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EPISODE 73:

How To Make Your Business Stand Out - How To Process With Clear Expectations

In this episode of The Ultimate Advisor Podcast, we round out our four part series, discussing the ways that you can take a holistic approach and make your business stand out to your ideal prospects and clients. In today’s episode, we talk about the importance of having a unique process with very clear expectations in your business, to prevent turnover and create a memorable experience and impact on your clients.  We discuss the key points of creating a process that targets your ideal client, while implementing effective marketing strategies to create traction, produce results, and ultimately continue the success of your business. Bryan and Brittany share their own processes that they’ve implemented in their business to create expanded capabilities, opportunities, and relationships with their clients. So, push PLAY and join us as we delve into creating a unique, effective process with crystal clear expectations to solidify your client relationships, and level up your business!
 

 

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Speaker 1:

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 of. You'll be joined by your hosts, Brian 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 Redford, who can help you systematize and automate your practice's 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:

Welcome back to your Ultimate Advisor Podcast. This is, once again with you, Brittany Anderson, and I've got with me Draye Redfern and Bryan Sweet. And we are rounding out another conversation. I think we love all of these topics, as Draye has said before, but really rounding out what you can do to make your business stand out. And today, we're going to hone in on how you should absolutely have a process with clear expectations.

 Now, some say that expectation is the root of all heartache. And this is actually a great example of that. If people don't know what to expect, that's where expectations go unmet. So if they come into your firm and you're onboarding them, and you're transferring assets in, and whatever the case is, if they don't know the steps from A to Z, you may have some gray matter there. And you may have, maybe a processing timeframe isn't met. Maybe what they're expecting as far as having the whole thing transfer and closed and all that good stuff is a lot faster than what's actually realistic, when a simple conversation and a simple process in place to lay out expectations for people could have avoided that frustration.

 So really, what we want to hone in on is how you can create a unique process that allows you to communicate exactly what they can expect coming into the business. And this can apply to multiple things. So just to get your mindset in the right space, this can be for an onboarding of a new client, this could be internal processing where maybe there's a beneficiary change. This could be something where you're bringing on additional assets from an existing client. This could be a marketing process, and it doesn't even need to have anything to do with your clients because your team also wants to know what to expect. It's not just singularly focused on clients. But really thinking about this from that perspective. And understanding that processes, they're not just important, but they are essential to the continued success of your business.

 There is such a thing out there as growing too fast. And you can be an amazing person. You can have an amazing service offering, an amazing product, whatever it is. And this is across industries. Not just ours specific. But if you don't have clear expectations for what your clients are going through and those expectations on their end then go unmet, that's a problem. And that's when you start seeing churn, that's when you start seeing turnover, for your clients and your team members alike. So it's important to understand that it is absolutely not good when someone expects one thing and you deliver less than that. So let's try to avoid that. Let's not do that. Let's go above and beyond.

 Bryan, I know you have some great insight on kind of how The Dream Architect was formulated and you're a huge process believer. And we joke here that we have a process for how to make a process. We literally have a process for how to run the microwave. So if you need any process, we are your people. But Bryan, I thought you could shed some really good comments on just kind of how we've shaped that with The Dream Architect overall, and how we do business at Sweet Financial.
 

Bryan Sweet:

Yeah, you're right. We do have a lot of processes, but I think that's really one of the keys to any success that we've had. But as it relates to The Dream Architect, I got to go back and give a little credit where credit is due. I've been a member of Strategic Coach for probably 22 years now. And Dan Sullivan is the innovator of the Unique Process. And a unique process is probably one of the things that has really jumped out at me the most, and it took me a long time to really see the impact. And it's probably been the last two or three years where it's had this amazing effect. But for quite a while, we've had The Dream Architect process, but whatever happened, the light bulbs went on and it's literally everything that we do now. And it's not just an idea anymore. It's just really how we do business. And it's trying to have an impact on people's lives and get them to think more about possibilities and where life can be, and not just how do I get through the next day or the next week.

