Financial Advisor Success Podcast Archives

Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 442nd episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is David Bahnsen. David is the founder of The Bahnsen Group, an RIA based in Newport Beach, California, that oversees approximately $7.5 billion in assets under management for 1,800 client households.

What's unique about David, though, is how his firm has been able to attract $100 million in new client assets per month thanks in large part to his content creation and public commentary on investment markets as well as issues that advisors often avoid, including religion and politics.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how David's weekly market commentaries (which he has written since 2008 and draws 15,000 weekly viewers across blog, podcast, and video formats) familiarize readers with his firm's investment approach and put it top-of-mind when they are ready to seek out a financial advisor, how David has written multiple books on markets and his other passions that not only have educated readers on his views on these issues but also have led to many television appearances that have expanded his reach further, and how being public with his opinions on divisive topics has allowed David to demonstrate competence and likeability, attracting to his firm both like-minded consumers and some who might disagree with him but appreciate his willingness to be candid.

We also talk about how David's transition from focusing on both business development and client service to spend much of his time on content creation (reducing his client count from 180 to 20 in the process) has led to explosive asset and client growth in his firm during the past several years, why David focuses on hiring advisors with talent in financial planning and relationship management (rather than prospecting, given the robust lead pipeline his content generates), and how David has implemented a pay model that offers advisors a base salary in their early years while providing for significant income upside through revenue-based compensation (and a path to partnership) as they serve more (and higher-net-worth) clients over time.

And be certain to listen to the end, where David shares why he decided to incorporate tax preparation into his firm not as a profit center but rather as a way to offer a comprehensive financial services offering for clients (helping the firm close more prospects and maintain higher client satisfaction in the process), how David has found success opening offices located away from coastal population centers (not only to attract clients in those cities but also to demonstrate that they are a truly national firm), and how David, after growing a successful firm, is now focused on opportunities for his firm's advisors to develop in their careers as well as the ultimate stewardship of his business.

So, whether you're interested in learning about leveraging content across multiple media to attract like-minded clients, transitioning from a lead advisor to management role, or the decision making behind opening offices in new locations, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with David Bahnsen.

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Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 438th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is Nikki Savage. Nikki is a senior director in the Tampa, Florida, office of the RIA Sequoia Financial Group, where she manages approximately $150 million in assets under management for 100 client households.

What's unique about Nikki, though, is how she has been able to boost client retention and satisfaction by asking key questions that help her reach a deeper level of understanding with prospects and clients and ultimately provide them with a higher level of service.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how Nikki uses a series of questions to dig deep into a client's background to ensure they feel heard, understood, and cared for, how Nikki views the importance of having a good match between an advisor's strengths and personality and their clients' needs (and why this suggests that not every advisor-client relationship is a good fit), and how Nikki adds a personal touch to client gifts in order to ensure they stand out and cement lasting relationships (improving client retention in the process).

We also talk about how Nikki tends to avoid small talk when starting client meetings, preferring to instead follow up directly on a previously discussed event in their personal lives (demonstrating her ability to see them as unique individuals), Nikki's tactics for addressing mistaken assumptions prospects and clients sometimes bring to the table to calm their nerves during market volatility and keep them focused on their goals, and how Nikki prepares a customized meeting summary and follow-on task list (and has the client acknowledge that it reflects  their experience in the meeting as well before it is finalized) to further ensure clients feel heard and understood.

And be certain to listen to the end, where Nikki shares how she creates meaningful in-person events that bring together clients and prospects who fit her ideal client persona to discuss their challenges in a comfortable environment, how Nikki learned how to filter out worthwhile feedback from the constant barrage of (often unsolicited) opinions on how she should operate her practice, and how Nikki's career path has led her to a firm that allows her to build and run her practice in a way that's aligned with her values so she can be her authentic self when meeting with prospects and clients.

So, whether you're interested in learning about how to dig deep into a client's background to build stronger relationships and promote client retention, creating meaningful in-person events that can generate interest from new prospects, or how to build a practice that's aligned with one's values, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Nikki Savage.

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Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 436th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is Nicole Gopoian Wirick. Nicole is the president of Prosperity Wealth Strategies, an RIA based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, that oversees $70 million in assets under management for 40 client households.

