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Inspiring Your Next Generation Team Members
by Beverly Flaxington, 10/31/16

At a recent conference I heard you speak about the importance of training younger generation advisors in new and different ways. Could you elaborate on the ways to offer that training?

Addressing an Unhappy Employee
by Beverly Flaxington, 10/24/16

We hired a new advisor – a very smart guy in his 30s. I was in our lunch area the other day and heard him say to a colleague, “I have no intention of working these 7-6:30 hours for very long. I enjoy my free time too much.” Should I say something to him?

When Acquiring a Firm Becomes a Mess
by Beverly Flaxington, 10/17/16

We just acquired another advisory firm. Unfortunately, we find ourselves in a mess. People are tripping over one another, no one seems to remember what their jobs should be and the tension is palpable.

Six Steps to Creating a Sales Culture
by Beverly Flaxington, 10/10/16

How can I convince my managers that it is in our firm’s best interests to embrace a sales-driven culture?

Solving the Cross-Sell Conundrum
by Beverly Flaxington, 10/3/16
Our advisory firm is tied to another professional services firm. However, we receive no referrals or offers to meet clients. How do we engage differently to unlock the opportunities sitting right across the hall?

How to Deal with a Luddite Boss
by Beverly Flaxington, 9/26/16
The individual who runs our advisory firm is very traditional. To him, technology is the enemy. Is there any way to get through to someone who is this entrenched in their views, or should I be looking for another job where people are more forward thinking?

Why Training by Itself Does Not Change Behaviors
by Beverly Flaxington, 9/19/16
We are on our fourth round of training vendors to teach us how to be more effective at working with our clients. Nothing has worked. I want to expand my capabilities, but how do I start doing things differently?

How to Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking
by Beverly Flaxington, 9/13/16
I am afraid of public speaking – not just speaking to a group of thousands but also standing up in front of a conference room and presenting my ideas. Is there a cure for this?

How to Grow When Resources Are Scarce
by Beverly Flaxington, 9/6/16
I like many of the recommendations you, make especially about growing a firm. But I am one person. I don’t have the time or the expertise to focus on growth. How do I do more than this when the regular work needs my attention?

Dealing with a Pushy Team Member
by Beverly Flaxington, 8/30/16
I have a nice office with polite people except for one staff member, who is a big producer and a nasty person. Some people no longer want to go to meetings if he is there. Is it possible to tell him how offensive he is without sending him off to another firm?

Finding and Expanding Your Niche Market
by Beverly Flaxington, 8/23/16
We work with retirees, single women, business owners, multi-generational families and others. None of these groups could be characterized as a niche. Why do we need a niche?

Stop Calling Women a “Niche” Market
by Beverly Flaxington, 8/16/16
We believe that the divorced, never-married and widowed segment is best for us because these are women with no men attached and they can be marketed to directly. Do you have any ideas for language we could use in our advertising or marketing copy to attract more women to our firm?

Not a Planner and Proud of it!
by Beverly Flaxington, 8/9/16
I am fond of investing and good at what I do. My clients come to me because they need good investment advice, not because they need a therapist. One of my managers has been pushing us to be better planners. Is this a necessary transition?

Is Training Worth the Investment?
by Beverly Flaxington, 8/2/16
Most of my colleagues are advocating for extensive training across our organization, which is a huge expense. I would like your view on whether this investment is going to make sense for us.

What’s the Value of Niche Marketing?
by Beverly Flaxington, 7/26/16
What’s the value of niche marketing? Is it necessary? Will it limit your marketing options? In this week’s column, I offer some ideas on how to create a workable niche market for your advisory firm.

Three Fail-Safe Ways to Jumpstart Growth
by Beverly Flaxington, 7/19/16
We are in a lull right now. Unless we acquire another advisory firm, our numbers will be flat or negative this year. I am looking for a shot in the arm – something to jumpstart our growth and get everyone energized.

Should Your Firm Be a Retirement Provider?
by Beverly Flaxington, 7/12/16
One of our firm’s partners thinks retirement is the future. He believes we should become more knowledgeable and put ourselves out as retirement consultants. I think this is a distraction from our successful business. I also know enough about retirement to worry about keeping up with regulations.

