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Author Archive | Adam Kornegay

Look for organizations with people you'd like to have as clients.

Networking vs. Community Involvement

By on July 16, 2019 in Growth, Networking

I was speaking with a relatively new advisor the other day who was frustrated by his networking efforts.  He said, “I’m just not meeting anyone who can meet my firm’s minimums.” When I asked him what he was doing, he said he was primarily attending Young Professional events.  It didn’t take too many follow-up questions from me before he realized that spending time with that demographic wasn’t likely to yield many qualified prospects. The challenge is that to many advisors, “networking” means networking groups – groups that are specifically designed […]

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Crowd watching fireworks and celebrating

Celebrating Your Community

By on July 9, 2019 in Growth, Networking

I trust that you had an excellent Independence Day celebration.  My family and I enjoyed a classical music concert and fireworks in World’s Fair Park in downtown Knoxville, TN. We met up with friends and naturally ran into many more. There’s nothing quite like a community celebration to bring everyone together. I recently read about Dunbar’s number.  The University of Oxford anthropologist and psychologist Robin Dunbar found that no matter where you look, the average person on earth has about 150 close acquaintances.  So that means that every person you […]

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Taking Care of Business Checklist Get it Done 3d Illustration

Getting It Done

By on June 25, 2019 in Client Service, Clients

Last week I shared the story of John and Betty who wanted to update their beneficiary designations following a meeting with their estate planning attorney.  Although they called their advisor Dave immediately after the appointment, the designations were never changed. You can learn more about their story in Wait, What? This week we’ll explore what could have been done differently if Dave’s practice were following three key steps. 1.  Clarify what completion looks look like. John and Betty did not ask for a beneficiary update form.  A form is simply […]

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Shrugging, Ignorance, Confusion.

Wait, What?

By on June 19, 2019 in Client Service, Clients

To go along with this month’s theme of client service, here is a story I shared several years ago. After John & Betty finished meeting with their estate planning attorney, they were relieved that there was so little they needed to do.  The attorney’s office had already prepared the necessary documents prior to their arrival.  After a few rounds of signatures, the only thing left was to update the beneficiary information on their IRAs. Little did they know that a seemingly simple task was about to cause them months of […]

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15876033 - the great falls in paterson, new jersey

Newark Airport or the Garden State?

By on April 23, 2019 in Client Service, Messaging, Support

Whenever I meet someone from New Jersey, I like to ask, “What the biggest misconception that people have about the state of New Jersey?”  Their typical response is, “Newark does not represent our state.” It’s unfortunate that for many people flying into Newark Liberty airport, the industrial complex surrounding the airfield is the first impression they have of the Garden State.  It’s a shame because New Jersey is a beautiful state with stunningly picturesque landscapes.  Would you have guessed that the image above is from Paterson, New Jersey? When my […]

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Handsome man with glasses doing an oath on ocher background

Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say

By on April 16, 2019 in Client Service, Clients, Communication & Education

“He told me he’d call me back, but I’m not going to hold my breath.”  This is what I overheard someone say the other day. I’m not sure if she was talking about a business acquaintance or a potential boyfriend, but her tone was one of acceptance, not disappointment.  In other words, she’d come to expect it from this guy. One of the core components of a trusted advisor relationship is reliability: can others count on you to do what you say you are going to do?  Reliability is where […]

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Portrait business man blindfolded stretching his arms out walking through many questions isolated on gray wall background

What Are They Expecting?

By on April 10, 2019 in Client Service, Clients, Communication & Education

What if, the first time you went to a new dentist, the receptionist blindfolded you before leading you back to the exam room?  That would be unnerving, right?  Many people are anxious about going to the dentist anyway, let alone if they have to completely trust a stranger they can’t even see. Now, think about how your clients and prospects are likely to feel when they come to see you.  Do they know what to expect? Or will they experience a similar fear of the unknown? Anxiety comes from a lack of […]

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No brown ones

Details Matter!

By on April 2, 2019 in Clients, Messaging

What’s one word that you expect a Financial Advisor or Financial Planner never to misspell? How about “financial”? Oddly enough, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the word “financial” misspelled on LinkedIn, particularly on an advisor’s profile. I shake my head every time. Isn’t this is one of the first places that prospective clients will learn about you? Do you want sloppy and careless to be your defining characteristics? Details matter. A client or prospective client who sees a typographical or grammatical error is likely to think, […]

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14012689 - colorful wooden puzzle

Getting the Big Things Done

By on February 19, 2019 in Productivity

Of all the productivity tips I’ve learned and shared over the years, time-blocking has had the biggest impact – on me and on others with whom I’ve shared it. Perhaps you’ve heard the expression, “If you don’t plan your day, your day will plan you.” Time-blocking is a great way to plan your day (or week) in advance to get the big things done. I’ve also heard it referred to as timeboxing or creating a “model day.”  Like most of you, my introduction to the concept was from Stephen Covey.  […]

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Mastering Your Inbox

By on February 12, 2019 in Productivity

Some of our readers may remember when email was still so rare that it was actually exciting to hear the AOL voice say, “You’ve got mail!” People even sought out fun email notifications. Of course, as email usage grew rapidly, we had to mute our computers to avoid the annoying “ding” of email notifications. But even then, there’s the constant checking – for some it’s become an addiction! How can we be productive when we spend so much time checking our email? Given that we can’t pull the plug on […]

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