 And we have taken that to a really great extent. And we've got scripting that we do for the teams to use when clients onboard. We have a process when a prospect comes in. We have The Dream Architect tour where it gives a little history of the firm, and we've got pictures planted at certain places. We've got our process on the wall where our Director of First Impression shows and tells a little bit about the purpose of The Dream Architect. And it's all scripted and choreographed because it's an event. And we want clients to have an experience when they come us and leave with the expression on their face, like, "Wow, I've never had that experience before. And that was absolutely amazing. And I'd love to do business with them if that's what they deliver every single time." And so it's really the basis of everything that we do nowadays.

 And if you can get to that point, and everybody literally that's an advisor has something unique that they do. It's just that you haven't taken enough time to think about it and call it something different. And I can't tell you how important it is to have your own unique process. Even if you don't spend a lot of time on naming steps uniquely, if you just call it something different, it's going to be helpful. Otherwise, what happens is you're going to be like every other financial advisor that does planning or does investing, and you don't call it anything different, it's not unique to you. Because with The Dream Architect process, only way you can get it is to come with us. Or, as Brittany alluded to in one of the previous podcasts, we've had so many requests from other advisors and people in our mastermind that we're actually looking at licensing the process for others to use because we literally can't service everybody that we're working with today.

 And so seriously give that some thought. Everybody's got certain steps they take to get their clients through, when they walk in the door to when they start doing reviews. Just simply name them and then call the overall process something that's different. And then start marketing that to your clients and use it for everything that you do. And it's really, really important that once you develop the process, then you have to market it. Because if no one knows you have something unique, then it's not going to get as much traction. And the marketing maestro, Mr. Draye Redfern, can tell us how to do that.
 

Draye Redfern:

Thanks, Bryan. So there's a lot of things here. And I wholeheartedly agree with everything Bryan said, because otherwise, if people come in, they don't know what game they're playing with you. They don't know whether they're playing Risk, where they're fighting multiple battles on multiple fronts. They don't know whether they're playing Monopoly and they're going around and around and around and around and around and around the same board until somebody eventually gets to the end or wins. Or whether it's like Chutes and Ladders where there's a clear path to the end, but there's also some shortcuts or some ways that may help them faster by having the right advice. And we want you to be the Chutes and Ladders kind of advisor. We want you to have a clear starting point for them and a clear ending point for them that is their goals. It's their dreams, their ambitions.

 And the first thing that we oftentimes recommend when it comes to this, marketing-wise, is to not necessarily name the process first. For some people that works better, but I'd say like that's 10% of people. For most people, the 90% is outline the process first. What do you do? Who are you serving? Who's the avatar? What's the demographic? What pain points do they have along the way? At what points are there breakdowns in, maybe it's their confidence, or maybe it's their certainty, or maybe it's the uncertainty of not knowing if they're going to have enough money for retirement. And then map all of that out.

 And once you have that out, you could whittle it down to four, to, I wouldn't go more than eight steps usually. Then that is a very clear process that you can say this. And then we walk you through step two, which is this. Then after that, once we've reached this certain point, then we walk you through step three. It allows you to have much more structured conversations that give the prospect or the client much more certainty that you know what the heck that you're doing. And really just creates a lot more sort of cohesiveness in the conversation as you go.

 So once you have that sort of process completed, then name it. And maybe it's the Wonderful Widow Process, or maybe it's the Delightful Divorce Process. If someone's going through a divorce and you're going to help them as delightfully as possible with their finance. I don't know what it is and I just ad-lib those. But the idea is, is to find something that actually fits your market and build the process around that, and then name it. If you do it that way, it makes it a lot easier to basically reverse engineer the results and the steps that you want to provide to them. And that helps us, we talked earlier, to make those expectations significantly more clear so that they know what they can expect as that process goes on. And it just makes everybody happier. So all of that to say, Brittany, I'm sure there's a few things that we could maybe circle back on here.
 

Brittany Anderson:

I think one of the biggest things to think about is, when you are looking at processes, when you're looking at processes in your business, and we talk a lot about having one for your full experience with you and how important that is. But sometimes that can be really overwhelming when you're first starting in the process game. So the thing that I like to recommend is that when you're looking at, okay, what needs to actually be documented and put to paper, I would start with anything that could make or break a relationship with a client. So the first one that I usually go through with people is to say, all right, your onboarding process, when you bring a new client on, that had better be so solid with such clear expectations laid out, because that first 90 days you have with a new client, you literally make or break the relationship.

