Just imagine, you have a severe stomachache and you go to see a doctor. The doctor instead of discussing your problem, rather talks about the instruments he uses in your diagnosis and the effectiveness of the medicines he gives. You'll be like confused, you want to know the cause of the ache, and how soon will you recover, and what is happening is, you are being pestered with information on medicines and equipments.

Similar is the advisor client story. The client wants to know the solution to their needs, how can they reach their goals, and what advisors in general tell them is the features of the product they are selling.

Consider the following statements:

Statement 1: This is ABC Mutual Fund scheme, it invests in a combination of Stocks and Debt securities. This scheme has historically outperformed its peers and the benchmark. After 5 years, you can redeem this Mutual Fund and actualize your goal of buying a house.

Statement 2: For your goal of buying your house after five years, you should invest in ABC Mutual Fund scheme. Since it's a Balanced Mutual Fund scheme, it will grow at a better pace than your FD as well as the risk will be controlled. Considering your investment horizon and goal amount, it is a good fit for your goal.

You know, which sales pitch would be more engaging for the investor and Why. The latter focuses on the Solution, the former on the Product. In your profession, you must sell products, the difference that the latter creates is, you are not selling a product, but a solution.

You might feel that the end result is the same, the products are actually solutions to the investors' needs, but in our business, ends don't justify the means. The solution the investors are looking for is a link between the need and the product, you need to connect the dots for them.

As advisors, we are tempted to talk about the products and the services that we are offering, but this is not what the investor is looking for. He/she is looking for a solution to his/her need, a way to reach his/her goal. Product selling is Seller centric while Solution selling is Client Centric, there is a thin line between the two, and once you are able to identify the line and adopt a client centric approach, you have got it all.

How do you sell Solutions?

We have penned three key points which can help you understand and implement a solution oriented approach:

1. Listen: You'll be able to provide an appropriate solution only when you understand the problem. Listen carefully to the client's problems and needs, ask questions to get clarity, and then create a connection. Offer a solution which meets the needs, apprise the investor that how your products can help them in achieving their goal and how it is better than the alternate products available in the market.

2. Highlight the value creation: Returns, yes you'll talk about returns, you'll do return comparison, the investing convenience, liquidity, you'll talk about all of that. But all of this is ancillary. The primary focus should be on the value that's being created and how it is contributing to the betterment of the client's life. For Eg. An SIP of Rs 10,000 a month in an XYZ Mutual Fund Scheme will enable the investor have Rs 25 lacs, 10 years later to pay for his daughter's higher education. This is the value you are creating. You cannot skip talking about the product, but it's not the only thing you should be talking.

3. Marketing: One of the most impactful Indian Ads Maggi, it doesn't talk about the noodles, rather it showcases, a kid comes running into the house and says “Mummy bhook lagi” and Mummy says “bas 2 min” and quickly comes up with a bowl of Maggi. Or the Asian Paints Sunil Babu Ad, where the car and the Mrs grow old, but the house is as new as ever. These Ad's only concentrate on the value or the purpose of the product, rather than the product. Customer doesn't buy your claims, till the time you are only focusing on your products, no matter how aggressive marketing you do, won't attract people to your door. The value you bring to the client's life must be communicated through your marketing efforts as well.

Customers, no matter which field it is related to, are looking for customized solutions, and businesses are on their toes offering them the same. Even the mutual fund industry is not behind, they are coming up with targeted mutual fund schemes, like Retirement funds, children's education funds, monthly income funds, etc., to cater to the unique needs of investors. To let your growth know no bounds, a solution oriented approach should run in the blood of your organization. Sell the problem you solve, not the Product.

In this article, we will discuss about of some of additional roles which financial advisors should think to play with their clients and other stackholders. Financial advisors often wear many different hats while practicing. The roles can be broadly described as – Sales & Operation, Marketing, Administration or Advisory in nature. Most of the roles are very basic or primary to the nature of our business. However, to excelling as a financial advisor to a client means a lot more than handling queries and submitting application forms. Financial advisors will need to act and be financial guides or mentors to their clients. Let's Look into this in detail....

