Minimum Pricing
Minimum Pricing is a tough issue to manage because he forces advisory teams to re-position their value and pricing with existing clients. Advice firms are generally strong with implementation of their minimum annual pricing, but not as strong with the managing the expectations and value conversations with longer term clients whose prices are approaching or falling below minimums. There are a number of factors and tools to address this which is covered in this Certainty Roundtable.
Conversation Zero roundtable
Because Certainty Advice is different, screening of enquiries is also different for firms implementing Certainty Advice. This session provides the 'frameworks' but also the key 'mindsets' vital to hold effective screening conversations prior making the time to meet with new prospects. The words used and the way they are delivered set the context for effective Discovery Meetings. This session provides the proven guidelines.
Huddles - How to Work Your Plan
Daily, Weekly, Monthly Huddles are crucial for advisory firms. Without some form of regular team huddle, a team's priorities will tend to become less urgent and important than the priorities of clients and the demands created by clients. The core objective of good Huddles is support for each other as teams inevitably hurdle endless the endless blockages constructed via natural healthy progress. This session discusses how Huddles are prioritising team's priorities for busy advisory teams.
The Ambleside Journey
Nicole O'Sullivan and Caitlin Walker from Ambleside Wealth Advisers on Victoria's South Coast town of Warrnambool share the mindsets that have shaped a great Certainty Journey over nearly 12 months. Dropping long-held assumptions, lifting accountability, defining who to serve as just some of the great examples how Ambleside has implemented significant change in a regional community. As a new era of advisers enter the advice marketplace, the stories of Caitlin and Nicole will provide confidence that the future of advice will be built by some great teams.
Building Alliances with Certainty
Building effective third-party alliances requires smart work. This session covers the third technique to build alliances with a strong preference for alliances built via existing client relationships. The session discusses the need for a plan, and the need for Alliance IP, but most importantly, this session highlights the due diligence needed to create, sustain and manage an effective third-party alliance partnership with like-minded third-party professionals.
Greater Client Awareness using the Goal-Driver Tool
Understanding what drives clients is essential to every Certainty Advice Proposition. While the annual Discovery conversation identifies, prioritises and confirms the overall approach, tools like Keith Abraham's Goal Driver helps with the micro-steps on every client's journey. Also team members aware of each others micro-drivers helps bring crucial awareness that we are not the same in what matters in the progress with seek. How to use this tool, who to use it with and why it was developed are all covered in this important session.
Advising Partners who keep their finances separate
For good reasons, some clients seek advice which respects that some matters of their financial affairs will be kept confidential even from each other. How does Certainty Advice cater for these client scenarios? This session highlights four areas to focus upon when dealing with these client situations.
Progressing with Certainty Benchmarks
Progress means different things to different firms at different times. Once firms are through their initial survival mode when all benchmarks point towards cashflow and survival, a myraid of options appears as to how best guide growth. This session provides an overview of key performance benchmarks for advisory firms in areas of growth, profitability, productivity and fees. Sample benchmarks for 'standard' and 'best practice' performance are also provided.
Referrals with Certainty
Referrals are the core of advisory firm growth. Without management, they can become an obstacle to productive growth. This session identifies the key elements required to make client referrals productive for all client-facing team members. It outlines the twelve steps in the Certainty Advice process to generate ideal opportunities for growth.
Kylie Stirling - My Journey with Certainty
From never wanting to join a Discovery Meeting to never wanting to miss them, Kylie Stirling shares her journey and the discoveries she has made as Stirling Financial Consulting, the firm started by her partner Jarad, has successfully grown. Especially important to understand about Kylie's journey is her lack of technical financial services qualifications. Her background is events and client management. Ideally suited to growing and prosperous advisory firms.
Managing Your 'Quiet' Clients with Certainty
As firms grow, they tend to outgrow their clients. This creates productivity challenges for firms managing growth while still respecting promises and expectations of loyal clients. Advisory teams need a collaborative structure to support their on-going management of all clients who all deserve respect, but not equal service. This session provides some insights how good advisory teams are managing their quiet clients.
Quoting with Certainty
Poor quoting leads to wasted time, under-pricing, over-delivering and poor growth. Quoting is often driven off the wrong premise to 'win' new clients, rather than 'grow' the number of valuable clients. This session outlines some of the frameworks required for advisers to consistently, effectively and methodically quote their advice for both existing and new clients.
Selling Client Bases
As firms grow quicker than the needs of their clients, how do they maintain productivity? In the past the first solution was hire more people, which increases short-term activity and not always eventuates in longer term productivity. What are the considerations for firms seeking to protect the best interests of all clients, while ensuring they remain focused on their active clients?
Accelerating from associate to senior adviser with Certainty
Dan Creagan, senior adviser with William Buck Sydney shares his own and his team's doubling in growth using Certainty Advice. Are pods better than pools for advisory teams? Dan shares the four key elements be believes important to growing skilled and collaborative team members.
Two Chairs Meetings
For advisers building great advisory firms, having two team members in annual client meetings is essential. It reduces dependencies, raises team productivity, accelerates learning and careers objectives for up-and-coming team members and increases client satisfaction with more contact points. It's much more than note-taking, it's a vital part of the firm's proposition. This session explains how it works for Certainty Advice teams.
Screening Prospects with Certainty
Screening enquiries from prospects is important. It is in the best interests of each prospect and firm to ensure the 'match' between firm and client represents a good 'fit' for both. This session provides great discussions and four proven steps to assist making these conversations consistent, specific, respectful and productive for firms implementing comprehensive advice models like Certainty Advice.
Positioning with Keith Abraham
Advisory teams are constantly positioning themselves. It is proactive or reactive? When approaching new clients, new alliances, new team members or when explaining changes in approach to existing clients, team members or alliances, what thought is given to how to position your message, your strategy, your fee? Having worked with many teams over many years, Keith provides a set of six key framework questions to help make the positioning approach more deliberate and less by chance.
Working with Third-Party Specialists - Property
Certainty Advisers expertise can never cover all technical aspects in the lives of Certainty Clients. Therefore working with Third-Party Specialists in a consistent, specific and methodical manner is important. This Roundtable Joel Seach from Harpel Financial Group in Melbourne shares how he performs the project manager role enlisting the services of unaligned third-party property experts.
Sensitive Conversations
Mastering both the approach to valuable conversations and the 'conditions' in which valuable conversations will be held is crucial for advisory teams aiming to help clients lead their best possible lives. This Roundtable/Podcast shares how Certainty Advice teams are handling those more sensitive Discovery (and re-Discovery) Conversations when additional skills, focus and vigilance is required.
Building Teams with Certainty
Being in the business of making our clients more confidence, advisory teamwork is crucial. This Roundtable discusses the best practices being used by Certainty Teams to consistently, specifically and methodically deliver the confidence, the direction, the expertise clients are paying for.
