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Free Alternative To Microsoft Office
Copyright 2005 Jim Edwards
Anyone who ever priced the Microsoft Office Suite knows it
represents a significant investment.
A quick check of the CompUSA.com website shows Microsoft Office
Standard costs $399 and Microsoft Office...
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Making Beautiful Music With Your Financial Plans
Do you ever hear a beautiful song, or an old favorite that really tugs at your heart. I do. When driving my car I sometimes want to pull over and just enjoy the song I am moved by. It is hard for me to describe the feeling but it overwhelms both body and soul and you feel a glow just enjoying the beautiful music. What does that have to do with financial planning? Well I feel the same way when I prepare a financial plan and I am happy with the way it has come together. Let me explain how that feeling comes about.
Empathy is the Key
I believe my success in financial planning has come from always recommending to the client what I would do myself based on my financial education training and experience if I were in their exact same shoes. Or, to say it another way. Having empathy for the client's situation has made me successful at doing financial plans. But, most importantly on getting the client to implement the plan. It does no one any good to have the greatest financial plan in the world and do nothing with it. So the real measure of the success of a financial plan is not how fancy a binder it is in, or how many pages, but in the amount of the plan that is ultimately implemented by the client. To do this it has to be well presented in a way that is easy for the client to understand and with the steps they must follow to have the plan implemented properly. If the recommendations appear self serving any client can see through that very quickly. If you want the client to refer you to other potential clients you have to convince them in your financial plan and its presentation that you have their best interests at heart. Another way I have explained this to clients is in the fact finding interview. I tell them that the recommendations are the same that I would make for my own Mother if she was in their same situation. But the most powerful statement has been the one I referred to above when I say to them, "I will base my recommendations on what I would do myself, based on my financial education, training and experience if I were in your exact same shoes." Said with sincerity, it is hard for a client to fault that approach. In most cases, they have been referred to us by another client who was obviously pleased with our work or they would not be there. So that goes a long way to building trust from the start. Otherwise you have to work a little harder in the early stages of the relationship to build trust. You can give them references to some of your satisfied clients for them to check you out. I have found other clients to be a great tool for building trust with new clients.
Preparing the Recommendations
When I prepare a financial plan I have often made an educated guess at the end of the fact finding interview of what I will be recommending. After a number of years of experience you have a pretty good mental picture of what needs to be done if the fact finding has gone well. I write in the bottom margin of my questionnaire what I think I am going to be recommending. Then I don't look at it again until I have written up all of my recommendations. After I have done all of the technical spreadsheet calculations and written up my recommendations, then I check my margin notes. Most often they are almost identical. This
now begins to sound like beautiful music when I find that the emotional recommendations look identical to the ones arrived at by technical analysis. This might sound simplistic, but I find it very reassuring. Can't you just hear the music already.
In the next stage I read and re-read my recommendation letter and double check my spreadsheets to make sure that every little detail is correct and has been spell checked as well as grammar checked. This is where being a perfectionist pays off even if it drives the rest of the office crazy. I will have the entire report reprinted for a little as a missing comma. Then I read it again. Unless I am convinced it is the best plan of action I do it over again, or re-edit the recommendations. I will always offer alternative recommendations, but the first set of recommendations are the ones I believe they should follow and they are listed in order of priority with regard to their goals. I will then have a staff person read the whole thing and critique it for me. Preferably someone that does not know how to do a financial plan so they are reading it from the clients perspective. This becomes a good training exercise for the staff as well. I incorporate their suggestions and you guessed it, I read it again. By now you must be thinking "This guy is nuts". Well maybe just a little, but it works. The more I read the plan, the more I think it is a thing of beauty. And, I feel just like I do when I hear a beautiful piece of music. I feel this way not because I am that great a planner, but because I have crafted a plan for them, or a road map to get them where they want to go and I am excited about the solution.
Presenting the Solution
When I am so excited about the perfect solution for them that I have put together in my financial plan that I want to call them to come in earlier than scheduled, I know I have it right. But the music in my ears is also telling me the same thing. When the clients arrive for their scheduled appointment to receive the financial plan I will give a copy to each of them to read while I leave the office for awhile so they can read it in private. When I return the look on their faces tells me I have hit the nail on the head with my recommendations. I kind of feel like the maestro taking a bow at the end of the concert because I feel just like I do when I hear beautiful music.
After that, I will need more time with them to review the spreadsheets, answer questions and the resulting recommendations as well as other supporting documents. But the rest is now routine because I know I have achieved what I set out to do. That is to meet their requirements by presenting a plan that was in their best interest and was beautiful music to their ears as well.
Copyright – www.money-software.com
About the Author
Peter F. Baigent CFP, CLU, CHFC, RFP. is a Past President of the Canadian Association of Financial Planners for British Columbia, a former Director of the Canadian Association of Financial Planners. He has spoken across Canada on financial planning matters and has taught courses for the Chartered Financial Consultants & Certified Financial Planners degrees. He is the founder of Money Minders Software which produces financial planning software.
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