Primary Role:
Before we start talking of the 'other' roles, here is a brief listing of the primary role /responsibilities which advisors are expected to play. These roles, depending on your business practice, should never be ignored or compromised for any reason.

• Identifying risk appetite

• Managing asset allocation

• Ensuring protection

• Helping in tax planning

• Handling grievances

• Doing Financial Planning

• Distribution of financial products

Other Roles:
As earlier said, financial advisors also need to act as financial guides /mentors to their clients. It is something which is very subjective and wide in scope. Here is a listing of the roles/responsibilities which trusted and skilled financial advisors can play with their clients.

• Financial literacy : Financial advisors are expected to help clients become savvy investors with adequate financial literacy. One is expected to help client become aware of areas like – asset classes, investment products, insurance coverage types, tax saving avenues, comparison between different financial products and so on. One is also expected to help clients become careful and smart enough to not fall prey to the many online scams, phishing accounts, identify theft, etc. in an era where e-commerce has gained prominence. One is also expected to help clients become aware of ponzi, quick-money, multi-level marketing schemes which make huge promises.

• Regular communication : This is something that forms of the essence of a relationship. A powerful, relevant, informative, interesting, regular and brief communication strategy has to be adopted by advisors. The communication strategy can cover different modes /channels where appropriate messages/contents will be communication for purpose of information/updates or promotion.

• Putting financial records, accounts & documents in place : A financial advisor must follow this important bit of role wherein he helps consolidation of all information, records and documents in place for the clients. One can effectively use online Client Desk for consolidation of financial records. Beyond this, one can also guide clients in managing/ updating accounts w.r.t. - nomination, joint holding, contact information, etc. Consolidation of documents can be done as per convenience/scope of engagement with the clients.

• Controlling emotions : The real role of the financial advisor is actually controlling emotions of the clients. It is about making him act rationally and logically, even in face of extreme scenarios. Controlling emotions will require skill, confidence, facts & proper communication from the advisors.

• Encouraging Savings : All advisors carry this role of encouraging savings behaviour in their clients. And it is time that we advisors adopt a proper strategy and pitch in order to do so instead of trying to firing on all cylinders.

• Helping out of debt : As a financial guide, one is expected to help clients avoid debt trap and to payoff debts as soon as feasible. Given the credit savvy generation with high income, this becomes an important role of advisors. One should again prepare and follow a proper method of comparing and evaluating debt repayment strategy for clients.

• Handling issues in financial products : It is obvious that advisors will be handling queries/issues in financial transacted through them. But how about helping the client & family for such complaints/issues which are through other financial advisors? This is a good way of winning the trust of clients and many advisors are very happy to play this role.

• Ongoing financial guidance : As a financial guide and mentor, you should be the go-to person at the top of the mind for the client for any matter where an expert opinion is required on any financial matter. On an ongoing basis there are many things where the financial advisors can be of help, provided that some prior study and research is done by the clients. With proper inputs, financial advisors can help clients to - decide between options with varying financial implications (ROIs), do cash-management, do repayment of loans, make buy /rent decisions for properties, structure salary packages, decide on choice of home loans and so on.

• Help in tax fillings : Beyond tax advice, clients would also appreciate if we can help them in filing tax returns by informing of due dates, assisting with online filling, etc. Some advisors often also help clients register and enter records on many online sites offering tax return preparation /submission services.

• Writing of Wills : An important element in overall wealth management is wealth transfer. Financial advisors should also help clients in this aspect, subject to the nature of relationship and engagement enjoyed with the client. An advisor can help in creating awareness, updating records in the accounts with financial institutions, preparation of Will, playing the role of an executor to the Will, and so on.