What's unique about Nicole, though, is how she hired a branding consultant soon after going out on her own as an independent advisory firm to help her create a unique brand identity that reflects her approach to financial planning, has helped her attract and connect with clients who fit her ideal client persona, and now serves as the filter for evaluating whether any marketing strategy if even worth her time to pursue.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how the branding consultant encouraged Nicole to first take a step back and explore big picture questions for what she wanted from her firm (such as what an ideal day would look like for her) rather than just starting with the characteristics of her target clientele, how Nicole (based on the results from this exercise) then created her "brand DNA" (which as Nicole puts it is "compassionate conversations coupled with planning tenacity") that serves as the bedrock of both her business plan and her marketing plan including  social media and even speaking engagements (and helps her save time by avoiding marketing tactics that don't fit with her brand identity), and how Nicole incorporates her branding and the language on her website to attract prospects who fit her ideal client persona of those with $2 million to $10 million in investible assets and an interest in going deep on complex financial planning issues (particularly around estate planning, legacy planning, and philanthropy).

We also talk about how Nicole, from the early days of her firm (when she had fewer clients and more time) proactively reached out to centers of influence (such as attorneys and CPAs) and tapped into her own personal network to build connections that have led to client introductions over time (even though most didn't produce immediate results), how Nicole's planning focus on going deep into estate and legacy planning issues has built a high level of trust with her clients that has led to subsequent referrals to other members of the same family, and why despite all the branding and marketing effort, Nicole does not intend for her website to be the first interaction that brings a prospect in to her… but is crucial nonetheless because even referrals still want to validate by checking her out online to affirm that she would be a good fit for them after being introduced.

And be certain to listen to the end, where Nicole shares how she is evolving her branding to be less founder-centric as she seeks to expand her advisory team beyond herself, how Nicole uses executive summaries (presented to clients in PowerPoint) to explain financial planning recommendations (leaving the output of planning software as an appendix for the few clients who do want to dig into the numbers), and how Nicole handled the ups and downs of breaking away from a larger advisory firm to start her own from scratch, including how she found motivation from being active (for example, by successfully onboarding a new client) rather than just tracking her marketing efforts alone.

So, whether you're interested in learning about hiring an external branding consultant to shape an advisory firm's brand, putting a firm's "brand DNA" into practice in marketing, or how going deep into estate and legacy planning can help build a high level of trust with clients, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Nicole Gopoian Wirick.

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Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 435th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is Gideon Drucker. Gideon is the CEO of Drucker Wealth, a hybrid advisory firm based in New York City, that oversees approximately $1 billion in assets under management for 800 client households.

What's unique about Gideon, though, is how he initiated a "Wealth Builder" offering serving high-income next-generation clients (within a firm that historically had worked primarily with retirees) that in just five years has added 275 high-value client households and has become the primary growth driver for Drucker Wealth.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how Gideon shaped his firm's staffing to have a higher ratio of advisors to operations staff to serve clients on the Wealth Builder side (given the often extensive planning needs of mid-career professionals) compared to the firm's retired clients (whose plans often stay relatively stable but who need regular portfolio withdrawals), how Gideon ensured that his firm's Wealth Builder clients would be profitable by instituting a $5,000 minimum fee for new clients (while recognizing that the fast pace that many of these clients add to their assets means they will likely generate significantly higher fees from assets under management over time), and how Gideon linked the announcement of a more gradual fee minimum increase for current firm clients to the value that the firm was now providing them (finding that clients who were already taking full advantage of the firm's services were more likely to stay with the firm's new higher fees than those who were less engaged).

We also talk about how Gideon's early years in the industry cold-calling prospective clients inspired him to pursue a content-based approach to marketing that would be more sustainable in the long term (both for the business and for his own wellbeing), how Gideon produced a blog, book, and newsletter targeted at his ideal target client of high-income working-age professionals to build an audience and awareness of his firm, and how Gideon conducts regular webinars (with many attendees sourced from consumers of his written content) that provide education on both finance-related topics and his firm's planning process (and typically result in 10–15 introductory calls with his firm after each event).

And be certain to the end, where Gideon shares how the growth of his firm's Wealth Builder division (in terms of clients and services offered) led existing clients to make introductions that led to 50 introductory meetings last year (despite him not actively soliciting referrals), the importance Gideon puts on making the best possible hires for new positions (and how he approached the challenge of letting go employees who aren't a good fit for the firm), and how Gideon has thrived in the transition from being a primarily client-facing advisor to taking on leadership and business management roles (seeking to turn over more of the day-to-day client work to his advisor team).

So, whether you're interested in learning about building a sustainable next-gen service offering, effectively setting (and communicating) a minimum fee to ensure profitability, or marketing through content creation, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Gideon Drucker.

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