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Wall Street Journal: Three Words of Advice for Million-Dollar Producers
by Dan Richards,
The financial advisor careers section of Wall Street Journal asked 60 advisors from all over the U.S. for suggestions to new advisors starting in the business whose goals were to be million-dollar producers. Their advice came down to three words.
Five Steps to Succeed in the Retirement Market
by Dan Richards,
We've all seen the statistics on the number of boomers entering retirement. And every advisor has been told of the opportunities as new retirees shift from accumulating assets to accessing those savings. Tapping into the retirement is too important to be left to chance - you need a plan. Here are the five steps to make this happen.
Two Simple Questions to Motivate Your Assistant
by Dan Richards,
High on the list of holiday wishes for many advisors would be a cheerful, motivated, efficient team, united in the common goal of moving your business forward. And while you have no control over many things, you have a great deal of influence over how well your team operates.
Three Steps for Effective Client Meetings
by Dan Richards,
Unless you achieve a few key objectives, your client meetings will be unproductive. You need to calm your clients' nerves, reassure them about their portfolio and instill confidence that they're working with the right advisor. Here's a three-step process to make that happen.
What Clients can Learn from the Four Worst Market Calls Ever
by Dan Richards,
Bad investment advice can come from many sources, but perhaps none has been worse than what was offered by four experts whose media profile exceeded their investment acumen: Irving Fisher, Joe Granville, Robert Prechter and Henry Blodget. Here's some historical context and practical advice to help clients avoid the trap of listening to the gurus who dominate newspaper headlines.
A Unique Way to Help Clients Close the Retirement Gap
by Dan Richards,
Clients facing a shortfall in retirement savings can bridge that gap in many ways. But one technique is often neglected: spending reductions - even small ones - in their everyday lives. A new web site gives clients the tools to quantify and manage those reductions.
How a Trivial Oversight Created a Big Problem
by Dan Richards,
Over 25 years working with advisors, I've learned that while you need to get the big things right, small issues are often much more important than they appear on the surface. Last week I met with a 25-year industry veteran who told me about a big price he paid for a seemingly minor oversight.
Focusing on Relationships is a Mistake: Harvard Business School
by Dan Richards,
Conventional wisdom says that when it comes to client loyalty and profitable businesses, deep relationships are what counts. But a September Harvard Business Review article raised some important questions about whether this is the case.
A Q3 Client Letter Drawing on Buffett?s Optimism 'The U.S. is coming back now' - and why three inves
by Dan Richards,
Since 2008, each quarter I have posted a template for a letter to clients; these are consistently among my most popular articles. This quarter's letter provides clients with perspective on the recent market turmoil.
Two Minutes that Cost a Client
by Dan Richards,
Just because you haven't heard from clients doesn't mean they're not stewing about the impact of market events on their portfolio and wondering why they haven't heard from you. Recently, an advisor's failure to take two minutes out of his day made this point painfully clear.
New Research on Attracting HNW Clients
by Dan Richards,
When it comes to winning new clients, most advisors think they need to persuade prospects to replace their existing advisors. But new research shows that an easier course of action is to persuade those prospects that they should supplement the advisor they are currently using. This is especially the case if you're working with high net worth investors.
Warren Buffett's Advice on Effective Client Meetings
by Dan Richards,
For many clients, the regrettable reality is that meeting with their advisor is no longer an uplifting experience. Here are three steps to make meetings with clients a more positive experience, so that they?re not seen as akin to a visit to the dentist.
What to Tell Clients Today - Ten Tips for Effective Client Communication
by Dan Richards,
Given the recent market tumult, many advisors know they should be communicating with clients, but hesitate because of uncertainty about what to say and apprehension about making things worse rather than better. Here are five general guidelines for client communication in turbulent markets and five tips for crafting the message that you send today.
Why Investors are 'Mad as Hell' ? And what you can do about it
by Dan Richards,
Last Friday, Jason Zweig of the Wall Street Journal wrote about fear and anger as the two dominant attitudes of American investors today ? fear about their future and anger at those they see as responsible for the latest crisis. Today's investor psyche has fundamental implications that will require changes in how you interact with clients. Before getting into how to respond, let?s look at what's driving today's mindset.
Tapping into 'The Power of Three'
by Dan Richards,
One area on which there's a growing body of evidence is the optimum number of examples to use and alternatives to provide when talking to an existing or prospective client. You want to provide enough examples to communicate that you've done your homework without having people feel overwhelmed.
How Conservative Investing Threatens Retirement
by Dan Richards,
Just as the Great Depression left a generation with a poverty mentality that still persists, the two bear markets of the last 10 years risk shaped an entire generation's attitude to investing. That's a key finding from a survey of affluent Americans commissioned by Merrill Lynch and released earlier this year, and it raises important implications for how financial advisors should deal with conservatively-minded investors.
Seven Implications for the Coming Retirement Revolution
by Dan Richards,
Most advisors look to seniors as a core part of their client base. That's why it's essential to understand how boomers are going to transform retirement, just as they have redefined every other stage of their lives. Let's look at three new pieces of research and the seven implications they carry for retirement planning.
Ten Minutes to Much More Effective Client Meetings
by Dan Richards,
Given the importance of client reviews, advisors should always be alert for ways to make them more effective. Recently, I spoke to an advisor who made a simple change to meeting agendas and saw a significant improvement as a result.
Jeremy Siegel - Why I Changed My Mind about Index Funds (Video)
by Dan Richards,
Jeremy Siegel, the Russell E. Palmer Professor of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, discusses what caused him to reject capitalization-weighted market indexes and what he chose instead. This is a video of the interview.