Conclusion:
Carrying out the 'other' role by the financial advisors helps one to build trust, get closely involved with the clients and their family and ultimately become financial guides & mentors to the families. This should be the aim for any financial advisor. However, it is something that will take time, will need effort and hard-work and will also need better time management and organising skills. To begin with, we should first decide to what level we wish to extend the scope of our services /relationship and how do we plan to make sure the expected results are delivered to the clients? It is something that needs good thought and planning on your part. The possible benefits though are attractive enough for those who can answer the questions in the most cost-effective, productive and planned way.

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“A new year is like a blank book. The pen is in your hands. It is your chance to write a beautiful story for yourself.”

New year is the time to make new beginnings. Try to make it more awesome than the last year. 52 new weeks of opportunities are lying ahead in your way, make your mark. Plan now to exploit the opportunities and give wings to your business. You have to develop a Plan of Action for the 365 days, and you must include the following points in your blueprint:

• Set Definite Targets: A year must begin with setting newer and higher goals. You must know what you are working for. Setting goals will help you track your performance in relation to the targets, find reasons for deviations and help you get back on track. It is not just important to set targets, but to set clear and exact targets. “I will work very hard this year”, “I will take my business to newer heights this year”, “I will add more clients this year”, these are good ideas and you must base your targets on these notions. However, it does not give a clear picture of what exactly you should achieve. A target can be “I will reach an AUM of Rs 100 crores by the end of this year” or “I will add 100 more clients this year”, these are definite targets. So if by June, you are able to add 40 more clients, you know that you need 60 more clients to meet your target.

• Social Media: If you have not been using Social Media to promote your business till now, start now. Social Media Platform has the biggest audience, it's cheap, effective and is the best way to endorse yourself. There are different portals like Facebook, Pin Interest, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, etc. If your target audience is corporate professionals, go via Linkedin. Almost everyone use facebook and Whatspp. You can share videos, banners, form social groups, have a facebook page and communicate about your products and services effectively.

• Go Digital: The present era demands a quick solution to all problems. So, if you have been using physical means of getting clients on board, filling forms, meeting clients for every petty thing, and if your office desk has a big pile of papers and files, start cleaning the mess. Take a New Year's resolution that you will get all your clients on E-Wealth Platform, and no more physical forms filling. This will reduce a lot of redundancy, save time and will leave you with more time and space, to expand your business.

• Connect with your Clients: It is time for making new beginnings, it is time you must connect with your clients and review their financial plans. They'll have newer goals, new investment requirements. Check if their tax saving investments are on track, since only three months are left. Now is the time to align their investments with their financial plan. You must also remind your clients that with an increase in their income, they must increase their investments.

• Try something new: Find out newer ways of conducting business and tackling problems. For this you have to go back to the previous years, recollect the problems you faced, how they were solved or not solved, gauge how can you do things better this year. Try new techniques of handling clients who have proved to be difficult over the years.

• Work Hard: Working Hard is the Mantra for Success. There are no shortcuts, you have to toil to reach your big goals.

“The harder you work for something, the greater you'll feel when you finally achieve it”

So, start making a plan of action keeping the above points in mind. Put in your heart and soul. We wish you best for all your endeavours. Have a Happy and a Prosperous New Year!

You must have heard the famous quote “failing to plan is planning to fail” by Alan Lakein. This stands very true for our financial advisory business where planning is key to achieve great heights of business in days to come. But we already know all this and have often been told to plan. But do we plan? The answer for a majority of IFAs in the industry will be a big NO.

Why we do not plan?
So what stops us from planning our business? The most apparent excuses for not planning or challenges in planning can be as below...

• I do not know how to plan / what format to use.

• Recording different plans over time is cumbersome

• Tracking achievement on ongoing basis is very difficult

• The entire exercise is time consuming

• I am not serious about my business!

Planning Advantages:
The importance of formal planning can never be underestimated. A vigorous and detailed planning programme helps managers to be future oriented. It gives the managers some purpose and direction. A sound blueprint for plans with specific objective and action statements has numerous advantages for any advisory practice. Given below are few advantages that can be highlighted in favour of planning:

• Enables you to work towards your vision and objectives of business

• Helps you build a road-map for activities, infrastructure, processes, etc.

