that insurance, if you should have it then we’ll tell you how much of that type of insurance is right for you.” Do you get what you’re promising there? You’re talking about EVERY type of insurance that exists: Life, Health, Disability, LTC, Critical Illness, liability, auto, homeowners, fire, earthquake, theft…. Every type of insurance that EXISTS. Are you delivering on that promise or is it just some line you toss out during the Financial Road Map Interview™ to sound more impressive than you really are?
“We’re going to organize your assets to give you the highest probability to achieve your goals.”
What about all the other things that go with making sure your clients have their financial stuff together? Tax planning. Making sure tax returns are filed on time and accurately? Estate planning? Business Succession?
When we talk about being a Values Based Financial Planning™ Trusted Advisor, we’re talking about a full-service, comprehensive financial professional who truly makes sure that your clients are absolutely completely bullet proof in virtually every element of their financial lives.
Generally speaking, it takes about 2 years working with a client to implement a complete financial plan and all of the deliverables that go with that and a lifetime to stay on track keeping all of the deliverables current and in place. This is what it means to truly be a Values Based Financial Planning™ Trusted Advisor.
I understand that you have a ways to go to become the advisor you are promising to be when you conduct a Financial Road Map Interview™. There’s never been an advisor who has come through our training who was this good of an advisor when they started working with us. We’re not just here to help you memorize a script. We’re here to help you become a true Trusted Advisor based on what you actually deliver to your clients.