Five Secrets to Better Understand Your Clients and Team Members
by Beverly Flaxington, 7/5/16
This week, in honor of Independence Day, I’m sharing a few overall tips for true independence – how to understand your clients or team members and not get bogged down by wondering what they mean when they say something to you!

Justifying Fees on Active Management
by Beverly Flaxington, 6/28/16
How can advisors justify the fees for active management?

How the Entrance to Your Office Should Look
by Beverly Flaxington, 6/21/16
Do you think it matters to clients whether we have beautiful paintings in our entryway?

How to Help Clients Understand Your Value Proposition
by Beverly Flaxington, 6/14/16
We need our clients to know our value proposition. But they don’t understand it. Is this why they don’t refer business to us?

Working Effectively in a Dysfunctional Organization
by Beverly Flaxington, 6/7/16
When I am selling I keep running into my colleagues as competitors. I’ve complained to my boss, and he says he knows and is “working on it.” I am stunned at how the image of this company is so good, but the internal machinations are abysmal. Is it possible for me to succeed here?

What to Do When Clients Aren’t Honest with You
by Beverly Flaxington, 5/31/16
How can a client meet with me twice over two years, talk to me about his portfolio and talk to me on the phone several times in between but not let me know about a significant life event?

Closing the Difficult Prospect
by Beverly Flaxington, 5/24/16
For more than 80% of our prospects, we have a conversation, get interest from the person or couple and provide a proposal for our services, but we are not able to close the business. We follow up with email and phone calls, but we don’t hear back. Do you have ideas about what we could try differently that might lead to better results?

When You Think a Colleague is in Trouble
by Beverly Flaxington, 5/17/16
An advisor in our practice has started coming in late. He doesn’t shave and seems distant and preoccupied. Is there an appropriate way to broach what’s going on with him?

What is the Value of a Value Proposition?
by Beverly Flaxington, 5/10/16
How important is it for a firm to have a value proposition?

Managing Stress Overload
by Beverly Flaxington, 5/3/16
I can’t take much more of the negativity and abuse here. Please do not recommend that I speak to HR. Is there anything I can do or say to these people who are being so abusive?

When Financial Advisory Partners Don’t Get Along
by Beverly Flaxington, 4/26/16
My firm’s partners have heated discussions with the doors open. They badmouth each other to us, which is extremely uncomfortable. Should we run for the door and find other opportunities as quickly as possible?

When Your Employer Doesn’t Support Success
by Beverly Flaxington, 4/19/16
What if you are a person who really wants to succeed, but you are stuck in a financial services firm that doesn’t allow you to do so? My employer doesn’t support success. In many cases, the system deters it.

Increasing Your Influence with Prospects and Clients
by Beverly Flaxington, 4/12/16
I am not a very influential person. I vacillate between being too forceful and not pushing hard enough with prospects and clients. Are some people naturally good at influencing while others, like me, just have to work with what they have?

Managing a Stressed Out Team
by Beverly Flaxington, 4/5/16
Our advisory firm is booming, and we are benefiting from the market ups and downs in a big way. Our strategies are perfect for what’s happening. But my team is stressed. People are working 14-hour days. We can’t keep up. Everyone is jumping down one another’s throats.

How to Sustain Behavioral Changes
by Beverly Flaxington, 3/29/16
Every time I make a commitment to do something differently, I fall back into bad habits. I am motivated, but I am not successful. This is a vicious cycle because once I am not successful, I feel less motivated. I’d appreciate any tips on how to make behavioral changes work for me.

How to Develop Team Bonds
by Beverly Flaxington, 3/22/16
I have done a great job of hiring individuals who espouse our values, but when they get together as a group, they don’t gel. Indeed, some of them actively dislike one another. What can I do to encourage more harmony?

Teaching the Next Generation How to Sell
by Beverly Flaxington, 3/15/16
As the years roll on, more advisors consider retirement, but they don’t have a strong plan to keep their legacy going. The aging of the industry is a real concern, and my firm is often called on to train the next generation. For this week’s column, I have excerpted from my book on sales for financial advisors.

Setting the Right Expectations for the Next Generation of Advisors
by Beverly Flaxington, 3/8/16
The younger CFPs and CFAs I’m meeting don’t seem interested in working 15-hour days. They don’t want to pay dues before they are given the keys to my kingdom. Is there a secret formula to igniting the passion and interest of these younger folks?