• Helps you minimise uncertainty in your business and clients Facilities better coordination, time management and controlling business

• Helps keep you and your team motivated in the right direction

• Pushes you to improvise, innovate, be competitive and perform better

• Helps save time, energy and expenses by avoiding mistakes & idleness

• Helps identify strengths and weaknesses over time

Partner Business Planning :
Considering the Importance of Business Planning - an unique utility is developed by Team NJ which is available to use for all partners and can be accessible from CRM.
Partner Desk > Client Services > CRM >Partner Business Planning
Hereby we recommend our partners to use this utility extensively.

Key features:

1. Past Business MIS: You can get ready business MIS at one page for a period of last 5 years. Data points include AUM, Gross & Net Sales, SIP figures, Client details. Very interestingly, it also gives details of your total earnings in Upfront/Trail/Rap.

2. Partner/P-Emp Level / Group Level / Lead Level: The beauty of the planning tool is that you can use to plan not only at a global level for your business but also at each individual group level by using different parameters for any custom period. Recently added Lead level Planning Module helps you to keep track of the Client Acquisition / E-Wealth Account Opening for NJ CRM Leads.

3. Custom Periods: Planning can be done for different time periods (non overlapping) as preferred by you by selecting a starting month and an ending month. Thus you can plan say on a monthly basis or quarterly or as you may feel comfortable.

4. Client filtering: While planning at Group level, you may filter clients using multiple parameters. This will enable you to better understand your customers and find right opportunities.

5. Lead Filter : Leads can be filtered by selecting “Source On Lead” or “Tag On lead”.

6. Custom Parameters: The planning tool offers multiple parameters both at the Partner level planning and Group level planning for you to choose from. To maintain simplicity and practicality, we have kept common parameters across both levels so that you may extend Partner level planning to the Group level. Currently the parameters available are as follows: Equity & Total, Equity & Total Net Sales, Fresh SIPs, Client & TADA Acquisition and MARS amount. In Lead Level only one Business Parameter : “E-Wealth Acquisition” available for which planning can be done.

7. Auto Achievement: The planning tool will automatically calculate achievement against the defined targets both at the Partner level & Group level. This will enable you to measure your progress and your performance against your targets on an ongoing basis. In lead planning, achievement is counted if E-wealth account is open for any planned lead (By matching the registered mobile number). Here, user also have flexibility to manage the achievement manually mapping the EW against planned lead. Mapped EWA will be calculated in achievement.

8. Lead-EWA MIS : A Lead-EW MIS keeps you updated on how many leads, E-Wealth Account are mapped by system or user.

Planning Tips:

1. Better to select shorter periods such as monthly or quarterly for planning. If you have a long term plan, you can break the same into multiple smaller plans.

2. Use Group level planning to support your Partner lever targets. To make your plans fool-proof, ensure that you take into consideration success ratio /conversion ratio for Group level planning meaning that your Group level targets would naturally be higher.

3. Use smart /intelligent Group filtering conditions for identifying clients for planning targets. For example, you may select Groups with AUM of over Rs.25 lakhs and with SIP book of less than 10,000 to plan new SIPs.

4. Get the help /guidance from your NJ Team to planner practical, achievable and also challenging targets for your business backed by proper activity level planning. All minutes of the meeting can be recorded for future reference.

Now with the Partner Business Planning tool, planning can be a simple, easy, manageable and methodological. The tool is dynamic enough to plan either for a bigger picture at year end or for a very detailed level for every month. It is good enough for those who want to get into detail of each family to plan for smaller periods while being easy and fun enough for those who do not want to go into any detail at the same time.

It is now up to you how you want to shape your business and where you want to see yourself. So let's now take the first steps to Aim Higher, Plan Better and Execute Decisively. The results will follow undoubtedly.

Find Tool related screenshots here.