Jeremy Siegel - Why I Changed My Mind about Index Funds
by Dan Richards,
Jeremy Siegel, the Russell E. Palmer Professor of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, discusses what caused him to reject capitalization-weighted market indexes and what he chose instead. This is a transcript of the interview.
Getting Prospects to Return Voice Mails
by Dan Richards,
Given the unrelenting demands on everyone's time, we can no longer take it for granted that prospects will return our calls - and even clients are slower to return calls. That said, there are two things that will increase the chances of your calls being returned.
An End-of-Quarter Letter to Clients
by Dan Richards,
Given recent unrest in Europe and uncertainty about economic growth, many clients are looking to their advisors for direction. This template for an end-of-quarter letter is a starting point for your own letter to clients, one that can be a catalyst for a conversation about how to position portfolios.
A Million Dollar Meeting Gone Wrong - A Lost Prospect Tells All
by Dan Richards,
Over lunch last week, a long-time friend who's a partner at a Toronto law described a recent meeting with a financial advisor seeking his business and how some subtle errors and obvious mistakes cost the advisor the opportunity to do business.
How to Get in Front of High-net Worth Prospects
by Dan Richards,
Last week, I got a call from an advisor who used a simple idea to set up meetings with three $2 million prospects. This advisor used some research from one of my recent columns to jumpstart conversations about critical issues for the wealthy.
A Proven Path to Business Breakthroughs
by Dan Richards,
In my conversations with advisors, implementing change often tops the list of business challenges and frustrations. To advance your business, one proven strategy that has demonstrated remarkable success over not just years but decades is tapping into the power of peer-performance groups.
A Cautionary Tale from the World's Most Influential Economist
by Dan Richards,
Raghuram Rajan was recently cited by The Economist as having the most important ideas for the post-crisis world. In this interview, he identifies key policy issues the Obama administration must confront. This is a transcript of the interview.
A Cautionary Tale from the World's Most Influential Economist - Video
by Dan Richards,
Raghuram Rajan was recently cited by The Economist as having the most important ideas for the post-crisis world. In this interview, he identifies key policy issues the Obama administration must confront. This is a video of the interview.
Doubling the Turnout to Client Events
by Dan Richards,
Many advisors are puzzled and frustrated by just how hard it is to get clients to show up when they organize events for them. Achieving great turnout isn?t easy, but it can be done - I recently spoke to an advisor who made a couple of simple changes to his annual event and doubled attendance as a result.
Red Flags for Advisors - Communication Gaps with Affluent Clients
by Dan Richards,
When hard facts come to light that contradict your preconceptions, it's time to sit back and reassess your thinking. That's exactly what advisors should do following a new research study of Americans with at least $3 million in investments.
When to Bring up Referrals
by Dan Richards,
Advisors often ask me what should be the right frequency with which to raise referrals with clients. Some advisors are hesitant to introduce the topic of referrals at all. Balancing that reluctance, one advisor told me about a direct connection between how frequently he talks to clients about referrals and the chances that referrals will follow as a result - the more often he raises this, the more often referrals will follow.
A Unique Way to Engage Key Clients
by Dan Richards,
Many advisors struggle with ways to deepen relationships with top clients. My conversations with top-performing advisors have shown that many succeed at building those relationships by rejecting the approach most advisors employ, and instead adopting an unconventional and low-cost approach built around special events.
Four Ways to Make Recommendations Stick
by Dan Richards,
All too many client conversations are monologues, with the advisor talking and clients listening. Even when you ask if clients have questions, they say 'no.' If you want clients to buy into your recommendations, you have to engage them in conversation.
Seven Ways to Communicate with Confidence
by Dan Richards,
Whether talking to a prospect or making a recommendation to an existing client, many advisors believe that the key to effective communication is what you say. As important - and maybe more important - is your delivery. The most carefully crafted sentences won't be persuasive if they're not delivered confidently and with conviction.
Two Critical Lessons from Japan An End-of-Quarter Letter to Clients
by Dan Richards,
Given recent events in Japan and North Africa, many clients are looking to their advisors for direction on what they should do. This template for an end-of-quarter letter is intended to be a starting point for your letter to clients.
A Call That Will Blow Clients Away
by Dan Richards,
Many businesses point to a commitment to service as their competitive advantage ... although many more companies talk about exceptional service than actually deliver it. That's why I was struck by a financial advisor's story about a shopping excursion for hiking boots, with a key message about delivering service that truly stands out.
Nine Words that Saved $600,000
by Dan Richards,
Nearly 15 years ago, the owner of a successful Chicago restaurant realized that no-shows were costing him $900,000 annually. Then he made one simple change that cut his no-show rate by two-thirds, from 30 % to 10% ... saving him $600,000 yearly. This change has powerful implications for advisors trying to advance relationships with prospective clients.
When Alzheimer?s Strikes: Five Ways to Respond
by Dan Richards,
Creating strong bonds with key clients means letting them know you understand their important issues, not just the ones related to their finances. Few issues are as important as your clients? health, and few health struggles are as challenging as Alzheimer?s.
Simon Johnson on the Unconscionable Risks We Face - Video
by Dan Richards,
Simon Johnson is a professor of economics at MIT and was the chief economist for the International Monetary Fund. In this interview, he explains why the underlying factors which led to the financial crisis remain unresolved. This is the video; a transcript is also available.
Simon Johnson on the Unconscionable Risks We Face
by Dan Richards,
Simon Johnson is a professor of economics at MIT and was the chief economist for the International Monetary Fund. In this interview, he explains why the underlying factors which led to the financial crisis remain unresolved. This is the transcript; a video is also available.
Results 251–300
of 434 found.
