Speaker 1  00:09

This is the Ultimate Advisor Podcast, the podcast for financial advisors who want to create a thriving, successful and scalable practice. Each week we'll uncover the ways that you can improve your referrals your team, your marketing, and your business operations, helping you to level up your advising practice, bring in more assets and create the advising practice that you've dreamed up, you'll be joined by your hosts Bryan Sweet, who has more than half a billion dollars in assets under management, Brittany Anderson, the driving force for advisors looking to hire improve their operations and company culture, and Draye Redfern who can help you systematize and automate your practices marketing to effortlessly attract new clients. So what do you say? Let's jump into another amazing episode of the Ultimate Advisor Podcast.

Brittany Anderson  01:00

Welcome back to your Ultimate Advisor podcast. Brittany Anderson here again with Bryan Sweet and Draye Redfern. We're going to continue on this challenge follow up if you don't know what I'm talking about. We just recently wrapped up our Ultimate Advisor challenge where we helped advisors become pipeline pros. And what that means is helping people close business that they've been stuck on helping them serve even more people and reach even more people so that they can, you know, share their expertise so that they can impact people's lives. You know, one of the big I guess, selling points, you could say is that Sweet, we've closed over 200 million and new assets in the last 18 months. Not saying that to be boastful. I'm saying that because this stuff works. And you know, one of the things that we opened with during the challenge week is that if you're showing up here, and this is relevant to listening to the podcast, as well, if you're showing up, you're thinking that I'm going to get a few good tips and I'm going to become an overnight success, I am going to triple my business, and I'm not going to have to hire anybody, and it's going to be the most amazing thing ever. Those are great ambitions, and I love you for your drive. But it's just not realistic. So a lot of these methods that we're talking about, it's things that happen over time, it's the small activities done continuously, that make the biggest difference. I know Bryan recently re read for the umpteenth time, probably Darren Hardy is the compound effect. I've read the book multiple times. I know Draye is familiar with the material too. And it really talks about how it's those small actions that make a big difference. And that actually turn that that 10 years that you spent into that overnight success. So anybody who says they're an overnight success, it's not true. I mean, it's been years and years of work and trials and tribulation, and failures and successes and tears and excitement, and everything in between sleepless nights, all that good stuff that we've all experienced at one point in time. So just to kind of set the framing for today, we're continuing on that conversation, pulling out some of the highlights from the challenge that advisors really grabbed on to that advisors that participated we're excited about. And today's topic is along at what Bryan mentioned last week, and that's talking about the good, aka the tag. So when you think about this, it's really a brilliant setup for not only closing more business, but also giving your team additional confidence. So again, the tag, what it stands for is talk about the good. Now there are so many instances and I could go on and on and on and on for hours on this, but I'm going to try to condense it into a few short examples to again, set the stage for the rest of today's podcast episode. So when we talk about a tag, you can have this happen within your qualifying process. So let's say a prospect calls in and they hit your secretary, they hit your receptionist, and they're like, Hey, I heard about Jim, through a friend or I read about him in an article, I'd love to get on his calendar to talk about how you might be able to help me with my finances. So instead of the receptionist saying Okay, great. Jim takes these kinds of appointments on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Let's go ahead and get you on the calendar. He'd be happy to talk to you. That's fine, and that's pleasant. And there's nothing necessarily wrong with it. Except at the same time. There's so much opportunity left on the table. So what if instead, your person was trained to make it seem like they are hitting the jackpot by getting on your calendar. So instead of saying, Okay, great, here's the days that that can happen and we're happy to talk to you. Your person says something like, Oh my gosh, you know what you are going to love Jim. Jim has an uncanny eye for detail. And I can tell just from our brief conversation here, that he is absolutely going to be a great resource to you. He is one of the most helpful people that I've ever known. And we are really excited to see you. That's a different tone. That's setting them up to seem like oh my gosh, Jim is the best person I'm ever going to meet probably. So again, it's just a reframing, it's a difference in conversation, and it's a different setup. The other thing that you can do, too, is let's say, You're an advisor who has other advisors in your office. And you're maybe at that point, I like to use Bryan, in this example. He's at the point where a lot of His focus is on the vision of the company. Where is the company going? What's the future hold? What else can we be doing for our clients? And how else can we serve them at an even grander capacity. So that's where he's spending his time, and he's seeing less and less clients. However, we have some amazing, perfectly capable, talented advisors on the team, who absolutely are going to serve the clients and maybe even serve them better, because it's their sole focus. That's what they're doing day in and day out, is creating plans is helping people navigate retirement, all of that stuff. So what Bryan does instead of just been like, Okay, great, yep, you know, thanks for the referral, Bob, I'm going to go ahead and set you up with Amber, she's great on the team, happy to do that happy to create that connection. Instead of saying something like that. He's saying, here's the deal, Bob, from what you've told me, Amber is going to be an absolute ideal match for you, you know, not only does she have the designations that you're looking for, and all that stuff you've said is important. But she has a true passion behind what she does. She doesn't see helping people create their wealth plans as a job. It's what she literally wakes up to do it, she cannot wait to get in front of people just like you and to help and to serve, and to create possibility for your future. That is a very different setup. So instead of feeling like you're downgraded to some other proverbial advisor in the office, because Bryan's too busy, that's not the case, they feel like they're actually being put in hands that are the best match for them. You can go even deeper on this thing, the people on your team who are going to serve a brand new client or a prospect. Again, instead of formulating an introduction that says, hey, Jessica, on our team, she's going to be here to answer questions and process paperwork for you. You're saying, you know what, Jessica is one of those people that you're going to feel like you've known for your entire life, she is going to treat you not just like a best friend, but like her family member, you will be in amazingly capable hands, she will not miss a detail along the way. And you're going to want to hug her every time you see her. Again, very different setup than here's the girl that processes your paperwork. Because we know behind the scenes, she does a heck of a lot more than that. Why are we keeping that a secret from the client or prospect? So again, this is what we mean by talking about the good. And Bryan, since you've had so much opportunity, especially recently, being able to have these conversations with clients and prospects and tag in the team members. I'd love for you to share your perspective on this.