 So you don't want to break that because it's a heck of a lot of work to onboard a client. There's a lot of manpower involved. There's a lot of moving parts. You want it to be such an amazing experience because they are then going to turn into, number one, advocates for your business, which is not a bad thing to have, but number two, they're going to trust. And in our industry in particular, trust is a really hard thing to build, but it's a really easy thing to lose. So that's where I recommend hone in on that onboarding process if you don't have it already, because that will then kick-start or jump-start you into kind of the next. And that's really just the flow of the business.

 We talked about this before, but whenever we have a new client come on board with us, typically what we hear is that they were not hearing from their previous advisor. Now, in our ears, that doesn't necessarily mean their advisor was a bad person or didn't care or whatever. What that probably means is they did not have processes in place to help them have a fluid system for keeping in touch with their clients. And that's a problem. So when you look at your overall process, I mean, we have it drilled down into how many times certain clients are seen throughout the year. What does the review look like when they do come in? Those are all things that are documented and it just flows. You don't even have to think about it.

 Like literally, when we think about once a client is onboarded, we don't have to really think anymore about how we're going to see them because we know. And obviously, a review is customized according to their plan and all of that good stuff. But for the most part, the framework of it, it's the same every time. That's what allows us to have expanded capacity. That's what allows us to have expanded capabilities. And that's what allows our team to have confidence in what they do, because they don't have to sit around and wait for the advisor to tell them what they're supposed to do, or wait for me to be like, "Oh, Hey, Brittany, what am I supposed to do today?"

 I mean, I say that a little facetiously, but the reality is, is that I have encountered multiple businesses where that's actually the case. Where the primary, and we're not talking about just entry-level businesses, where the primary literally dictates, the advisor dictates what needs to be done on a day to day. That is not sustainable. That's going to either cause you to burn out, cause you to lose your mind, or cause your team to leave. And I don't think we want any of those things to happen.

 So I really want to push on the pain point of why it's so important to have these processes in place. And like Bryan and Draye both said, once you get to the point of having a process, and again, like Draye said, just sit down and think about what's the experience. Like what happens when somebody comes on board? The easiest way to start documenting a process is to actually document it while you're doing it. The biggest lie we tell ourselves, let's just saying, the biggest lie we tell ourselves is, "I will remember that." You will not remember. You might have the best memory on the planet. You will not remember. There will be a step that gets missed because we're not perfect. We're human. So you want to do what you can to try to avoid some of the mistakes or the bottoms falling out that don't need be made.

 So sit down and just look at, okay, this is what we do. This is how we bring on a client. This is how we've done it in the past. How do I put this to paper? Or how do I put this into whatever process management system you decide to use. But really a simple way to do it is just to start documenting. Have a Word document on one screen, be working on another, and just start putting down the flow of what you do. That's where it comes to light. And then you can get creative and say, okay, like Draye said, "Who's our avatar? Who do we serve? What is our mission?," if you listened to the last couple of podcasts, "What's our mission, or who are we trying to make a difference in their lives? And how can we name the process to really resonate with those people?"

 So you kind of back into that a bit and really just figuring out what do we want to be known for? What the heck do we do here that's cool and unique and different? And how do we make a difference in people's lives? It makes it really easy to start naming things and creating and all of that good stuff along the way. So before I round up with a few key takeaways, Bryan and Draye, I know one of you got something to say.
 

Bryan Sweet:

Yeah, this is a great topic. And I want to reinforce one thing that you said, because as I listened to you, I went, "I really need to emphasize this." Because you had said sometimes the overall process is very overwhelming if you're going to start with maybe the onboarding process. And I couldn't agree more. Matter of fact, we survey all of our clients after the onboarding process and basically find out how we are doing and how we rate, et cetera, et cetera.

