Road To Independence

One of the benefits of being an independent advisor is that you get to fashion your processes and service offerings according to your particular point of view. In other words, where a large firm already has their processes established, the independent advisor has a clean slate and can cull the best practices from a variety of different resources.

I believe that creating a scalable business model is paramount to a successful long-term enterprise. If for some reason I need to be absent from the business, even if it’s for a vacation, there should be no dropoff in client service. So every process I create must be centered on one thing, the client. Inefficient processes were one of my frustrations when working for a large company. Many times these well-intentioned ‘hoops’ were time wasters or impediments to doing business. Here is one efficient client process I am implementing.

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Business has been very good lately. I attribute this to a number of factors, including the process I follow when meeting with a prospective client. A prospective client wants to know you can be trusted, that you are reasonably good at what you do, and that you are accessible. Basically, they want to be able to sleep well at night knowing their financial assets are being well managed. In my opinion, if you can articulate this in a concise way that doesn’t sound like it’s all about you, and show that you care about them first and foremost, you’ll have a better-than-average shot at earning their business. Following are some of the key steps in my process.

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What a week! Business is really picking up! The RIA has such a competitive advantage over brokers and this will remain true until every broker in the land becomes an RIA, at which time the advantage will disappear. Significant changes in the regulatory rules could also close the gap (see comments from fellow IA blogger Bob Clark here on the Obama White Paper).

Now the fact that I am so bullish on the RIA way of life doesn’t mean that an RIA will necessarily win the client every time. To the contrary, illogical as we humans can be, some people have their minds made up and nothing will change that. Also, there are some very skilled brokers who operate in an ethical manner and really do look out for their clients. I’m only stating that as a general rule, all else being equal, the RIA has a leg up, so to speak.

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Business has been picking up lately. I think this is due, in part, to the new processes I have created. When I meet with a prospective client for the first time, I have a “track” to follow. Included in this track are three questionnaires. The first is a qualitative questionnaire asking how their parents handled money, what their goals are, etc. The next questionnaire is called “What’s Important to You?,” and the last is named “Conflicts of Interest.” This has proven to be a concise way to determine if a good fit exists.

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Office Space

As you probably know by now, I am settled in my new office, but there are a few outstanding items to address. I plan to purchase a computer tower with a wireless keyboard & mouse so I won’t have to move my laptop into the conference room every time I want to use the plasma TV. I know it’s just a small convenience, but it will be nice to have something more permanent there. I plan to wait until the markets improve before doing this.

Web Site

There is a little more work to do here. The “front end” or public portion of the site is nearly complete. I plan to add a series of videos at some point. One video will be an introduction to my company. Another would explain my financial planning service and a third will provide an overview of my approach to the investment process.

The back end of the site is under development. It will contain a private, password-protected portal where I (or my clients) will be able to upload certain documents such as tax returns, wills, etc. This will serve as a kind of central repository for important documents. Once it is completed, I will have to decide if I’ll continue using my current CMS software.

Although I like ACT and find it easy to use, it is not very integrated with the rest of my technology. Therefore, I will probably switch to Salesforce.com sometime later this year or early 2010. Salesforce.com will integrate extremely well with the back end of my Web site and will open up some tremendous possibilities.

The company I am using for this development is called Manage-Trak; its proprietary technology is very impressive.

Encrypted E-mail, Anyone?

Manage-Trak also offers a service which will allow me to send sensitive data via e-mail. The data is encrypted and thus protected from theft. For a mere $50 per month, I can further protect the confidentiality of my client’s information. It’s also very easy to use. I’ll write more on this as I become more familiar with the service.

New Custodian

I have received a number of requests from advisors who are considering switching custodians. I read recently that there will probably be a large numbers of brokers migrating from the wirehouse and bank platforms as the economy recovers. I am still pleased with my choice, but I do have a few comments which I will share in my next blog.

Thanks for reading!