Twenty years ago, leading your financial advice with planning was innovative and set advisory businesses apart from the competition. But the industry has since caught up. Financial planning is now just “business as usual,” particularly for high-net-worth clients, and it’s a wonderful client-centric evolution for financial services. However, it begs the question: If everyone is offering planning services to high-net-worth clients, how can you stand out among your competitors?
The next opportunity to differentiate yourself as an advisor is to focus on what I call the “Whole Client Approach.” This approach covers a variety of topics like client values and priorities, family learning and engagement and referral resources.
Here’s how the “Whole Client Approach” works:
Define Client Values and Priorities Through a Structured Discovery Process.
Traditional client discovery is typically a one-way value-add for the advisor. The client spends their time answering questions and rarely walks away with new insights. I propose a different approach that provides more benefit for your client. Develop a discovery process that allows the client to uncover new insights and gain clarity on what is important to their family, not just what is top of mind. This takes work on your part to develop a structured process that includes qualitative issues and allows your client to truly reflect on their values and priorities.
Use Family Meetings and Next-Gen Curriculum to Improve Family Engagement.
High-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth families are looking for resources that can help them navigate family conversations on wealth. I think most of us can relate to wanting to help our children thrive and provide them with further opportunities without dampening their independent drive to forge their own path. You can help clients prepare that next generation through regular and productive family meetings. This is also an opportunity to connect with your next client. According to research by Cerulli, more than 70% percent of inheritors change financial advisors because they do not have a strong connection to the current advisor. Additionally, consider developing a next-gen engagement plan for your clients’ children and grandchildren.
Develop a Lifestyle Referral Network to Expand Your High-Net-Worth Services to Clients.
As wealth increases, so does complexity for many clients. For example, many high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals have multiple residences, car collections and a desire to financially set up their family for the future. Your office may not have the expertise to advise on all of these areas, but you can still be central to ensuring they are addressed by creating a network of experts to call on for assistance. Developing a lifestyle resource network can reinforce your value and keep you at the center, especially for your largest clients and opportunities. Some examples include college admissions consultants, household staffing agencies, collectibles specialists and medical concierge experts. Sharing contacts across your peer group is a way to start building your network. Your firm may also have a group that manages a database of contacts for this exact purpose.
In today’s world, it is hard to find the time to manage more areas for each of your clients. However, by taking a “Whole Client Approach”, starting with values and priorities, allows you to focus your business on what matters most to each client, ultimately saving you time, adding more value to your services and growing your client relationships. This approach can also differentiate you from your peers and resonates with prospects and clients alike. The sooner you tailor your processes and services, the sooner you will turn clients and prospects into raving fans.
Anna Howard, is a senior vice president and head of LPL Financial's Private Wealth channel.