I start my day as a student of wealth and engage my time and energy to find out ways of expressing myself as a million dollar financial adviser. Half way through my day, I spend time on calls talking to people, connecting with them and helping them along.
I feel blessed being into advisory business and I think that every adviser has in him the potential to show up as a million dollar adviser in his client’s financial life. A million dollar adviser is the one who creates his/her special place in the hearts of his clients. It certainly goes beyond advice and fees.
I want to develop myself and would love to see more and more advisers to show up as million dollar advisers because I know that good and authentic advice has a lot of power in it. You will find three types of advisory services in India:
- Sales driven – where the primary goal is to sell as many, high margin investment products as possible
- Goal driven – where the primary goal is to help people create a logical, rational investment plan that helps in meeting goals (and they charge a fixed fee for)
- Change driven – where the primary goal is to create as much positive change as possible for their clients (which could also involve helping them work with emotional issues / relationship to money issues / etc)
Here are 11 things to look into your Financial Advisor
1. Your Adviser has to be RICH
If he is not rich how will he make you rich? His financial life has to be inspiring and should demonstrate how to live an extra-ordinary financial life. He is rich not just in terms of money but with the overall richness. He is rich with in his thoughts, with ideas, and with speaking and listening. You should feel empowered in every interaction you have with your adviser.
2. Who is ready to give a sweet kick on your ass
True advice may not be always sweet to hear and easy to digest. Million dollar advisors are fearless; they will step forward whenever they see casualness or reasons in their clients. They will fill your financial life with the right rigor. If the adviser really cares for his client than he won’t care how it will look to his client!
You may not like your adviser when he will do this but this will really move things in your financial life. He should be able to tell you the truth. Working with a million dollar adviser is never easy you need high level of commitment and should be willing to pay high fees to receive such high value.
3. Has a clear intention
Nothing happens outside of an intention, by ‘nothing’ I really mean nothing! It is very important to identify the intention of the person you are choosing. Intention is what will convert into actions when you will move forward with your adviser. All the make-up will wear off after a few meetings and the real intention (face) becomes visible.
Watch this video to know the types of financial advisers in India and their roll:
4. Work speaks more than experience or certification
When I started my practice I was really inspired by L Dolan who was a very famous Time Management Consultant. He used to advice mostly companies and groups. He had no visiting card, no brochure, no website, no videos or audio to show his work to his prospects. Yet he had 100% conversion.
All those who contacted him always became his clients. If someone wants to hire him he would send a box full of 500 hand-written heartfelt letters (Transformative Testimonials). This is what he used to do with all prospects and his conversion was 100%. His work would always get him more work.
It does not matter how many plans your advisor has created; what matters is how many financial lives they have changed. Even a new advisor can achieve this, he may have just one client’s work behind him but this one client’s transformation can lead him to become a million dollar advisor.
5. Advice Comes with Money Back Guarantee
A million dollar advisor has full confidence in his work and his ability to advice. If he feels you are not ready to work with him he will say a clear NO to you. He is not needy as needy is creepy. He has the guts to turn your offer down.
It is not the fees that will determine his choice it is your overall attitude that matters to him. Giving a money back guarantee is not to lure an investor or as a marketing gimmick but this is the confidence he has in his own work and his abilities.
6. One who helps you to un-learn
The real change and transformation comes from unlearning and you advisor has to help you attain this skill. This brings a change in ‘who you are’ as an investor as your myths and non-supportive beliefs about wealth creation gets stripped off.
7. Experts connect you with other experts
A real expert always connects you with other experts as he is always surrounded by good experts. If your advisor is a million dollar adviser he will connect you with the best of the experts or companies available in the market with different solutions for you. He will connect you with the best of the best so that things move faster in your financial life.
8. Does not believe in customers are always right
This is one of the best ways to measure your adviser. Do something stupid or commit a mistake and see what your adviser does with it- he is accepting your mistake, or appreciates you or gives you a negative feedback that “YOU ARE WRONG”.
All those advisory who believe in customers are always right are NOT million dollar advisers. They are moving in the market only to get business and to please people and not to serve people.
9. Helps you transform your financial habits
This is one area where most planners and investors do not focus. We are creatures of our habits some are supportive and some are not. Till you do not identify your unsupportive financial habits the world’s best advice won’t help you grow.
10. When shit happens he helps you to convert it into fertilizer
Our financial life is always a mix of good and bad experiences. It is not possible to find a person who always had only good experiences in his financial life. The million dollar adviser helps you grow from your mistakes. He talks about possibilities and helps you win with the cards you have.
Your million dollar adviser will make you okay with all these good and bad experiences and helps you grow.
11. One who Walks the Talk
Financial planners are not movie stars who are free not to use products/service that they endorse. True advice is not given, it is simply shared. Most planners don’t have their own financial plan because investors never ask for it. Your Planner has to have his own finances in place.
He should have his goals in place; and should be having his finances in place, he has his own strategies in place and sees that his financial goals are inspiring, full of life and energy. He has to be a disciplined investor himself. He himself is relaxed in the area of money.
The bottom line is your million dollar advisor is a stand for your financial success. He Helps you win with the cards you have, He will make money when you make money; He will suggest you products that he is ready to buy. Do share your views on the above 11 ways and which one is most appealing to you as an investor.
This week
- Decide if you need professional help in your financial life or not?
- What kind of advisor you would love to work with sales driven, Goal driven or Change driven? Are you ready to make a financial commitment?
- Which of the above qualities you would like to see in your advisor?
This article is written by Nandish Desai and he likes to put his thoughts on Financial Coaching Conversations here on this blog