Bryan Sweet  08:08

Yeah, love to Brittany, first of all, I just love your definition of an overnight success. So I had to chuckle when you said that. But you're 100% correct. I would still classify myself as the Rainmaker of the firm. It's just that I don't take on many new relationships myself. And Brittany described very eloquently what we do. And I couldn't agree more on how well that works. You really want to give confidence to the client when you're telling them to do something different than what maybe they're expecting. And so we use tagging, or I use tagging, in a lot of different situations. So as Brittany alluded to any new clients that might not fit my wheelhouse, but are a good fit for the firm. Right now amber is getting those because she is an amazingly talented young lady. And when you talk very highly about the skills, the talents, and that in some capacity, she's actually better at these skills than I ever will be, then they get excited about, oh, well, GM, she's probably even better than you then I would be for them. And so you just have to one give them permission, but also give them confidence so that they don't think like they've been shortchanged or in another second fiddle and, you know, get thrown to the, you know, the cheap seats of the office, if you will. So the other thing is Brittany alluded to is the client service. So one of the things that I will tell you is that you're only as strong as the team around you. And what you want to be doing is free yourself up to do Do the things one that you love to do, and that you're exceptional at? Well, I will tell you, if you start tagging people, that'll free up most of your time. So one of the things we've done is either educate if you want, or I like the word tagging better, all the team members in the office that do things that I'm not good at. And I don't want to do. And what will happen is pretty darn soon, the calls that usually came to you to do these things, they're calling Jessica, or they're calling Cali, or they're calling anybody but you. So what happens, gee, you got free time to do what you love, and do what you're good at. And that should be the ultimate goal of what we do. And it's a very positive thing for me, but I rarely take a phone call, I rarely get an email unless I've requested it. And that's very freeing, and it's very possible, but the tagging concept will absolutely help you get there. And to give you a story that's really recent, on the benefits of tagging is we as all clients, not all clients, but all advisors have is your clients will get divorced. And we had a recent situation where long term friend and client of mine called me up and he'd gotten divorced. And, you know, like most people, we personally try to help out both spouses even though you might have personally a relationship more with one than the other. And so one of the things that we did that we hadn't done before, but it appears to have done very well is we sent a nice little note to the spouse who had not really reached out much yet, because it was early in the divorce process. And I simply said, very sorry to hear about, you know the circumstances. But I wanted you to know, we're here to be a resource for you. And because of that I tagged in Amber. And I said, if you want to have any questions or discuss anything that might be going on, I want you to feel comfortable that you could have your own advisor and all things will be held in strict confidence. And that was received very well. I mean, it's still ongoing, so I can't tell you much more. But that was the first that we tried the tagging concept in that situation. And it appeared to work amazingly well there. And you've done a lot of work to get the relationship. And you'd hate to have half the assets, walk out the door if you don't have to. But if you have multiple advisors, give that a try. If you've not ever done that, because it seems like that's really going to work out well.

