CONTACT
Comments Via Email
Due to the volume of email that we receive, we can’t always guarantee a response, but rest assured we will see it and look forward to hearing from you. You can also comment on any of the blog posts.
email: comments AT ironshield DOT ca
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8 Responses to “CONTACT”
Phil Davis on April 4, 2012
Scott,
I just started with your excellent service, and after listening to my first podcast (FEE07) I have a question I’m sure you’ve answered many times before.
I agree that a financial plan should command a fee. But how do you respond to potential clients who say, “X down the street (who is a very competent financial advisor with a major firm, with many years of experience, great reputation and lots of clients) doesn’t charge for his financial plan, why should you?” I realize you have to sell yourself, your capabilities and personal value, but with very competent advisors who don’t charge an initial plan fee (they are not commission-based), how do you position yourself as competitive? Thank you.
Scott_CFP on April 4, 2012
Hi Phil,
This is a great question. The reality is, in my 19 years in business, I have yet to run into someone who says, the guy down the street does this for free. And I believe the reason that I haven’t run into this is because we have created (and trademarked) our own financial planning process. As a result, the guy down the street is not licensed to offer our unique financial planning program and as such, CAN’T offer the same program for free.
That’s my initial answer. However, I do appreciate that often times, advisors don’t have a unique financial planning program that they can call their own. So, I would suggest the following approach.
I would ask the prospective client why they think the other advisor gives away their valuable financial planning services for free? Is that the advisor doesn’t put any value on financial planning? And, if so, is really just using the tool as a “sales pitch” to just focus on selling a product?
Placing a value on the financial planning irrespective of product implementation will win every time. This is why I never discuss implementation with a client until we know what it is that they are trying to accomplish. You see sometimes, it’s better for a client to pay off debts than to invest more money.
Riddle me this. If this is the best solution for a client and the advisor is not getting paid to provide the solution, do you really think that advisor is going to be able to stay in business long if they do what is right for the client? No client in their right mind would support a business model like this as clients are looking for long term relationships.
A quick story. When I converted my practice to fee-based and began to charge clients for the writing of their financial plans, the third client I presented my new model to (who was previously not paying a fee to me) said “Thank You”. I said, “I’m not sure you heard me correctly – I’m now going to be charging you for the financial planning work we are doing for you”. They said, yes, I heard you – and “Thank You”.
I asked why they were thanking me.
They said that they valued the relationship very much and they were always worried that I was going to go out of business because they never thought I was making any money.
I didn’t see that coming… but it did make me realize how valuable the financial planning really is to clients.
Good luck and thanks for your comments.
Scott
Matt on July 10, 2012
I really like you podcast and advice. Do you offer private or group coaching?
Scott_CFP on July 13, 2012
Hi Matt,
At this point, we do not offer individual coaching. However, please visit http://www.ilovefinancialplanning.com to register for the pre-notification list. We have had many requests for something more than just the Podcast so we are working on putting something together. Can you do one thing for me (and if you’re reading this comment and are interested yourself, please add a comment)? Can you please put in the comments some bullet points of things you would like to have provided to you in a coaching program?
Thanks for commenting and being a part of the fee based financial planning mastery community.
Scott
Matt on July 17, 2012
specific workflows
office organization and employee roles
pricing recommendations
list of deliverables
questionairres and when/how to use effeciently
tracking benchmarking client goals
presentable language/rationale for charging separate financial plan retainers from AUM % fees
Matt on August 1, 2012
Scott,
I continue to love your podcast and have learned more from it than any of my live mentors.
Can you do one on your Client Review process? You nicely covered the initial meetings, how and when to propose the fee, and then the genral ideas covered through the plan. Then what. How do you keep clients on track, how often do you meet, what is the format etc. Do you combine plan reviews with Investment Management reivews? Etc…
Gary Phillips on November 5, 2012
Hi Scott,
I’m just dropping you an email to thank you for the great advice on many aspects of running a success business.
I’ve recently moved to gmail and installed a CRM and it’s made life a lot easier.
Also, my copy of the Pumpkin Plan has just arrived. Thanks for the recommendation on your last podcast.
Please keep up the great work. It really does make a difference!
Regards, Gary
Scott_CFP on November 10, 2012
Gary,
Great job on moving to a cloud based system for email and CRM.
I know you’ll love The Pumpkin Plan as much as I did. The book will challenge you but when you finish it, you’ll wonder why you never saw your business in that way before.
Thanks for your comments and being part of the fee based financial planning mastery community.
Happy reading…
Scott