INTRO  00:08

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 to create the advising practice that you've dreamed of. You'll be joined by our hosts, Bryan sweet, who is moving fast towards a billion dollars in assets under management, Brittany Anderson, the driving force for advisors looking to 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 in to another amazing episode of the ultimate advisor podcast. Welcome back to your ultimate advisor podcast.

Brittany Anderson  01:10

Here again, Brittany Anderson with Mr. Bryan sweet, as we keep going on the conversation of how to grow your business, regardless of your demographics. Now, in the last episode, if you didn't join, you definitely should go back and check it out. Because it kicked us off with how you can really create opportunity, regardless of where you are. So against the framing that, you know, we're often asked how in the world did you grow your business at this point in time of recording to nearly a billion dollars in assets under management in a town of 10,000? People. So this is something that comes up all the time, when we're talking to advisors, you know, you've got advisors in the big, you know, Metropolitan type areas, and they're going, Wow, that's kind of amazing. Like you don't have the, the number or the influx of people. So how does this happen? So that's really what we're talking about. And regardless of where you're located in the country, the tips that we're sharing through this mini series are things that you can apply regardless of where you're at. So if you are in a big, busy city, these are things that apply to you. If you're in rural America, like we are, these things apply to you as well. So again, we talked a lot about how you should focus on relationship building, how really, it's all about taking care of people and showing what your culture is internally. In the last episode, we gave the example of how a point that people tend to be wowed whether it's a client, a prospect, a center of influence coming into our office and getting that grand tour. It's our team dream board. So part of the purpose behind that is we want our entire team to be aligned towards the bigger vision for the company. And that's really helping people realize all that's possible, and pursuing their biggest dreams. So today, we're going to focus in on how you can train your people towards your vision, and how that really, you know, removes any limitations that you might think exist when it comes to demographics when it comes to competition, anything of the like. So when you look at the importance of aligning people with your vision, when you're looking at growth opportunities, just like we as a leadership team, within suite financial, you know, we don't see a smaller area, or small town living as a limiting function. We don't want our team to see that either. So when we're hiring, you know, this is part of the language that we use. We're talking consistently about what our bigger vision is about the type of people clients that we serve, about how anything is really possible, it's really the six inches between our ears that tend to limit us from from any sort of growth or reaching a certain level of success. So we're consistently talking on the realization of all that's possible, not just for our clients, but also for our team. So the importance of that dream board, it's not just to have people throw some cool images up there. like it'd be nice if that happened, it's really so that they can help hold each other accountable to so as they're working with clients who have you know, accumulated wealth, and they're at that stage where they're ready to start experiencing all of these things that they wanted to do, or that they've saved diligently for. We want our team members to be thinking along the same lines. We want them to have experiences so that they relate on a whole new level to the clients that were helping achieve their dreams as well. So again, when you think about the word dream, some people are like, oh boy, here we go with the woowoo stuff. That's really not what this is about. I mean, I will tell you that for our clients and our team members, like there's some people that see their true dream life, or what we have as our queen process. The Dream architect when you think about what that means for an individual and cultivating their Dreams and creating opportunity for the future. Some people are like, you know what, all that I really want is more time with my grandkids, with my children more time to just experience and slow down and soak in all that life has to offer. And for others, they're like, I want to go big. I want massive experiences, I want luxury travel, I want to see feel, hear touch everything there is out there. Both of those experiences are excellent. And both of those things allow us to fulfill dreams for both clients and you know, team members alike. So again, when you're looking at what dreams matter, or what they mean to different people, it's really creating the vision of it doesn't matter what your dream is, we just want to help you get there. Right? So we don't want to dictate what your dreams are, we want you to have that vision. So when we're looking at as a company, creating a vision that everybody can work towards, we want everybody to be pursuing what matters most, you know, something else that that I believe is a huge contributor to helping people stay on the same page is that for others on our team, you know, some may be like, Hey, you know what I love experiences. And that's all important to me. For others, they're like, I really need a little bit of flexibility in my schedule, because I'm at a weird stage of life where we got young kids, and I'm running and I'm going and, you know, we try to provide that for them. Because when when you are willing to bend and kind of bust your butt for them, they're willing to turn around and return that tenfold. Right? So this is really important. And I think, again, when you're building a culture, and not just wordsmithing, but you're building a culture, and you're building a company, that people 100% buy into your vision and what you're trying to do and create for people, when you're willing to have that little bit of give, you are creating these beasts that are willing to do basically anything for you and anything in turn for the client. So in a minute here, I'm going to have Mr. Sweet join in this conversation. But there's another component of this, when you look at training your team to align with your vision, this is one that it doesn't matter, if you don't have a focus on helping people live their dreams, that's fine. Like if you are a little bit more technical in nature, or you know, whatever, doesn't matter. But this is a big one. So another level of success. And I think a differentiator that we've kind of tapped into here at sweet financial is in our advisor training. So we get asked, again, this is a frequent question from advisors that we you know, encounter through our coaching. They're like, hey, okay, you must have rainmakers you hire, you must go out and look for those top talent. And that's really how you've accumulated assets and build the business that you have. And the answer time and time again, is actually no, we focus on bringing team members in, and actually training them from the ground up so that we can have them solely focused on what that greater vision is, on what the entire experience should feel like within the business so they can deliver with excellence. So Bryan, you have had the wonderful, great pleasure of helping be that mentor for so many of the advisors that have actually been trained up through this program in our office. So I'd love for you to talk about kind of that whole ideal scenario and the experience that creates for clients,