Are “Pitchbooks” Outdated?
by Beverly Flaxington, 3/1/16
Do we still need a traditional pitchbook? Our new marketing person is spending a lot of time revamping ours. We do a lot of questioning rather than pitching, and we use our iPads to show prospects and clients information. The pitchbook seems like an outdated method of communicating.

How to Stay Focused on New Revenue Activities
by Beverly Flaxington, 2/22/16
The less motivated others are to help, the less enthused I am. I like the kick that comes from closing new business and seeing our numbers grow but I don’t think I can keep it up for 10 more months if no one else is helping me out.

When You Fear an Employee
by Beverly Flaxington, 2/15/16
Our office manager is not working out. My team wants me to fire her, but I am afraid of a lawsuit. She is so aggressive that I believe she would do something to damage our firm during an exit.

Six Keys to Confident Presenting
by Beverly Flaxington, 2/8/16
The person who can best communicate thoughts and feelings to an audience gets heard. For financial advisors, effective communication with prospects, clients, centers of influence and peers is critical. I have developed the Six Keys to Confident Presenting as a guideline for the best way to deliver a message to any audience.

Managing Stress During Market Downturns
by Beverly Flaxington, 2/1/16
With market movements being mostly negative, I’m riddled with anxiety and stress. I dread every phone call with a client. Is there anything I can do to alleviate this? I can’t ignore the markets; I have a job to do.

Getting Centers-of-Influence to Refer
by Beverly Flaxington, 1/26/16
This year in particular, with the markets underperforming, accountants and attorneys must have clients who need a second pair of eyes on their portfolios. We would be willing to do reviews at no charge and make recommendations. Why aren’t we seeing referrals from these firms?

How to Provide Career Development
by Beverly Flaxington, 1/19/16
Less than 30% of our staff believe we do a good job in career development. We would like to take steps to address this issue, but we’re not sure where to start.

Looking Ahead to 2016: What Matters Most
by Beverly Flaxington, 1/12/16
You work with advisors every day. What do you think will be the biggest challenges and opportunities we’ll face in the coming year?

New Year’s Goals to Effectively Increase New Revenue
by Beverly Flaxington, 1/5/16
What is the right way to set achievable goals? I don’t want to set the bar so low that my team doesn’t need to work hard, nor can I afford to do that. At the same time, if I set it too high, all I will hear is grumbling for the first few months of the year.

My Top Ten Tips for 2016 – Part Two
by Beverly Flaxington, 12/29/15
I hope you enjoyed Part I last week. Here is Part II of my “Top Ten” list of advice for 2016. Hopefully these lists will be beneficial and spark some ideas.

My Top Ten Tips for 2016 – Part One
by Beverly Flaxington, 12/22/15
The end of the year offers a chance to reflect on what’s worked well and decide what we’d like to do differently in 2016. For the last two columns of the year, I will provide my “top ten” list of advice I’ve given, common issues I’ve heard and ideas that come up over and over again. Part I -- the first five -- appears here, and Part II -- the second five -- will run next week.

Are Clients Honest When They Say They Refer?
by Beverly Flaxington, 12/15/15
More than 90% of our clients say they would refer us if asked. However, our new business comes from only a handful of clients who actually refer us. Why do you think this is happening?

How to Focus Your Practice on Millenials
by Beverly Flaxington, 12/8/15
I receive a lot of questions about marketing to the next generation and working with millennials. For this week’s column, I sought input from a successful financial advisor who is a millennial and focuses on them in his own business. Read on for some millennial advice from Eric Roberge, founder of Beyond Your Hammock.

The Problem with a “Culture of Niceness”
by Beverly Flaxington, 12/1/15
We all get along in our firm, and that’s the problem. Issues go unresolved because no one wants to rock the boat. People don’t raise their concerns because our firm leader is the consummate “nice guy.” How do I bring issues up without being the bad guy?

Action-Oriented Teambuilding
by Beverly Flaxington, 11/24/15
We want to do a teambuilding activity for our advisory firm. We get along reasonably well, but we are always passing one another in the hallways on our way to our next meeting or phone call. I run the firm, and I’d really like to get everyone engaged in an activity that would be fun but also meaningful. Do you have any ideas?
Results 501–550 of 728 found.