Experience is the Difference
I’ve experienced two turning points that led to the development of FAN's Coach-Training for Insurance and Financial Advisors. The first came in the FPA Residency Program when I learned that my clients’ dreams matter more than selling them products. If we focus on uncovering and honoring what matters most to our clients, my mentors assured me, we’ll build trusting relationships with them, and they’ll buy far more products from us because they don’t feel pressured to buy. The second turning point came close on the heels of the first. I attended a weeklong Values-Based Sales Academy conducted by Bill Bachrach, and he taught me the valuable skills of engaging in a “values conversation” with my clients. Bill’s approach begins with the powerful question: “What’s important about money to you?” He also provided a powerful tool, his “Financial Roadmap,” to help financial professionals take their clients through the planning process.
I owe a lot to my mentors in the FPA Residency Program and to Bill Bachrach, and in fact, my career is based on the principles and perspectives I learned from these people. As I began using these lessons with my clients, I quickly realized two important things: Building trust was the most important beginning point for helping my clients, and I needed a tool that more closely fit my situation. Bill’s Roadmap is terrific, but it is designed primarily for Advisors who want to serve only HNW clients and are paid primarily for assets under management. Bill's "Roadmap" was great for helping clients see the big picture of their investments but I needed something to help me better manage the other elements of the financial life planning process - including insurance. I wanted and needed something that worked just as well with people across the spectrum of accumulated assets. I needed a tool that was powerful, authentic, and effective. And, it had to be transferable. As I began to form alliances with other specialists, I realized another benefit of having a transferable instrument: If every member of my alliance used the same tool, we’d form a stronger bond, communicate more clearly with our clients, and provide better service because we connected with clients about their hearts’ desires. That’s the reason I developed the “Blueprint for Financial Success.” In FAN's coach training, I spell out the process of using the Blueprint, but I certainly don’t insist that you use it. If you have another tool that is transferable, clarifies clients’ dreams by focusing on what matters most to them, and motivates them to engage in a holistic planning process, by all means, use it!
Most CFPs® do in their sleep what the Blueprint is designed to accomplish for other Insurance and Financial Advisors. Many financial services professionals, though, don’t have that training. They feel enormous pressure to sell, but among the myriad of sales tools provided by their companies, they don’t have a useful, transferable tool that fills the bill of focusing on what matters most to the client. As a State Farm agent I use the Blueprint with my clients, and I train my alliance partners to use it, too. That way, we’re all on the same page, and our clients have more confidence in us as a synergy of specialists.
The elements of the Blueprint are:
- Part 1: What Matters Most,
- Part 2: Current Financial Position,
- Part 3: Specific Financial Goals, and
- Part 4: Achieving Your Financial Goals.
The Blueprint is designed to be used in three meetings with the client. Some Insurance and Financial Advisors think they can do everything they need to do with a client in one meeting, but that’s selling, not serving. If we genuinely want to help people connect their resources to what matters most, we need to take the time to uncover their dreams, determine their financial realities, and prioritize their goals.