Bryan Sweet  08:23

it's really been an amazing experience. And for us, it works exceptionally well. And the opposite of doing what I'm about to explain is hire outside advisors that have done their own thing, and maybe have their own way of doing things and their own habits. And we've done that before without as much success as I would have liked. And so the method that I'm about to describe has worked amazingly well for us. And it simply works this way, we always have at least one kind of advisor in training. And how it works is they sit in on meetings with advisors, a lot of times they're sitting in with me, and what their role is, is one to observe how I handle client interactions, what I do what I say, but also they're there to take notes. They're there to record the to dues. So they've kind of learned the processes behind the scenes. And they actually are required to take the data that's talked about and the two dues that are generated and get them to the right person. So one, it not only frees me up to turn to the next client without having to take notes. To write a big to do list is also training that new person about kind of the back offices and how things work. And it's a great learning curve. As they do it more and more, they become a little more integral part, I will ask their opinion, I will have them comment on different things and have more active roles. And what we have found is, as you continue to grow and get more clients, you need more advisors to service them. So when I'm in a position where I need more capacity, or just want to, you know, move somebody to an advisor that probably can do a better job or spend more time with them. Having gone through this whole experience, one, the client knows them now, because they've been sitting in and all the meetings, they feel comfortable with them. Plus, they know how our interactions have gone. And it's an amazingly easy transaction, clients don't feel like, gee, you've dumped me and put me in the hands of somebody new, they've already dealt with them. And they've been very, very comfortable. So that's been really an amazing concept. And when they grow and get better, they learn the sweet financial way, versus us having to undo habits and activities that, at least for us aren't the way that we like to do things. And they learn this process and our dream architect way, if you will, so that when they're on their own or doing their own clients after that, it's just a really smooth transition.

Brittany Anderson  11:32

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's 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 ultimate advisor mastermind comm to learn more about how we can help you on your path and journey to growth.