Brittany Anderson  13:05

Hey, Brittany here, stopping and pausing for a moment to talk about something that we've had so many of you inquire about and that is our Ultimate Advisor Mastermind. Now, I'm going to start by saying if you are not a growth minded individual, if you are not somebody who is focused on taking your business to the next level, if you're not focused on engaging your team, and helping them to help you in turn, level up the business, the service model, how you provide that wow experience to clients. If those things are not your focus, just fast forward right now, because the Ultimate Advisor Mastermind would not then be for you. However, if you are looking to take your business to the next level, if you want to experience exponential growth and feel supported along the way, if you want to start working smarter and not harder, if you want to help your team members to work within the God given talents that they were provided, and use those skill sets in a way they haven't yet to help support you and your business to help them realize their biggest goals, their biggest dreams. If you want creative approaches to marketing, I know that can be an intimidating word. But we're not talking here about the fancy Facebook stuff or you know the latest and greatest but rather looking at how you can market what you do, how you can express how you're different and how you can truly differentiate yourself in a crowded market space. If those are problems you're looking to solve, then you absolutely want to go check out ultimateadvisormastermind.com to learn more about how we can help you on your path and journey to growth.

Bryan Sweet  15:05

So Draye, I know you do a lot of tagging, also with Hana and lots of other people in your, your firm. So I'd love to hear some of your thoughts.

