4:52 pm March 23rd, 1995, will be special until my last breath.
I had never been so elated before this moment.
It was the birth of our first baby – Bec.
At least half an hour later, as emotions settled, I wondered what had happened to our obstetrician.
Nice guy, caring and great, but missed the birth.
Guess what?
Of our four kids, the obstetrician only made it to one birth.
That was because our #2 wasn’t conventional (and she still wonderfully isn’t). Being upside down and facing backwards, she needed a caesarean section.
For every birth, the heroes were the midwives and nurses.
They did the real work, supporting those vital moments as our kids entered the world.
The obstetricians were great and were there when needed.
Could it be a possible model for advisory teams?
REDUCING DEPENDENCY
The experience of our kid’s births wasn’t dependent on the specialists being there until their experience mattered.
The value delivered for our growing family depended upon a skilled, caring team that engaged with us and aligned with everything we sought – healthy outcomes for everyone.
How might this apply to the delivery of financial advice?
What if, from the beginning of a potential advice relationship, two advice team members (i.e. a technician performing 1st Chair and a supporting team member performing 2nd Chair) were present to understand each client’s pressing issues and the valuable outcomes they sought from an advice relationship?
What if both advice team members participated equally in Discovery meetings, successfully positioning their role as providing what the client values while refraining from specific product recommendations?
While both team members have varying experience, what if they were both aware of and skilled in how the firm manages client, project, and operational issues?
What might be the benefits?
Could dependency be reduced for the senior experienced team members as support team members have not only connected with each client but are also fully aware and skilled in managing the majority of client issues?
Could the confidence, skills and productivity of less experienced teams increase at a far greater rate as they participate, engage, manage and satisfy the majority of client issues?
Could the advisory team provide better experiences, value and responsiveness for most clients?
But lots could go wrong, couldn’t it?
INCREASED RISKS
If every team member is in client meetings, who will do all the work that needs to occur outside of client meetings?
How can a young support team member advise a near retiree with significant investment objectives, poor tax structures, a chronic history of over-spending and three past divorces? Technically, they can’t do much, but is there potential to provide value in other ways, even with the most technically complex clients?
What about those new prospects or existing clients that expect to engage with the ‘expert’, particularly if they have been referred?
Questions from ‘juniors’ in crucial initial meetings during discussions of the value at the heart of every advice relationship might prove their value after the conversation.
Significant repositioning hurdles may need to be navigated.
How can less experienced team members, without years of professional experience and life lessons, possibly contribute significantly to crucial client conversations about the client’s value regardless of their technical or non-technical qualifications?
Also, why should senior experienced advisers risk their engagement models by restraining their proven lead adviser role during crucial client meetings to allow their less experienced team members to potentially stumble or, worse, to reduce the prospect or client’s confidence in proceeding?
Also, what about the risk for the less experienced team member?
They, too, face risks as 2nd Chairs.
It would be far easier to sit on the sidelines of crucial advice conversations, take notes, observe their 1st chair and speak when asked or when ‘conversational gaps are clear.
Properly positioned, skilled and executed, any excursion beyond your comfort zone produces new learnings and opportunities.
THE OPPORTUNITIES
Provided the context of implementing 1st/2nd Chair crucial conversations is understood by all team members and valuably positioned in every crucial meeting, there are vast opportunities for clients and advisory team members.
This may not assist existing clients or new prospects who believe the value and the focus is the expert.
In these cases, 1st/2nd Chair meetings could still assist, but the value is primarily centred on reducing post-meeting workloads for the expert.
However, suppose clients believe that value is what they want to achieve from the expert’s expertise.
In that case, 1st/2nd Chair meetings open opportunities for higher productivity, reduce 1st Chair dependency and contribute to greater client satisfaction while accelerating the careers of 2nd Chairs.
Before the birth of our first, we expected the obstetrician would be there. However, the care, support, and leadership of the midwives and nurses removed any doubts about the ability of the care team to deliver our four healthy babies.
Fast-tracking advisory teams through significant and consistent exposure, skilling, and collaboration via 1st/2nd Chair meetings is the future of comprehensive advice.
What do you reckon?
Photo credit: Creative_Working_Team_Canva-photos-MAEI1nuKvr8
ABOUT JIM STACKPOOL
Since 1989, Jim has influenced, coached, and consulted financial advice and accounting firms across Australia. His training firm, Certainty Advice Group, skills comprehensive advisory teams to price and deliver valuable, methodical, non-person-dependent advice relationships with their clients. He has built a collaborative community of firms aligned to his firm’s comprehensive advice model – Certainty Advice – Australia’s only Certification Mark accredited by ACCC and IP Australia for impartial financial advice. He presents at conferences, has judged professional advice awards, written industry white papers, chaired practice management curriculum for tertiary institutions, and authored four books on financial advice – his latest being What Price Value.