Bryan Sweet  13:32

One of the things that Brittany had alluded to is it's so important for your team members, obviously, your advisors to to understand your vision. And the best way to probably describe that is we had john laduke on recently and one of our summits. And he was telling the story about when Kennedy wanted to go to the moon. And so Kennedy was visiting the NASA Space Center, and he's walking into the building and he looks at the janitors working away and and he looks up at him and and asks, well, what do you do, and the janitor goes, I'm helping us go to the moon. And that is probably the greatest way of describing what you want your team to understand. When you ask them what they're doing. They're telling the vision of what the firm's mission is. And if you can get to that point, you've got everyone that's on your team being a salesperson, but you know, they bought into what the big dream is for the client and the firm and what they can expect in the future. So that is, you know, maybe the best explanation I can. I can tell you some other things that we We've tried to do with team members is really figure out and stay focused on what people, you know what their biggest skill sets are, I guess. And essentially, once we understand what they're really, really good at, we want them to understand what the results look like when it's done. But let them do it their way, and kind of get out of their way. So, as long as the results meet the vision, and they understand what the picture looks like, at the end, people always do things a little bit different. And given them that flexibility, I think is, is really, really critical. And I just think anything that you can do to make your team members understand the vision is really, really important. And we've talked before on the, you know, creating a vivid vision of the firm. And sharing that with your team is just vital, you need to do that. But another thing I would tell you is at the beginning of every meeting, talk about your vivid vision, every team member should be reading that every single I would say day, maybe it's every week, but they should know that like the back of their hand, because the work that they do, should tie in immensely with that. And if they aren't sure they need to go back and go, is the activity I'm doing promoting our vision for the future? If it's not, then they should question what that activity is. And maybe it's something that can be eliminated or needs to be changed. So, Brittany, any other thoughts or ideas around those couple of ideas?

Brittany Anderson  16:48

Yes, you know, one thing popped in my head that I think is so interesting. And I think this is such a great learning experience for advisors across the board, if they're not embracing this mentality already. Most of our really great, wonderful best clients call our team members directly, and they actually skipped over the advisor. Now, I want to put some framing to this, because we've had conversations with many advisors again, over the years, where that can be, that can be a tough one, where, you know, they think, you know, oh, gosh, I need to be available to my client at all of these times, because I'm the only one that can deliver those answers, or I'm the one that they're used to talking to you, I'm the one that they need to be able to reach. And the bottom line is, is it's not true. It's not true when you put amazing people in the different seats of the bus of your company. So for our advisors, they never look at that as a negative and look at that as an extreme positive. And think about it from this perspective. If God forbid, you got hit by the bus on the way to work tomorrow, you don't want your clients to feel a sense of, you know, being terrified of being uncertain of, you know, wondering what the heck is going to happen to their money and their life savings because you have been their sole person. So even if your intention down the road is maybe not to build a team of 15 2025 However, many people, even if your vision is you will build it up to a point and sell, you still want to make sure your clients feel taken care of. So whether you've got a team of a couple people, or a team of you know, 1520 people, you better make sure you're hiring rock stars that can deliver and continue that experience, regardless of what happens to you. So again, when you look at creating opportunity, and helping people move towards this vision for your future, and for the company and for the client, always keep the client in mind, that should be that first and foremost focus. And again, you know, you kind of have to learn how to get out of your own way to say, Hey, there are people on my team that are capable and wonderful and great at serving, so that you don't actually hinder those relationships from happening. So those are really positive things. And I just want to push on that and give credit to our advisors in the office here. And you know, really what Bryan has helped to, to get off the ground and create in creating that sense of team and that sense of, you know, being able to reach out directly for our clients, they get answers a heck of a lot faster. The other thing too, that popped up, Bryan is you were talking and I know you are a believer in this as well, is it's so important to be married to the what and the why, but not the how. And what I mean by that is when you look at vision, again, we talk about vision all the time, but I think this is so important. You know when you look at what your vision is, you want to be in love with what that looks like. And you want to have conviction behind why you want that. So there's this whole adage it came from actually Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach, talking about wanting what you want and not having to do justify that to anybody, anyone or anything. And I think that's important. You look at creating the vision, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter why you want it, and it doesn't matter what it is, it's your vision, it's your vision for your future and your company. So if you can get excited about that, but not be married to how the heck it's going to happen, you will realize leaps and bounds of growth and opportunity, and just really get introduced to some cool people who could potentially help you get to that, what and help you you know, embrace and reach that why even sooner? So Bryan, I don't know if there's anything you want to touch on there. But I just think that's something that's important for advisors to really embrace.