Draye Redfern  15:14

I love this. And it's been something that we've had to implement so much over the last year, especially like we've always had a good group. But our company has essentially tripled in staff in the last 12 months, which is nuts. I'm wondering what is going on half the time, like what in the world like, these are great, these are what I call Cadillac problems. But as a result of that, Brittany our chatting about this earlier before we started recording, but it's one of the things where fast growth can cause some trauma, it can cause a lot of sleepless nights, it can cause a lot of things to occur, that make you wonder what you're doing or how you're going to make the next thing work and how you make the next thing work is talking about the good if you've listened to this podcast for any length of time, both Bryan and Brittany and myself, we all make fun of me and my perpetual optimism, and how much and how optimistic and how positive I am at everything. So talking about the good, it's a really easy thing for me to do, even when it's not good. It's just, it's just my nature, I suppose. But what helps the time is the tagging, we've had to do this in a variety of ways, way more and way faster than I anticipated. So I stopped taking clients that I worked with in mid to late last year, I couldn't take any more on. Plates full I'm trying to be even more of like, Bryan, I want to be like Bryan, when I grow up. And trying to be way more of that visionary, and role of the company in these sorts of things. And it's been a tough transition. But what's really, really nice is, you know, having people like Bryan and Brittany, friends, mentors, that that have been in that place beforehand, that can show you like, you know what, I know I should do this, but it's not going to be like you know, Hellfire, you know, raining just absolute awfulness when you make that transition. And so I'm also here to validate like, it works. And they're not just serving up platitudes of these sorts of things, it works. And so we embodied in a lot of it over the last year, so much so that when I stopped handling clients, my second command who is working with all of our clients, her plate almost immediately got filled up within 60 days, like unintentionally, because the business kept growing. So then she stopped having to take on new or she was no longer allowed to take on any new clients because she was at capacity. So it's this continual tagging method where like, I'm great. I know all the marketing and the tactics and the strategies and all of these things. But just like Bryan said, they may be able to help in an even deeper level, because they understand they've got the time, they may be more equipped to deal with a particular issue or these sorts of things, then you might be but the problem is, we get in our own way, sometimes with especially as our as the business owner thinking, like, it's my name on the door, that I got to be there, and I got to do these sorts of things, I got to be involved in every aspect of the process. And it's a self limiting belief 100%. So much so that I have only a few clients left that I end up working with her on a, you know, monthly or quarterly basis. And these ladies, I had a conversation with him last week. And I've been telling them about all the changes that we've been making. And they're like, we need to do that for like six months, we need to not be involved anymore. And they literally like last week are saying like we were finally not taking meetings, we're giving those to the junior advisors. And we're closing business, like, what how does this happen? My guess is they thought they needed to talk to us. And they don't we all have these self limiting beliefs. It's our name on the door, it's we own the company, or we do all of these things. And people are buying into us. Yes, to a degree they're buying into that vision of what the direction that you're taking. And if you as the business owner, the principle are not actually taking the time to invest, then in that vision in which other people buy into, then you are not doing the company, you're not helping them put the best foot forward. So we've had to do it. The tagging method works really, really well and talking about the good that other people can bring to the table. So like my second command, Hana, basically is absolutely incredible. With the women that she takes on she has a lot of other male and other you know financial advisors and real estate agents and other people that she serves. She's a knock it out of the park home run when it comes to working with other female business owners. It's like a knack. It's an knack that I don't have. And so things are growing even by just making these changes in these steps. So talking about the good, yes, but I also want to reinforce the point that it ain't always easy to make that change. Like it's something that over the last year, being surrounded by such amazing people, hopefully you listening this consider us part of that your circle, it's a difficult change at first to make because we're our own worst enemies. But once you get over that little hump, it's like the floodgates open, especially if you have like a Brittany of the world, which we joked about last time. But that makes it significantly easier. Things go faster, it's better, it's more efficient. And there's just a lot more fun that you have when you're doing it, especially when you're the visionary. And you're making that that plan the reality. So, Brittany, anything there to, to circle back on?

Brittany Anderson  20:48

Yeah. So I think there's a massive underlying theme here. And that theme is that women rock.

Draye Redfern  20:55

Amen.

Brittany Anderson  20:57

No, I, you know, honestly. So there, there really is a theme there. And an all jokes aside, the underlying theme here is that it can be really hard to decide how to tag your team, if you don't know what the heck you want to be doing yourself. So I think that's something if you're trying to kind of read between the lines, see the forest through the trees, is that is the underlying theme for today. So this tagging method and talking about the good and pumping up your team and, and indirectly giving them confidence. Those are all great things and things you need to implement for your business. But if you don't understand where you want to be spending your time, and where you're essentially tagged in, that can be a problem, because it's like Draye said, you know, we tend to be our own worst enemies, and we get in our own way. And we think that we can do it better. And it's just not true, because everybody has unique skill sets and things they bring to the table. And again, if we're struggling to find our place and our own business, which is a real thing for many business owners, and especially when you break through ceilings of complexity, you know, rewind a handful years and Draye would probably say, Yeah, I know exactly what I needed to be doing. I need to be hustling. And same thing with Bryan, you rewind how many years when he started this business, and he's like, yep, I know what I need to be doing. Sleeping at the office, like those things just happen. And that's what you do in the early stages. So for those people that have the drive to be the Bryan's of the world to be able to take at least 16 weeks off and away and disconnected from the business, and to be able to find that perfect imbalance. Because, you know, we say there's no such thing as balance, it's a healthy imbalance. In order to do that, and achieve that you have to be able to delegate and you have to surround yourself with amazing people. So I think that's a point to drive home. And if you're struggling with that, that's okay. That's an exercise you need to do that would be your first takeaway or your first priority, before you can set up the tagging method. So before I go into the top takeaways, Bryan, Draye anything either of you would like to add?