 And I will tell you, the biggest thing that happens is, because we do have a very detailed process, the things that clients like the most and they typically don't get, they know exactly the timeframe for what everything is going to happen, and they know why it's going to happen. And so they expect this to happen on day 12, this to happen on day 27, this to happen on day whatever. We send a gift in between so there's a little surprise and delight. But they get exactly what you tell them. And you can't start a relationship off any better than doing exactly what you told them, when you told them you'd do it. And if you want to solidify a relationship, that'll do a lot to make that a very sticky client.
 

Brittany Anderson:

This analogy popped in my head, Bryan, as you were talking. If you think about your onboarding and the importance of what Bryan just said, delivering on expectation, think about if you're married or you're in the dating game or whatever. In those early stages, you're like on your A game. You're delivering on everything you said for that person, because you're like, "I am trying to close this deal. I am trying to lock them down. I like this person." So I think, I mean, it's kind of a fun analogy, but it's really, it's true. You're in the dating phases. You're in those courting phases. Like show up as your best self and make it so that it is impossible for them to have anything bad to say because you've delivered on everything that you said you would. It is so darn important there.

 So the few takeaways from today's episode, or the few top takeaways, I should say, is number one, figure out which processes are lacking. Or, on the flip side, if you're starting from the ground up, to decide which ones impact your clients the most. Those are the ones you need to start with because those are the ones that can actually hurt your business and hurt your sustainability as a company, as an entity, as a business overall. So that is really important.

 The second piece is to, once you've got your unique process defined and you have those steps in place, just like Draye walked through, naming it based on your ideal avatar or your target niche, that's really important to you. Because again, that's going to be a piece that you can use as a standout because nobody else can do it. Just like The Dream Architect at Sweet Financial. We have it trademarked. Like that's ours. That's ours until we go to license it. And even then it's still something that we're creating because we have the passion and the vision for it. And then others are going to be able to plug in and use the same thing. So just get creative and decide what it is that you really want to be focused on.

 And then finally, I think Bryan could not have said it better, but just making sure you're delivering on expectations. And that's really the point of this. And you would be amazed at how many businesses, how many advisors, don't take that fully to heart on making sure that they are delivering on what they say. If you're some of the unique ones that do that and that actually deliver, you're constantly living up to those expectations, that in itself is a standout. Set aside all of the fun marketing, all the cool ideas, all of the uniqueness and the mission and all that good stuff, if you deliver on what you say and you stand by your commitments, that will stand alone by itself and help you stand out. Because again, like we've talked about before, the flip side of it is very, very apparent and very obvious, and we don't want that for you. So that is going to round out today's episode of the Ultimate Advisor Podcast. We will catch you back here next week.

 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 just 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.

ABOUT THE

PODCAST

The Ultimate Advisor Podcast was specifically created to help financial advisors unlock their ultimate potential by providing invaluable information and resources to improve your income, and the management, marketing and operations of your financial advising practice

The Ultimate Advisor podcast is a business podcast for financial advisors who are looking to grow their advising practices with greater ease and effectiveness. Ultimate Advisor was developed to help financial advisors master their marketing, sell their services with greater authority, generate repeat clients, and additional revenue in their business.

 

Each week, your hosts Draye Redfern, Bryan Sweet, and Brittany Anderson will share some of the closest guarded secrets from successful financial advising practices across the U.S.  

YOUR HOSTS:

DRAYE REDFERN

Draye is the founder of Redfern Media, a direct response marketing agency that helps professionals to improve their marketing, attract new clients, generate more referrals and consistently "WOW" their clients. 

BRYAN SWEET

Founder of Sweet Financial, CEO, Wealth Advisor, RJFS,  Creator of The Dream Architect™

Co-founder of Dare to Dream Enterprises

Creator of Elite Wealth Advisor Symposium

Author of 3 books – Dare to Dream: Design the Retirement You Can’t Wait to Wake Up To, Imagine. Act. Inspire. A Daily Journal and Give & Grow: Proven Strategies for Starting an Running and Effective Study Group

BRITTANY ANDERSON

Director of Operations at Sweet Financial, Office Manager, RJFS,  Co-founder of Dare to Dream Enterprises Author of two books – Imagine. Act. Inspire. A Daily Journal & Dare to Dream: Design the Retirement You Can’t Wait to Wake Up To

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