Bryan Sweet  20:44

Yeah, I totally agree. And, you know, the business is hard. But it's, it's relatively easy if you do a few things consistently over time. And if you think about Brittany's comment about clients calling and not asking for the advisors, I will tell you that is almost life changing, because it frees me up and my other advisors to do what I'm best at, and not be constantly asking questions, because I'm really only good at a few things. And you hire team members who are the who's for all the house, and they're the ones that are actually going to deliver that. So if you spent all of your time just doing the things that you're really, really good at and enjoy, how enjoyable is that industry. And so think about that. And, and that's one of the benefits that you get by having somebody sit in on your meetings, that potentially could be an advisor down the road, or is one of your key clients support people is they get used to that person. And then when you're in the meetings, you keep tagging, talking about the good in that other person. So when they, you know, call in with a question, it's natural, that they're not going to ask for you, they're going to ask for the other person. And so literally, I get very few phone calls, emails, we get a lot of phone calls and emails, but they go to the right person to begin with. So I just think if you think about that, and you wanted to free up your time, and be able to either have more free time, or be able to see more clients that one thing is immense.

Brittany Anderson  22:30

You know, and Bryan, what you just said to maybe think about if you're thinking about how to create opportunity, regardless of demographics, and demographics means a lot of things. It's not just location. But if you're really focused on that, and you're focused on the building of a relationship, you actually it's really freeing. So as an advisor, if you know you've got people who can answer more of the technical stuff, or help with the immediate needs of your clients, guess what that frees you up to do? that frees you up to focus on relationships, and focus on getting to know people and the warm, fuzzy stuff that makes them feel good when you're reaching out just to say, Hey, how are you and not feeling like you're constantly in an act of service or business transaction per se. So I think that's another really important point when we talk about, you know, enhancing the relationship with your team members and the clients as well. So I'm going to give your top three takeaways for today. Number one, and I know we hammer this one home, but you got to determine what your vision for the future is. That couple great resources. If you're just now joining the podcast and you haven't listened back to previous episodes, a couple of great resources, I guess you could say that we talk about frequently. Number one, Cameron Harold's book, vivid vision, that one is absolutely great at helping you kind of put the picture of what you want your business and your life to look like using a window of three years into the future. The other great resource for that to help you get that vision off the ground is traction, the book traction by Gino wickman. Within that book, he refers you back to actually his entrepreneurial operating system. And there's a ton of tools and great things, resources that you can use to put that pen to paper, and really help bring your vision to life. So again, that is probably the first takeaway out of this episode is just making sure you get clear on what you want. And number two is deciding what getting buy in from your team means to you. Then we gave the example that for us at sweet, you know, training people up through a couple different departments tends to work really well because our advisors are able to then deliver a really holistic experience. Now if that's not your vision, if that's not what you want, and you're looking for sheer volume and constant rain, making scouting leads, just boom, boom, boom, more transactional in nature. That's fine. That's your business. That's your prerogative, but just decide what getting buy in and What that culture build means to you, so that you can then create the processes behind it to bring it to life. And then finally, and I think Bryan said, this so great, and gave some good examples to this, but it's hiring the right people, and then getting out of their way, letting them work their magic, letting them really shine and excel in the areas that they're exceptional at. Not only are you creating freedom for yourself, but you're creating possibility for your business, and helping your clients to feel served on a whole new level. So I would say that that is another key takeaway from today's episode. So Bryan, before I round us out anything at all that you want to add or interject on? No, I

Bryan Sweet  25:41

just thought this was a very, very informative discussion today. And I think, you know, sometimes we try to make the business too complicated and taking a couple of these little ideas, and implementing them can have like amazing effects. And so if you've not ever done or tried any of these things, give it a whirl, I'd think you'll be amazed at the results. Awesome. And

Brittany Anderson  26:07

you know, that's another reason why, you know, we try to keep our podcast episodes kind of short, sweet and to the point, and easily digestible, so that when you listen to the action items, you're actually able to execute on some things. So to round us out. That wraps up today's episode of your ultimate advisor podcast. We will be back with you in the next episode, rounding out the series on creating opportunities regardless of your demographics. 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 ultimate advisor podcast.com. And if you want to learn a few other ways that we could potentially serve you as an advisor, go check out ultimate advisor mastermind.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.