Bryan Sweet  23:07

The only thing I want to add is Draye's optimism is really catchy. And anything that you have to go through is made much easier when you stay optimistic. And that's why we enjoy hanging around you Draye because you always are uplifting. And if you ever think about people that you like and hang around, or they dwell in grumpy, or they like optimistic and cheery? So, if you think about that up, optimism is a great quality.

Draye Redfern  23:42

Thanks, buddy. I appreciate I tell you and Brittany can attest to this, when you have that and it's something that you believe and you embody, you want to hire for that also, because it's really easy to have cancer in your organization that brings the mood down. And so I hire for that for the same thing for the say all of those reasons, because your energy's like, really, you got to protect it. And if you got those people around you that don't support and uplift, you got to have both of them, then it's easy to have it brought down. But yeah, talk about the good and I live the good. That's my that's my jam.

Brittany Anderson  24:23

And you know, when somebody is excited about something, and they're positive, and they're energetic, and even if you know, deep down, they're probably stinking terrified. When they're excited. All you want to do is be like, Yes, let's do that. Yep. I agree. Whereas if they're grumpy, and they're, you know, down and out, and whatever you're like, Oh, this is terrible. So I think that optimism is so important. And I'm glad you guys both brought that up because it's so true. And it's so positive and powerful and uplifting, and it makes the really tough times and the times where you maybe have to go cry in the bathroom for a minute. If you're me. It makes it easier to get through. So that that's a that's a big one. So the top takeaways from today, number one is to decide what your focus is. Right? Find that that forest through the trees, decide where your energy is to be spent and where it's best spent, and then go all in on that. Second takeaway would be to decide who you can tag in your company, you want a little inspiration on this, go to suitefinancial.com. I'm not trying to plug I'm not trying to get you to be a client, you're an advisor, you get it, but go to our site, click on our team. And you will see in BIOS, we actually have set up the tagging method there. So instead of being like, Okay, well, they graduated from this school, and they have this many kids or they have a dog, and they like to, you know, read books and whatever, we actually put in there things where they really excel to make the bio is exciting to read and to make people excited to work with our team. And then finally, and I think the guys both drove this home so well, is get out of your own way. Eliminate your limiting beliefs. So again, if you're that what's the the biggest limitation that we have on ourselves? It's the six inches between our ears. So what are the things you need to let go of what do you need to delegate off? Or what do you need to stop doing in your business? You know, there's the adage of what got you here won't get you there, and it's stinking true. So whether it comes to team members, it comes to, you know, strategies, sales pitches, whatever that is, you have to do new things, and you have to let your mind grow and expand and be open to new ideas. So that wraps up today's episode of the Ultimate Advisor Podcast. We will catch you right back here next week. 

Brittany Anderson  26:41

Hey there, Brittany Anderson here. If you are loving what you're hearing on our Ultimate Advisor Podcast, don't keep us a secret. Share us with other advisors that you think would benefit from the messages that you are hearing. The easiest way to do that is to simply send them to ultimateadvisorpodcast.com. And if you want to learn a few other ways that we could potentially serve you as an advisor, go check out ultimateadvisormastermind.com. As always, we are so happy to have you here with us as part of the Ultimate Advisor community and we look forward to a continued relationship.