“If I’d asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have said a faster horse.” – Henry Ford
Monday, June 8th, 2009Ford’s comment is consistent with the thought that we don’t know what we don’t know.
As it relates to you, a striving to be even more successful financial advisor, your clients and prospective clients don’t know what they don’t know. They don’t know about the value they could be receiving from a truly, full-service, comprehensive financial services professional. All they know is what they have experienced with the traditional investment advisor. And that’s far from the best that’s available.
They don’t know 10 Deliverables and the sub-set 110 deliverables checklist exists.
I’ve read surveys of wealthier people where they report that, on average, they have 5 financial advisors each. The implication being that a financial advisor should not expect to get all of their money. My point of view is that this is only because they have not yet met ONE trustworthy advisor who stands out as capable of taking care of everything. Successful people, especially, are oriented to value and simplicity. If they thought one advisor could really take care of them they would hire that advisor and disengage from the others. Multiple advisors is not diversification.
What if Henry Ford had read a survey that said the average consumer owns 5 horses for transportation? Ford knew, instinctively, that when you build something better people will switch. Human beings are, by nature, improvement seeking beings. We naturally gravitate to things which make our lives better and simpler. There are exceptions, of course, but most of us adopt products and services which improve our lives. Notice how many cars there are on the road today compared to horses.
The question is, “how do you become that advisor who so clearly stands out as trustworthy and with superior capability?” As far as trustworthy, you are already that or not. As far as capability, check out Mark Little’s website www.trustedadvisortoolkit.com.
Maybe if you build it they won’t come. But, if you build it and make sure they know about it you will rapidly acquire all the Ideal Clients you need.
