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Author Archive | Adam Kornegay

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Planning Your Client Communications

By on December 12, 2018 in Clients, Communication & Education, Planning

Our last two posts (Stop Touching Your Clients and The Ways and Means of Client Communication) emphasized the importance of being intentional in your client communications. As we prepare to enter a new calendar year, take time to plan when you will communicate with your clients.  Here are three simple ways to do that. 1. Create a plan for the new year.  Start with a calendar and pick the days you want to commemorate with clients. Most advisors and planners provide some type of holiday greeting at Thanksgiving or in […]

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The Ways and Means of Client Communication

By on December 4, 2018 in Clients, Communication & Education

Last week we wrote about why and when you should reach out to your clients.  One of the points we made was that just because you think something is important doesn’t mean your clients do as well. The same is true for how you reach out to your clients.  Just because a certain type of communication works for you doesn’t mean that’s how your clients want to hear from you. Let’s discuss some of the ways and means of client communication: Group messaging through newsletters, email or social media. A broadcast […]

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Stop Touching Your Clients!

By on November 28, 2018 in Clients, Communication & Education

Perhaps the one piece of marketing advice that annoys us the most is that you must “touch” your clients X many times in a year. We have yet to meet someone who said, “Oh, you should work with my advisor, he ‘touches base’ with me every month!” Similarly, we’ve never heard of the magical “12th touch” that pushes a client into the category of “extremely satisfied” and leads to an avalanche of referrals. Keep in mind that your advice is the product, and your service is the wrapper.  Your clients […]

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Coaching

Solving the Biggest Challenges for New(er) Advisors

By on November 14, 2018 in Business Development, Coaching, Growth

When we work with new (or newer) financial advisors, there are three themes we hear consistently: I never feel like I know enough. I want to help people, but when I talk about what I do, I always feel like a sleazy salesperson. I wish I had others I could talk to. The Imposter – For many younger advisors, it’s not easy to give advice to people the same age as your parents or grandparents.  Couple that with the fear that you just don’t “know enough,” and it can be […]

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Are You Ready?

By on October 2, 2018 in Growth

Are you ready for it?  You know, the question that always comes when you are just getting to know someone in a new group in your community.  The one that goes like this: “So…what do you do for work?” Many advisors stumble or are less effective than they want to be when someone asks about their work.  Sometimes they’ll launch into a “value proposition” because that’s what they were trained to say.  Or they’ll simply respond with, “I’m a financial advisor,” and expect that the other person will know exactly […]

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Show Them Who You Are!

By on September 18, 2018 in Growth, Networking

Last week we wrote that one key to success with community involvement is joining a group that you would join if even if you weren’t a financial advisor. Another key to success is finding ways to demonstrate the characteristics that people value in a financial advisor.  What are those characteristics?  Here are a few: Good communication skills Pleasant demeanor Care and concern for others Honesty/trustworthiness Willingness and ability to get things done When others observe those characteristics in your community involvement, they’ll assume that’s what they would see in you as […]

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Community Involvement – Finding Your Place

By on September 11, 2018 in Growth, Networking

Community involvement can be one of the easiest ways to grow your network.  Rather than reaching out to new prospects one by one, getting involved with community organizations connects you with groups of people with similar interests. The key is to get involved with groups that you would join even if you weren’t a financial advisor.  If your heart’s not in it, it’ll show. I’m loosely defining “group” as an entity where there’s a unifying purpose.  It doesn’t have to be a purpose with a capital “P.”  Rather, something as […]

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What Your COI Needs to Know

By on August 28, 2018 in Growth, Messaging, Networking, Referrals

In last week’s post, Unconventional Centers of Influence, guest contributor Bob David shared some out-of-the-box thinking about centers of influence.  Essentially, anyone who comes into regular contact with your niche could potentially become a center of influence. Once you’ve identified some of these COIs, the next question is, what do you want the COI to know about you? The three most important items are: Who you help How you help them What to do next First, you need to share who you help, and details really do matter.  Don’t just […]

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Everyone Gets a Next Action

By on May 1, 2018 in Client Service, Clients, Growth

The disappointment in his voice was palpable.  He blew it. And he knew it. I was facilitating a group coaching call when I heard his story. Jake was a new advisor with a decidedly old-school approach to contact management. Rather than spend hours learning (and fighting with) the latest, new-fangled CRM system, he liked the simplicity and efficiency of a paper planner. The problem came when he suddenly realized – a full three weeks too late – that he missed the promised date for his proposal. Taken in isolation, you […]

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Principled Persuasion or Malevolent Manipulation?

By on April 24, 2018 in Clients, Messaging

Groucho Marx is purported to have said, “The secret to life is honest and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”  Ironically, there is some debate on the internet as to whether he was the originator of that phrase.  Of course, as Abraham Lincoln often said, “You can’t believe everything you read on the internet.” I recently had the honor of appearing on the You’re a Financial Planner, Now What podcast with Hannah Moore.   At one point during the podcast, I made the point that one […]

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